Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

She followed Mobius M. Mobius into a room illuminated only by the screen that shows his fate. Dead: at the hands of the mad purple titan Thanos. She stood on her toes and stared at the screen from over Mobius’s shoulder. She glanced down at this new Loki sitting where Mobius’s large head was obstructing a good chunk of her view; he looked pathetic, yet he looked much more harmless than his counterpart–the one she knew almost personally. Perhaps watching one’s own death brings out vulnerability in those who are weak to their core. When Mobius had shown her what her fate was, she merely leaned back in her chair and told him: “And that is destiny fulfilled. It is meant to be, why prevent me from being reset, dear twisted corporate slave? Why evade the inevitable, Mobius? Do you expect to gain something out of this? If I am to perish at the hands of my beloved uncle for falling down the wrong path, then I am to perish. In a sense, it is my fault, and he is simply… making sure I can do no more harm.” Mobius was rather shocked at her calmness considering the bits and pieces of her life he had the honor of studying in depth to understand her character. He expected a reaction that ended up being Loki’s reaction or a complete and utter meltdown. Yet she was fine, and she encouraged him to reset her rather than keep her.

Mobius did keep her for personal gain, as she found out. She was nothing more than a sleuth for what he wanted to know about Loki. She didn’t really need to do much in order to explain Loki. This Loki variant Mobius needed her to chase was nothing more than a speck of dust in her eyes. Mobius was oddly determined to keep her–and him–alive throughout her employment with the Time Variance Authority. Something about her pessimistic outlook tugged at his brain–she was just one piece of his big unrevealed puzzle. His true personal gain was still a bit of a mystery. He talked little about a promotion with her but talked exaggeratingly about keeping a souvenir. Am I nothing more than a souvenir to this lifeless agent of time? Frigg had thought countless times since she got trapped under his wing.

Looking at Loki, she and Mobius had seemingly come to the conclusion he was rather different then the counterpart that she knew. Younger, for sure, and entirely different in the sense of mentality and mindset. He looked so small on the floor. He laughed through the pain of what he saw–whatever it was that he saw leading up to his great demise. His glorious purpose. He gagged ever so slightly when he noticed her hiding behind Mobius. To him, she must’ve been weak or cowardly to use Mobius as a human shield (that’s assuming he truly is human). To her, Loki was still judgmental and mentally taxing against himself. To her, this new Loki was nothing more than a sniveling mess that she would rather cast aside than work with.

“You know he can’t help you in this condition.” She stepped out from beside Mobius and further examined the sniveling Loki. “Had you done better in explaining things to him, he may not have run from you and done the very thing you hoped he wouldn’t.”

Mobius gave her a taste of side eye. “Well maybe if you did what I asked, none of this would have happened.” He shot back.

She drew her lips into a thin line, perhaps he was right and perhaps he wasn’t. She weighed the possibilities; being within a null time zone, she and Loki now had free will and were more likely to be spontaneous and unpredictable. Against Mobius, she was relatively powerless in a physical sense. Mentally, she could trap him in the palm of her hand and persuade him to do as she asks. Against Loki, she could snap his overinflated ego in half and plague his mind with poison as long as Mobius doesn’t catch her harming the sad excuse of a god. Loki has the possibility of acting out, but with lack of knowledge of this place, he was relatively powerless against her (she learned as much as she could since her arrival). The possibilities were endless and very difficult to calculate the scenario to come.

“I’ll take the lead on this one.” Mobius looked back at her.

Maybe she was held back by fear of repetition.

“No, in fact, I think it be better that I take the lead on this one. Considering...” She crossed her arms and left it at that. “Besides, I am a trainee, and I am more than deserving of leading something so dramatically important.”

Mobius looked back down at Loki. “Work your magic, trainee.” He took a step back from her and Loki.

She snarled at the way “trainee” rolled off of his tongue. She then bit the insides of her cheeks and slightly puckered her lips for a moment. “Sit in a chair, let us talk while Mobius-three-times stands uncomfortably to the side as I fail to do my job because I firmly believe being cruel and unusual towards Mobius is far better that whatever I’m about to do.” She stepped to the side and held her arm towards what was Mobius’s chair when he and Loki first entered the room.

Loki pulled himself to his feet and slowly sat down in the chair and looked between Mobius and the mysterious girl.

She was rather young, not the age one would think a TVA trainee would be. However, something about the way she stared was sent fear straight to his core; even if the fear was nearly nonexistent or resemblant of lingering dread, it was there and it plagued him just enough for him to be bothered. Her eyes screamed with experience in making prisoners like him obey her, but her youth remained unlived with her tone of voice and the absence of wrinkles.

Mobius took another step back. He housed himself in the shadows of the room. “She has the floor.”

Loki kept his eyes on the unhappy child–something about her was oddly familiar to him. The way she moved was identical to someone else. The way she sauntered into his line of sight mimicked someone. She stood confidently with her shoulders back, her arms hung by her sides stiffly as she looked up over, examining every inch of his pathetic figure. Her eyes felt like pins along his skin.

He almost wanted to say something in that very moment; however, there was only so much Loki could take in. And there was only one thing that crossed his mind: “That was it, wasn’t it? My Glorious Purpose.” He whispered. He was fragile and he was never fragile towards strangers.

“Unfortunately, so.” She was bored before the conversation took off.

His glorious purpose was a child’s imaginative game. Rule Midgard, rule Asgard, rule Jotunheim, rule something. He let each of these realms slip from his grasp because he narrowly planned out how to gain power–that’s how it goes, all Loki’s fail. She teetered the line of pitying him and using him for her own new glorious purpose; she could ride his coattail all the way up to the Timekeepers, he could do all of the heavy lifting for her. She parted her lips and readied herself to speak, instead she noted the pain in the lesser god’s eyes and opted to wait.

Loki laughed at her artificial condolences and watched her closely. “You’re like me.”

She blinked, donning the same bored expression she has had. She could use this. She tilted her head slightly and locked eyes with the God of Mischief. He was sad, he was so stupidly sad. A grin spread across her lips the longer she took in his sadness. She took a deep breath and lifted her hands to her chest, touching her fingertips together.

“There’s no way back, is there?” He asked her, nearly pleading for an answer.

She raised an eyebrow and smiled as she spoke. “No, there is no way back. You’re a prisoner of your own arrogance and self-belief. You’re also the prisoner of TVA, but the idea that being a prisoner of pencil pushers is worse than being a prisoner of yourself is far worse… is wrong.”

Loki leaned back in the chair and laughed at every word that flowed out of her mouth as if she had rehearsed it thousands of times. “Mobius asked me if I enjoy hurting people, the truth is, I don’t. I really don’t.” He paused. “I hurt them because I have to, I’ve had to in the past.”

He finally caught her attention. “This I have to hear.”

“It’s all part of an illusion, the illusion. I don’t think you and I are very different. You look down on me, don’t you? But you were here once, were you not? Poison drips off your tongue with every word you speak, you answer as though you have practiced your lines. It’s an illusion conjured by the weak. It’s a cruel yet elaborate desperate play for power.” Loki leaned forward, speaking directly to her. His eyes followed her face as if he expected her to just agree.

“Lucky for you, I’m nothing like you. You may be weak, but at least I have qualities to balance out where I may be lacking.” She said, offended by the comparison.

Loki leaned back in the chair. Desperate play for power.

“I’ve got an offer.” She grinned with a jot of mischief in her eyes.

Loki scoffed. “An offer for someone like myself?”

“The TVA is formidable, if you will allow me to admit such a thing. However, the God of Mischief is formidable in his own right.” She slowly appealed to the slumped trickster.

She circled around Loki exactly twice while she considered what to say next. “Mobius needs your help. You’re a highly sought-after individual–don’t misunderstand, it’s for all the wrong reasons–and you have specific qualities that may come in handy to his cause. He once thought that about me, yet I stand before you as a measly TVA trainee.”

“You agreed t–.”

She threw her hand up to silence Mobius.

Loki glanced at Mobius, curious as to why he silenced himself for a child. If she was a mere trainee, he shouldn’t back down. “Why is the God of Mischief needed?” He asked, distracted.

She clasped her hands together and pressed her index fingers to her lips. How she wished the men in the room could remain silent for more than three seconds so she could work her magic. “Mobius is currently chasing a variant that keeps slipping through his grasp. And now that he has us both in the same room, I bet you he sees nothing more than the perfect team.”

“Why am I needed?” Loki leaned forward and kept his arms on the armrests of the chair. “Your friend Mobius has you, does he not?”

She bent down to his height. “Oh, he’s not my friend. And the variant is a smarter version of you.” She quickly regained her posture. “There is only one way to catch a trickster: with another trickster. Someone who knows the ins and the outs of mischief and catastrophe. Who better than the God of Mischief himself? Me, obviously. However, Mobius doesn’t see it as a one-man job.”

A grin crept onto Loki’s face. “By the look of your friends face, this is not what he wanted you to do.”

“We’re still not friends, dear God of Mischief.” She gave a small genuine grin. “That’s beside the point. We need someone who understands tricks and hijinks as much as I understand villainy and misunderstanding.” She stood at arm’s length and stared down at the teary-eyed trickster.

“You’ve convinced me.” He leaned back in the seat. “And who exactly are you?”

“Frigg.” She inhaled. “I was named in honor of the late Frigga.” She massaged the palm of her hand nervously. She maintained her expressionless exterior despite her nerves rising due to her own stupidity. There were really only two men in the entire universe that would name their daughter after Frigga: Thor Odinson and Loki Laufeyson. She cursed at herself for not fabricating a name more suited to her personality (like the ones from the Disney tales: Maleficent, Scar; or even using names of villainous scum of Midgard that she has encountered: Mystique). She was stupid for not being this prepared, but she was certain Loki would never be able to figure it out himself.

Loki knitted his eyebrows together in confusion. “Who are you by?”

She swallowed and looked at Mobius, who stood behind her enjoying himself now that she dug herself a grave. She would attempt to snap his neck if that wasn’t such a traumatizing sound nowadays. She glanced back at Loki, who waited impatiently for her response. She inhaled deeply. “I prefer to keep that to myself; it’s personal.” She paused. “I’m not fond of who my father is.” She clenched her jaw to the point she felt that her teeth would shatter from the pressure.

“Then who is your mother?” He asked, he quickly caught onto her vulnerability and anger.

“That is not something I can answer, I was denied that information.” She looked down at her hands for a moment. She quickly looked back up and hardened her expression. “I refused the information upon being trapped here as a trainee. If I was never meant to know, then I do not wish to know. And for the love of Gods, if you ask Mobius, I will hurt both of you in ways you never thought possible.” She shrugged her shoulders. There was a time when she wanted to know. The thought behind it was that she may have turned toward her mother’s family rather than allowing her father’s family to betray her and her uncle’s friends turn a blind eye to her pain.

Loki nodded slowly. “Just Frigg then?” He appeared to be examining her and taking in what she presented. Her presentation of herself differed from the way her words began to sound. For a moment his expression softened, as if he connected the dots on his own. But even he refused to show himself.

She gave him a brief nodded and headed towards the door. “Before I go.” She paused and stood with her back facing Mobius and Loki. “Just know, I will not hesitate to betray either of you if this variant mission of yours, Mobius, goes south.”

“Can you get me a snack?” Mobius stepped back into the light of the room.

Frigg shrugged her shoulders. “Don’t expect it to be what you like.” She stepped out of the room and let the door slam behind her.

Mobius turned his attention to Loki. “Let’s get you a suit.”

Loki leaned forward in the seat. “What just happened?”

“The most convincing person I know just got the world’s best trickster on my team.” Mobius smiled at Loki and tapped the table with his palm. “Let’s go.”

Loki swiftly walked after Mobius. “No, really. What just happened? Did she enchant me?” He leaned forward as he walked.

Mobius shook his head and chuckled. “No, no. Magic doesn’t work here in the TVA, remember? I think she just knows her way around a Loki’s mind. Her uncle, Thor, fell for all the tricks in the book, which helped.”

Loki froze at the door. “I’m sorry, did you just say her uncle is Thor?” He watched Mobius turn around. Loki wasn’t sure of whether or not he should be furious with this new knowledge. “Who is she?”

Mobius stood at a distance from Loki; he turned on his heel and faced the measly god. “Shit.” He hissed and peered behind him to make sure Frigg wasn’t lurking behind the corner to catch him. “Frigg Lokidottir.” He said slowly, almost as if he were afraid to say her name.

Loki’s shoulders dropped; the corners of his lips curled downwards. “Lokidottir?” He stared at Mobius as if Mobius had just backstabbed him (ironic).

Mobius walked back towards Loki and began pulling him along. “Not you Loki, another Loki. She is from another time stream, another universe per se. A universe that technically was a TVA experiment. It’s been destroyed, something happened, I haven’t told her yet. Not that I think she’d care, she’d probably just be mad that she wasn’t the one to destroy that universe.” He chuckled nervously and pulled at his necktie.

Loki walked slower than Mobius. “She said she isn’t fond of who her father is.” He pulled his arm away from Mobius and stood in the center of the hallway again.

Mobius stood in front of Loki and tried to find the words. “Her stream was vastly different from the one you came from. She is beyond angry with me that I even thought of adding a version of you to our team.” He pushed Loki into the wall to allow agents and minutemen to pass them. “She just needs to talk to you, and we both know you love to talk. Frigg, on the other hand, she doesn’t do that all the time. It’s one of what I call her least-Loki trait. This is the most I’ve gotten out of her, and I think you can get her out of her shell.”

Loki looked down. “What did I–he do to her?”

“It’s not my story to tell. But I will say she accomplished the one thing no Loki has accomplished: ruling Midgard. Well, not her, she became a variant before she could reach that point in her life, but you get the idea.” Mobius pulled Loki along the hallway again.

Loki pulled his arm away again and stepped away from Mobius. “Show me.”

Mobius dropped his arms to his side. “Let me get her.”

Loki nodded and headed back to the room that they had just left, having left Mobius alone in the narrow hallway. Mobius stood defeated as he watched Loki disappear into the sequence room again. He reluctantly and slowly walked the halls of the TVA building to find Frigg exactly where he expected her to be. With each step he took, the cafeteria only seemed to get farther away from him. He finally stood in the doorway of the cafeteria and watched the young girl. She was peaceful by herself; she enjoyed her lunch and had a small pile of untouched snacks across from her (and to his surprise, they were his favorites). With his heart heavy, ready to face the wrath of a demi-god, Mobius approached her. It hurt him to do this when she was actually kind enough to get him his favorite snacks–he thought she didn’t even know what they were.

“I have some bad news.” Mobius started. He paused and stood as confidently as he could manage to avoid being torn apart by Frigg for standing like a coward.

Frigg stared at her food and jammed for fork into the center, stabbing through to the Styrofoam tray. “He either betrayed you already or you told him and broke the inkling of trust that I had.”

“I told him.” Mobius falsely loosened up.

She nodded and licked her lips. She laughed in disbelief. “Now what? Am I to accompany you back to the room and show him my life story? Show him my ‘glorious purpose’ as he thought his own life would end?” She swiped her tray onto the floor and stood up. She grabbed the snacks that she had snagged for him and shoved them into his chest. “You’re a coward, a liar, and a terrible friend. You should have just reset me like I asked. You’re no different than any Loki you have ever reset or saved or studied. A traitor. A backstabber. I was beginning to trust you, now look, you’ve lost it all.”

Mobius stumbled back and gripped the snacks to his chest. “Don’t you want a second chance?” His voice was strained.

Her words barely scratched the surface. And she was furious.

She gritted her teeth and walked towards the door with Mobius a few feet behind her. “A second chance?” She swiped the backs of her hands over her eyes to rid herself of the forming tears. She closed her eyes and breathed deep in an attempt to keep herself from crying. “I would rather die than deal with another Loki in that sense or at all. They’re all the same. Idiotic, careless, heartless fools who care only about themselves. There is no room for others in their selfish little hearts. If it doesn’t further their career or goal, they don’t attend to it. They’re narcissistic bastards who probably kiss their own reflections. Second chance, you’re fucking joking.” She laughed again. How she wished she could fall to her knees and scream or cry as she had done too many times for her liking. She walked on with a flat expression and wet eyes.

The walk itself was excruciating for one member of the party. Mobius felt suffocated by her rage. He liked her, truly, and saw potential in her and he saw potential for change. He hoped he was right about her as long as she was given the opportunity. He firmly believed that it was never too late for her to change now that she was outside of the dictated time.

Mobius followed her. “When they sent me to pick you up, they made me study parts of your life before you came to be a variant. The parts you didn’t live, I learned with you. I know you more than you think I do.”

“So, what? You’re doing this with my best interest in mind?” She shook her head and guided him through the TVA. “I’m in your domain, Mobius, that much is truth.” She paused.

“But I’m living in your world, no?” He finished for her. Perhaps he knew her better than she originally thought. He was the one to replay her past and show her untouched future. Perhaps he did study every important aspect of her life–why wouldn’t he? He had the time; time flows differently in the TVA.

She gave him an empty laugh. “You’re going to be living in his world if you’re not careful. That’s how it goes. Everyone falls victim to whatever the Hel he brings to the table.” She bawled her fists and strode down the hallway towards Mobius’s cubicle–for the longest time, she was convinced that cubicles were fiction, not the standard for Midgardian-based work setting. Upon finding herself in one of the many “cubicle rooms”, she was surprised to see that they were a reality in the TVA. She peered over the walls of each upcoming cubicle to make sure she was on the right path to Mobius’s, for some reason she could never remember how to get to his little boxed in desk.

“I meant what I said.” She spoke after a painful, silent walk. She slipped into his cubicle and rummaged through his desk, moving large stacks of paper from one side to the other, piling his office supplied on top of his paper stacks, and emptying the contents of his desk drawers onto the floor or his chair.

“Which part?” Mobius asked.

She rearranged the small desk extension to her left trying to find where he placed her reel. “All of it, but I’m specifically referring to the part where I would not hesitate to betray either of you. It is to be personal; and since you know me so well, you can figure out why.”

Mobius stood by her side and looked down at her. “And you don’t want it to be personal. You always do what you must, never what you mustn’t.” He told her.

“Never say ‘mustn’t’ again. That word and your voice don’t mix well.” She pulled the top drawer all the way out and placed the drawer onto the floor, leaning it against the desk. She reached into the gaping hole in and narrowed her eyes at Mobius. “You left it in the unlocked drawer? You knew he was going to ask.” She hissed and grabbed the reel out of the hole where the drawer used to be and quickly hid it under her suit jacket. She shook her head and brushed past Mobius.

“I was going to put it away.” Mobius defended himself.

She scoffed. “Oh, I believe that that is bullshit.” She turned down the hallway leading to the sequence room. It looked just like any other TVA hallway; reds clashed with the tans, the walls were lined with end tables at abnormal increments, and the floor was bland but glossy. She pushed the doors open and was greeted with a Loki and the sequence screen with ‘TVA’ displayed on the black background. She walked down the steps and looked down at the pathetic sitting peacefully in the seat opposite of the control computer. “Who had the brilliant idea to watch my glorious purpose on the big screen?” She asked with a grin.

“I did.” Loki stood up and looked at Frigg.

Frigg pulled her hand out of her suit jacket with the reel in her grasp. “Never trust a TVA agent with your life, Laufeyson, consider that a lesson in survival here.” She handed the reel to Mobius so that he could begin rolling film. He shot her a glance of uncertainty that went purposefully unnoticed.

Mobius walked towards the computer and loomed over it. He switched the tape roll from Laufeyson, Loki to Lokidottir, Frigg faster than Frigg would have. She would have destroyed the reel or the control computer and claimed it was an accident–Mobius knew her.

“Frigg, why don’t you sit down.” Mobius stepped away from the chair next to the computer and motioned for her to sit down.

She lifted a hand. “I’m fine standing, Mobius. However, I think it is you that needs to sit down.” She smiled and she made her way to the back of the chair. She turned it to face Mobius. She removed her hands from the back of the chair and waited for Mobius to take the seat.

Mobius looked at her with a worried expression before sitting down and adjusting the chair back to its original position. “That’s very kind of you.” He mumbled.

She gripped his shoulders tightly, holding him against the chair, and leaned forward. She spoke just loud enough for Loki to be able to tell that she was talking, but not loud enough for him to make out exactly what she was saying. “If you ever do something like this to me again, I will personally take you to my resting place and toss you over myself. This is your one and only warning, dear friend.” She raised herself and loosened her grip on Mobius’s shoulders.

Loki watched, curiously. He couldn’t make out what was happening.

Mobius glanced at Loki. “Shall we begin?”

Frigg stared at the screen before them and completely removed her hands from Mobius’s shoulders. “We shall.” She watched Loki nod slowly. He seemed to be preparing himself to feel smaller than he already does. Frigg smirked at how small the god was compared to her. She was the best Loki-type after all. She had the ability to achieve something far greater than a plain old Loki would ever dream of.

Mobius exhaled shakily and hesitantly pressed play.

Frigg returned her hands to his shoulders; she needed something, and he was all she knew in this room–he was all that she could trust despite how much she didn’t want to trust him. Her grip was tight and almost painful due to her nails digging into his skin. Mobius shifted in her grasp from the pain of her grip, she loosened her grip almost sorry for having such a painful grip in the first place. Frigg kept her eyes on the screen replaying her life for the second time (third if you count the fact that she lived most of it firsthand). Frigg held her breath and dug her nails into Mobius’s shoulders again; her fingers were locked in position and the air she tried to breathe was caught in her throat. She gritted her teeth with every moment her Loki lingered on the screen in front of her, for every moment that he managed to make himself the center of attention in her life.

Loki’s eyes were glued to the screen before him. He watched as her Loki tore her to pieces with each time he graced them with his screen time. His arrogance was disguised as charm. And Loki hated the way this other Loki treated his child. Loki held his breath at every suspenseful, emotionally driven moment of this adolescent’s early life with this monster of a parent. It seemed that every little thing that Frigg did would push Loki over the edge. Endless screaming and belittling when no one was present, subtle backhanded compliments in front of those that were not Odin, countless times of Loki dragging Frigg from one place to another. Bruises would appear and slowly disappear only to be replaced by new ones. His grip on the arms of the chair tightened and his knuckles turned white the longer he watched this once sweet and darling girl turn bitter and merciless on the outside. He absorbed her life story like a sponge that was bound to toss the information into the trash once it was deemed unnecessary. Loki frowned at the young girl on the screen, alone and pleading to be loved by somebody even if it were not her own people–that she thought she didn’t have. The young girl clawed her way out of the screen and tugged at his heartstrings herself and begged to be noticed by someone. By him specifically.

Loki showed disgust each time the Avengers appeared ever since Thor gave her to them and she eavesdropped on that ridiculous “Team Meeting” about what to do with the little menace. Thor–this Thor–was his least favorite Thor. She begged him for help when she ran away to Midgard, and he threatened her with the very thing she was trying to escape. She ran away again, and he left her in the care of the Avengers who didn’t care for her. He abandoned her when she needed him.

Frigg tilted her head as she watched herself slowly crumble in semi self-induced isolation once again–she watched herself turn her back towards Peter Parker and his friends, towards the mutants of Midgard, and anyone who made a poor attempt to reach out to her. She seethed at those around her living freely while she was chained to the ground, being dragged down to Hel where the thought she belonged by none other than her Loki. It nearly angered him watching her turn her back to those trying to help–but maybe they were already too late, and Loki could only see the outside.

Tony and Dr. Stephen Strange soon became the new front-and-center faces of her life. Tony despised her because of Loki and every graceful appearance he had, he made it clear. Tony spit in her direction rather metaphorically and he stomped on the early glimmers of hope. Stephen was a lot nicer, a lot more interested in her as a person. He almost considered taking her as his own, but that would ruin everything he had built with Tony. Stephen was a man of many things. Intelligence, poise, arrogance, narcissism, and a very strange way of showing another man he loved him. He smiled a total of seven times on screen and only two were directed at Frigg. Stephen ultimately chose his love and admiration for Tony over the deeply hidden love for the pained girl who he knew needed him. Loki began to relax in his chair was her reel appeared to show something more relaxing: tinkering with and without the smartest Avengers, reading whatever she could get her hands on, and practicing her magic in her own little bubble.

Frigg let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding with a friendly face finally appeared on the big screen since their first meeting in the forest; both youths had run away from their cages. Frigg left the Avengers towner through her window and the young male had escaped what he described to be an asylum (later found to be an illegal research facility disguised as a hospital). He stood an inch taller than Frigg’s five foot two stature (talk about a bunch of short people). He was muscular for a young adolescent–and it had to have been from that facility. His hair was always oddly unruly, two horn shaped clumps of hair poked from either side of his head but out of his face, save for a few stragglers. He had a permanent grimace to match Frigg’s own. They were quiet the pair on screen; the young male dressed very casual and comfortable. He seemed to wear the same thing: a flannel over a white tank top, bootcut jeans, and boots. Frigg never ceased to impress him with dressing in the blackest clothes he had ever seen in his life (all sorts of variations of dark academia, modern gothic, and grunge).

This youthful male had a bad attitude and an impulse control issue. There were countess fights that he started because someone looked at him the wrong way, countless times where he revealed his true identity out of spite or rage; he was a mutant clone. A clone of the fiercest mutant alive. Frigg simply looked mellow compared to him. Even when she abandoned him on Midgard and he was screaming at her to stay with him, she didn’t flinch or hesitate. She went home.

Mobius finally paused the reel at the beginning of face off with Thanos. “We all know how that goes.” He laughed nervously.

Loki looked over. “Keep going.” He sounded desperate to know what came next. The answer was so obvious. The mad titan was to snap Loki’s neck like the twig that he was. Thanos was to be victorious.

Frigg absentmindedly reached over Mobius and pressed play for him.

The scene carried on with Loki and Frigg fighting each other rather than helping Thor fight Thanos. Insults were thrown at each other without second thought, blame was placed on Loki by Frigg and on Frigg by Loki. They refused to see eye to eye. The two Jötnar singlehandedly caused the Avengers to lose; had they worked together, Thanos would have been the dead one. Not Loki, dead at the hands of the mad titan. Loki and Frigg cringed at the sound of Loki’s neck snapping.

Frigg brushed herself off and looked around at the destruction the mad titan left behind. A world in shambles, people missing, dust of the fallen clouding the skies, Avengers gathering back in the states after failing. Shattered souls, people in need, a world lacking guidance and heroism, a newfound need for order. Frigg grinned wildly and sprinted into action. She climbed to the top of a bronze statue of Thor (ironically having landed in Norway).

“Citizens of Midgard! Your savior has arrived! Today, the Avengers have lost against their greatest threat, a mad titan named Thanos. And in your time of need, they abandon you. They left you broken, shattered, and in need of guidance and assistance through these hard times. But fear not, I am here to bring you all together and do the best I can to ease the pain caused by the damages left by the Avengers–the former Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Together, we can survive! Together we will survive!” Frigg threw her arms out and glanced around at the crowd below her. Many have gathered and many held their electronic recording devices up to her to spread the word of their new savior. “I ask of you, Midgardians, to spread the word. Frigg Lokidottir has come to bring peace to your shattered lives. I have come to guide you towards something glorious! For as long as I remain, no threat shall ever reach Midgard again. I will see to it that the Avenger’s are no more and the surviving Avenger’s pay for what they have done to you all.”

The people below her, vulnerable and scared cheer for her. The remaining survivors gathered by the hundreds to work towards a new world order.

Days passed. The statue of Thor was now a Statue of Frigg. She was the new face of Midgard. And he was back by her side as executioner.

Loki stared at the screen with his jaw hanging. Shocked was an understatement. Frigg was to rule Midgard with an iron fist and minions monitoring certain friends of the Avengers. She gave the vulnerable a voice. She represented the victims of failure. Peace was achieved by order. Order resolved the problem of chaos. With the Avengers retired or dead, there was no one on Midgard brave enough to stop her from having this much control. She dismantled the underground organizations that rejected her and built new organizations that enforced her laws. Midgard, only having half of its population, much like the rest of the universe, quickly became a military powerhouse under her control with the combined technology of Midgard and Asgard. Worlds that mortals had no idea existed had tried to come in and take over only to be scared away.

Frigg stood in front of a large, elegant mirror. She was tired, thin, and sloppy. She was alone again, preparing herself for the day to come. Something about today felt off and she couldn’t place why. It was far quieter than it used to be, but that wasn’t it. Everyone that used to wander the palace had been exiled for nonexistent crimes against the throne. She played with her hair and shifted her eyes. “Why are you here?” She asked the space next to her reflection.

She laughed. “You believe that lie you’re telling yourself? You’ve gone mad.” She let her hair fall to her shoulders and attempted her updo once more, only to fail again. She left her hair alone in its unruly, tangled state. “You must be deaf, blind, or much worse… senile. You’ve always thought me to be a monster.” Her voice was strained.

“A freak.” She whispered.

Frigg turned to the nightstand next to the mirror and grabbed a pair of scissors and jabbed them into the wall next to the mirror. “Is this the perfection you claim me to be? Am I finally the perfect daughter?” She cackled and pushed her hair out of her face. It was uneven and the other days previous attempt to cut it left some chunks shorter than others.

She let her anger out with a burst of magic and cry of agony. Tears streamed down her face. “You’re dead and you’re still pulling the string.” She turned around to face the empty room. Patches of blue spread across her skin. Notably around her honey-colored eye. “You have always been in control, I just wanted to be a child! You demanded everything from me! Everything I did was wrong in your eyes and always will be. You’ve got what you wanted, just leave me alone!” She spun around and grabbed the nightstand. She chucked it across the room, and it shattered against the floor.

“You were my father! I loved you! What did I do to make you hate me?” She cried with her forehead against the mirror. She slid down the mirror and shattered it with her magic, unintentionally. “Why couldn’t you love me?”

Loki swallowed hard. He rested his chin on his hand and bounced his leg. The scene continued to play out before him. The constant face from before returned to the screen. He was older and more rugged than before. He was hurting for her, he understood her, and she laughed at him. He watched Frigg rummage through a drawer and pulled out a revolver, loaded with a single adamantium bullet. She claimed to know how to kill the unkillable man before. Loki leaned forward with morbid anticipation and jumped back against the seat at the sound of a gunshot.

Frigg swallowed hard, she hated watching that scene and she was glad she never lived that particular moment. He was the only person that understood being someone else according to the world around them.

Do it, Thor!” Frigg backed herself to the edge of the cliff. She stood on the very edge, keeping her toes on solid ground. She bounced on her toes with her arms outstretched. “You know what needs to be done! I’ve ruled Midgard for the last seven years thanks to your failure against the Titan! If it weren’t for you, these people would know fear and chaos.” She cackled. “I have brought peace, justice, and security to my empire while you so-called Earth’s Mightiest Heroes left these people for dead. You could not live with your own failure, so you removed yourself from the equation!”

Thor watched her–his niece–slowly loose her mind… except she had lost her mind a long time ago. “Why have you done this?” Only now did he come to question her sanity.

She gave him a crooked grin. “Don’t you see the bigger picture? I was left to myself. Father never loved me, he manipulated me into thinking everything I did was wrong. He was always pulling the strings, even now. I stand here! Before you! And father is still manipulating me years after his passing. You don’t care about me personally; you only see me as a threat now that the Avengers have come out of retirement.” Her shoulders bounced as she laughed. She leaned back; she nearly sent herself over the edge. “You were never there for me. I needed you, Thor! I needed you, past tense. I thought you loved me! But you’re just like the rest of them. You never loved me, you never cared about me. None of you did! You locked me in the Avengers Tower and called it ‘Parenting’ and ‘Guardianship’. I just wanted to be a kid. I wanted to know why Peter loved Disney World so much. I wanted to learn how to drive a Midgardian car.” She pressed her hand against her chest.

“You don’t have to keep doing this.” Thor took a step forward.

“No? Why? Because you told me so?” She scoffed. “You’re no different than Odin, than Loki. You never cared for me. If you did, I wouldn’t be here. I wouldn’t have done this.” She outstretched her arms and looked to the side. She flicked her fingers towards one of the retired Avengers. Bucky Barnes fell to the ground surrounded by green pulses that sucked the life from him. “Oh dear, I really liked that one. I didn’t mean to kill him.” She laughed.

“NO!” Thor ran towards her.

She killed Bucky Barnes. The very same Bucky Barnes that had brought her back to Thor after she ran away from him. The very same Bucky Barnes that hid her the second time she ran away. She trusted him but he was a criminal and he would’ve never done anything beyond hiding her. Frigg ran towards Thor; she could barely run in a straight line. Rather than fighting back, she allowed Thor to knock her back with his hammer again. And again. All the way back to the edge. The last anger fueled swing of the hammer pushed her over the edge of the cliff. She plummeted to her death.

Frigg lay lifeless with a grin in a pool of her own blood.

Frigg stared down at Loki. “That is destiny fulfilled, dear God of Mischief.” She motioned to the screen with a sadistic grin. She walked around Mobius and patted him on the back as she departed his personal space. “The only problem is, the TVA took that destiny from me.” She eyed Mobius in an attempt to make him aware that he was partially blamed–only partially, she truly blamed the Timekeepers and upper management (like the Judge; however, the judge did allow Mobius to keep her).

Mobius had heard her spiel when he acquired her, yet it still didn’t sit well with him–why would her spiel sit well with him? She was threatening, the most threatening Loki-type variant he had come across thus far. She acted upon her threats more often than not–as seen by her life story. Mobius watched her. She stood as threatening as she could in a tan pantsuit. He knew her “destiny fulfilled” wasn’t what she truly wanted. Mobius almost felt bad.

Loki narrowed his eyes at her and tried to study her as she studied him. She was proud of her destiny; Loki could see being proud of being ruler of Midgard and that being her destiny… but dying at the hands of a family member, at the hands of Thor? What was so glorious about that, unless that is what she wanted. That was her relief. Loki gripped the armrests of the chair and leaned forward. “You believe this garbage?”

She scoffed. “You think you’re the highest power? Look at the bigger picture, there will always be someone stronger, someone bigger than you.” She brushed past the table and shut the computer off. “Oh, Mobius, don’t say I didn’t warn you.” She slipped the tape roll out of the holder and held under her suit jacket suspiciously.

She left the sequence room for what she hoped to be the last time.

Loki turned to Mobius and hesitated. “She’s a child.” He pointed at the door. “She is a child, and this is who she is?” He looked at Mobius, eyes wide with disbelief.

Mobius tapped his fist on the table and licked his lips nervously. “She told you she wasn’t fond of her father and now you know why. He sucked. Her uncle paid no attention to her needs. She’s the prime example of what happens when your family can’t function.” Mobius stood up and stared at the door. “The only reason I kept her from getting pruned was because she doesn’t deserve that. Not a lot of people here are on my side because she’s just another Loki.”

“So, she works for you?” Loki narrowed his eyes.

Mobius frowned. “She works with me. She’s technically too young to work here, she’s an adolescent. And it’s a process. This is the most she has talked since she has been here.” He guided Loki towards the door. “I’m hoping that by the end of this, she changes or starts to heal.”

Loki glanced at Mobius. “You think, after all that, she’s capable of change? If she’s the offspring of Loki, and she follows the same patterns, she will never change.”

Mobius pulled Loki into the elevator. “You’re missing some pieces. She became a variant after her Loki was killed by Thanos.” He walked with Loki back down the hallway towards the elevator. “Besides, if I can get you to change, that just makes me right, doesn’t it?”

Loki looked then at Mobius with raised eyebrows and parted lips. He shook the expression away. “What did you say?”

“If you change–.” Mobius started.

“Not that.” Loki said.

“She branched off after her Loki died because she thought he was going to change.” Mobius adjusted the collar of his shirt as he walked. “She’s angrier than ever thinking that her trust, her belief was misplaced. I’m pretty sure she does blame Thanos too, but most of the blame falls onto herself.”

Loki kept his eyes on Mobius as he followed him. “You can’t be serious. I thought she became a variant before that. At least that’s how she acts.” Loki clenched his jaw, affected. Perhaps it was the day he’s had. Becoming a variant as a result of two Tony’s being in the same room, watching what was to be the rest of his life, the death of his mother, and the death of himself (twice if they count Frigg’s reel).

“In both scenarios she gives up the location of the mind stone in an attempt to save her Loki, only for Thanos to snap his neck. The life she was supposed to live, that’s what you saw. The life she chose, to become a variant, she believed that after everything was over, he would be the father that he never was. You have to think,” Mobius paused, “she needs this. Just like I need you to focus and help me capture the variant.” Mobius pressed the elevator button and faced Loki as they waited for the elevator to arrive to their floor.

Loki looked forward. “You’re going to exclude her.”

“I’m protecting her.” Mobius corrected.

“From what?” Loki raised his voice unintentionally. “Another version of me that could hurt her?”

Mobius chuckled halfheartedly. “Yes. And no.” Mobius guided Loki into the elevator and tapped the ground level button. He stared at the glowing button. “Let’s just say, I want to believe that you’re different than her Loki. So, I’m not protecting her from you. If you turn out to be exactly the same as her Loki, yes, I’m protecting her from you too. Let’s just leave it as she’s angry and she’ll be even angrier when she realizes that I lied to her.”

Loki glanced at Mobius with his lips parted and eyebrowed knitted together. “Say that again for me.”

“I lied, okay?” Mobius looked at Loki. He took a step towards the wall of the elevator. “She’s an adolescent, a kid, like you said. I do want to exclude her… one day. What’s the harm in trying to put her in a place she can live without tragedy?”

“You still lied to her.” Loki stared at his reflection in the elevator door. “If you want to treat her as if you’re her guardian, you need to tell her the truth.”

Mobius shook his head. “I don’t think I’m cut out for that sort of thing.”

Loki raised an eyebrow. “And you think that she’ll look at me and decide ‘That’s my new Loki!’ After what her own version of me did to her? He hurt her and you want to force her to work with me? She needs help, not me.”

Mobius returned his attention to the elevator panel. “About that suit.”

Chapter Text

Frigg walked out of the elevator. She ran her fingers through her hair and pulled it back, almost slick back (her hair was full of life and volume, unlike Loki’s greasy looking mop). When let loose, her hair would always frame her face annoyingly, often times her hair would find its way to her mouth; the horned helm she stole from Loki once or her personal helm were meant to frame her face, follow her cheek bones and make her face look sharp like her father’s, and keep her from eating her hair when she did anything. Her personal helm, confiscated upon arrival, was delicate in comparison to the clunky helm Loki wore when he made his piss poor attempt at attacking New York. She hoped her helm would be returned to her soon, she was growing tired of eating her hair–the alternative was to cut it. She shuddered at the thought of having to cut her own hair, she wasn’t a hairstylist nor was she coordinated enough (nor would she trust any of these pencil pushers). Pulling her hair back was not an option, she hated that feeling. Too tight, too loose, and no in between. Her hair being pulled up just didn’t look right when she saw it in the mirror. The times she pulled her hair up were the times she was in Tony’s lab with him and/or Bruce Banner or the times she was dragged to outside by her “guardians” or her hair was tied the times she was simply lounging in her room where the outside world couldn’t see her. She had an image to maintain after all.

She inhaled deeply and raised her eyebrows, annoyed. She was frustrated with Mobius, to keep it simple. Those two men–no, those two buffoons were nothing more than annoyances and stressors. Rather than leading her own jump on a new variant, Mobius pulled her out last minute and dragged her along to chase his new pet around the TVA. She was his first skilled pet–no, trainee with potential, who better than her to aid him in the chase? Anyone. Anyone was better than her because anyone else had nothing better to be doing. Chasing a Loki variant was not an ideal activity, nor was it fun. He could run, but she could swerve. Unfortunately, no one caught the variant Loki–Frigg would have just shrugged it off and said “Oh dear, we lost him. So sad” and moved on with her new TVA life. Fortunately, for Mobius, Loki walked himself back to the sequence room and finished watching his life play out. Mobius gladly Frigg-trapped him after that because Mobius could never accomplish something like that.

She parted her lips and inhaled deeply again and exhaled through her mouth. Her head grew hotter the longer her thoughts dwelled on this idiotic Loki situation, and she swore she could hear her blood boiling. The stupidity that flooded the TVA was unbearable, the Avengers were far better to deal with at this point–at least they let her fend for herself and paid no mind to her unless they felt she was a threat. Mobius was following her around like a lost puppy. The simplest of tasks could not be completed without some level of struggle. Mobius always had to lean on someone, and the minutemen were nothing more than brainless soldiers blindly following orders. It seemed as though Mobius was far more incompetent than anticipated–almost as incompetent as Thor. Frigg snorted at the thought of Mobius being similar to Thor in that aspect. Another Thor-like being in her life? No thank you. It was bad enough that Mobius was shoving her and this Loki variant together, but for him to the Thor-like being in her life? She scoffed and managed to frustrate herself even more. Her skin burned, she hated feeling hot.

The hallway stretched the longer she walked down them, it seemed like the TVA was a never-ending maze, and it was a never-ending maze. And it doubled as a funhouse. She looked behind her to see that she was still unsettlingly close to the elevator and that the ground below her was one of those monstrous moving sidewalks (and naturally it had to flow against her, much like everything else in this damn place). Her destination would have been in her grasp if it wasn’t for this funhouse mocking her. She only wished to return to her TVA provided living quarters and think to herself. She slunk to the wall and used it to propel herself forward against the moving floor. In the process, she knocked over whatever side tables lined that side of the hall (small things like a vase or another vase or a vase with a single plastic flower). She grabbed the corner of a turn and flung herself around the corner straight into an elegant bystander.

“My apologies, Asgardian.” Frigg stepped away from the woman in a beautiful gown. She stared at the Asgardian’s blurred face waiting for a response. Frigg paused for only a moment, unblinking, she almost didn’t believe what she was bearing witness to.

“No worries, princess.” The Asgardian’s voice was melodic and soothing. She turned back to her faceless Asgardian friends–perhaps they weren’t actually friends. Perhaps these beautifully dressed women were ladies-in-waiting or simple noblewomen of Asgard. Ladies in the corridor of the palace–the hallway of the TVA. Dressed elegantly; their gowns were fairly similar to one another and each of them had a matching shawl to cover their shoulders, the only difference between the gowns were the colors. One lady wore purples, another blues, and another greens, and another in orange. The dresses were long, long enough to only show the points of their heels.

They spoke amongst themselves, wondering if the princess was feeling well, seemingly forgetting she was nearby. Their words jumbled together and formed inaudible blabbering and soon became nothing more than background noise. She turned on her heel and stepped out of the TVA office building and onto the balcony. Frigg walked along the balcony, close to the marbled rails–the view of the TVA was rather beautiful. The no end in sight, no magic making these vehicles zipping around run, only science (or maybe it wasn’t science, and these corporate morons don’t actually know what magic is), she looked down on those that felt protected by the walls that trapped them in this strange time-worshiping place. The people of the TVA, balconies and floors beneath her, were ants from this high above them. Frigg could squash them with the snap of her fingers (she doesn’t want to dirty her good shoes). Frigg could cast any spell or enchantment with malicious intent from this high up and no one would ever know (unless of course, she was being watched). A dream, her dream to burn everything to ashes beginning with the ants down below. Next, she would take the brainless soldiers by surprise. Finally, she would rid this wretched place of Loki.

Guards walked by without giving her a second glance. They must be on their way to switch shifts. She thought. Frigg paused again. She watched the guards walk past her and down the hall, they disappeared into thin air. She moved on from the balcony and reentered the TVA building getting closer to her living quarters. She stood in the long hallway and walked with caution as she always did. Paintings lined the halls with awkward gaps. The All-father Odin was obnoxiously present. Frigga graced her with her presence in the hallway lovingly. She sat poised in each painting Frigg saw her in. She smiled sweetly at her, and her honey hair was pulled back and out of her face, allowing Frigg to see her youth and how proper she actually was. The royal painters captured her charm and genuine happiness so perfectly, Frigg used to think one day Frigga would walk straight out of one of her paintings. And naturally, Loki loved his mother very much, Odin wouldn’t dare remover her for his sake. Thor was less present, a painting or two of him remained, typically the ones where they were all together or it was just Loki and Thor. Loki was littered along the hallway–being the remaining heir meant favoritism, Frigg thought. Frigg appeared in a painting or two, none of them were recent and none of them were early. They were her awkward youth years (toddler, mostly). Her mother was missing. Frigg could only assume the awkward gaps between most later Loki paintings were where her mother used to rest when she was important.

She turned her head towards the throne room door at the end of the hallway. It was a wonder how she ended up there of all places. For some reason she doesn’t remember the paintings leading to the throne room. For some reason this all felt wrong. Curiously she pushed the door open and stood awkwardly before Odin and Loki. Odin stood a few steps below the throne; an empty TVA lobby was an odd place for his throne. His chin fell lower than it usually did–assuming his blurred self was caught in midsentence. He was bitter and old. He wore white to pretend that he was pure–his purity had vanished long ago, long before Thor or Loki were even thought of. Loki stood further away from the throne, in fact, he was closer to the door than he was to his father. He twirled to look at who dared interrupt them. The green, black, and gold of his luxurious Asgardian clothing danced around him. He stood, knowing well that he was no purer than his father. The difference was that Loki was able to show that he knew while Odin lied through his teeth. Odin was a liar and lacked ability to understand anything that differed from what he knew.

“Ah, daughter.” Loki’s voice dripped with an absurd amount of love and adoration. He stepped towards her and only stopped when she backed herself into the door. “Darling, are you alright?” His love and admiration were replaced with unwanted concern.

Frigg leaned her head against the door, already devising a plan to take the long route to her living quarters. Loki’s blurry faced twisted as the atmosphere of the room slowly became thick and unpleasant because of her discomfort and skepticism. The feeling of uneasiness swelled in her throat. “Fine, I suppose. Not feeling quite like myself this afternoon.” She sighed. She wasn’t herself after her encounter in the other room. The two nuisances made her blood boil and thinking about it didn’t help. Something about that other room made her feel uneasy. Something about this room made her feel uneasy. She rested her head against the door. She felt trapped and confused.

“You must not be yourself if you feel wandering the palace in this state is a smart idea. You need to rest, you look exhausted.” Loki slowly approached her and peeled her away from the door. “Father, I must be the one to take her to her quarters. If I am able to, I will return, and we shall continue our discussion.”

Odin nodded understandingly, as if. Times have changed since Odin fathered his children, Thor and Loki. Parenting, even in royalty, is far more hands on than it used to be. Odin understood Loki’s worries–he cared about Frigg more than he did about gaining the throne. The throne virtually meant nothing to Loki anymore. In his youth he longed to rule, he longed to be equal to Thor. Older and wiser and a parent, Loki learned that life isn’t about being equal to his brother or gaining the throne. Life was about his daughter. Frigg was a motherless child; her grandmother had passed long before her birth. Loki swore up and down that Frigg and Frigga would have spent more time together than Loki had ever spent with Frigga. Loki would tell Frigg tales of his mother and reenact her teachings–the thought was that Frigg would learn the way Loki did (Frigg was far easier to teach than Loki was). The poor child was surrounded by mostly men. There were a few lovely Asgardian women who offered their support, but it just never seemed to be enough for her to grow and grasp the concept of being an Asgardian princess.

Frigg was rebellious, she always has been. She dipped her hands into every little thing and was so curious that she uncovered the history of Hel, that Loki was a Jötunn, and Odin was a notorious liar. Frigg did as Frigg pleased in a very Loki fashion; it was no doubt that she was truly her father’s daughter. The spitting image of him right down to her core... well, there were some odd differences between Loki and Frigg. Sadly, an only child. The inability to learn how to share and cooperate, the obnoxious selfishness, narcissism, being ill-mannered while still extremely smart, and a clear lack of telling someone what’s wrong. Oh wait…

Loki guided his daughter down another hallway slowly. He kept an eye on her as she took each unsteady and uncertain step as her eyes were focused on something ahead of them, even if that something was nothing. She swayed slightly. “You don’t have to lie to me.” Loki frowned at her state. “I know how hard it is to speak your mind in the presence of my father; he is very old fashioned. Unforgiving, even.”

Frigg nodded. “Of course.” Her voice trailed. Uncertainty wrapped itself around her throat like a boa constrictor around its prey. She slowly glanced at the inhabitants of the TVA passing them. They paid her no attention. “I truly just don’t feel myself.” She told him again.

“I think it is much more than that. That little job you picked up must be getting to you.” Loki sighed. “I didn’t want to say anything when you agreed to it, but I believe that place is just not for you. I understand that you want to do something great and beyond us, but that place…” Loki paused, “that place is far from great. You’ve always loved to keep yourself moving. Whether it be learning or practicing, you never sat still.”

Frigg furrowed her eyebrows. “I suppose… I don’t enjoy sitting idly, I fear I may not be the princess you hoped I would be.”

“Do what is best for you.” Loki said. “No matter what you decide, you are always going to be the princess of Asgard, and perhaps one day the queen of Jotunheim.”

Frigg nodded. “Ah, we are to move to Jotunheim one day.” She muttered and glanced up at Loki, unable to read his new expression. Something about Loki seemed off, she couldn’t quite place what was wrong with her father. She grew increasingly concerned the longer they conversed. She pushed open the bland glass doors and stood next to Loki, awaiting the next TVA taxi-esque vehicle to pull up next to them.

“That is what I hope. I don’t believe that is what’s to come. Your uncle, Thor, was to take Odin’s place on Asgard, I fear Odin won’t take to kindly to Thor’s efforts.” Loki stared out at the futuristic city that is the TVA. Tan was a very popular color; nearly all the buildings were coated in tan. “I may be the one that must take Odin’s place. If that is the case, I hope that when you’re ready I can send you off to Jotunheim.” Loki frowned.

Frigg furrowed her eyebrows. “You sound upset.”

Loki simply nodded.

The TVA vehicle pulled up to the edge of the walkway. The burnt orange door swung open automatically and allowed for Loki and Frigg to slip into the back seat. She typed her building’s code into the A.I unit’s computer. The TVA truly was a mystical place–the technology was so advanced yet so ‘80s and ‘90s. The electronics were unnecessarily chunky and not portable for the most part, but the function of these electronics was of Frigg’s dreams. A.Is that could drive and function as humans, tablets that could open portals anywhere in time and space–immaculate.

She leaned her head against the window of the vehicle and peak at the speed at which they were travelling. 70MPH and climbing, on Midgard anything over 60MPH was considered a highway or speedway and, as she was told, very unsafe to travel on. Frigg swallowed, she had travelled back and forth for a few days now, she should be used to this speed, right? Perhaps it was all of those horror stories that Tony and Stephen had told her of–including Stephen’s own vehicle horror story (except his was a cautionary tale about texting and driving and driving mountain side), and Tony’s irrational fear of having someone other than himself drive him in the event that he dies. She curled her fingers against the cool leather seat. She felt sick as she watched the buildings speed past her in a tan and grey blur. It was sad to think that she was unable to dig up the past of the TVA–oh, how much she would learn. The vehicle began to slow down as it approached the building Frigg resided in.

Frigg slid out of the vehicle and slowly pushed the building doors open. She was greeted with another boring tan and red lobby. A single person stood at the opposite end of the lobby, staring blankly at a computer screen. The walk to her room was silent and the elevator ride was even more silent. The elevator music had recently been turned off due to a number of complaints–shocking for this place, Frigg figured that these pencil pushers would be all over elevator music. The world swayed, making it hard for her to walk without stumbling.

“My darling daughter, you weren’t kidding when you said you weren’t yourself, you’re very absent minded.” Loki followed closely behind her, worried that she would trip over her own two feet.

She swiftly swung her door open and stepped inside of her TVA living quarters. Bland. She sighed and pulled herself back to reality. “Absent minded… of course I am...” Her voice trailed. She squinted back up at Loki, his face slowly drifted between faceless and noticeable features.

Loki quickly grabbed all of the books she had left on her sofa and brought them to her bookcase. “Edgard Allan Poe? A Midgardian poet. Stephen King? What is The Shining?” Loki turned to face her.

“A novel about a family who moves to a hotel. The father goes mad and tries to hurt his family. It’s a very interesting novel.” She sat on the sofa with her toes to the floor. She rubbed the palm of her hand and stared at the end table.

“Oh, two novels; Stephen King, IT.” Loki walked back towards her and sat on her bed next to her, he peaked at the book on her end table. “N. Richards. You have read everything on Asgard, haven’t you? Did you sneak these off of Midgard with help from Thor?”

Frigg barely smiled. “It feels like I’ve read everything. Asgardian literature has lost its touch. Midgardian literature still holds my interest. Poe is very fascinating… and Stephen King is so creative.” The words slipped past her lips with a slight tremor, almost as if she were afraid of what Loki would think. “I made arrangements for these.”

“Asgardian literature has always bored me. I never thought to read Midgardian literature. What do you think I would like to read from Midgard?” Loki glanced at his daughter and smiled. He was curious to see what she would recommend (perhaps it was going to be something as exciting as her Stephen King stories).

“Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, anything William Shakespeare, you might also enjoy some Edgar Allan Poe.” She started to list. She paused and thought about what else Loki might enjoy. “I think you would enjoy the concept of the Harry Potter series; you wouldn’t exactly enjoy the story. It felt mediocre at best.” She kicked her feet up and pointed her toes. Frigg avoided Loki’s gaze, something about him felt severely off, aside from the usual things that are off about him.

Loki crossed his legs. “William Shakespeare… I’ve heard that name before.”

“Mr. Stark mentioned him. It was just a day before you led the attack on Midgard where he referenced it to Thor. Wasn’t it something along the lines of Thor saying that Mr. Stark doesn’t know what he’s dealing with, in reference to you, and he says: Shakespeare in the park? Doth mother know you wear-eth her drapes?’ And then they fought.” She brought her toes back to the floor.

“And who told you that story?” Loki narrowed his eyes, amused with her memory. Selective at best.

She grinned. “Why, Mr. Stark of course. He only exaggerated the parts the involved his success.” She pulled her feet up, her heels hung on the edge of the bed, and she hugged her knees close to her.

“That man does nothing but exaggerate.” Loki smiled. “Those actions were unfavorable; I’ll be the first to admit it.” He sighed.

“Oh, and you don’t exaggerate, father?” She glanced up at Loki with her eyebrows raised. “Besides, admitting unfavorable behavior is merely a step in the right direction. Next, you need to tell Mr. Stark that you’re sorry for being a very unfavorable being.”

She silenced herself quickly and snapped her head towards her door and furrowed her eyebrows. It was rather odd for her to be bothered at this hour with there being no plans (at least none that she is aware of). She narrowly returned her attention to a faintly dissipating Loki, only for there to be another knock at the door. A slow knock that expected no reply. Silently, she crept towards the door and placed her hand on the doorknob. Something wasn’t right and it was on the tip of her tongue. It was odd, her hands were suddenly clammy, and dread pulled her stomach to the floor. She swung the door open to reveal Loki, still dressed in that god awful TVA prisoner jumpsuit. Tan and sky blue were definitely not the colors for any Loki or Loki descendant.

Her face was pale, and she glanced behind her. That Loki was no longer sitting on her sofa, instead he was just at the door, again, in that god awful TVA jumpsuit. She blinked, trying to understand what she had just seen and why she could have possibly fallen for a trick of the mind. She turned her attention back to Loki and drew her lips into a thin line.

She furrowed her eyebrows and squinted up at Loki. “What?”

Loki stood there. Stiff, rather lanky, and pathetic. “Mobius sent me. He said he had sent you, what was it that he called it… ah, a voice message because you hadn’t answered your device. Certainly, you listened to it by now?” He looked down at her, trying to intimidate her of all people in the TVA with his condescending talk about listening to a stupid little voice message. Trying to belittle her in a place where he holds no authority about a phone call. Really pathetic.

Frigg snarled and looked behind her. Her living quarters at the TVA was the size of her room back on Asgard (perhaps a bit smaller; who is even measuring?). Tan and red lined the room as if those two colors were going out of style. The sofa was snug against one of the walls, facing her well-loved bookcase on the opposite side of the room. Four doors on the other side of her living quarters, one of which was a sliding glass door that led to the balcony that offered a grand view of the TVA–very similar to the view Mobius had shown both Loki and Frigg. Her room, the bathroom, and an extra room hid behind the remaining doors. Off to the side was a kitchen and dining room, barely large enough for one and a half persons. The kitchen hid behind an undecorated half wall.

“No.” She put it simply. “What does Mobius need?”

“I would tell you, but you wouldn’t believe me if I did.” He rubbed the palm of his hand nervously. His expression dropped, almost as if he felt bad for something.

She shook her head, annoyed, and walked toward the phone that was resting on the end table next to the sofa. She pressed a few buttons and barely listened to the message Mobius had left for her.

“Frigg, it’s Mobius, I’m having a bit of trouble finding a place to stick Loki for his time here since it’s so last minute, I was hoping you’d be open to locking him in that spare room of yours while I work my magic.” Mobius chuckled. “I know this is the last thing you wanted to hear after storming out–Loki, don’t touch that–but I think this will push you in the right direction with the TVA. And it would help me out a lot.” The machine beeped at the end of the message from Mobius.

She slowly turned her head to look at Loki. “You’re joking.”

Loki shook his head and extended his arm, asking to enter the room. “May I?”

“Go back to Mobius and tell him ‘No’ for me.” Frigg walked back to the door and slammed it shut.

“I don’t want to be here just as much as you don’t want me here. I was escorted by one of those mindless soldiers.” Loki said through the door. “You don’t want me here and I get that. You heard what Mobius said, he can’t find another place for me, he’s looking for somewhere to stick me. If you’re not going to take me for me. Take me for Mobius, help him out. I’ll stay out of your way, and I won’t touch anything. Set some ground rules.”

“If I let you inside, will you be quiet?” She pressed her forehead against the door. She squeezed her eyes and sighed. She was going to regret this. But it was better than listening to whatever monologue he had yet to finish.

“Yes.” Loki sighed.

Frigg swung the door open and watched Loki drag himself to the sofa.

Loki sat on the sofa, uncomfortably silent. He shuffled through the magazines piled on the coffee table: Jet ski magazine, a collection of Mustang car magazines, and a handful of reptile magazines. He threw the stack of magazines back down and leaned back into the sofa. It was rather comfortable–perhaps these TVA slaves do understand function over presentation. Or perhaps Frigg is the one that understands that concept. Loki glanced around the small living space, it mimicked that of a small Midgardian apartment. The walls were bare, the only personality of Frigg’s living space seemed to be her magazines and a green coat hanging on the coat rack by the door.

“This is a sad little place to live, isn’t it?” Loki tried to break the suffocating silence.

Frigg walked through Loki’s line of sight and directly into the small kitchen, she stood and thought about what she wanted to snack on and thought about whether or not she would even interact with him. She was growing furious with having to keep Loki in her little TVA apartment, she may have been alright with it if he wasn’t a Loki. The part of her that longed for external innocence and purity wanted to see that goodness in Loki; she wanted to see that he was able to change who he was for the better.

“That’s not being quiet.” She spoke.

Frigg aggressively grabbed a 4-cup measuring cup and swung the refrigerator door open. The clattering was noticeable and loud, Loki cringed at clanging glass and glass scraping across the countertop.

“What are you doing in there?” Loki turned his body towards the kitchen and peered over the half wall that obstructed his view.

“Pouring liquid.” She mumbled.

She squatted to be eye-level with the cup. She poured the milk and put the carton back in the door. She slid the measuring cup into the microwave and let it run for a few minutes. While she was warming up with milk quickly, she searched the pantry for her box of powdered chocolate. She hated them almost as much as she hated Mobius and Loki combined.

Loki faced the kitchen again when the microwave went off. “What is that?”

“The microwave. Never heard one before?” Frigg mocked him and stood up and threw the packets on the counter and pulled the measuring cup from the microwave. She placed a knee on the counter and hoisted herself up. She swung the overhead cabinet door open, nearly knocking herself down in the process.

“What in the world are you doing?” Loki nearly jumped over the counter to grab her upon hearing the noise. He had never witnessed himself move so quickly in his life. Loki froze in place and watched her in awe of her stupidity.

Frigg grasped the lip of the overhead counter with her dominant hand and pulled two mugs from the top shelf down. She shakily placed them next to her then jumped down. She slammed the cabinet closed and finished preparing their drinks. She turned to the pantry again and grabbed a bag of miniature marshmallows–that she was saving for something other than this–and opened them. She plopped a handful of mini marshmallows on the tops of their drinks. She walked into the living room with both mugs in her hands and stood in front of Loki.

“Here.” She handed one of the mugs to him.

Loki took the warm mug from her and inspected the contents. “What exactly did you make? And why in all the nine realms did you make it so violently?”

“A Midgardian winter drink.” She sat down on the sofa with the mug between her hands. “They call it hot chocolate. It can be very sweet or very decadent depending on the type of chocolate used.”

Loki looked down at her with a raised eyebrow. “I see. And is this sweet or decadent?”

Frigg stuck her tongue in her drink. “It’s very hot.”

Loki sat back down on the sofa and flashed an amused grin. Little things she did told him that she was still a child on the inside, even if she was most certainly capable of being a monster on the outside. “Well, it certainly feels warm.”

“It’s a sweet chocolate. Unfortunately, here at the TVA, I can’t get my hands on decadent chocolates. Only the powdered hot chocolate packets. It’s most certainly not the same as real decadent chocolate.” Frigg sipped a few marshmallow pieces off the top of her drink. She scrunched her nose at the heat of the chocolate, she forgets to let it sit because she gets so excited to drink something so lovely. The powdered chocolate isn’t as lovely as melted chocolate, sometimes she gets clumps of powders because she didn’t mix it enough and sometimes the drink as a whole is just grainy.

Loki stared at the drink. “What makes you think that I’ll like this?”

“If you don’t, I get two drinks and you get nothing, assuming you have never seen a kitchen in your life.” She sipped her hot chocolate again and smiled at the warmth despite the burning sensation in her throat.

Loki glanced at her then back at the mug. “Right.” He sipped his hot chocolate and looked at her, slightly surprised. “Oh.”

“Well, that was anticlimactic.” Frigg almost smiled.

“This is good.” Loki said.

Frigg nodded. “I figured. My Loki adored sweets from Midgard. I was never a fan of the pure sugar taste that he was a fan of. I preferred decadent, rich chocolates and caramels. Butterscotch is up there as well. The only sugary sweet I am truly fond of is the marshmallow.”

“Marshmallow?” Loki furrowed his eyebrows.

“The white topping on your hot chocolate. There were mini marshmallows, the heat of the drink tends to melt them. It’s literally made out of sugar, water, and gelatin.” Frigg pointed to the remaining specks in her mug.

“Do you eat them outside of hot chocolate?” He asked.

Frigg nodded. “Alone or in s’mores.” She paused. “The definition of a s’more is a different conversation. When I was younger, before I even knew what Midgard was, I thought Asgard was the home of these sweets with the way Loki presented them. Now, after knowing about Midgard and living on Midgard, I see that he was just in the middle of some kind of sugar high when she spoke greatly about sweets. Midgard is rather lovely, compared to Asgard.”

Loki laughed. “You think Midgard is lovely?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “They have chocolate.”

Loki stared at the contents of his mug. “I suppose that is a good reason. This drink is delightful.” Loki paused.

“I am going to rip your hands off if you even think about smashing that mug on the floor and demanding another.” Frigg glanced over at him.

“No, I wasn’t going to–.” Loki defended himself. “I’m simply stating that this drink is delightful. It’s just very hot and you must teach me how to make this.”

Frigg raised an eyebrow. “That sounds like a bonding activity. Besides, if you’re lucky enough to find the box of hot chocolate packets, the packet has instructions on it. Very simple really. After that it’s just a matter of ‘how long will it take Loki to navigate the kitchen and also figure out how much eight ounces actually is’.”

Loki pursed his lips and nodded slowly. “That’s how you think of me. I’m sure I can figure it all out without your help.” He glanced at her. “What’s your game?”

Frigg looked forward and maintained a blank expression. “There’s no game. But just remember, I am nothing more than a piece of a Loki. I can simply turn around and betray you while you enjoy the warmth that the hot chocolate brings. It reminds you of the warmth of your mother–would be a shame to harm you while your mind wanders to her.” She turned her head slightly. “It reminds you of being surrounded by others, by those you want around you. You feel alone, Laufeyson, and that is something I like to use to my advantage. Loneliness makes you vulnerable and more susceptible to tricks and traps. Mobius has slipped my grasp once so far because of that stupid Judge Renslayer; he’s in love with her. And for some reason he sees good in you–a goodness that I do not think I’ll ever see in you.”

She drew her lips into a thin line and looked forward at her bookcase. “Mobius can’t escape the inevitable truth that I will pull his strings by the end of this because Judge Renslayer will drop him faster. And he can’t escape the inevitable truth that you are no more than a blubbering Loki with dreams of taking some kind of throne–being Thor’s equal or not, you want the TVA in your gasp, and you will stop at nothing to achieve it.” She glanced at Loki. “I will stop at nothing to get what I deserve and bring the TVA–and you, by default–what they deserve. Squashed like puny ants, burned to the ground, death. I will gain my glorious purpose that they so hastily stole from me. You won’t be around to see it.” She mused.

Loki stared at her, eyebrows knitted together and a slight frown. “I don’t know who you think you are, but none of that is going to happen if we don’t work together. Forget Mobius, work with me. I’ll give you the world–Midgard, Asgard, you name it–once I have control of the TVA.” He returned his attention to his slow to cool drink.

“Then allow me, at the end of your little game against these morons, to behead Judge Renslayer myself. I want her fucking head on a stick.” Frigg laughed.

Loki nodded. “And I’ll let you do just that.”

Frigg scoffed. “But…I will never trust you and I gave you two reasons why. My life and your not-so-secret motive to control the highest power.” She placed her mug on a TVA propaganda coaster. “You really don’t understand, do you?”

“You don’t believe that I am all bad, do you?” Loki asked, vulnerable and weak. Nearly questioning himself now that she has no faith in his ability to comprehend even the simplest of things.

She shook her head. “Oh, I think you and all your lovely Loki variants are far worse than you could ever imagine. Attacking Thor and calling it brotherly shenanigans, attacking New York just recently by allying yourself with humanities biggest threat, Thanos; in the future you let the Dark Elves roam Asgard and accidentally kill your mother. What else? You pretend to be Odin, leaving him in some Midgard home for elders only for him to die and unleash Hel. Sorry, Hela where you’re from.” She frowned at Loki. The list could go on, but she opted to stop at the mention of Thor’s half-sister Hela. Loki had a track record for not doing what was right.

“I get it.” Loki said quietly.

“You’re weak, Loki. You’re so quick to bow down and tremble before someone much more powerful than you. What will you do when you face the Timekeepers, hm? Quiver your lip and beg for them to have mercy on your damned soul?” She threw her head back and laughed at the possibility. “What will you do when the Timekeepers turn out to be the most powerful beings of all time. Loki, you’re no match for them. Not alone, and I refuse to help you reach your newfound glorious purpose when I will get nothing in return. I know you, the minute I am no longer useful, I’m gone.” She grinned and looked down at her hands.

Loki looked away. “You’re wrong about me.”

Chapter Text

Loki sat back in the desk chair and put his feet on the desk. The computer (a very ‘90s looking computer: clunky) illuminated his face with its subtle flashing orange screen. Across the aisle, Frigg leaned against an unoccupied cubicle and watched him fail at being interested by his TVA training material; she watched them upon her recruitment, she knew how boring this TVA propaganda is. The videos were tedious, but very informative. Pruning sticks, the timeline reset thingamajigs, and other TVA technology that may be of use to her in the near future. The information about the nexus events and the consequences are less need-to-know, but still, Frigg will take in any information like a sponge and find a way to use it to her advantage. That is the plan after all. She yawned and glanced inside the cubicle behind her, a nice grey among the tans and reds. She pulled the chair toward her by the arm and sat down.

Frigg mouthed the words along with the live hologram of Miss Minutes, the holographic clock that talked. The clock struck Frigg as weird, she didn’t look like a normal Midgardian clock. She had one too many hour ticks (maybe more than one, but Frigg wasn’t exactly counting, nor does she really remember what a Midgardian clock looks like). Frigg always assumed, since her arrival, that the TVA was kind of a “null” time space based off of the whispers from trapped residents. Time didn’t seem to move; the hours were identical to one another, and the light never changed. She was lucky to still have some kind of sleep-wake cycle. She had no way of knowing if these TVA slaves had their own sleep-wake cycle; that was rather and odd and intrusive question to ask. But it felt out of place to her to knowingly be the only one with a sleep-wake cycle in a vast bubble full of walking suits. Perhaps time did flow differently in the TVA, and it wasn’t just a saying that Mobius had repeated multiple times and it wasn’t just whispers from suits that she passed by. It was like gospel to Mobius. Time flows differently in the TVA this, time flow differently in the TVA that.

Time doesn’t move in the TVA. The numbers on the screen may appear to change and the hands on the large TVA clock may appear to move, but they don’t. It’s an elaborate trick conjured by the weak to instill fear in those who wander the grounds of the TVA.

“Okay, Loki, let’s go over everything you’ve learned today.” Miss Minutes spoke as Loki’s last video stopped playing. “What happens when a nexus event branches past the red line?” Miss Minutes glanced at Frigg, who continued to mock her, even when she told her to stop. “Quit that!” She pointed a finger at her.

Frigg looked away with raised eyebrows and pursed lips, she rested her chin on her hand. She felt the eyes of Loki and the see-through eyes of Miss Minutes on her as she played it off. She would laugh if she wasn’t put on the spot or if laughing to Frigg wasn’t some kind of silly display of weakness.

“Answer the question, Loki.” Frigg looked back at the pair after they looked away.

Frigg pulled herself away from Loki and Miss Minutes and stared at the tan floor. “Today” Miss Minutes said. Frigg stared at the holographic clock with narrow eyes. Today.

“Awfully bad things will happen to everyone and the timeline they’re in.” Loki rolled his head back and looked at the ceiling and tried to avoid the review. It was excruciatingly boring. Nexus event this, reset that. TVA job this, Timekeepers that. Pruning this, portal doohickey that. Loki brought his feet down from the desk, sliding a few unimportant papers off of the desk and into the walkway. He pushed the chair over to the loose pieces of paper and picked them up. “This is the dumbest thing I’ve ever been part of.” He muttered.

“Come on, Loki, what’s the real answer?” Miss Minutes look down at him.

Loki slowly sat back up in the desk chair and glared at the hologram, he scoffed as if the damn thing had just insulted him. “It’s when we can no longer reset the nexus event.” He sighed and switched the loose sheets of paper for a jet ski magazine. He furrowed his eyebrows at the cover of the magazine and flipped through it.

“More or less. I’m assuming it’s more along the lines of catastrophe, death, and universal destruction.” Frigg piped up with a smirk. “Or perhaps they word it as multiversal destruction.”

Miss Minutes shook her head at Loki and Frigg. “Don’t help him, you already know the answers.” Miss Minutes hissed. “Passing the redline would lead to the destruction of the timeline and the collapse of reality as we know it.” She clasped her hands together and pointed towards Loki. Miss Minutes glanced at Frigg with an annoyed expression–or at least the most annoyed expression she could muster having the face and body of a clock.

“Can you hear me? Is that not what I just said?” Loki looked at Miss Minutes and sat forward. He waved his hand in front of Miss Minutes and watched her eye movement. “Can it hear me?” Loki looked over Frigg and pointed at Miss Minutes.

“First of all, that’s not what you said, that’s what I said. Give credit where credit is due.” Frigg crossed her arms.

“Yes, I can here you.” Miss Minutes sighed.

“Can you see me?” He asked.

Miss Minutes looked away from Loki, still annoyed. “Yes, I can see you.”

Loki brought his hand down. “I was under the impression that you were just a recording. Are you? Or are you alive?”

Miss minutes put a hand under her mouth. “A bit of both.”

Loki rolled up the magazine and began to swat at Miss Minutes. “Frigg! Stop him!” Miss Minutes yelped, dodging Loki’s swats. “You’re being rude, Loki!” She hissed at the God of Mischief. She jumped and dodged every swat–which was slightly impressive because Loki’s swats were sporadic and uncoordinated.

Frigg waved the holographic clock off. “I believe you have this under control, ma’am.” She laughed at the misfortune of the holographic clock. She just barely smiled at this Loki variant as he tortured the clock–it was almost refreshing to see a fun Loki. Her Loki would most likely never give the clock a passing glance and he would have made it a point to criticize her chaperoning skills.

Miss Minutes jumped onto a pile of papers. “Watch it!”

Loki grinned and continued to swat Miss Minutes. He knocked a few loose sheets of paper onto the floor as he swatted the stack of papers. “This is fun.”

“That’s not nice!” Miss minutes jumped away from Loki again.

Mobius walked up to them and smiled at Loki. He rested his arms on the cubicle that Frigg occupied and looked down at her. “How’s his training going?” He asked as Miss Minutes disappeared with a huff.

Frigg shrugged her shoulders and rolled her head towards Mobius. “He could be doing better. He’s bored, maybe we need to let him experience some time-related catastrophe. Put him in a nexus event and not grab him. That would make him understand, wouldn’t it?”

“Hey.” Loki looked over at her, slightly offended.

Mobius looked between the two mischievous variants and shook his head. “Put this on.” He handed Loki a folded-up suit jacket. Mobius leaned towards Frigg and whispered: “It says variant in big orange letters.” He snickered with Frigg as they watched Loki.

“How do I look?” Loki asked with his arms outstretched.

Frigg scrunched her nose. “Tan is not your color.” She smiled in disgust, there wasn’t much she could say; when she was given a replacement for the tan jumpsuit, it was a tan pantsuit. Recently she had Mobius pull some strings and get her an emerald pantsuit instead. She was more than happy to get into her new suit once she returns to her quarters.

Mobius extended his hand, pointed downward and made a circular motion with his finger. “Turn around. Let us see the back of it.”

Loki turned around and looked back at them, he caught a glimpse of the charming orange letters. “Charming...”

“Gather your minutemen, we have a problem.” Frigg adjusted her appropriately sized (translation: TVA approved) horned helm as she walked past Mobius with Hunter B-15 following close behind her.

Mobius raised a finger and opened his mouth to speak and perhaps question why Hunter B-15 was following her so closely but decided against it. Or perhaps he was going to question what the situation was considering he had no idea that there even was a situation. How odd. He swiftly walked in the opposite direction to gather Loki and the few stragglers of his team for the problem.

Frigg stood at their departure point and watched as the handful of stragglers group together before her. They dressed like clumsy soldiers; helmets (with a very similar silhouette to Death Star pilots–God, there’s a lot of Midgardian popular culture references in Frigg’s mind), plastic looking vests and shoulder coverings, a plastic release buckle belt holding their TemPads and other TVA devices, and more plastic and more cloth. Mobius and Loki finally ran into view, they slowed down upon seeing everyone simply waiting for their arrival.

“A green suit, suits you.” Loki told her as he and Mobius approached. “Wait, she wasn’t wearing that earlier. How how’s that fair?” He pointed at her suit then motioned to his own.

“She’s been here longer. She’s also my favorite.” Mobius kept his response short and simple as time was of the essence. Except it wasn’t, they had time on their side. “Why wasn’t I informed of this problem, Miss Lokidottir?”

Frigg shot daggers at Mobius before she began to speak. “Seasoned minutemen, Mobius, and Loki. This is going to be a relative standard operation. While I debrief you, B-15 is pinpointing the exact location of the nexus event. The Loki variant you all so lovingly keep failing to capture is the reason for our gathering here and is the reason that I am running point on this operation today. In the past, you have caught various Loki’s at all power levels and forms. Mobius, if you can.” She looked over at Mobius expectantly.

“Oh.” Mobius pulled out a small projector from his pocket and showed each Loki variant they have reset: a runty Jötunn, a troll, an athlete, and most notably a normal sized Jötunn.

“Do you just carry that around?” Loki asked.

Mobius nodded. “Yeah, I do, actually. It’s helpful.”

“Each Loki has reportedly been stronger than the last, more well versed in their own physical or magical abilities. Typically, the larger the creature the stronger it is physically and the smaller the creature the stronger it is magically.” She crossed her arms. “Every single Loki has had some kind of downfall, and the most common downfall has been arrogance and narcissism, allowing an easier capture. This Loki right in front of us is neither strong nor magically inclined, nor does he have the intellect to deceive you all. He has a one-track mind, so it won’t be hard to differentiate him from the variant we are chasing today. Not only that–Loki, turn around–he’s wearing this.” Frigg smiled.

Loki turned around. “Funny.”

“Variant, in bold. You can face us again.” She spoke.

Loki turned back and faced the group once more. “Childish.”

“This one Loki variant has slipped from your grasp far too many times to count–that’s nicely assuming any of you can count. And each time this variant slips away, a… um…” Frigg paused and snapped her fingers, trying to remember simple terminology.

“Reset charge.” Mobius said.

Frigg nodded. “Each time this variant slips away, a reset charge is taken. Currently, there is no theory or hypothesis as to why the variant needs all of these reset charges. Well, I could think of some, but I’ve been told that I’m no longer allowed to make you all feel incompetent for not coming up with even the simplest ideas.” She eyed Mobius. “With all of this in mind, do not fall for any tricks and hijinks. If you are suspicious of something, stay suspicious. Since this Loki variant has to come along–.”

Disgruntled murmurs from the minutemen made both Mobius and Frigg smile. “Don’t worry, Miss Lokidottir and I will babysit him.”

Frigg snapped her head towards Mobius, no longer smiling. “Pardon?” She pointed to herself. “I’m babysitting him with you? No, you’re babysitting him and if he plays any games, it’s your head, not mine.”

Mobius raised his arms defensively. “I will babysit him, your highness.”

“Don’t patronize me, Mobius.” She hissed at him. “Now, since this Loki has to come along, do not hesitate to punch him for crossing any lines. Keep your eyes open, watch for specific magics such as illusion-projection and duplication-projection, basic enchantments, and shapeshifting. Do not fall for any trick or I will personally put you weak-minded fools six feet under.”

Mobius smiled. “That was a great debriefing.”

“You seem to have a lot of confidence in these soldiers capturing the variant this time versus all the times they have failed, why?” Loki stepped forward. He leaned forward almost hinting at something.

Frigg crossed here arms. “As long as you sit and do absolutely nothing, all will be fine, and we might have the chance to capture the variant. Worst case scenario, the variant is long gone. Just remember who’s in charge here.” She said in a low voice.

“They’re setting you up for failure.” Loki matched her volume.

“Alright, we’re going to break into teams, including Loki and I.” Mobius squeezed himself into the conversation with a chuckle.

“Absolutely not.” Frigg said. “I’m giving Loki to Hunter B-15 if we’re splitting into teams.”

Mobius put his hands in his pockets and rocked onto his heels. “Look, I know you don’t trust him, or anyone, and you think something bad will happen if you don’t have full control, but it’ll be fine.”

“That sounds comforting.” Hunter B-15 snorted and glanced over at Frigg and passed her a set of daggers. “I’ll stay with them.”

Frigg pursed her lips. “Hunter B-15 understands my concerns. Thank you.” She looked at Hunter B-15 and pocketed her daggers.

Loki examined the minutemen, Mobius, and Frigg. “Do I get a weapon?”

Frigg exchanged a looked a disappointed with Mobius. Why Mobius? Mobius brought this Loki to the “team” of her and Mobius and now they have to deal with idiotic comments and questions. “No. You and I are about to step into a realm where magic works, why do you need a weapon when you can simply wave your glowing green hands and conjure a weapon at will or do something magnificent?”

“Is no one else concerned about me having my magic back?” Loki stepped forward. “What if I betray you?”

Mobius chuckled. “We can catch you and why would you betray us when you have a chance to see the Timekeepers?” He shifted his weight from heel to toe and smirked at Loki. “If you’re so worried about your magic, we can put a magic-blocking collar on you.”

Loki widened his eyes. “Meeting the Timekeepers is on the table?”

“It could be,” Mobius said, “if you don’t betray us.”

Loki looked down and sighed, “Ah.” He glanced over at Frigg. “Why does she get daggers?”

“Don’t let your eyes deceive you.” Frigg turned on her heel.

Loki sent her a pointed look. “I would know when I’m imagining things.”

“Fine. I have weapons because I am less likely to betray Mobius and the minutemen. I am trustworthy… perhaps that’s something you should try being?” Frigg proposed, adjusting her suit jacket.

Loki scoffed. “Trustworthy.”

Hunter B-15 showed Frigg her TemPad. “Apex of nexus signature located. I’ll send us there now.” She opened a portal in front of Frigg.

Frigg led the minutemen through the pastel orange portal. They marched directly onto a renaissance festival. Frigg glanced around at the festival; the dollar store dresses clashed against the authentic cosplay dresses. The smell of turkey legs made her scrunch her nose–turkey legs at a renaissance festival, how does that make sense? She shook her head. Two minutemen took their place in front of her and guided the through the festival. Frigg looked around at the dark wood against the half dead location of the festival as she followed the leading minutemen. How sad and how bland that makes the festival.

“Let me ask you something.” Loki picked up his pace to walk behind Frigg and in front of Mobius. He hoped his question would trip her up or delay the mission to some extent–just to see what would happen. “Why don’t we just travel back to before the attack? You know, when the variant first arrives?”

Frigg closed her eyes, pained. “He didn’t watch the videos all the way through.” She whispered to herself. She glanced back at Loki with tired eyes. “We can’t do that. The nexus event caused by the variant branched away from the timeline, creating a fragile and unstable branch.” She explained with her hands. She used one hand to represent the sacred timeline and her other to represent a growing branch.

“Not to mention,” Mobius said, “this branch is still changing and growing, so you have to show up in real time. As Frigg tried to whisper, you didn’t watch the training videos, did you?”

Loki sent him a closed lip smile. “Well, as many as I could stand. This TVA propaganda is exhausting.”

Frigg held up one of Hunter B-15’s reset charges. “And what is this? What does it do?”

Loki thought for a moment. “Reset charges prune the affected radius of a branched timeline, allowing time to heal its wounds. Isn’t that just a nice way to say it disintegrates everything in the vicinity?”

“More or less.” Frigg agreed.

Mobius patted Loki’s back. “He’s getting it. Seems like you might’ve been right about him needing hands on experience to get it.”

Frigg rolled her eyes. “Imagine that.”

They approached a circus-esque tent that radiated with variant energy (according to the TemPad in Hunter B-15’s hands). The minutemen fanned out and secured the edges of the tent to ensure that Mobius, Frigg, and Hunter B-15 are safe while they investigate the crime scene. Frigg walked around, seemingly aimlessly, and looked at things from above and looked for something that was out of place. If she were this variant, she would always put something out of place up above–no one looks up these days. Not paying attention, Frigg kicked a helmet. She picked up the helmet and grasped it in both hands. She turned to face Mobius, Loki, and a few of the minutemen with her back now towards the rest of them.

Hunter B-15 looked at Frigg and stepped forward. “The variant is taking hostages?”

“I don’t know if we can classify this as a hostage situation. This is Hunter C-20s. Knowing her, she fought to Hel.” Frigg handed the helmet to Mobius. “I know you and Hunter B-15 knew Hunter C-20 the best, what do you make of it?”

Mobius took the helmet from her hands. “The variant has never taken a hostage before. He couldn’t have…” His voice trailed off.

“He couldn’t have pruned C-20…” Hunter B-15 said softly, almost disappointedly; she said what Mobius was thinking. “I agree, I don’t think it’s a hostage situation.”

Frigg circled and inspected the ground for further evidence. “If it is, it’s a new tactic. The variant wants us to be off guard because Hunter C-20 held importance to the most active team in the TVA.” She tapped her lips.

“He could have pruned her if not taken her hostage.” One of the minutemen behind Frigg spoke.

Mobius shook his head. If Hunter C-20 was pruned, the helmet wouldn’t be present. “Fan out and search for her. Just in case.”

Hunter B-15 looked down at the TemPad. “Make it quick, we’re three units away from the redline.”

A handful of minutemen nodded and headed towards the exit of the tent to fan out. Frigg dashed in front of the exit to the tent. “Not so fast. I want you lot to scan the inside of the tent for residue.”

“Residue?”

“Nothing nasty, just–ugh, Hunter D-90 come here.” Frigg held out her hand for Hunter D-90s TemPad. He obliged. “I took it upon myself to upgrade the newest batch of TemPads that Judge Renslayer approved for use. They’re exclusive to this team because I got rather lazy. Click the little switch up top and you can scan the ground for footprints and trails. The red is really what you’re going to be looking for – it’s actually a type of thermal imaging. See, when I point it at where you walked towards me, your steps are red, that’s the kind of thing I need you to look for. With all of you scanning you can check the outside as well.”

“Wait, did you upgrade my TemPad?” Mobius asked.

“No, you’re not special.” Frigg smiled.

Loki looked around the tent, focused on wasting their time. “If you leave this tent, you’ll end up just like the minutemen before you.” He called to the minutemen; they froze in place and waited for more information or a nod to continue.

Frigg narrowed her eyes. She sensed foul play. Loki was a man of many things, and foul play was of those many things. Frigg would have been convinced immediately if she didn’t know any better. They were incompetent to believe a clown like Loki. Loki had an opinion and the whole world seemed to have stopped to hear his opinion–Frigg gagged at the thought of taking his opinion seriously. There was a motive behind what he was to say, and Frigg was determined to figure it out.

“If you’re going to listen to this clown, search and listen at the same time.” Frigg barked at the idle minutemen.

“Explain that to me since I’m not allowed to have fun with her thermal TemPad upgrade.” Mobius stood in front of Loki with Hunter B-15 by his side, the pair blocked Loki’s view of the disapproving Frigg.

“I see a scheme, and in that scheme, I see myself. We have a saying in Asgard, ‘Where there are wolf's ears, wolf's teeth are near.’ It means to be aware of your surroundings. Which is absurd, because my people are, by nature, gullible fools. A trait that I, the God of Mischief, exploited time and time again simply by listening. My teeth were sharp, but my ears even sharper.” Loki explained.

“Mobius.” Hunter B-15 spoke up.

“Let him.” Mobius smiled at Loki.

“You remind me of them. The Time Variance Authority and the gods of Asgard, one and the same. Drunk with power, blinded to the truth. Those you underestimate will devour you. You underestimate me, just as you underestimate this lesser Loki. Which is why you walk into one wolf's mouth after another.” Loki continued.

Frigg scoffed. “He’s playing. No one uses that quote anymore. Keep scanning, men. Notify me if you get anything.”

Mobius turned to face Frigg and winked as if he knew he was getting played by the God of Mischief.

Frigg shook her head and whispered to Hunter B-15: “Reset charge, we’ve lost this one before we even got out here. Watch them.”

Hunter B-15 nodded and unclipped a reset charge from her utility belt. “Two units from red. He’s wasting our time and we need to find C-20.”

Frigg squinted at the exit of the tent. Just below the flaps a shadow walked past with heavy footsteps. She conjured an illusion of herself still standing behind Mobius and slipped past the few minutemen that remained within the tent to accompany Hunter B-15, Mobius, and Loki. She pushed the tent flaps aside and looked to either side of her. She stepped into a bone-dry Renaissance Festival and let the flaps fall behind her and sway and hit her ankles–before the festival was sort of lively and full of people that were not part of the TVA. Costumes, food, and laughter galore. But now the festival was empty, perhaps Frigg was missing something here. Frigg turned toward her right and foolishly followed the shadow around towards the backside of the tent.

“Stop.” She called after the shadow. “Stay where you are.”

The shadow inched forward before it stopped in its tracks and stared at Frigg with it’s shadowed face, it was rather lifeless and cold. It didn’t utter a word, but Frigg could tell it was prepared for something. The shadow lifted its hand to reveal a TemPad and it opened a portal. It turned away from Frigg and walked through the portal, purposely dropping something as it walked through. Frigg stepped toward the dropped item as the portal closed inches away from her face, and she picked it up. She examined the small item–it was a plastic hair claw about the size of the tip of Frigg’s middle finger. She had only ever seen those types of hair accessories on Midgard. Within the hair claw was a small wad. She pinched the hair claw and shook the wad onto her hand and rolled it between her palm and the back of her other hand. Hard paper. Frigg stuffed the hair claw into her pocket and unfolded the paper.

“Good luck finding me, variant.” The note read.

Frigg laughed at the variants attempts to get them to rest their hunt. “Clever.” She turned on her heel and walked back towards the tent. “But you’re not hiding in the ‘90s.” Frigg looked up and squinted at one of the minutemen jogging toward her.

“Miss Lokidottir, I’ve found something.” The minuteman approached Frigg. He showed her a saved thermal scan of the ground just outside of the tent going left–opposite of where Frigg turned–and it appears to be a trail of footsteps partially covered by a large, moving objects trail. “I’ve sent some men after the tracks, but we came up with nothing. They just disappeared toward the portable bathrooms.”

Frigg nodded slowly. “Because the variant has a TemPad. Good work, now we can assume that it is a hostage situation. I highly doubt that the variant would drag a dead body with them. Round up your men, I’m sure this little adventure is over inside the tent.”

“Yes, ma’am.” The minuteman nodded and whistled at the minutemen that remained outside. Slowly they all closed their new TemPads and approached Frigg and the minuteman standing beside her. Frigg turned on her heel and walked back into the tent to see that nothing has changed. The minutemen that searched the outside with her filed into the tent behind her. Loki was still trying to fool Mobius and Hunter B-15 with his story about how the variant they are chasing needs him in order to succeed.

Mobius turned away from Loki. “Alright, go ahead, reset and head back.” He turned back to face Loki. “I’ve got to admit, you had me for a second. It’s a good thing no one else here trusts you. Her ears are sharp,” he pointed at Frigg, “and so are mine.” He pointed to himself.

“Waste of time.” Hunter B-15 muttered.

“She wasn’t even here to listen.” Loki argued.

Mobius shook his head. “I saw her standing behind B-15 this whole time.”

Murmurs from the minutemen formed new, disappointed background noise. The minutemen followed Frigg through the portal back to the TVA, leaving Mobius and Loki to enter last. The minutemen walked past Frigg, Mobius, and Loki in a blur. She was angry with the agent and the God of Mischief. Without a forethought, Frigg pushed Loki into the wall and looked up at him, pushing a dagger to his throat. She gritted her teeth and gripped him as tight as she could with her one hand. If she were stronger, she would have put Loki through the wall; fortunately for Loki, she was relatively weak without magic, just strong enough to push him around, and he was lucky that she was so small.

“You imbecile.” She hissed.

Mobius pulled her off of Loki and pulled the dagger out of her hand. “I know you’re mad.”

Frigg faced Mobius and laughed. “Mad? I’m furious Mobius. This could have been our one shot if he hadn’t distracted you. This could’ve been our one shot if you hadn’t listened to him and his ridiculous story and told Hunter B-15 to wait. You talk, talk, talk and overshadow me because these absolute morons would rather listen to you than the one leading the god damn mission.” She pushed a finger against his chest. “You are lucky I don’t trust a single person here.”

“You trust me.” Mobius stated.

Frigg pulled away from Mobius. “Trust? That’s not what this is. I follow you because I have no choice. I’m a trainee, and you’re the trainer. Judge Renslayer is making sure that I am following you as close as I can without stabbing you because I’m too close.” She turned away from Mobius and pulled her TVA approved helm off of her head. “Neither of you seem to understand a lick of what is going on. This Loki variant is jumping from time period to time period. Taking your soldiers, Mobius. None of us can catch this superior Loki; not me, and definitely not you,” she pointed at Loki, “and not even him.”

“If I may.” Loki interrupted.

“Not a chance.” Frigg whipped around to face Loki. “Say a word and you won’t be able to speak again.” She held the points of her helm against his throat and upper chest.

Mobius placed a hand on her shoulder and pulled the helm from her grasp. “Don’t make a mess.”

Frigg pulled away from Mobius and yanked her helm of his hands. “Don’t. You’re supposed to be Judge Renslayer’s best analyst and yet here you are playing hide and seek with the variant! Even if the variant was never at the festival, there could have been more clues than what these stupid soldiers have found. But these fucking soldiers fear their own shadows, so this Loki telling at least half of them something about the variant to scare them back in the tent, it’s… ridiculous! And you have done nothing but pick up some stowaways–me and this clown.” She poked Loki’s chest with the horns of her helm. She was furious at Mobius, furious with Loki and his existence, and just overall furious with the TVA. Judge Renslayer was watching from the shadows with the Timekeepers while Frigg was pulling her hair out with holding back at the request of Judge Renslayer.

“She said that?” Mobius asked.

Frigg threw her helm on the ground, a single horn of the helm wedged itself into the floor where two tiles meet. “You’re so infuriating! I was supposed to run point and yet the two of you get all loopy when you’re in the same room as each other. I think you,” she pointed at Mobius, “need to step down from your position and let someone else play babysitter. You obviously can’t handle him properly.”

“Now, Frigg–.” Mobius changed his tone.

“Don’t you play the role of daddy with me, Mobius. You can’t run this operation as well as you think you can. What? You just wanted a feel for what Loki would do? Embarrass me in front of the watchful eyes of the Timekeepers and Judge Renslayer when I have a chance at something? Or, what, you thought Loki had a good bone in his stupid body?” She backed away from Mobius and Loki.

Mobius inhaled. “If you would just–.”

Frigg shook her head. “Listen? Let’s start with you listening to me for once Mobius. And you,” she pointed at Loki, “are just another insufferable bastard. One trick after another. ‘Look, everybody, it’s me, Loki! Watch as I mysteriously make a mess out of everything I’m included in!’ One attempt after another. I should see to it that you never get an audience with the Timekeepers.” She stepped forward again and yanked her horned helm out of the floor.

“I can explain–.” Loki tried to speak.

“Don’t.” She cut him off.

Loki raised his eyebrows. “Where were you exactly?”

Frigg looked over at Mobius. “Mobius, your expert is nothing but a liar. I mean, what else did you except from a Loki? Really? The God of Mischief doing something other than lying?” She laughed. “That’s all he does. That thing has no truthful bone in his body. You’re a fool.”

Mobius looked down in shame. Ignoring Frigg was one thing but ignoring her and nearly jeopardizing the mission was even worse. He bit his top lip followed by a half-assed pout. Under fire by a child–how embarrassing. Mobius had never felt this low before, he had never had a reason to. After failing to catch this one variant for so long, it was routine to feel disappointed in himself and his team, but to feel like this… he didn’t even know what this feeling was. Guilt? Regret? A mixture of many similar emotions?

Loki remained silent. His faced twisted into one of concern and confusion.

Chapter Text

“What do you think they’re talking about?” Loki looked at Frigg from across the small area just outside of Judge Renslayer’s office. He bounced his leg in anticipation of her answer and of fear of what was being said beyond the door. The worst-case scenario was that he was to be pruned. The best-case scenario was that he was stuck here “helping” them. Actually, that best-worst case scenario only applies to Loki, for Frigg it’s quite the opposite. The best-case scenario would be his pruning and the worst-case would be that he was stuck here.

Frigg ignored his gaze. At the very least, she could have been invited in that office and allowed to discuss whatever it was that they were discussing. This was her mission. Her first solo mission, except it wasn’t really a solo mission. Loki and Mobius had ruined her chances at gaining Judge Renslayer’s trust–or perhaps, she hoped, that this meant Mobius had lost Judge Renslayer’s trust indefinitely and she had gained some kind of trust from the judge. She inhaled deeply and closed her eyes. There was a chance Frigg was overacting about the whole thing, there was no way Judge Renslayer would side against her and view her as a failure when Mobius and Loki were attached at the hip already. Mobius on the other hand, would be the person one would set up for failure for no particular reason (it’s Frigg, she would set him up for failure). On the other hand, it was rather clear that Judge Renslayer and Mobius were close…

After considering the only angle she could see, Frigg now desperately wanted to know what was being said behind the door, just as Loki wanted to know. She leaned back in the chair and crossed her legs. She kept her eyes on the door handles.

“Are you ignoring me?” Loki leaned forward and asked. He waited impatiently for her to answer. “Are you suddenly incapable of hearing?”

She huffed and shifted her eyes to his direction. “I can hear you perfectly fine. I am indeed ignoring you. Sitting across from you is the last place I want to be.”

Loki looked down at his hands for a brief moment. “What’s wrong with you?” The words slipped out of his mouth faster than he could think of something better to say. He didn’t mean to come off as rude, of course he knew what was wrong with her… it was force of habit to ask. Especially since she was rude first with all of these accusations and just rude things flying out of her mouth.

She let out an airy laugh. “Were you not paying attention to my life story?” She looked at him. “That’s what’s wrong with me. Not to mention you single handedly ruined what was supposed to be my mission.” She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes.

Loki raised his eyebrows. “Your mission? Your mission to chase a lesser version of me? Was it really your mission if Mobius and I were there? I mean, you’re nothing more than a measly trainee, right?” Loki mocked her.

Frigg scoffed. Lesser Loki on the loose, yeah, right. She shook her head and glanced towards the ceiling. “You don’t get it, do you? You’re the lesser Loki, but you’re the only Loki dumb enough to agree to Mobius’s terms. That’s why it was so easy to manipulate you into saying yes.” She laughed again.

Loki sat back in the chair, taken aback by the revelation. “I’m a pawn?”

“You know, you never cease to amaze me. Mobius tends to pride himself with having the two smartest variants as his right and left hands, but I have yet to see you do something or say something remotely intelligent. In case you have failed to notice, we all are pawns, to some extent. A slave to someone’s cruel game.” Frigg sighed and squinted at Loki to get a better look at his expression. “And that someone just happens to be three someone’s. You know, the Timekeepers.” She stared at Loki who stared back as if she had a deeper meaning to what she was saying. As if she had some kind of ulterior motive aside from gaining audience with the timekeepers (wouldn’t he like to know). She couldn’t place Loki’s current expression–was he concerned or was he confused? Was he trying to get a rise out of her?

“I want an audience with the Timekeepers, much like you do. But I want an audience for a reason, you want an audience so you can take over the TVA with some magic bullshit or other.” Frigg continued. She drew her lips into a thin line and swallowed. “I just want to know why. Then I want to carry on with my magical bullshit.”

Loki knitted his eyebrows together. “And burn this place to the ground?”

“And burn this place to the ground.” She confirmed. “Unlike Mobius, you actually listen to some things. Selective hearing, I presume.”

Loki looked away from her. “I listen a lot more than you think I do. I have sharp ears, just like you. And believe me when I say that I listen to many things. Mobius is going to pull you from his variant chasing adventure sooner or later.” He quickly leaned back as he realized he told her something he shouldn’t have.

She slowly stood up and stepped toward Loki. “What’s your game, Laufeyson?”

Loki swallowed. “No game. Mobius doesn’t want to put you in harm’s way is all.”

The door swung open to reveal a disappointed Mobius. He slouched as he stood before the variants. “Were you standing the whole time I was in there?” He asked Frigg as he shut the door behind him and didn’t give either of them a chance to answer. “Look, I talked to her. I said you did great, there was a few hiccups that weren’t your fault. You’ll be running the show in no time.” Mobius smiled and draped his arm over her shoulders, lovingly. Mobius sounded proud when he spoke of her but he didn’t look the part. He could barely hold a smile.

Frigg slipped from his arm and brushed her shoulder off as if that would remove Mobius’s germs from her suit jacket. “That’s if she truly believes you.”

Mobius sighed. “You have to trust somebody or something that someone says to you.”

She shook her head. “No, I don’t, actually.”

Loki stood up and faced Mobius. “Look, you’re probably wondering what happened out on her mission.”

Mobius glanced at Frigg, then rolled his eyes back towards Loki. “No, I’m not, actually. C’mon you two.” He started walking down the hall. Frigg and Loki quickly followed in suit to avoid getting lost.

“That was your first lesson. To catch a Loki, you must expect the expected–the stories, the lies, and the gimmicks.” Loki grabbed Mobius and turned Mobius to face him. Loki had a lopsided grin stuck on his pathetic face. Loki glanced at Frigg. “The whole point of being such a sought-after trickster is letting everyone know you’re a trickster.”

Frigg covered her face with her hands and groaned. “Just shut him up.”

“You heard the girl.” Mobius dragged Loki towards the elevator. “Frigg, get in the elevator.”

Frigg dragged her feet and piled into the elevator after Mobius and Loki. She stood in the back corner of the small box and leaned her head against the wall with her arms crossed over her chest. She clenched her jaw and gave the two men some side eye; it was rather obvious that Mobius was upset with Loki. It amused Frigg despite Frigg being upset with both of them. And Loki’s desperate attempt to explain himself. She was a child in a candy store at that point. Loki, clawing his way out of the grave he dug himself, only to bury himself alive. Sweet satisfaction. She chuckled to herself.

“I’m not going to shut up because some girl whined.” Loki scoffed.

“Please, just shut up,” Mobius sighed. “What happened to the guy I met on the elevator when I picked him up? The one who didn’t like talking? Now, we’re stuck with this guy who won’t stop yacking about what makes a Loki tick! Don’t you think she already told me that?” Mobius pointed to Frigg.

Frigg raised an eyebrow at Mobius. “Leave me out of your squabbling.”

Loki tilted his head to the side. “What? Isn’t that precisely why I’m here?”

“If you recall, you’re here to catch the Loki. You’re not here to give any TVA worker a lecture on ‘The Life and Ticks of Loki Laufeyson’. You’re supposed to be useful, not a nuisance.” She pushed herself off the wall and stepped forward. She stood behind Mobius, facing forward. “There is a superior version of you running around the timeline, causing mass chaos and all sorts of problems.”

Loki peered over Mobius. “Superior isn’t the term that I would use for this Loki variant.”

“Fine, let’s play that game. You’re the superior Loki. Now what? Where’s the variant that we’re chasing? Where’s the success in your grand scheme? What’s taking so long?” Frigg pushed Mobius to the side and looked up at Loki with fire in her eyes. “I’m waiting for my answer, superior Loki variant. Where is the variant? What’s your grand plan?”

“Hey–!” Mobius stepped to the side after being forced into the wall of the elevator.

Loki swallowed; he opened his mouth to speak but no words fell out.

“That’s what I thought.” Frigg stepped away. “A coward. An idiot without an answer. You’re not superior. In fact, you’re even more inferior than I first believed you to be. If anything, a child, me, is superior to you. I have a plan, even if it’s the long con. It’s there, but I don’t see a damn plan in your hands, Laufeyson. I see a stupid jaw hanging open and I don’t hear anything.”

Mobius sighed and brought a hand to his forehead. “Okay, okay, Frigg. That’s enough. Look, Loki, I believed, stupidly, that that need for validation and your overbearing insecurities being balanced by being needed would allow you to help us catch the variant. You know, not because you care about me, the TVA, Frigg, or anything but yourself, but because you realize that this Loki variant is superior, and you don’t like being the inferior one. I can see it, you feel inferior compared to a child, Loki. You don’t care about being the hero, you just care about making yourself look good. And I thought that was the key to getting you to be a team player.” Mobius walked off of the elevator with Loki tailing him. He turned around to make sure Frigg was following him as well. “Frigg, you too.”

Frigg groaned and slipped out of the elevator before it closed.

“It’s honestly adorable that you think you could manipulate me, Mobius, truly adorable. I’ve been playing my own game this entire time; I’ve been 10 steps ahead of you.” Loki stopped in the middle of the hallway and smiled between Mobius and Frigg.

Frigg stood next to Mobius with her arms crossed. She narrowed her eyes and studied Loki. “Sorry, what was that? I seem to remember manipulating you into agreeing to Mobius’s terms. Tricking you into thinking you had skill, sought-out qualities, and purpose. And perhaps tricking you into thinking that you’re superior to the variant we are chasing. You honestly believe you’re going to get an audience with the Timekeepers and you’re going to be able to seize control of the TVA? Bold. Remember why I’m here, dear God of Mischief.”

“You’re steps ahead of me. Or at least you think you are.” Loki looked down at Frigg. “You’re still young, you have a lot to learn before you could ever truly be ahead of me.”

Mobius clapped and silenced them for a moment. Their bickering was growing tiresome. He led them to a table and sat down. “Expect the expected, right? Just like you warned. I’ve already expected the expected, I’m looking for the unexpected, now. You’re trying to double-cross me, Frigg already warned me.”

Loki sat down and looked away from Mobius. “If she’s feeding you information and the truth that I’m giving her, why keep me around? Why protect me?”

Mobius sat across from Loki and leaned back in the chair. “I’d like to believe that you appreciate the effort. I’m sticking my neck out for you for that reason. Look,” Mobius sighed, “I’ll give you two options and you can pick the option that you want to pick. When I look at you, I see a small, blue boy. He’s shivering, cold, alone, lost, and insecure. He seeks validation. He’s narcissistic because if no one is going to look at him a certain way, he’ll do it himself. He just wants to be loved by someone. He’s a little weak and untrusting. And I can’t help but feel bad for him. I would scoop up that little ice runt and take care of him myself if I could, but I can’t. I’ll tell you anything that I have to, to get you to work with me.”

“I don’t need your sympathy.” Loki spat. “Give your sympathy to her, the girl who pulls the strings of everyone around her because she can’t move on from the past.” Loki pointed a finger at Frigg.

Frigg parted her lips and knitted her eyebrows together. She pushed his hand away from her face and slammed it down on the table with a loud smack. “Is that not what you do? You said it yourself, you expose your people for being gullible creatures. You’re pulling their strings, in a way.” She wiped her hand against her pants–Loki germs.

“I’m running out of sympathy for both of you.” Mobius frowned and rubbed his temples. “Your second option is Frigg will tell you whatever she needs to tell you to get you to work with me. I don’t care how she does it and if she needs to tie you to that chair, then so be it.”

“I hate both of those options equally.” Loki grimaced.

Mobius raised his eyebrows. “What a surprise. I guess the third honorable mention option is to just work with me without giving me any problems.”

“Fine.” Loki crossed his arms.

Mobius smiled. “Great, now I need you two to work together.”

“Work together? With him?” Frigg pointed at Loki, nearly poking his eye out. “After that lovely show he put on? In your dreams, Mobius.”

Loki pushed her arm away from him and laughed. “At least I have the capacity for teamwork.” Loki leaned on the table. “Unlike a certain child.”

Frigg crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at Mobius. Mobius looked as though he were coming up with a scheme, a scheme that Frigg and Loki were going to hate him for. A scheme he would claim would be for their own good and for the sake of his job as an analyst. Mobius adjusted the collar of his shirt and pulled at his tie a bit. He looked around almost suspiciously, like a liar. He cleared his throat and stood up.

“Let’s go.” He spoke with haste. “Both of you.”

Frigg shook her head and stood up. She followed behind both Loki and Mobius, suspicious of Mobius and his new scheme and motives. She puckered her lips unflatteringly and tilted her head to the side, trying to catch of glimpse of Mobius’s movements. He ushered them into an elevator (yes, again, much to Frigg’s dismay. Being in an elevator with these clowns was probably the worst experience of her life).

“We just sat down to talk and now we’re in an elevator again.” Frigg took her place in the back corner of the elevator.

Mobius glanced back at the brooding adolescent. “Do you see how annoying it is to keep changing things up?” He asked. “I like routine.”

“Very funny.” Loki slipped out of his suit jacket and hung it over his arm.

“Hold on, that whole operation was your idea. You like the expected, yet you told us that we need to take part in the unexpected? And now you’re bashing the unexpected?” Frigg glanced at Mobius.

Mobius shrugged his shoulders and gave her a sly smile.

“Where exactly are you taking us?” Loki asked.

Mobius shrugged his shoulders. “You’ll see when we get there.”

The elevator ride was silent and long. Mobius smiled smugly and stood closest to the door. Loki and Frigg both glared at the back of Mobius’s head. Frigg tried with all her might to burn holes in the back of his head for the duration of the elevator ride.

Mobius quickly stepped off of the elevator and dragged them by their invisible leashes towards the TVA archives. “You two are going to do some heavy research for me.” He grinned as he led them through the archives to the lifeless tables. He stopped at an empty table and outstretched his arms, waiting for the pair to sit down.

Loki and Frigg sat down across from one another. Frigg glared at Loki. She crossed her arms and sat back in the chair with one foot against the open chair next to Loki. She glanced up at Mobius. “What’s your angle?”

“No angle. I just need you two to do some research. Let me get everything. Sit tight.” Mobius tapped the table and walked away into the archives.

Loki furrowed his eyebrows and slowly turned to look at Frigg. “Do you believe that he is deceiving us?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “Perhaps. Perhaps not.” The air between then went silent, a thick, suffocating silence. A suffocating silence where Loki was the one suffocating. He straightened his back and looked around for any sight of Mobius so he could probably run off and feel like Mobius had saved him. “Don’t look for that man, he’s not going to save you from sitting at the same table as me. He put us here.”

“That’s not what I’m doing.” Loki defended himself.

She tilted her head and smiled. “Mobius is right about you, you know. You’re nothing but a sad, little ice runt. All you do is lie and deceive those around you. You talk a big game but barely put your hands in the mud. You are lost without your mother holding your hand and making sure you’re alright. I just feel so bad for you, Frost Giant.” She stared at him with her dull expression and her fake empathy.

“You know what? You’re nothing but a monstrous hybrid. A Frost Giant having bred with a stupid Asgardian, creating you. You are a literal freak of nature, cowering behind her silver-plated walls, pretending she is better than a literal god. You think you’re superior, you’re smaller than everyone in this forsaken place. You’re not even in one piece, you’re scattered across the nine realms, looking for someone to love you and rejecting them the minute they show you love.” Loki pointed a finger at her with his elbow on the table and his chest against the edge. He whispered: “You are sad and pathetic, taking all your frustrations out on the worlds around you. You pretend like you want this, but you don’t. You so desperately want answers and want to be loved that you’re blinded by your own self-righteousness. That self-righteousness is so blinding that you can’t see through the obviously large lens of reality that shows you that you are destined to be alone and unloved.” Loki leaned back and dropped his hands to his thighs.

Frigg leaned back in her chair, stunned. “I–.” She gawked at the God of Mischief. For the first time in her life, she had been rendered speechless. She wasn’t even sure if she was breathing after that. She looked down at the table, deep in thought about what he said. Her eyebrows were knitted together, and her lips remained parted.

Self-righteous? Her? Could such a thing be possible–absolutely. She knew only some of Loki’s words were correct. But what stuck out most to her was being called a monstrous hybrid, she had never considered Jötnar to be monstrous (well… not always, once upon a time Loki told her a terrifying tale of a Jötunn). Nor had she considered an Asgardian to be monstrous, nor would she ever. Asgardians were so beautiful and elegant. Putting the two together never seemed like a bad thing until now. Was she truly a monster? Was she truly a freak of nature? By some obscure and lucky circumstance, was she conceived? (Yes). She understood because she was alone, but she knew Loki was too. She does want answers but not to the extent that she is blind. Blinded by rage may be more correct. She was angry at her Loki and this Loki.

A literal freak of nature. A monstrous hybrid.

Mobius returned with a large stack of files and an archive assistant with a second large stack of files. The assistant gracefully at their stack of files down on the table in front of Frigg and slinked away from the bitter silence. Mobius grinned and placed his stack of files in front of Loki. He placed his hands on his hips and grinned at the two uncomfortably silent variants. Frigg looked rather lost and drained of all things that fueled her enthusiasm to bully any living Loki. A splash of insulted glossed her eyes–a deep cut. Loki looked rather proud to have somehow shut her up and throw her into this silent state. Glad to hopefully finally never hear another anti-Loki peep out of her weaponized tongue.

“Loki, Frigg. Happy reading.” Mobius said.

“Happy reading?” Loki looked at the papers sitting in front of him.

“Happy reading.” Mobius smiled. “I need you two to look through these variant case files and give me your unique Loki perspectives on each of them. Maybe work your Loki magic and figure something out. Don’t be afraid to collaborate and put your heads together.” Mobius encourage. He enthusiastically moved his arms towards the two of them and created a “putting heads together” motion. “And don’t be afraid to really lean into this work. Here’s a tip, pretend that your life depends on it. Because it does.”

Loki glanced up at Mobius. “Is that all?”

Mobius tapped the table with his palm then pointed at Loki. “I’m going to get a snack.” With that, Mobius left Loki and Frigg to do their homework.

“Don’t slack off, Loki.” Frigg hissed, hurt. His words seemed to have rattled her. This was merely the beginning of the aftermath…

Loki scoffed at Frigg’s comment. He shook his head at her and opened the top file. Boring. This was boring as if it wasn’t already.

The abnormal clock ticked excruciatingly slow as they sat there, silently pitying themselves for having to do this work. Loki skimmed through the files, paying no attention to anything other than names. He shifted in his seat far too many times for Frigg to even count, the string of ‘m-hm’s caused Frigg to curl her fingers and refrain from slamming her hand against the table. After a long pause in annoying sounds, Loki pushed his chair back and bolted towards the front desk of the archives. Frigg sighed, relieved, and leaned back, still only on the first file. She couldn’t focus with Loki’s noise and these files were so hard to read. Between them being blurry and the letters being printed so light. She was a dedicated TVA trainee–that or she was stuck in a rut or perhaps Loki’s words were a dagger in her heart. She had reread the same page three times over and took nothing in. Her glossy eyes saw the words, but her brain spit them back out each time she tried to focus.

She shifted in her seat and rested her head on her hand. Her teeth were clenched, and her lips were drawn in a thin line. She read the page one last time before giving up on trying to regain focus. She dropped the file down onto the table, sprawled open on the third page. Freak of nature–perhaps she was a freak of nature. Reading was her passion, her hobby. Knowledge was one of her former weapons. Learning was her greatest weapon. Monstrous hybrid–perhaps she was a monstrous hybrid. A trickster god meshed with a lovely… unknown person… Was she truly a hybrid of her parents if half of her parentage is unknown? She tapped her fingers against the table and thought harder on the topic. She was rather odd. Genetically speaking that is.

Frigg continued to tap her fingers on the table, slowly and thoughtfully now. She was too harsh on Loki, telling him that Mobius was right. Even though it is true, she may have crossed the line as this Loki was a little more sensitive than the Loki she knows. Loki wasn’t the only ice-y runt that people felt bad for. Frigg was an ice-y runt that people felt bad for–the only difference was that her heart was ice-y and she couldn’t make herself appear as a Jötunn because she had no idea what she would even look like as one. She was born, as far as she knows, with pale skin. There were days she wondered if she truly were a Jötunn or had a Jötunn form. She drew her lips into another thin line, corners turned down. Her eyes were on the disaster of files in front of her. She may have been wrong about this Loki all along. It wouldn’t hurt to do something unexpected, would it?

Loki slid back into his seat, defeated by the lady at the archive front desk, with a new file in hand. He slapped the file down, closed, on top of the open files he had skimmed through. He glanced up at the solemn girl and knitted his eyebrows together. He may have mistaken her expression as solemn when it could be exhaustion.

“Hey…” Loki’s voice was soft and unexpected.

Frigg glanced up after nearly jumping out of her chair in surprise and quickly wiped her expression from her face. She closed the file on the top of her stack and tossed it to the side. “What?” She was harsh. That wasn’t new, she’s been harsh this whole time. But this harshness was rather different… Loki could only assume it was because of him. Which it was.

Loki looked down for a brief moment then he looked back at her. “I didn’t mean anything I said.”

“I don’t want an apology.” The harshness of her tone had been replaced with that of a truly upset child. “I just want to get this absolute garbage over and done with.” She lifted her head off of her hand and picked the file back up.

Loki grabbed the top of the folder and pushed it back against the table. “I’m being honest. I didn’t mean what I said to you. I was angry with you.”

Frigg searched his eyes for a sign of a trick or jest. She sighed and slumped back in the chair. “I’ve been thinking. I didn’t mean what I said either. The thing that caused you to say what you did. Mobius was wrong about you, I guess.” Her voice was small, almost like she had a secondary meaning and was afraid to say it.

Loki inhales sharply. “You’re bad at apologizing.”

“You’re not any better, Laufeyson.” She avoided his gaze.

Loki looked away from her and frowned. “When I said those things, did I remind you of him?”

She scoffed. “Your face unfortunately is reminder enough. I look at it and, boom, there he is! Loki. Oh, no, but which Loki is it? Whew, not mine with the way you jump off these walls.” She paused and sighed. She slid down in the chair and looked at Loki. “Yes, you did remind me of him, to the letter. It’s in our nature to be vile, I think, and that is not entirely something we can control or change. We’re incapable of change, you know. The whole TVA thinks it.” She frowned.

“I didn’t want to sound like him.” Loki said. “You and I, we can learn to change. These TVA agents wouldn’t believe it even if we actually did it. And you and I can learn to be nice to each other.”

Frigg looked down at the closed file in front of her and remained silent. Perhaps he was right, but perhaps he wasn’t. She wasn’t entirely convinced that he was sorry but at the same time she could only assume that he wasn’t convinced of her apology either. “Just focus on your reading.” She muttered.

Loki nodded slightly and turned his attention to his new file. He narrowed his eyes at the first page. Ragnarök. He nearly jumped out of his seat and walked to Frigg’s side of the table. He slid in the seat next to her with the file in her face. “Tell me this isn’t stupid.”

“It’s really stupid.” Frigg said without really looking at the file that was rudely shoved in her face.

“I didn’t say anything yet. I need your full attention.” Loki said. He put his file down on top of hers and waited for her to drop all of the files onto the table.

Frigg took a deep breath and looked up at Loki and dropped the files. “You didn’t do anything Mobius asked you to do. You got up, walked away and then went ‘Eureka’. Why should I give you my full attention?”

“Listen, what do you remember of Ragnarök?” Loki asked.

Frigg sat back in the seat and thought. “Ragnarök is the destruction of Asgard and death of the people? I didn’t see what caused it. I landed at the very last second. Surtur was destroying Asgard while Thor and Loki were piling the Asgardians into a stolen space craft.” She crossed her arms loosely and looked at Loki.

Loki puckered his lips, vaguely disappointed. “That’s essentially it, yes. It’s an apocalypse.”

She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at Loki. “Alright, where is this going?” She was interested in what he had to say. She gave him a pointed look and waited for an explanation. It would be just rich if he pulled the same game as he did on the mission. He was all talk on the mission; no action, no detective work, he did nothing but run his stupid mouth.

“The variant is hiding in an apocalyptic event, it’s what I would do if I were running from a higher power.” Loki said. “It can be any apocalypse, not just Ragnarök.”

“Are you suggesting we pay every apocalyptic event a little visit and ask the dying people ‘Have you see a man who looks like this one around here?’ and hope they show us the variant?” Frigg snorted and threw her head back in exhaustion. “That is ridiculous.” She pushed the chair backward by pushing against the chair across from her. She balanced on two chair legs.

“Unless it isn’t.” Loki licked his top lip and paused.

Frigg parted her lips and furrowed her eyebrows. “Unless it isn’t ridiculous…” Her voice trailed. She instinctively stood up and began to pace. “We need to go through the obscure evidence left behind from our variant and figure out where some of it is from. That way we can pinpoint the apocalyptic event that the variant is hiding in. I’ve got a plan already.” Frigg pulled Loki’s chair back and pulled him out of his chair.

“Hold on.” Loki stumbled behind her. “Don’t we need to tell Mobius?”

“Well, that wasn’t the original plan, I was going to just walk us someplace where no one would see us disappear and reappear.” She swiftly turned on her heel and walked backwards. “Might I suggest we go to Pompeii; I’ve already memorized the time code.”

Loki paused in the middle of the hallway. “Why Pompeii?”

“Why not Pompeii?” Frigg stopped. “The location that we test this little theory means nothing if we are going to be unable to create a nexus branch. We can pick any apocalyptic event in any history so long as everyone dies.” She outstretched her arms and smacked a TVA personnel in the chest.

“Och.”

“Oop–.” Frigg retracted her arms.

Loki rolled his eyes playfully and pushed her arms to her side. “You’re a hazard to everyone around you. Come on. Let’s get Mobius in on this.” He pulled her along by the wrist. For the first time since his arrival, Loki feels like they are actually getting along. “This way, yes?”

“Left.” Frigg pulled her wrist away and dragged him by his wrist. If she had a dollar for every time she got stuck with an idiot, she’d have two dollars. Which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that it happened twice. She pushed the door to the cafeteria open and zigged her way through the tables with Loki in tow–in hindsight, she could have simply walked around all the tables and to Mobius that way, but she would rather make this difficult for Loki. She quickly took the empty seat across from Mobius.

Loki grabbed a seat from another table and pulled it up between Mobius and Frigg.  “I’ve got it. Actually, we’ve got it.” Loki smiled warmly at Frigg (who replaced her smiles and sunshine with gloom and doom).

“Did you read all the files pertaining to the variants?” Mobius looked up at Loki and shoveled his salad into his mouth. “Actually, don’t answer that. Frigg, did he read every file pertaining to the variant?” Mobius looked at Frigg, he was tired.

Frigg crossed her arms and examined Mobius. Oddly, in this cafeteria light, he looked older than he did just days ago–days? Weeks? Time was one of the TVA’s greatest mysteries. Mobius blended in with the bland TVA agents scattered throughout the cafeteria, eating between job duties. Frigg’s mind wandered off: did these TVA slaves even sleep? She puckered her lips unflatteringly, alarmed, she erased any trace of a facial expression from her face and glanced at Loki. An impatient fool, he stared at her with pleading eyes. It was almost as if he hoped she would be on his side after the argument, terrible apologies, and fluctuations in her voice showed some kind of personality, emotion, and agreeance with his cockamamie scheme.

A cockamamie scheme. Frigg looked up at Mobius. “He read enough files to come up with a cockamamie scheme that has the name Loki written all over it. It’s worth the attempt, if my opinion actually matters.” She flashed Mobius and insincere, closed lip smile that screamed “I’m bored, get on with it”.

Loki side eyed Frigg. “Cockamamie scheme?”

“I told both of you not to bother me until he was done reading the files.” Mobius leaned back in the seat.

“No, you didn’t. Besides, we’re not going to find our answer by reading countless files. We have to find our answer in the field.” Loki nabbed Mobius salad bowl. “Are you familiar with Ragnarök?”

Mobius pursed his lips and looked down at where his salad bowl used to be. “Yes, I saw it in both of your lives. It’s the destruction of Asgard and the death of its people. I’m very sorry.”

“Yes, very sad, anyway, it got me–us thinking.” Loki stood up quickly and caught the back of the chair before it could hit the ground. “It’s an apocalyptic event that nobody survives.” Loki grabbed the salt and pepper shakers from in front of Frigg and walked towards the next inhabited table.

“Yeah, sure, go ahead.” Mobius said after Loki had already begun to prepare for his demonstration.

Frigg watched Loki, curiously. “Whatever this man is doing, is not how he explained it to me. Because I explained most of it.”

Mobius sigh softly. “Do we let it happen?”

“I suppose it would be interesting to see how he explains this to you.” Frigg turned back in her chair and eyed Loki. “He’s an idiot.”

Loki slid back into his chair and put a soda can down next to the shakers. “Nexus events happen when someone does something they’re not supposed to do–.”

“That’s an oversimplification of things.” Frigg drew her lips into a thin line. “But yes.”

“Right, great. And that thing that someone does then cascades into a whole range of things that aren’t supposed to happen, creating a new branch of time.” Loki continued.

“Loki, I’m going to stop you right here.” Mobius held a hand up and looked at Frigg. “Where is this going?”

“Loki, continue.” Frigg looked towards Loki and put her feet up on the table. “I’m enjoying this because I’m very confused.”

“Let’s say, your salad is Asgard in this scenario.” Loki reached for the salt and pepper.

Mobius watched Loki closely. “What are you doing? That’s my lunch, not Asgard.”

“It’s a metaphor.” Loki deadpanned.

Frigg leaned towards Loki. “I’m convinced half of the TVA doesn’t know what a metaphor is.”

“I know what a metaphor is.” Mobius hissed. “Yes, I heard you. It was intentional, wasn’t it?”

“Yes.” Frigg smiled and leaned back into the chair.

Mobius shook his head and inhaled deeply. “Look, I just want my salad.”

“But listen. I could go down to Asgard before Ragnarök causes its complete destruction and I could do anything I wanted. I could, for example, push the Hulk off of the Rainbow Bridge.” Loki started pouring salt onto the salad. “Oh, there he goes.” Loki chuckled to himself.

“The salt is the Hulk?” Mobius asked.

Frigg smirked. “He is kind of mad all the time, especially about things from his past. It makes him salty if you ask the Young Avengers.”

Loki glanced at Frigg. “And let’s say, Frigg was there, she could set fire to the palace.” Loki started pouring pepper onto the salad.

“Arson, I like it.” Frigg gave her approval.

“No, don’t approve of this. Don’t set fire to the palace, guys.” Mobius stared sadly at the very salty and very peppery salad that he tried to eat in peace before all of this.

Loki picked up and opened the soda can. “Ragnarök. Surtur will destroy Asgard no matter what I do just before it happens.”

“No, stop, don’t do that.” Mobius nearly begged.

Loki poured the soda onto the salad. “Ragnarök obliterates the salt and the pepper. That’s the apocalypse. Ragnarök!” Loki smiled.

“Okay, what am I looking at? What’s the metaphor?” Mobius asked.

Frigg sighed. “Why were you and I able to come up with a brilliant theory in the archives and the damn hallway, but the minute you try to tell Mobius anything you lose all of your intelligence? As funny as that display was, it was just sad.” She took her feet off of the table and pushed the salad back towards Mobius. “Bon Appetit.”

“I’ll admit, it was a clumsy metaphor; I see what you mean.” Loki leaned back in the chair. “It doesn’t have to be Ragnarök, it could be a tidal wave or a meteor, a volcano, or a supernova. If everyone or everything around you are destined for imminent destruction, nothing that you say or do will matter because everything will be destroyed. The variant could be hiding in an apocalyptic event, and we wouldn’t know it because it wouldn’t branch no matter what he did.” He smiled.

Frigg clapped her hands slowly. “Now that is an explanation, dear God of Mischief.”

“Don’t.” Loki held a finger to her. “Don’t start.”

Mobius smiled at the pair. “Not bad, you two working together on that cute theory. Not so sure that I’m convinced though. It’s in your blood to lie.”

“Take us to a real apocalypse, to Ragnarök, I’ll show you.” Loki held his hands out towards Mobius.

Mobius chuckled. “Yeah, I’m not taking you to Ragnarök so you can do what? Run away to your homeland?”

Loki pointed at himself. “Me? Why not the both of us?”

“She would probably find a way to steal my TemPad and abandon us in Asgard during Ragnarök and return to the TVA with a lie about how ‘Loki betrayed us, I barely got away with my life. Mobius is dead and Loki ran away.’ And they would fall for it because it’s in your nature to backstab. Of course, that’s just her plot to backstab the TVA.” Mobius explained.

Frigg raised her eyebrows and leaned forward. “Wow, he’s good. I underestimated you, Mobius. Please, tell me more about how I can twist the story in my favor, I enjoy this.” She smiled.

“I’m not giving you any ideas, Frigg, And I’m not taking you for a stroll in an apocalypse.” Mobius huffed.

“Come on, we’ve got to properly test this theory, Frigg said you would want to.” Loki stood up and motioned to her.

Frigg held her hands up defensively. “Hey now, don’t drag me into this. I said I was going to go to an apocalypse without him. And here you are, lying to Mobius so he can think I had a say in coming here so you can get approval.”

Mobius stood up and faced Loki. “Well, here’s a fun theory. You two lure me out into the field and stab me in the back. That’s a theory I don’t want to test. What happens after I get back stabbed, it’s likely that you two betray each other, yet another theory I don’t want to test.”

“I would betray Loki without a second thought.” Frigg chuckled.

Loki and Mobius looked at Frigg. “Not now, the adults are talking.”

Frigg slammed her hands down on the table and nearly jumped out of her chair onto the floor. She looked at the two men, flabbergasted. “I was–actually, I do want to sit this one out.” She raised her hands and relaxed in the chair. She kept her eyes on the two fools. She grinned and watched the scene unfold.

“Look, Mobius, I would never stab anyone in the back. It’s such a boring form of betrayal.” Loki lowered his voice to a loud, aggressive whisper.

Mobius looked away from the God of Mischief for a split second. “I studied every aspect of your life, stabbing people in the back is your trademark. You’ve literally stabbed people in the back 50 times.” His whisper was equally as aggressive as Loki’s. At this point, the two of them should use aggressive talking voices.

“Well, I’d never do it again. It’s such a boring form of betrayal. It has gotten old.” Loki smiled. He relaxed his shoulders and outstretched his arms.

Mobius chuckled. “Okay, sure.”

“Frigg, help me.” Loki hissed at the girl.

Frigg raised her eyebrows and held her arms up. “I was told the adults are talking, I’m sitting the rest of the conversation out because I’m not an adult.”

“Right, right… okay.” Loki sighed. “Would you help me if I considered you part of the adult conversation?”

“Nope.” She smiled. “Good luck, dear God of Mischief. Or is it the God of failing at being truthful. Can’t seem to remember who you are.” Her lovely smile slowly shifted into a mischievous smirk as Loki’s blood boiled.

Loki scoffed. “Very funny.” He turned his attention back to the TVA analyst. “You don’t have to trust me on that, but you can trust the fact that I like to be right.” He smiled.

Mobius frowned at first, but then he realized that Loki did in fact like to be right and he had no other choice but to test this little theory that he and Frigg conjured up. Mobius slowly slipped his hands into the pockets of his pants and looked at Loki. His face twisted from a frown to one of relaxed eyebrows and pursed lips.

“Ah, Mobius, that face. You trust it. Suggestion: Pompeii.” Frigg stood up and clasped her hands together in a pleading manor. She smiled so sweetly.

Mobius furrowed his eyebrows. “Why Pompeii?” He asked.

“Not everything has to have a reason.” She glanced towards the ceiling, annoyed.

Chapter Text

Mobius stood between Frigg and Loki. His hands held the TemPad as if the silly device were his lifeline. It wasn’t, it was a simple device that merely monitored their activity in Pompeii, and it monitored many other things outside of the present moment. His pant legs were cuffed at the end to ensure that they remained cleaned and easier to clean at a later time. It also ensured that no one would know that he was somewhere that he shouldn’t have been. Mobius’s expression was soft, but his eyebrows were knitted together in concentration; this cockamamie scheme had begun to crawl under his skin and terrify him. All of the possibilities of this going wrong danced around in his pathetic little TVA slave mind. They could cause a nexus event just by breathing for all he knows.

To his left, Frigg stood with her arms crossed over her chest, and she glared out at Pompeii. The reality of it was she was trying her hardest to conceal her excitement–Pompeii was an exciting place to be. Her eyes sparked with joy despite her hard exterior and semi-permanent grimace. Frigg bit the insides of her cheeks as Mount Vesuvius rumbled in the distance. Before her, stood a beautiful city with culture, livelihood, family, neighbors, and people just going about their daily lives at the volcano continued to rumble ever so softly behind them. It was a menacing thunder–perhaps that’s why these morons were so unaware. Frigg dropped her arms to the side and stepped forward absentmindedly, her gaze reached out for the threatening volcano–she was moments away from watching death consume an entire civilization. She was moments away from watching one of the most beautiful things Mother Nature has to offer: a volcanic eruption. Her expression softened significantly and grew rather captivated. A closed lip smile crept across her face. A hand squeezed her bicep rather preventatively. She turned to glare at Mobius who shook his head–overprotective bastard, what was he so afraid of. Oh, boo-hoo, nexus event, shmexus event. She stepped back in line and crossed her arms again.

To Mobius’s right, Loki towered over them both, a whooping six-four. He was giddy about the whole thing–as it turns out, Frigg knows how to pick her destinations. He had an idiotic, closed lipped smile plastered on his face as he came up with another cockamamie scheme. Loki wasn’t one to sit idly and he was not going to sit idly with one of the greatest apocalyptic events within his grasp. He tugged at the sleeves of his ugly tan variant suit and crossed his arms over his chest. He peered over at Mobius then at Frigg. His smile grew at the sight of his small found family (even if Frigg does curse his name to herself–even now, that’s probably what she’s doing instead of enjoying Pompeii). He returned his attention to the ignorance beyond their suffocating bubble–these poor people, he chuckled softly. He walked in place and peered down at his now dirt coated shoes–how lovely.

“I’ve always wanted to see Pompeii–I’ve always wanted to witness a volcanic eruption of this magnitude too.” Frigg whispered. Even in a whisper, her voice carried the excitement she tried to conceal. “Standing around is boring, why won’t you let me enjoy this moment?” She hissed at Mobius.

Mobius shook his head again. “We shouldn’t interfere in the event that you two are wrong. Now shh, any minute now, Mount Vesuvius is going to erupt.” Mobius kept his eyes on his TemPad. So far, there was no variant energy, and he was determined to keep it that way. His grip on the TemPad tightened as he watched the virtual timeline do absolutely nothing.

“Oh, let her have some fun, Mobius. It’s not every day we get to witness this. Imagine all that volcanic ash–unfortunate that everyone here, you know.” Loki swiped his hand in front of his neck, cocked his head to the side and stuck his tongue out. He was just as giddy, if not more so, than Frigg. Loki had an easier time showing how giddy he was, no matter how vulnerable that made him.

“We get it. Don’t get too giddy you two.” Mobius shot them a look, a disapproving look to be exact. He tugged at his necktie. “As cool as this is, it’s not ideal. We can get giddy back at the TVA if we must. And no one must know what we’re giddy about.” Mobius glued his eyes to the TemPad once again. Still no variant energy.

Frigg looked up at Mobius with a childish, toothy grin and slightly raised eyebrows. “But it is cool.” She quickly returned her attention to the rumbling volcano – she was so close to her own ashy death, and it was exciting. She was within reach of an active volcano, and it was one of the best feelings of her life. She rocked forward onto her toes and stumbled forward onto the ground after rocking too forward. “Oomf–.”

Loki smiled to himself, her little fall reminded him that she was nothing more than young and she was bound to do things young people do–Hel, even Loki was bound to stumble over and face plant the dirt if he was careless enough. He took a large step forward and pulled her to her feet. Loki faced Mobius and kept a hand on Frigg’s shoulder to keep her from running too far while no one paid attention to her.

Mobius shook his head slightly. “Yes, it is cool, but not in good taste. You two… are so morbid. And one of you can’t even stand properly.”

It went silent, save for the whistling wind and the bleating goats (or “horned friends” according to Loki and Frigg). The goat herder had left his goats unattended in a cart. Off to the side were women with baskets of fresh crops from the markets walking past them. Very few children were running around the streets. Once they ran one way, they were gone. Further back: Mount Vesuvius. Active, glorious, and beautiful.

Mobius was stiff. He stood with his feet shoulders width apart and his shoulders curled forward. Hunched over his stupid TemPad, he wasn’t even taking in the magnificence of what was about to happen right before his eyes. He furrowed his eyebrows at the silence. Loki stood tall, he used Frigg to keep himself steady. If the wind was any stronger, Loki would sway in the direction the wind pushed. Frigg was grounded thanks to Loki’s weight on her shoulder. She slipped away from Loki and stepped far enough away to allow him to suffer his own balance related failure. She grinned, rather maliciously, at Loki’s fate. Loki scoffed at her childish nature but quickly became absorbed in his own childish nature. After all, it was a simple fall that caused no harm (it is believed to have caused joy instead). He learned his lesson (or did he?) and pulled himself to his feet.

Frigg snorted at being called morbid, no shit she was morbid. “Us? What about you?”

“It’s cool, they’re all going to die. Let’s just agree. Don’t start something now.” Loki brushed the dirt off of his pants.

Mobius sighed. “Listen, I’m just going to watch the TemPad for variant energy while we’re here.” He began to ignore the world around him yet again. Boring as usual.

Frigg groaned. “You’re boring.” She looked over at Loki and whined. “Loki, he’s so boring. Fix it.”

Loki raised his eyebrows at her saying his named without bitterness or coldness or harshness (although what didn’t surprise him was her demand for him to fix Mobius). He was honestly surprised that the first time she said his name is a positive light, it’s to whine about Mobius (and understandably so, Mobius is boring). Loki, determined to make this fun, deemed Mobius the boring friend. Loki was going to be Frigg’s savior, Frigg’s very fun surrogate father (father? Did Loki just think that? He shuddered at the thought.) “I know what to do, let’s cause some mischief.” He looked down at her with a very loving grin.

She raised her eyebrows and excitedly ran out into the open. “Woo! MISCHIEF!” She screamed and earned some odd looks from those nearby. They happily went back to their daily lives, so blissfully unaware that this volcano was going to kill them all. And so blissfully unaware that Frigg was happy about their upcoming demise. She jumped and spun and continued to celebrate out in the open.

“NO! Get back here!” Mobius hissed. “You could cause a huge branch if you’re not careful.” Mobius stayed off to the side, suddenly aware of his surroundings again.

“Oh, Mobius, she’s just living her best life as a child. You suck the fun right out of the end of the world.” Loki grinned. His hands on his hips, he eyed Frigg and chuckled at her joy. He watched her climb random objects, scream at them in both Latin and Italian.

“Morirete tutti!” She screamed in Italian. The language rolled off her tongue as if she had been speaking the mortal language for her whole life–save for the non-native speaker mistakes. “Morirete tutti dal vulcano. Andate, correte, ama la vostra famiglia! Muore! Muore! Muore! Muore in fretta!” [Translation by me, a non-native Italian language student: You all are going to die! You all are going to die from the volcano. Go, run, love your family! Die! Die! Die! Die fast!]

Loki smiled at her having fun.

“Morituri estis omnes! Volcano omnes vos. Vade ad familiam tuam, habe momenta ultima simul!” Frigg continued, this time in Latin. Her Latin was not as beautiful as her Italian. [Translation from Google because I don’t know if I’ll ever learn Latin: You are all going to die! The volcano will kill you. Go to your family, spend the last moments together!]

Mobius furrowed his eyebrows. “Listen, we’re not meant to be here. Do you understand that? Anything we do can impact the course of history!”

“I think is funny that she’s speaking some Italian.” Loki completely ignored Mobius’s concerns. He smiled proudly. “That vandalism really took me by surprise, I didn’t take her for a vandal–a horrible person, yes. But a vandal?”

Mobius blinked, dumbfounded. “Do you hear yourself? Are you listening to me?”

“Yes, but look at how happy she is, are you ever going to see that again?” Loki motioned towards Frigg. She continued to terrorize the inhabitants and vandalize the surrounding properties.

Mobius inhaled deeply. “Most likely not.”

Loki patted Mobius’s shoulder, in a way that didn’t comfort Mobius at all, before joining Frigg out in the open. He climbed the cart full of goats and unlatched the door trapping them within. “Be free, my horned friends, be free!” He ushered them off of the cart. He turned around and lifted the last goat off of the cart. “Go my horned friend.”

“Hello friends!” Frigg crouched down to pet a few goats as they bleated past her. She smiled up at Loki. “The end of the world is so fun.”

“Watch this.” Loki turned his attention to any of those who would listen and hear him. “Nos future sumus et vos morituri sumus. Volcano ille vos omnes necabit. Nemo vivet, omnes peribunt. Hoc est ultimum momentum habebis. Noli tempus tuum perdere, familium tuam ama, et ultimum tempus cum illis habe! We are technically from the future, right? I mean, what even is the TVA? It’s from the future, right? It sounds pretty future-y.” Behind him, and in front of him, those that listened to his speech had begun screaming and scattering. Collecting their families and themselves. [Translation from google again: We are of the future and you all will die. That volcano will kill you. No one will live, you all will perish. This is the last moment you will have. Do not waste your time, love your family, and spend your last moment with them.]

“I believe it’s from the future, Hel if I listened to the propaganda.” Frigg joined him on the cart. “Go! Enjoy your last meal! Hug your family members for the last time ever!” She threw her arms up.

“Nothing matters! Nothing has any consequences! Enjoy your last dance!” Loki twirled Frigg before helping her off the cart. Frigg and Loki getting along–Mobius’s dream come true.

Frigg laughed and turned to face the rumbling volcano. “Right on cue!” The volcano erupted. She threw her arms up and smiled. “Woohoo!”

Mobius finally returned his attention to the TemPad. “I don’t believe it. Zero variance energy.” He let out a relieved laugh. He placed a hand to his forehead–for a second there, he thought they were going to ruin everything.

Frigg pulled Loki out of the way of incoming debris. “Look, there’s no branching of the timeline, no variance energy.”

“If I were the variant, this is where I would hide. The variant has been ambushing our minutemen and hiding out in doomsday to cover his tracks. You’re welcome.” Loki smiled and draped his arm around Frigg.

Frigg slipped from Loki’s grasp. “For this theory to hold, the apocalyptic event would most certainly have to be a naturally occurring event with no survivors, right?”

“Right.” Mobius nodded.

“Well, how many could there be?” Loki asked.

Mobius shrugged his shoulder. “I don’t know. Let’s go find out.” He opened a portal back to the TVA and slipped through with Loki and Frigg behind him.

Chapter Text

“Okay, you two, let’s talk.” Mobius stood in front of Loki and Frigg. Mobius was particularly gloomy, unreasonably gloomy at that, but he stood tall with his hands clasped together as if he bore bad news for the pair of barely starting to get along variants.

Frigg and Loki silently looked up at Mobius with the same curious expression (furrowed eyebrows, ever so slightly narrowed eyes, parted lips, and a head tilt). He sounded serious–almost like a parent who is disappointed in their misbehaving children. However, Loki and Frigg weren’t fighting or misbehaving in that moment, in fact they were sitting silently, not even interacting while Mobius was gone doing whatever it was that Mobius needed to do before he forced them to do some more work for him. Frigg was stuck thinking about what had happened just recently. She had gone from despising Loki to getting along with him in a matter of a few days (weeks, months, years?) and she couldn’t understand what was so different about this specific Loki. It felt like she had done and internal parkour as a “friend” back in her universe would call it (or as her “friend’s” friends would call it: a Parker). She shuddered at the thought of doing a complete 180-degree rotation with her feelings toward the God of Mischief. What’s next, is she going to fall right into Mobius’s master plan? Despite her inner turmoil she smiled at the parkour-parker thought. Hilarious. Hilarious indeed… Loki had the same face as her own Loki but was so distinct. It was like… looking in a mirror, so to speak. It was like looking at a whole new person.

“Walk with me.” Mobius beckoned for them to follow. He turned on his heel and began walking before they even had a chance to question what he was being so serious and secretive about.

Loki and Frigg stood up quickly and followed Mobius down another twisted TVA hallway. Loki walked with large steps; it was comical to watch because the people around him were inches and feet shorter than him. The height differences forced him to take longer strides to walk slower, his steps looked disproportionate in comparison. Frigg on the other hand stood a comically short five foot two–encapsulating the definition of a runty Jötunn (not to discount Loki at all, six foot four is still hilariously small compared to Jötnar that are 20 feet tall and average height). Her steps were small and quick, half the time she felt like she was jogging to keep up with both Mobius and Loki (more so Mobius, he hadn’t learned to walk as disproportionately as Loki had). Perhaps she was just overall disproportionate along with being the smallest runt anyone has ever laid eyes on.

“Mobius, that silly magazine at your desk, why do you keep it?” Loki asked to break the ever so bitter and confusing silence.

Mobius shrugged his shoulders. “The jet ski ones? Yeah, I keep those around just to remind myself that there’s something worth fighting for out there, you know?”

“No, actually, I don’t know.” Loki frowned slightly.

“What’s so special about jet skis?” Frigg asked.

Mobius sighed. “Seeing that you stole one of my jet ski magazines, I’d have hoped you’d know by now. Jet skis are a work of art. They’re many things but can be defined as really the only thing that Earth has done right. Earth and many other places build and invent different things so consistently, that they consistently get ruined and tarnished. But for a brief moment in the 1970s, jet skis were the newest invention and form of entertainment, and everything was alright. Have either of you even ridden a jet ski?” He asked.

Frigg shook her head. “I’m begging you, and gods don’t beg, to never talk about something like that again. And to answer your question: never.”

“Neither have I.” Loki said. “Why are you just reading about them? Why don’t you just go ride one?”

Frigg snorted. “Are you crazy, Mobius would get himself killed or worse, yelled at by Judge Renslayer.”

Mobius nodded and adjusted his suit jacket. It crinkled in all the wrong places. “That is true, I’d like for neither of those things to happen. Besides, a TVA agent showing up somewhere on the Sacred Timeline riding a jet ski, smells like a branch to me.”

“Ah,” Loki said, “but it would be fun, wouldn’t it?”

Mobius nodded. “Yes.” He led them down another familiar TVA hallway, in retrospect, all of the TVA hallways were very similar to one another. It was a wonder how Mobius had memorized how to get around this damn place.

Loki furrowed his eyebrows. “And you really believe in all of this propaganda?”

Frigg shrugged her shoulders. “Loki, here, is asking children questions. Of course, Mobius believes in this TVA bullshit. That doesn’t explain why. Oh, perhaps our dear friend Mobius M. Mobius was zapped into existence by the hands of god-lizards and made to obey their unspoken wishes because this is his sole purpose?” She stuffed her hands in the pockets of her dress pants. Her fashionable green suit jacket rested behind her wrists.

“They’re the Timekeepers and, well, yes. I have been in the TVA my whole life, they created me, and I do this little job for them. I don’t really get hung up on this believe versus don’t believe nonsense. I just accept what is.” Mobius led them straight into the TVA archives. He walked past the bitter lady at the TVA archive front desk and barely offered her a wave of the hand.

Loki pinched the bridge of his nose. “Okay, so, three magic lizards created the TVA and everyone in it, which includes you? And you just accept that?”

Mobius nodded. “I do.”

Loki turned and peered down at Frigg. “Every time I start to admire his intelligence he goes and gives me reasons not to admire it.” He slipped out of the itchy suit jacket and draped it over his arms. The sweat from wearing his jacket in the scorching Pompeii heat was grotesquely obvious–his white dress shirt had vaguely see-through areas–the armpits mostly and the color after it dries would be atrociously off-white. Frigg was glad she opted to fight tooth and nail for a black shirt.

Frigg glared up at Loki. “You’re one to talk. Like you give anyone reasons to admire you.”

“I thought we were starting to get along.” Loki raised an eyebrow and looked down at her. He was dramatically upset with her change in heart yet again.

“Look, Loki, you think this is insane, right? Tell me who created you.” Mobius said. Mobius didn’t mean to create a new argument, he just wanted to prove a point and a point he will prove. He sat down at the furthest empty table. A table shrouded by the shadows of modern-day events across all planets, all galaxies, and all ropes of time.

Loki furrowed his eyebrows and sat down across from Mobius. “A Frost Giant.”

Mobius gave him a slight nod. “Who raised you?”

“An Asgardian, Odin of Asgard.” Loki said. “I’m not seeing where this is going.”

“Right,” Mobius said, “now, Frigg. Same questions. Who created you?”

Frigg scrunched her nose. “By unfortunate circumstances I was born of a Frost Giant and an Asgardian.” She sat down next to Loki and avoided his slightly hurt gaze.

Mobius nodded. “And who raised you?”

“I raised myself.” Bitterness hugged her tone. “If you want the wrong answer: Thor and the Avengers.”

Mobius motioned to them both. “Loki, listen to the two of you. Asgard, Frost Giants, gods, superheroes. Earth, mystical realms, places beyond the stars. It’s the same thing.”

“I’m the smart one out of the three of us and I don’t see the similarities between what exists within your precious Sacred Timeline and the TVA.” Frigg narrowed her eyes at the TVA agent and crossed one leg over the other and rested her arms on her leg. Her back hit the back of the chair. She grew bored of this nonsensical observation. TVA god-lizards up against reality.

“You don’t see them because there are no similarities.” Loki sided with her, whether or not he truly believed in the lack of similarities was another story.

Frigg nodded. “You’re right, there are no similarities between what you and I believe and what Mobius believes. These magic lizards act as gods to the brainwashed buffoons in the TVA. The personnel worship these lizards as their lords and saviors the same way the Norwegians believe in us Norse Gods and the Egyptians the Egyptian Gods and so on so forth. It’s a practice of mortal beings that I heavily consider to be ritualistic and unnecessary. While gods do obviously exit, we aren’t going to bless Midgard or a single person just because we’re asked to do so. In my experience we lean back and eat snacks and laugh at misfortune.” Frigg kicked her feet up onto the table and pretended to eat and snack. She pointed down at the table and faked a laugh over an imaginary mortal misfortune.

“I have never seen a more accurate display.” Loki muttered.

Frigg dragged her feet off of the table. “Look, as a God myself, religion is just an elaborate scheme created by morally ambiguous mortals to claim they speak for the gods and usher weak minded fools into doing things for them. It enables some to steal money and get away with crimes without anyone with a fraction of common sense to bat an eye. And, you know, for those that follow religion and are less weak minded, I wholeheartedly believe that they want to feel some sort of belonging and purpose that they might be missing.”

Mobius shook his head. “I knew you two would never understand. Existence is chaos, and here, we try to make some sense of it–.” Mobius paused.

“Sorry, but if something doesn’t make sense, who said there was any sense to be had?” Frigg said firmly. “If existence is chaos, it should remain chaos.”

Mobius drew his lips into a thin line. “Despite all the chaos beyond the TVA, I feel pretty lucky to have ended up here. This place gives me my own glorious purpose–just like you two once had. This place may mean nothing to you, it may not be real to you, but it is real to me, and it means something to me.” He set his hands on the table and lightly tapped his fingertips rhythmically.

Frigg puckered her lips. “I suppose I can personally accept that answer.”

“It’s a fair answer.” Loki agreed. “Let me run this by you, Mobius. Everything has already been written–the past, present, and future were prewritten, so to speak–and there’s no such thing as free will.”

Mobius put a hand up in front of himself. “That’s an oversimplification.”

“But is it? The three of us here, within the confines of the TVA, actually have free will compared to those living within the sacred timeline. We are actually free.” Loki smiled, almost suspiciously.

“Right, so where are you going with this Loki?” Mobius asked.

Frigg squinted her eyes at the sight before them–a sight of nothing other than her own approaching curiosity. “How does the universe end? Where does it end?” She asked.

“Ah…” Loki looked down at her disappointed.

“That’s a W I P if you know what I mean.” Mobius winked at Frigg. He knew as soon as those three letters flew out of his mouth, she would comprehend what he was trying to explain.

Loki squinted his eyes, not understanding this new slang. W I P some kind of newfangled code word. Perhaps not new, considering Mobius may have been in the TVA his entire life. Loki may just be out of touch with modern-day slang (and that should be considered a good thing. Imagine if Thor and Loki understood the term “yeet” and apply that new term to the “Get Help” sequence).

“W I P: more commonly pronounced as ‘WIP’ (whip). It means ‘Work in Progress’; it often is applied to things such as traditional art, digital art, hobby works, creative writing, and other artistic forms. It can be applied to less creative things such as academics.” Frigg tilted her head closer to Loki and gave him the knowledge he didn’t ask for. “I just don’t personally recommend applying ‘WIP’ to anything other than creatives.”

Mobius furrowed his eyebrows. “Is it really pronounced as its own word? WIP?”

Frigg only responded to him with closed eyes, pursed lips, and a slow, disappointed nod. The longer she resides within the confines of the TVA the dumber everyone around her seems to get. Mobius, only recently, has begun to show his stupidity. Loki, on the other hand, has been stupid this entire time. Whether it’s intentional or not, Frigg will never care to know. Loki and Mobius in a room together, though, is probably the most painful experience for Frigg as the IQ of the entire room drops significantly. Loki reverts to pathetic excuse of a god and Mobius reverts to a pea-brained puppet.

“So, the Timekeepers are lazy, no? What are they waiting for, there has to be more to the Sacred Timeline than what they have?” Loki said.

Frigg inhaled sharply. “Now, as far as I’m aware, lazy isn’t always the leading factor in leaving something a WIP. Plenty of things are rather time consuming and I’m sure, if this garbage is real, converging the multiverse, as I now want to call it, into a single strand of time takes a lot of work–even with three people working together. I mean, come on, you have to consider how many branches they have to watch and consider how they would get them to the final result. They would want the end of time to line up with their morals or pre-thought of what the end of time would hold.”

“That ridiculous.” Loki exasperated.

“No, no. That’s exactly what I was going to say except I think she explained it much better than I would have.” Mobius let out an airy laugh. “She’s brilliant. You must be proud, Loki.”

Loki stared at Mobius, wide eyed and confused as to why he assumed Loki would be proud of her. Although, Loki is understandably impressed with her. “So… what happens when we reach the end of time?”

Mobius shrugs. “No more nexus events, no more cleaning up to do. I’ll be out of a job, but in the end, there will be order and peace.”

Loki nodded slowly. “Just order and peace? No chaos, no mischief? Sounds boring.”

“I’m sure it does to you and Frigg, doesn’t it?” Mobius asked.

Frigg shook her head. “No, not really.”

“You two ran out into the open in Pompeii, peace and order would bore the two of you to death. Because you wouldn’t have been able to do that.” Mobius said.

Frigg sighed happily. “Sweet death.”

Mobius and Loki furrowed their eyebrows and glanced at Frigg curiously. They were both concerned with why death was so appealing to her–nearly forgetting that she welcomed death like an old friend in her future (well, not nearly forgetting, they forgot completely).

“Moving on…” Mobius raised his eyebrows and turned his gaze to Loki rather than Frigg.

The trio grew silent, thanks to Frigg. She smirked with pride and leaned back in the seat with her knee against the edge of the table. She peered over at Mobius who had dropped his hands to his thigh and began bouncing his leg impatiently. His nose was crooked, and his face was relatively odd now that she actually looked at him. She looked at Loki and frowned. He sat with poise albeit awkward and itching to move. It was a pitiful sight–with nothing for him to hang on to, he had nothing to keep him grounded. He’ll learn one day, won’t he?

“You called me a scared little boy.” Loki broke the silence and flashed Mobius a hurt expression.

Mobius shrugged his shoulders. “I called you a lot of things.” He chuckled.

“You did.” Loki said. “You’re wrong about me. Because I know something children don’t.”

“What doesn’t Frigg know?” Mobius asked.

Loki pursed his lips. “She’s the exception. I’m pretty sure she’s just reading us as we speak.” He glanced over at Frigg who sat without a care in the world.

“Right, well it’s a good thing her mind is obviously elsewhere otherwise we would have never heard the end of it for mentioning her. Go on, what don’t the children know?” Mobius engaged.

Loki briefly stared at the table. “No one bad is ever truly bad, and no one good is ever truly good.”

“Philosophical I like it.” Mobius smiled. “You’re clever, but not as clever at Frigg.”

“Of course, I’m never going to be cleverer than her. She’s going to come back to the conversation with some type of plan to track down the variant. Probably using past evidence or something.” Loki crossed his arms.

Frigg returned to reality.  “I heard evidence.” She leaned forward.

“Loki, here, was just telling me that you might be able to come up with a way to find the variant.” Mobius said.

Frigg grinned from ear to ear. “Well, of course I can come up with a way to find the variant. Tell me, TVA man, has the variant left anything behind?” She asked.

Mobius sighed and leaned back in his chair. “Well… there is one thing that the variant left behind. A small box of candies but the guys down in analysis couldn’t find any importance.”

“Something doesn’t add up. Either the candy box is fake evidence, or your people are just morons.” Frigg crossed her arms and leaned back. She assumed, without consideration, that analysis was full of morons.

Loki leaned back. “Why does a candy box matter?”

“Do you have candy on Asgard?” Mobius asked.

Frigg shook her head. “Asgardians consider grapes and nuts to be candy–sweet, savory, a wee bit salty. Candy is not the same as grapes and nuts. Candy is more of a Midgardian thing. Tony Stark had a pantry full of sweets and sours that were marked as candy. I believe Thor stocked up on some very unhealthy Midgardian food every now and again as well.” She explained.

“No wonder you two are very bitter–your homeland doesn’t have real candy.” Mobius teased. “Now we have two variables to look at. An apocalyptic event and Kablooie.”

Frigg furrowed her eyebrows. “Sounds like it was taken straight from the Disney Ducks comic. Kablooie Duck was a character in them.”

“What is Disney?” Loki asked.

Frigg looked towards the ground with wide, knowledgeable eyes. “That’s a lot to unpack, we don’t really have time for a history lesson on Disney. Disney was a man with a dream, the people that now own his dream act like garbage people and ruined Disney’s dream.”

“I think I need a history lesson on this one day.” Loki’s voice trailed.

“Okay, okay, we have some negative feelings towards Earths most dominant corporation, but we need to focus. Back to the archives.” Mobius pulled them away from their conversation and tapped his hands on the table. He stood up and waited for the other two to do the same.

Frigg stood up. “Disney is much more than an evil corporation. Gods, they probably own the entire Earth at this point. If not, they definitely would try.”

“Did Disney hurt you?” Loki asked, almost concerned.

Frigg nodded. “They ruined my favorite film franchise by recreating the first three films and calling it a ‘sequel trilogy’ and then scrapped the idea of remaking the original films and had the scripts that don’t tell a story. Star Wars is not a film series about a ship ride in space! That’s Star Trek! Seriously, some people can’t seem to understand the difference between those two franchises. Star Wars is science fiction with a heavy emphasis on fiction and an addition of fantasy while Star Trek is political science fiction. It’s not hard to understand!” She threw her arms up, exasperated.

Loki leaned over towards Mobius. “Remind me to never engage in conversation about anything she just talked about. Disney, and these Star-films.”

Mobius nodded. “Smart choice.”

“Right then, let’s go to the archives!” Frigg marched away from the table.

“Kablooie was regionally sold from 2047 to 2051, we just need to cross reference that with every apocalyptic event in the same time frame.” Mobius followed behind her.

Loki trailed behind Mobius in a staggered line. Frigg walked at the front of the train. She had never truly realized how large the archives were, she peered down each row of history only for them to stretch for eternity. She returned her focus on walking around the archives almost aimlessly, Mobius most likely had no idea where they were going, possibly just as much as Frigg knew, which is why she led them haphazardly through the archives in search for this candy. They turned and were met with the mid-21^st century. Mobius scanned the various files for specific dates.

Frigg crossed her arms and tapped her foot. “I feel like he’s going to hand us things.”

“I am, here you take this much.” Mobius handed Frigg a decently sized stack of files from 2047 to half of 2048. “And you take this much.” He handed Loki a very large stack of files ranging from the end half of 2048 to half of 2050.

“Why does she get less?” Loki asked. “She’s more than capable of carrying more than what you gave her.”

Mobius grabbed the final stack of files ranging from the end half of 2050 to 2051. “It’s called favoritism.” He guided them back to the table, and this time it was a direct route back to the table because he was in the lead–no strange zags or odd walks through random aisles.

“So, you’re the favorite mister smallest stack?” Frigg hissed, she peered around her stack just to be able to follow them.

Frigg dropped her stack on the table and sat down, relieved that they had finally made it back. Loki slid next to her and split his stack into two smaller stacks (seeing that he was the least favorite and received the shit end). They flipped through their respective files slowly, trying to find any naturally occurring apocalyptic event that could lead them to the variant. Page after page, nothing after nothing. Kablooie wasn’t here or there or anywhere in sight. And Frigg had fallen asleep a while ago forcing Loki and Mobius to flip through the rest of her stack as well. Mobius took up more of Frigg’s stack than Loki did in order to “politely balance the workload” after he was called out for self-favoritism.

“She looks so harmless when she’s asleep.” Mobius smiled.

Loki furrowed his eyebrows and glanced at the sleeping adolescent (and sleeping at a table with files as her pillows look so uncomfortable). “I’m pretty sure she sleeps with a butter knife in her living quarters now that I’m there.”

“Well, let’s just savor this moment. No butter knives, no weapons, no angry looks, no mean comments. Just Frigg, asleep, being harmless.” Mobius said. He gave Loki a soft smile. “You’ve already started to crawl under her skin. I saw something during Pompeii.”

Loki awkwardly draped his suit jacket over her for some extra warmth. “I suppose so. I thought we were getting along just fine making the most out of doomsday.”

“It would have never happened if I wasn’t so darn boring.” Mobius chuckled.

“That, I do have to agree with.” Loki smiled. “Have you got anything yet?”

Mobius shook his head. “Nothing in 2050 or 2051 yet. It’s not the tsunami of ’51. I haven’t looked through ’49 yet. You?”

Loki shook his head rather disappointedly. This was far more difficult and tedious than he originally anticipated–perhaps it would have gone smoother if a certain someone hadn’t knocked out awhile back. “I’ve got nothing. Climate disaster of ’48. ’50, the extinction of the swallows. Is that a thing?” Loki leaned forward.

Mobius nodded, barely paying attention. “Oh yeah, screwed up the whole ecosystem.”

“Right,” Loki sighed. “Krakatoa erupted in ’49, sounds like something Frigg would want to see in person. No Kablooie. Wow, it’s just one disaster after another. Cyclones, famine, volcanoes, floods, hurricanes.” Loki paused–they all sound like things Frigg would want to see in person.

“M-hm.”

“I’ve got him.” Loki declared.

Chapter Text

Frigg shifted and slammed her hand against something soft. Her eye shot open, and she quickly sat up, wrapped in something unnecessarily snug and warm, something a little too warm. “Uck.” The stupid silky, black bedsheet and unnecessarily plush emerald duvet. She rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand and tried to remember how she even got where she was. She doesn’t remember dragging herself back to her TVA provided living quarters whatsoever. She threw her duvet and bedsheet off of her and swung her legs over the side of the bed. Her feet hit her boots and promptly knocked them on their sides. She peered down at her pants, green dress pants and a black shirt. She slid off of the bed and came to the conclusion that Loki or Mobius had carried her back to her room and threw her in bed. The last thing she does remember is searching through the files for the variant’s doomsday hideout and feeling tired the whole time. Her conclusion was most likely the correct conclusion–she passed out and was taken to her room.

Out of the corner of her eye she caught a glimpse of herself in her vanity mirror–pale blue and dressed in black and green. She turned and faced the mirror; she was a pale Jötunn blue. She swiftly brought herself closer to the mirror and gapped at the sight of herself. “Oh god.” She whispered as she wrapped her shaking hands around the edges of the vanity mirror and leaned over the physical vanity. Her nose barely touched the mirror. With being so close she saw Jötunn markings. Her markings were nothing more than thin raised lines on her skin.

She stared at herself, out of breath. Her eyes traced her new Jötunn markings from her forehead to her chin–they actually ruined her former beauty, her former Asgardian beauty. She was a monster, the monster that parents warn their children about in their bedtime stories. Slowly, she brought a hand to her face and traced the markings that defined her cheeks; the markings ran parallel with the markings that ran down her chin (starting at her bottom lip). Her fingers just barely grazed the markings that rested above her eyebrows, they curved towards her hairline just before the ends of her eyebrows. Two thin markings ran down the bridge of her nose, accentuating her slender bridge, and they parted just before the tip of her nose and were joined by the markings on her cheeks. She dropped her hands to her sides and stepped back. She opened her mouth to shriek at the sight of her, but no sound came out. She stumbled over the corner of her bed and fell onto her side.

“Ow!” She inhaled sharply–ah, there’s the sound.

Tears formed as she pulled herself away from the corner of her bed. She shook her head trying to clear her mind of her new form and make the tears disappear. She scrambled to her feet and caught a glimpse of her fleshy hands–not blue hands. Pale Asgardian flesh hands. Her skin wasn’t blue outside of that damned vanity mirror. She stumbled towards her bedroom door threw her body into it before she swung the door open. She glanced back at the vanity mirror and tried to find the doorknob with her hand.

“Frigg?” Loki called out from the other room in the TVA provided living quarters.

She swung the door open, and her door hook rattled against her door, and she smacked her door against the door stopper. It slowly swung back toward the door frame on its own. She quickly slipped into the bathroom that neighbored her room and she slammed that door shut behind her. She leaned against the door and started to slide down the door. She exhaled hard as if she had just escaped a horror movie killer.

Something had to make sense. Why was she blue?

She pushed off of the door hastily and shakily turned the faucet on. She cupped her hands under the running water and haphazardly splashed her face with water, soaking herself and the floor around her. Dangerous. She breathed in odd intervals and wrapped her hands around the sink and stared at the water that threatened to overflow. She lifted her head and looked at herself in the mirror because maybe it was the trick of the light–or lack thereof in her room. Or maybe it was the trick of the eyes alone.

Blue.

Pale blue.

Jötunn blue.

Blue.

“Frigg?” Loki’s voice called out again, concerned.

Panicked, she froze, almost not sure of what to say or if she should entertain his concern and say anything. She was showing weakness by freaking out. She can’t be weak in front of any version of Loki. It was pathetic and she would never sink as low as the God of Mischief that took over her spare room. She furrowed her eyebrows and grinned widely with tears running down her face. This was all an elaborate scheme to make her show weakness, to make her sink that low. She gripped the sink until her knuckles and fingertips turned white. This was all an elaborate scheme to make her consider the possibility of this pathetic Loki replacing her less than desirable father Loki. Her shoulders bounced with her silent laugh–a replacement Loki, how pathetic.

“Busy!” She yelled back. Her voice was rather hoarse and dry now that she actually said a word and not a yelp of pain or surprise.

She pushed herself off of the sink and stood in front of the mirror just close enough to be able to make herself out clearly. She was still blue; her skin was still littered with those Jötunn markings. She laughed quietly to herself. She rolled up her sleeves and examined her arms through the mirror.

Blue.

Haha.

The water began to spill over the sides of the sink, and she didn’t seem to care. She snorted at the sound of the water hitting the floor. Pathetic. She stepped back and lost herself in the mirror and in her thoughts. This wasn’t like her; she wasn’t the stupid version of herself. She wasn’t that psychotic ruler of Midgard that talked to her father in a mirror–no, she was better than that. She dropped her arms to her side.

Haha.

She heard Loki’s bedroom door shut. He’s coming. She stared at the red and yellow eyes staring holes into her skull (talk about looking like a fucking Sith Lord, haha). She was a Jötunn and there was no escaping the fact. She clenched her fists at the blue girl that kept mocking her. The girl in the mirror was her, it was who she was deep down. Sad, pathetic, and weak. And apparently blue.

“No,” she said.

Loki’s footsteps approached rather slowly and cautiously. “Is everything okay in there?” He was worried about her and neither of them wanted to admit it.

“I’m fine!” She raised her voice. The words escaped her lips rather angrily.

Haha.

The blue girl in the mirror blinked when she blinked. She moved her arm when Frigg moved her arm. She tilted her head when Frigg tilted her head.

“Stop laughing at me.” She whispered. Loki was just past the door, what a tragedy it would be for him to see Frigg this way.

He’s right about you.

She looked at the mirror in horror. Loki was not right about her–he was wrong, he was very wrong. She wasn’t weak, she would never be weak. She wasn’t blinded by self-righteousness; she was most definitely blinded by anger. She never received love from someone and rejected it because no one ever loved her.

But she was a monster.

Destined to be alone.

Hahaha.

Frigg glued her eyes to the mirror and rested her hand on the towel rack just barely to her left. She watched the mirror carefully for the blue girl was messing with her. Making her feel pathetic–the only pathetic person in this damn living space was Loki!

Absentmindedly Frigg pulled the towel rack off of the wall. She clenched her teeth and raised the bar over her head. The blue girl had to go. She had to go. She had to stop mocking her. She swung the bar towards the mirror and shattered the mirror. The pieces fell and the blue girl had finally left. Frigg stumbled back and sat down on the edge of the bathtub and stared at the shards of glass. She caught a glimpse of herself–she was a mess. Her face was stained with tears and new tears formed. Her eyes were puffy and red, even the tip of her nose was turning pink.

“Frigg!” Loki rattled the doorknob. She forgot she locked the door.

She dropped the bar at her feet. “Haha.” The tears ran down her face. She was pathetic.

She buried her face in her hands and sobbed. She rested her elbows just above her knees. She hated herself. She hated her Loki. She wanted to confide in this Loki. He was all she had and for some ungodly reason he cared about her. Mobius simply tossed her to the side as soon as he found his Loki and Loki did mention that Mobius was trying to keep her off the field… Maybe this Loki could change, or he already had, or he just started to. Maybe he was just different from the beginning. She couldn’t confide in him because she already made her impression–unnecessarily rude, cynical, and ten steps ahead of the God of Mischief himself. She couldn’t show him weakness because that’s stupid after all of that. But they did have their moment during Pompeii–for a brief moment that was her second chance. She clenched her jaw, why is everything so hard?

Loki swung the door open (may or may not have broken the door, who’s going to snitch? He will) and stared at the scene before him. The mirror was shattered, the wall towel rack had been yanked off of the wall, the floor was soaked because the faucet was still running, and Frigg was crying on the edge of the tub. “What did you do?” He asked. It came out a little more aggressive than he intended. He was shocked and he had no idea what to do about any of this. He quickly turned the faucet off as he waited for an answer.

“I don’t,” she sobbed, “I don’t know.”

Loki swallowed and stepped towards her. The glass crunched beneath his shoes (it was lucky that he was wearing shoes, he seems to always wear shoes. He probably wears shoes to bed like a poorly made Sim character) and with each crunch, Loki flinched. “Okay,” he paused, “ah, I’m going to pick you up.” He scooped her up. Her hands fell from her face, and she leaned her head against him almost instinctively. Almost like she trusted him.

“What happened?” Loki placed her down on the couch.

She curled up and pressed her cheek against her arm. “I don’t know.” She mumbled through thick saliva.

Loki nodded and pursed his lips. He looked down at her. “I have no idea what to do. I need to call Mobius about the bathroom.” Loki stepped over to the landline and loomed over the tricky Midgardian inspired device. “I just realized I have no idea how to use this device.”

Frigg blankly stared at him.

He furrowed his eyebrows as he looked at her again. “Are you crying?”

“No.” She mumbled.

“You’re crying.” He said softly. He quickly made his way to the fridge and pulled out a cold bottle of water. Her favorite temperature of water: cold. Loki walked back to Frigg and held the water out for her. “You might want this. I know crying can make some feel dehydrated.”

She grabbed the water and dropped it next to her.

Loki knelt in front of her. “I think you need to stay here when we go after this variant. While you were asleep, Mobius and I pinpointed the location of the variant, and I don’t want you to come with us. Mobius was planning to cut you so you could… be a child… but he knew you would fight tooth and nail to continue doing this.” Loki paused and grabbed Frigg by the shoulders. “I, personally, don’t want you out there because what if the variant hurts you? Or what if he kills you? All because you’re going through… whatever this is? I might not be strong enough to keep you safe.”

“You can’t kick me off this team.” She whispered. “This is all I have.”

“I just want you to be okay.” Loki lowered his voice. “I don’t want to lose you when I just got you.”

Chapter Text

Mobius and Loki turned the corner; Frigg watched the two blissfully unaware clown-suited men. Loki had recently tried to convince her to sit this little adventure out due to her apparent mental state but there was no way in Hel she was going to miss an opportunity to land a detrimental hit on this variant’s plans (or perhaps utilize the variants plans for her own plan–after all, that was the intention). It was an exhausting game to play, being a member of the TVA and all. Suddenly she fell into a trap where she just has to get along with Loki to fool him. She almost felt bad about how she came to like this Loki. It was exhausting to even have to keep him in check so that she could have a plan of her own that wouldn’t blow up in her face.

“If everything goes as planned today and we catch this variant,” Mobius chuckled, “well, who knows what will happen.”

Loki beamed at Mobius. “What? After I help you, I’ll get an audience?” He barely chuckled at the mindless TVA analyst. He had to lean forward to match the height of his new friend. Loki was one step closer to being a mindless TVA agent. But he was happier.

Mobius stopped in front of his–correction, Hunter B-15s–team of minutemen and Frigg of all unexpected bodies. Mobius eyed the mission-ready demi-god with uncertainty, here she was in all of her half-cynical, half-pleasant glory. Mobius stood awkwardly in front of her with his hands in his pockets. He leaned over into Loki. “I thought you said she was going to sit this one out.” He whispered.

Loki leaned down and kept an eye on the adolescent and whispered: “I did tell you that, yes. And that was supposed to be the case.”

Mobius pursed his lips. “Right,” he said, “and it worked out great. There’s no going back now.” Mobius leaned away from Loki and stepped forward, turning himself into the center of attention.

Frigg squinted at Mobius and Loki. “Yes, there is no going back now, Mobius. After all, I am a TVA trainee, and I should be shadowing you and Hunter B-15 every possible chance I get no matter how dangerous the mission is. Hunter B-15 and I have already gathered her team for you. Saves you some time, doesn’t it? With a team as strong and trustworthy as this one, we should come out of this completely unharmed. And completely betrayal free.” She mused. “Oh, and as for getting this pre-approved, meaning Judge Renslayer didn’t hesitate to give the a-okay, you’re welcome.”

Frigg stood tall compared to her slouching replacement father-figure and her lovely friend, the barely straight backed, mindless slave, Mobius M. Mobius. She wore her emerald and black pantsuit with minor, yet noticeable differences. She lacked her golden helm (most likely confiscated yet again), and she wore more of a wedge shoe rather than something flat and easy to run in, and she had a new belt–it was a TVA belt fit with nearly invisible hooks for her weapons. She crossed her arms and beamed at the two, ready to go.

The excitement of the possibility of receiving a face-to-face with the Timekeepers drained from Loki’s being as he realized there was no escaping this cockroach of an adolescent. She was going to do something, and he couldn’t figure out exactly what she was going to do. Maybe she was going to sabotage his end goal, or perhaps she was just using him for all he knew. Of course, his expression was worth a thousand words–mistrust was the most commonly used of the thousand words. He caught a glimpse of Frigg; she stood so innocently next to Hunter B-15 with a gameplan in mind. Mistrust wasn’t the only word on Loki’s mind, but she knew it was about her appearing before him.

Mobius on the other hand looked tired and defeated, as if he were far older than he appeared and couldn’t keep up with the energy that Frigg possessed. Mobius had greyed since her arrival and the fact that it began to sadden her spoke volumes. Something wasn’t quite right with the TVA and as far as she was concerned the whole time flows differently in the TVA nonsense was getting boring because it was known that it was different, but it was clear that I didn’t stop mortal aging.

“You seem to put a lot of faith in that one.” Loki vaguely pointed at Hunter B-15, expressing his own mistrust in the minutemen.

“Yes, and you seem to enjoy leaning on Mobius for a living.” Frigg shot back. “Go on and debrief us Mobius.” She demanded.

Mobius looked down and sighed. He glanced back up at his–again, rather Hunter B-15s–assembled field op and began to debrief them. “We are about to enter an apocalyptic event in order to apprehend the variant that has evaded us for many years. Roxxcart is a pretty large superstore that is common to the era–Frigg, think Costco or Sam’s Club. The superstore is very large and houses a number of different sections for the variant to hide in. Keep your eyes open, as always, do not fall for any tricks or traps. Keep in mind that this is the same variant that has stolen reset charges from us. We know that he is planning something, but we don’t know what he is planning. If you see a variant, apprehend and capture and in the worst-case scenario, prune. Preferably don’t prune the one in a tan suit.” Mobius concluded his debriefing.

Loki looked down. “Preferably.”

Frigg grinned. “And that, my dear God of Mischief, is only a suggestion. There is still a chance that you may end up getting pruned.” She hooked her new weapon to her belt–a pruning stick, just what she needed. Another weapon to use against the Loki’s of the sacred timeline. Loki isn’t allowed to have one, yet she is. How unfair and sad for the pathetic God of Mischief, but how absolutely delightful for Frigg.

Loki’s eyes widened. “You’re not planning to use that thing on me, are you?” He asked.

She shrugged her shoulders and opened an angular portal to Roxxcart behind her without warning. “Only the time spent on this mission will be able to answer that question, Laufeyson.” She stepped to the side and allowed Hunter B-15 to lead the minutemen through the portal. Mobius and Loki followed in suit, leaving Frigg to enter last to ensure that Loki actually walked through–just a hunch.

They walked straight into the raging storm. The thunder rumbled and lightning touched down miles away from them. Once they stepped through the portal, they were soaked without warning–although it was rather obvious that this was to happen, they were walking into a class ten apocalypse where everyone dies, and everything is wet. Hunter B-15 and Mobius led the team into the Roxxcart store, again, with Frigg following behind Loki to ensure he makes it inside without any tricks or hijinks. The thunder rumbled after them, chasing Loki into the store. He nearly jumped out of his skin being oh so fond of thunder and what follows (namely, Thor). Humorously, nothing more was to follow the storm, it was just the storm. Here, Loki’s fear was particularly irrational, he should be more concerned with the fact that he was more likely to be pruned, killed by the superior Loki variant, or killed by the storm with all these weak mortals hiding in the superstore.

Hunter B-15 and Mobius gathered the team around one of the checkout lanes. Frigg quickly illuminated herself green and dried herself to avoid announcing her presence like everyone else here. Loki followed in suit and dried himself with his magic. To his left, Hunter B-15 nearly jumped three feet in the air as a reaction to Loki. It was rather unusual for a Loki to use his magic so tamely, rather it was expected that he was to use his magic for harm. On the other hand, using magic for basic things was a very Frigg thing to do.

“What the hell was that?” Hunter B-15 looked at Loki.

Loki looked down at Hunter B-15 almost disgusted that he was viewed so drastically different than they viewed Frigg. “That was me using my magic to dry myself, so I don’t announce myself with every squeaky step like the rest of you. Frigg did the exact same thing just before I and none of you even noticed.” He pointed out, growing even more annoyed with every word that slipped from his mouth. He motioned to Frigg, who stood with her hands behind her back and a zoned-out gaze.

Hunter B-15 raised an eyebrow at Loki. “She was subtle about it.” She turned her attention to her field op. “Take both teams and sweep the storm shelter.” She instructed.

“Yes ma’am.”

Mobius planed a hand on Loki’s shoulder and leaned toward Hunter B-15. “Loki and I are going to check out the green house. We’ll meet–.”

“–No.” Hunter B-15 cut Mobius off.

“No?” He questioned.

Hunter B-15 pointed a finger at Mobius. “You go with D-90, he stays with me.” She stepped forward.

“But–.” Mobius barely said.

Frigg placed her hands on the sides of the checkout unit. “Mobius.”

“Right.” He sighed.

“This is my field op, Mobius. If this Loki variant is not a threat, then–.” Hunter B-15 started.

Mobius scoffed. “Of course, he’s a threat, remember the Time Theater? And you’re trying to tell me that Frigg is less of a threat than him? She’s even more of a threat and you want to hang onto them both?” He asked.

Hunter B-15 quickly raised her shoulders. “I never said that she was coming with me.” She straightened her posture. “But, yes, she is coming with me as well. She might be more of a threat than this variant, but she’s not more of a threat than the variant we need to find. She would never let this Loki jeopardize whatever it is that she wants. I trust that she would prune him before she ever considers pruning me.”

“Thank you, B-15, that is so kind of you.” Frigg said.

Hunter B-15 nodded to the adolescent and made it clear that she believed every bit of what she was saying. “Besides, you are welcome to go back to the TVA and litigate with Renslayer, but right now–.”

“–we’re here and we’re not going back. I know.” Mobius sighed, defeated.

Frigg slipped her hands in her pockets and smiled up at Mobius. “I told you once before, this is my mission, not yours and I will do everything in my power to keep it that way. You’re just around to get me where I need to be.”

“Don’t forget about the variant.” Mobius said.

Frigg began inching away from Hunter B-15 and Loki. “Which one?” She laughed.

Loki set his hand on Mobius’s shoulder. “Mobius, it’s fine, its fine. I’ll go with them.” He slipped his hand way from Mobius and slowly followed Hunter B-15.

Frigg walked ahead, leading Hunter B-15 and Loki through the maze that is the superstore. They weaved through the aisles to begin their great search in the greenhouse. The shelving units were fit for small and medium sized potted plants. Azaleas, succulents, snake plants, calathea plants, hibiscus flowers, and orchids were among the beautiful array of house plants that just barely distracted Frigg. She stood around the succulents as Hunter B-15 and Loki walked past her. She watched them from the succulent shelf. Hunter B-15 walked slowly around the low raised shelves with Loki looming over her shoulder.

“You can trust me, and I know I have to earn that from you, but believe me, you can.” Loki broke the silence between them.

Hunter B-15 shook her head in disbelief. “Why do the people you can’t trust always say that?”

Frigg snorted and stepped back from the succulent unit. “They want to seem trustworthy and innocent, so they mask their motives with the playful line ‘You can trust me’ at obscure moments rather than asking the real question.” She walked around the succulent unit and cocked her head to the side. She stood under the flickering emergency light with her hand wrapped around the cold metal of the tall shelving unit. “’Do you trust me?’ is what they should ask, but only when in the face of impending doom. It’s also the moment where one is more likely to receive a ‘yes’ as a response, making the trustee vulnerable to betrayal. Life-or-death situations bring out the best in sentient beings, don’t you think?” She asked.

Frigg peered down the dark walkway behind her–dark, eerie, and the looming feeling of something to fear reached out to her and just barely grazed her. Something was watching them. She looked back towards Hunter B-15 and Loki–both shot her a look of surprise. Loki’s lips were parted and the cogs in his brain seemed to be moving, nothing more was really happening with him. Hunter B-15 swallowed at kept her eye on the girl, perhaps she felt that her belief about the girl was wrong.

“You speak from experience, don’t you?” Hunter B-15 asked.

Frigg shrugged her shoulders and walked pasted the gawking pair. “I suppose. There have been countless times where I turn my back on those who turned their backs on me, especially in the face of danger. I’ve left the former Winter Soldier for dead, part of me feels bad for that as he helped me before… if that’s what you consider helped. I’ve dropped one of those Young Avenger kids from a Helicarrier after asking ‘Do you trust me?’” She peered around the unit and walked forward. They were being followed.

Loki raised his eyebrows. “Wow.”

“That is alarming.” Hunter B-15 said plainly.

“I’m so glad we get to spend this time together, truly. Being told a terrifying tale by a child, it’s like a bonding moment.” Loki began.

“Quiet.” Hunter B-15 stood in front of both Frigg and Loki upon hearing an odd noise.

Loki tried to regain her attention. “No, no. What I mean is we got off–.”

“Shh!” Frigg put a finger to her lips and looked up at the trickster with wide eyes that simply warned him.

Hunter B-15 walked out from behind the unit with Frigg in tow. Frigg peered around Hunter B-15; they were met with a scruffy man. She knew it. She called it–oh, she should have made a bet! Followed. It was rather a sad sight, the mortal had tattered clothes, and he looked as though he hadn’t been able to cleanse himself in days. Self-care was thrown out of the window on this mortal. His facial hair was so uncared for. He lazily stared at the pink Azaleas that sat at his eye level–he had one thing going for him, good taste in plants. He looked deep in thought about the silly plants resting on the shelf in front of him. His hand rested on his chin and hummed thoughtfully. Frigg pondered whether this was of his own doing or the storm. She had sat through a few winters where they lost power and water for less than a week. She could only image how long these people have been here before they end up dying.

“Hey!” Hunter B-15 stepped forward.

“It’s sad looking man.” Frigg whispered.

“What are you doing?” Hunter B-15 asked.

The sad man looked over at them. “Shopping for plants. It’s a hurricane sale. Azaleas are half off.” He told them.

“In this weather?” Frigg was dumbfounded, but not really. She knew mortals had the intelligence of a rock sometimes, but so did other sentient beings.

Hunter B-15 looked back at the cowering Loki. “Could this be you?” She asked.

Loki stepped forward and examined the man. “I would have worn a suit. Other than that,” his voice trailed, “I suppose that could be me.”

Frigg watched the poor mortal drop to the floor like a dead fly. “I don’t believe that is a Loki of any kind. He doesn’t seem like he’s alright.”

Hunter B-15 turned around and faced the pair of tricksters. She smiled sweetly and looked up at Loki. “They usually survive.” She surveyed the Loki variant before her, the one in the TVA issued monkey-suit. “So, you’re the fool that the TVA brought in to hunt me down.”

Frigg blinked at Hunter B-15, who is not actually Hunter B-15. “I’m sorry, they usually survive. Are you just inhabiting these bodies to speak to that greasy haired clown?” She furrowed her eyebrows and pointed at Loki.

The false Hunter B-15 moved drastically differently than the actual Hunter B-15. This inhabited version walked with lighter steps and looser appendages (her arms were more likely to sway as she walked than stiffly hold any sort of weapon). The false Hunter B-15 smiled more sweetly than the Hunter B-15 Frigg knew because Hunter B-15 wouldn’t smile. Her eyes were just as hard, but her expressions were soft, and her motions were more fluid. She was less of a mindless soldier than the actual Hunter B-15. She moved on her own free will versus marching in a straight line the way these soldiers do.

Loki outstretched his arms then slapped his hands against his thighs. “Really?”

Frigg, in response to his exasperation, outstretched her arms and looked at him. “No one in this whole god forsaken universe would ever want to willingly speak to you unless it was you. And he isn’t even speaking directly to you, he’s using vessels because you’re such a pathetic being and no one wants to be seen with you!”

The false Hunter B-15 smiled at the poorly blooming father-daughter relationship. “I’d love to hear this play out, but that’s not what I’m here for.”

Loki faced the imposter. “So, you’re really me, then?”

She scoffed. “Oh please, if anyone is anyone, you’re me.” The Loki variant laughed.

“How nice to officially meet you.” Loki mused. He quickly gained interest in the variant. A body hopping variant of himself; a worthy second in command, a worthy opponent if the worst-case scenario becomes his reality.

Frigg slapped a hand to her forehead. “Oh, my god.” She leaned her head back. “Ladies and gentlemen, watch as the elusive God of Mischief tries to win the approval of his own variant by using his pathetic, whiny, and supposedly cunning personality. But wait–no one cares, there’s no audience!” She threw her arms out and show cased, to no one, the display of submission from Loki.

The Loki variant eyed Frigg, standing just barely a few inches taller than her. “Oh, and you have a pet, how sweet. She follows you like a lost puppy and shouts such truthful things at you while you go about your business.” She mused, taking a liking to the adolescent.

“He’s the lost puppy, thank you.” Frigg corrected the ignorant variant.

Frigg crossed her arms and kept her eye on the variant that inhabited Hunter B-15’s body. This variant was no better than the clown standing four feet away from her. Hiding behind a vessel rather that facing Loki and Frigg head on–how pathetic, Frigg thought, and how childish. How ignorant the variant made herself out to be by even thinking that Frigg was the pet and Loki wasn’t–Frigg may be a child, but she is no pet. If anyone is a pet it’s Loki (might as well add Mobius to her list, honestly). She is more capable than the single brain-celled Loki variant that had the decency to be himself. This new variant, in strength, may be a worthy opponent for Frigg if the variant would show herself.

“Enchantment is a wonderfully clever gimmick. Childish and something only an amateur like this child would do.” Loki half complimented the variant. Loki began to circle the variant rather than blindly follow her into some kind of silly trick or trap. “Not to mention cowardly.”

The variant responded by circling Loki. “Would you say it’s almost as cowardly as hiding behind the TVA?” She asked.

Loki stood still. “I’m working for me.” He claimed.

The variant stepped away from Loki. “You really believe that don’t you? You’re working for you? Who’s the kid working for? Herself? You? Please. You two have no idea what’s going on, do you?” She scoffed at the idiots in front of her.

“No, no. I’m working for the TVA except I have an ulterior motive. He’s just a moron.” Frigg chimed in. “I accidentally made him feel like he was worth something and now I can’t seem to shake him. He reminds me of the Midgardian cockroach.”

“She’s right.” Loki said. “Wait–.”

The variant Loki laughed at the exchange. “And here I thought they had found a superior version of me. Glorious, as it turns out the child may in fact be the superior one, especially standing next to you. You’re more pathetic than an overconfident child.” The variant walked down another aisle, leading the pair away from the greenhouse section. Far away from the greenhouse section.

“I’ll give you one thing; you know who not to underestimate.” Loki praised.

Frigg dragged her feet as she followed to variant and Loki into what she thought was to be a trap. If they fall into a trap Frigg could never end up with what she wants. They walked from the back of the store towards a whole different side. Through the men’s and women’s clothing, past the overpriced and unnecessary electronics and children’s games. It felt like they were walking towards an employee only section (Frigg has been in enough modern-day Midgardian superstores to gauge the universal set up and where they might be headed).

“Is this a trap or are you stalling?” Frigg asked.

In the medicine aisle, Hunter B-15’s body hit the floor. Frigg slowly stepped away from Hunter B-15 and walked out of the restrictive aisle and into the open. She was safe in the open.

Safe.

Loki stared at the body and most likely had no idea that Frigg has walked away from him and the unconscious Hunter B-15. “Well then…”

A superstore employee approached Frigg about the same time that Loki had snuck his way behind her. “Are you two here for the storm shelter?” The oddly possessed-looking male asked. He was scrawny and fairly tall. He almost looked like a toothpick has been given a human form.

“This body hopping bullshit is going to get annoying.” Frigg scrunched her nose and looked at the toothpick sized man.

“That’s the variant?” Loki pointed at the flamboyant superstore employee and looked at Frigg, expecting an answer from either one of them.

Frigg stared off into the distance with a glaze over her eyes. “The stupidity really hurts my brain. Is it possible to be this stupid?” She laughed, pained.

The variant laughed. “She’s cute. The heart of a lion and the intelligence of an arrogant billionaire who never makes the sacrifice play.” He teased.

“She’s cute. The heart of a lion and the intelligence of a great value brand Iron Man.” Frigg mocked. She rolled her eyes at the remark from the variant. Cute, I’m a monster you bastard, she thought. “I’ll show you cute–it’ll be cute when someone has to mop your insides up!” Frigg lunged at the variant but was quickly restrained by Loki’s magic. She was suspended in midair, and she thrashed about.

“That’s exactly what the variant wants you to do, Frigg.” He hissed and slowly brought her suspended body towards him. “Don’t do anything stupid.”

Frigg stopped thrashing about and crossed her arms in annoyance. Or anger–she wasn’t exactly sure which of the two ‘A’ feelings was more prominent. “If I’m not the one to do something as stupid as run headfirst into the problem, we all know you’ll do something far worse and screw us all. That’s how that works, genius!” She hissed.

The variant laughed. “Oh, she’s not a pet.” He covered his mouth with his hand dramatically. “You’re playing the role of her father, how sweet. How sweet indeed. Maybe it’s time the cranky baby takes a nap?” He pouted.

Loki dropped Frigg onto the ground. “I’m not playing the role of her father.” He defended himself. Disgusting. “No one would ever want to be the father of that freak of nature.” He pointed at the adolescent on the floor and scoffed and the assumption that he was to take on that role in her life. That was the worst thing he could ever think of.

Frigg lifted her head off of the floor. “If I’m so smart, you’d think I’d magic hands my way out of this fucking disaster, eh?” She said to herself. “Freak of nature this, dirtbag.” She jumped to her feet and lifted Loki off of the ground with her magic and turned him upside down. She shook him and dropped him. This was going better than she had hoped…

Loki lifted his head off of the floor. “Was that really necessary?” He raised his voice.

Across from them, the variant was having a field day. Loki against Frigg, two absolute forces of nature fighting each other rather than the actual Loki they were meant to capture and prune. And yet they weren’t really fighting–just a silly little back and forth bickering with a hint of magic. Frigg, of all TVA agents (and regular people), knew the importance of the mission but instead threw the importance outside and let it get soggy in the storm. She had everything she needed to win this fight: intelligence, daggers, a pruning stick, magic, and various plans for various scenarios. Such a shame to see the “heroes” fall.

“Take him. Win, for all I care.” Frigg looked at the disguised variant with glossy eyes. She stepped back and stood in the shadows and crept alongside them.

Loki stood up and brushed himself off. He peered back at Frigg, almost upset with himself. Almost as if he felt a twinge of regret. Regret. He faced his variant again, only for him to have walked off without another word. Loki jogged around the bend to catch up to his fast-paced variant. “Show yourself, variant. Unless you’re afraid of something.”

The variant walked on silently. He guided Loki through the maze of shelving units–cards, gift bags, and other gift-related objects.

“You know, gaining their confidence was no mean feat.” Loki boasted.

The variant paused. “Oh, my gods. You went undercover.” He held in his laughter.

Loki nodded. “Precisely. And if you could possibly sheathe your smarm for a moment, I have an offer for you. That’s why I found you.” He explained.

“Go on.”

Loki beamed. “I’m going to overthrow the Timekeepers. And, uh, cards on the table, I could use a qualified lieutenant.”

The variant stopped walking and looked back at Loki. “And I assume you mean me? Certainly, you must. That poor girl, seems like everyone enjoys replacing her.” He laughed.

Loki scoffed. “You think that girl was ever going to help me? You must be, well, insane to think that. She’s clearly waiting for me to overthrow the Timekeepers on my own so she can overthrow me. She thinks me to be weaker than her, than you.” Loki stepped back and outstretched his arms. “With a qualified lieutenant, I can keep her out of my–our–victory. I’ll have someone skilled and someone that won’t betray me on my side. So, what say you… Loki?”

The variant scrunched his nose in disgust at being called Loki. “Don’t call me that. Call me,” he looked down at the employee’s nametag, “Randy.”

Loki dropped his arms to his sides, defeated. “Gods. Now I understand why Thor found this so annoying.” Loki said to himself. “Enough with your games, Randy, I’ve been trying to help you. I kept them vulnerable at the Renaissance Fair for some time.” He explained, only to be cut short.

The variant peered at Loki, unimpressed. “Oh gosh, and that was just so nice of you. You kept everyone so distracted that you didn’t even notice the girl wander outside follow me and play in la la land. And after eight to ten seconds of consideration, the answer is no. I’m not interested in ruling the Time Variance Authority and I’m not interested in keeping your pet out of your hair when she’s far more valuable to my cause.”

Loki was taken aback. “So, you were still at the fair.”

The variant shrugged his shoulders. “Perhaps.”

Loki nodded slowly. “And you think she’ll help you?”

“Something tells me she will if you don’t keep a close eye on her.” The variant smiled.

“Fine then, if you don’t want to take over the TVA, what do you want?” Loki asked, trying to get somewhere.

The variant shrugged his shoulders. “It doesn’t matter because you’re too late.” The vessel dropped to the floor.

“And you could say I’m ahead of schedule.” The variant walked out of the shadows wearing Frigg as her next disguise.

“Well, this is a sad little place to work, isn’t it?” The variant sat down across from Frigg.

The variant looked around–the lab was rather clean, freshly cleaned at that. Most of the objects were off-white, formerly white, and apparently floating. The desks and tables had no legs, the chairs were hovering, and the computer screens were holographic and interactive. This lab was very literally from a sci-fi movie or show. Futuristic, minimalistic, and awe-inspiring. Above Frigg’s head was a holographic schematic of a suit of armor that was unfamiliar to the variant. Frigg sat on the floating chair with her hair in a messy bun, kept out of her face so she could see what she was working on. She donned goggles, rather large goggles that protected a good portion of her face. And within the goggles were a pair of gold glasses–was this adolescent actually vision impaired?

Frigg shrugged her shoulders and kept her attention away from the variant and all other distractions. Her project was far more important to her than anything else. The green and gold chest plate lay dismantled across Tony Stark’s personal worktable. The arc reactor lay shattered between the chest plate pieces. Off to the side, Frigg hunched over a brand-new arc reactor that she recreated from scratch. She was, again, putting the finishing touches on the power source of her personal Stark-tech suit.

“Dreary, bland. Why is this your happiest memory?” The variant rested her elbows on the off-white, floating worktable.

Frigg blinked. “Iron Man Armor Model 84: RG Mark 1.” She sealed the arc reactor and placed it on the small base opposite to her chest plate. “After disassembling and reassembling so many of Mr. Stark’s armors, he set me in the lab to create my own. He wanted to be impressed. I broke the damn thing before I could even show him and I’m going to impress him.”

The variant leaned back in the seat. “What’s RG stand for?”

“Reindeer Games. He used to call Loki Reindeer Games because of his horned helm, so he thought the name would fit me because he hates me.” Frigg pushed her chair back towards the chest plate and turned both pieces over. “Something happened around the arc reactor that caused the chest plate to split. I only sustained minor injuries from it but I’m not exactly sure what happened… It also kind of scarred me.” Her voice trailed off.

“I’m going to need you to look at me or at least answer some of my questions.” The variant said.

Frigg kneeled on her chair with her chest against the back and she hurled herself towards the opposite side of the lab. “All ears.” She barely paid attention.

Behind her Tony Stark stepped into the room to check on her and her progress. “Oh, don’t mind me.” He spoke. He wasn’t as tall as some mortal men the variant had seen. He wasn’t so muscular either, but he was just barely toned. The variant looked over at the suit of armor behind her–red and gold and it was the muscle of the operation. After a few awkward moments of lingering Tony Stark had left the lab with no feedback or assistance to offer as he knew Frigg didn’t need it.

“What did the TVA do to you?” She asked.

Frigg grabbed her new chest plate–she rebuilt that piece yesterday–and hurled herself back towards the variant and Tony’s desk. She got out of her chair and loomed over the new and improved chest plate.  The two halves came apart seamlessly; Frigg compared the wiring of the two chest plates. She laughed at the question.

“I need you to answer me.” The variant said.

Frigg looked up at the variant. “You don’t need me to answer you, you want me to answer you. They did to me as they do to every unlucky soul. Take their life away and prune their home. I have no place to go. Residing in the TVA is better than running away from them for over a thousand years.” She spat.

The variant was a rather petit female, not at all what Frigg expected when she was told this was to be a Loki variant. There are countless of male presenting Loki variant and female presenting Loki variants are virtually unheard of. She was blonde, another odd trait for a Loki. Maybe it was to set herself apart or maybe it was a natural look. The short bob was a cute style, nothing Frigg would ever personally do to her hair willingly (say, if Frigg shaved her head and then decided she wanted to grow her hair back out and for a time she was stuck with a bob, that was the only acceptable time). This variant barely resembled a Loki. Her face wasn’t long and pointed, her nose wasn’t as sharp. In fact, it was a much better look than the Joker-esque facial structure Loki seemed to have (maybe it’s the angles). Her face was a little more round in the cheeks.

“Did you know that the TVA agents are all variants?” She asked.

The variant studied Frigg. She was small, perhaps even smaller than herself. Her hair was long, despite being tied up in this memory. Her hair was a honey brown here... much like the color of Frigga’s hair. Her face was a bit longer than her own and round, but not too round. She had two eye colors, her left eye was emerald, and her right eye was honey brown, almost a soothing yellow color. The gold glasses, as noted, were odd–if she was truly a deity or goddess or whatever she believed herself to be, why does she need corrective lenses–if those are even corrective lenses, maybe they’re just fashion or a way for her to blend in and pretend to be a normal mortal. She resembled a Loki, but she wasn’t a Loki. She daintily grabbed her tools and her armor parts.

Frigg looked back down. “I knew the name Mobius M. Mobius was too ridiculous to be a real name.”

“That’s your takeaway?” The variant slapped her hands down on the armrests in disbelief. “You’re a brilliant child and your takeaway is that?”

“Of course. And you understand that I am fully aware that you’re enchanting me, right? I’ve completely checked out of this fight which is why I’m letting you sit in my happiest memory. This isn’t my happiest memory, but it’s the closest one I’ve got to it.” Frigg smiled as she wired the arc reactor to her chest plate, effectively combining the two pieces.

“Why let me see this one then?” The variant asked.

Frigg shrugged her shoulders. “Why not? I’m just building a suit of armor with the horned helm built into it. The suit is green, gold, and black. Tony is impressed in the end. The first time someone, a man who doesn’t even trust me, tells me he’s proud of me for this stupid thing.” She glanced over her shoulder at the back corner where the rest of the suit of armor gathered dust. “And I think you know what I want.”

“What is it that you want?” The variant asked.

“An alliance. By talking to Loki, you confirmed my suspicions. You want to dismantle the TVA, not take it as your own. The only reasonable and easy what to dismantle the damn place is to use reset charges. Overload them. I don’t want the TVA, and I don’t much care for it. I would much rather help you dismantle the TVA than pretend to love being free labor.”

The variant watched Frigg move flawlessly. “You’ve perfected your art.”

“I’ve perfected a lot of things that I do. That’s why you and the TVA see me as valuable.” Frigg looked up. “I think it’s funny that you can use me against Loki, he wouldn’t hurt me. Besides, if you can convince him to help you, you’ll have a pretty good team. As long as I can still beat up his ego.”

“No.” The variant hissed.

Frigg shrugged her shoulders. “Suit yourself.”

“You’re stalling.” The variant stood up.

Frigg looked up at the variant. “I thought it was you that was stalling us. What do they call you?”

“Sylvie.” The variant sat back in the seat.

“Sylvie who?” Frigg smiled maliciously.

Sylvie hesitated. “Laufeydottir.”

“Ah, Sylvie Laufeydottir. You’re nothing like the Laufeyson’s that I know.” Frigg said.

Sylvie licked her top lip. “What do they call you?”

“Frigg.” She grinned.

“Frigg who?” Sylvie asked.

“Lokidottir.” She spoke.

Frigg lay on top of a destroyed shelving unit, having been thrown off to the side by Loki while she was still under the variants influence.

“Oh, come on, stop hiding.” Loki demanded. “Loki, if you had any honor, you’d fight me as yourself.”

“I have shit to do!” The variant, in a new vessel, charged at Loki and tossed him into an endcap.

The real variant approached, and the new, two-second vessel was gone. She was far shorter than Loki, comparable to Frigg’s short stature. The variant was mysteriously cloaked as she watched Loki pull himself to his feet and stumble toward her.

“What do you want with me? What is this about?” Loki begged, looking for an answer.

The variant removed her hood and stared at Loki. “This isn’t about you. This will never be about you.” She hissed at her inferior variant.

Frigg slowly started to come back, the voices of the variant and Loki sounded more like Charlie Brown’s parents than anything, but that might actually be normal. The emergency lights were blinding despite there being so few of them above her. The world spun–getting enchanted was a very bad idea and she knew that. She lifted her head up to see the variant with her hood down. A small horned helm rested against her forehead and her cloak covered her outfit of choice (probably a stupid outfit). The variant opened a portal to who knows where and stepped through it.

In the distance a familiar voice began yelling at Loki. “LOKI! LOKI, WAIT! LOKI!”

Frigg slowly stood up and locked eyes with Loki. He almost looked regretful and perhaps a bit sad. Frigg wobbled out of the debris of the shelving unit and stumbled towards Loki. “Loki!”

“NO! WAIT, LOKI!” Mobius yelled as he got closer.

Loki quickly glanced at Mobius, then back at Frigg. He thoughtlessly jumped through the portal, and it closed behind him.

“Damn it!” Mobius and the minutemen that followed his came to a halt.

Frigg laughed at what had just happened. Expected. Completely expected. He would follow the variant and betray her. It was in his nature; it was a very Loki thing to do. He was a coward, a fool. A good for nothing bastard. Good riddance! Frigg thought. She dropped to her knees with her eyes glued to where the portal stood. Good fucking riddance, she thought. She was saddened by the turn of events, she knew this was going to happen, yet it still didn’t alleviate the pain the followed. Loki told her what she needed to know. Between Mobius being a liar and Mobius trying to make this surprisingly caring Loki her new Loki.

“Frigg?” Mobius stepped towards her.

“He betrayed us.” She said in a low voice. “No, no, no, no, no–he betrayed you. He betrayed you. You lost, Mobius.” She laughed. She fell back and sat on the floor with her legs outstretched. She kept her eyes on the exact spot the portal previously stood.

“Okay, I get it, I messed up.” Mobius crouched down and held her arm in his hand.

She snorted and kept laughing. “You messed you and you don’t even understand how horribly you messed up. He’s gone, he went after her. To help her.”

Mobius tugged at her arm and tried to pull her to her feet; he was met with resistance. “Let’s get back. Tell me what happened once we’re back.”

“I’ll tell you what happed, you good for nothing liar. He made it very clear that he’s not going to play a part in your little second chance scheme.” She watched as Mobius’s expression dropped. “Was this the second chance you wanted for me, Mobius? Was it? Oh, yeah, by the way! He told me, he fucking told me. You were going to replace me with him, first of all. Him! Of all people? Him! Because, because why? I’m a child? News flash, Mobius, I’m a teenager!” She ripped her arm away from him and clambered to her feet.

“Listen–.”

She shook her head and stepped away from Mobius. “No! I won’t listen to you. I will never listen to you again. You were my friend, and you tried to take this away from me? The TVA was all that I had, Mobius! This was everything that I had.” She leaned forward and dug a finger in her own chest. She couldn’t contain her overflowing emotions; the tears streamed down her cheeks as she kept raising her voice at Mobius and the tuned-in minutemen. “And–and–and you try to stick Loki with me? Seriously? For what? For what, Mobius? So, I can actually be the kid that I never was?”

“Frigg–.”

“Mobius!” She threw her arms out. “Your grand plan was to force any living, breathing Loki to be my father. Look how well that worked out, you bastard. Look how well that worked out. Did you know that I’m a monstrous hybrid? Or–or–or a freak of fucking nature?” Frigg smiled and kept her arms outstretched as she presented herself. “Look at me! I’m a freak of nature!”

“Please–.”

She slapped her hands against her thighs. “He made it very crystal clear that he is never going to replace my Loki, and that’s fine with me. I don’t want a new one. I don’t need a dad, or a mum, or anyone. I don’t need Hunter C-20, I don’t need Hunter B-15, I don’t need Hunter D-90, I don’t need Judge Renslayer, I don’t need that poor Casey guy, I don’t need any Loki, and I most certainly don’t need you.” She pointed a stern finger at Mobius. She paused and thought out her next grievance.

Mobius looked down. “You thought it would work.”

“You’re the one that thought it was going to work. I just fell for Loki’s façade. I–I–I thought.” She bit her lip. “I thought I was finally getting along with a Loki, with someone. The archives and Pompeii, and the other night. But he’s a liar. And he always will be, because that’s what Loki’s are.”

“I don’t think he was pretending.” Mobius said softly. He tried so hard to speak.

“But he was. I know he was. That’s just what they do. They fool you. They trick you into thinking they’re as vulnerable as you and then the ruin your life over. And over. And over.” She stood in the middle of the empty store, defeated by her own cruel mentality. Her nostrils flared as she tried to keep herself from crying again–but a single tear managed to roll down her cheek. More tears followed.

“I’m sorry,” Mobius said, “but we need to get back.”

Frigg stepped away from Mobius when he tried to reach back out for her. “He was a risk, and you took that risk. You take risks like being risky is what is going to make you. What were you thinking? What were you expecting, Mobius? Rainbows and sunshine from a Loki? You didn’t get that, did you?”

“Please.”

“I trusted you, you were the first person I trusted in what feels like a long time. I trusted you on this stupid Loki variant that you had faith in. You, and him, broke that trust. I stupidly trusted him too. And now neither of you can be trusted, neither of you will be trusted. You were my friend, Mobius, and you lied to me. You were trying to take everything away. I don’t need you to be my parent, I’m old enough to make my own choices and not even you will let me. You meant something to me, even if my perception of life is so warped that I have no idea what you mean to me, you still meant something.” Frigg wiped her tears away with the back of her hand.

“Frigg–.”

She shook her head and sobbed. “I hate you, Mobius. You’re no better than that traitorous Loki.”

Chapter Text

“No, there is no way back. You’re a prisoner of your own arrogance and self-belief. You’re also the prisoner of TVA, but the idea that being a prisoner of pencil pushers is worse than being a prisoner of yourself is far worse… is wrong.”

“Mobius asked me if I enjoy hurting people, the truth is, I don’t. I really don’t.” He paused. “I hurt them because I have to, I’ve had to in the past. It’s all part of an illusion, the illusion. I don’t think you and I are very different. You look down on me, don’t you? But you were here once, were you not? Poison drips off your tongue with every word you speak, you answer as though you have practiced your lines. It’s an illusion conjured by the weak. It’s a cruel yet elaborate desperate play for power.”

“I’ve got an offer.”

“Lokidottir?”

“I would rather die than deal with another Loki in that sense or at all. They’re all the same. Idiotic, careless, heartless fools who care only about themselves. There is no room for others in their selfish little hearts. If it doesn’t further their career or goal, they don’t attend to it. They’re narcissistic bastards who probably kiss their own reflections. Second chance, you’re fucking joking.”

“Shall we begin?”

“That is destiny fulfilled, dear God of Mischief.”

“You think you’re the highest power? Look at the bigger picture, there will always be someone stronger, someone bigger than you.”

“This is a sad little place to live, isn’t it?”

“What’s your game?”

“There’s no game. But just remember, I am nothing more than a piece of a Loki. I can simply turn around and betray you while you enjoy the warmth that the hot chocolate brings. It reminds you of the warmth of your mother–would be a shame to harm you while your mind wanders to her. It reminds you of being surrounded by others, by those you want around you. You feel alone, Laufeyson, and that is something I like to use to my advantage. Loneliness makes you vulnerable and more susceptible to tricks and traps. Mobius has slipped my grasp once so far because of that stupid Judge Renslayer; he’s in love with her. And for some reason he sees good in you–a goodness that I do not think I’ll ever see in you. Mobius can’t escape the inevitable truth that I will pull his strings by the end of this because Judge Renslayer will drop him faster. And he can’t escape the inevitable truth that you are no more than a blubbering Loki with dreams of taking some kind of throne–being Thor’s equal or not, you want the TVA in your gasp, and you will stop at nothing to achieve it. I will stop at nothing to get what I deserve and bring the TVA–and you, by default–what they deserve. Squashed like puny ants, burned to the ground, death. I will gain my glorious purpose that they so hastily stole from me. You won’t be around to see it.”

“You’re weak, Loki. You’re so quick to bow down and tremble before someone much more powerful than you.”

“You’re wrong about me.”

“They’re setting you up for failure.”

“What if I betray you?”

“Meeting the Timekeepers is on the table?”

“Don’t let your eyes deceive you.”

“What’s wrong with you?”

“Were you not paying attention to my life story?”

“You don’t get it, do you? You’re the lesser Loki, but you’re the only Loki dumb enough to agree to Mobius’s terms. That’s why it was so easy to manipulate you into saying yes.”

“I listen a lot more than you think I do. I have sharp ears, just like you. And believe me when I say that I listen to many things. Mobius is going to pull you from his variant chasing adventure sooner or later.”

“You have to trust somebody or something that someone says to you.”

“No, I don’t, actually.”

“Look, Loki, I believed, stupidly, that that need for validation and your overbearing insecurities being balanced by being needed would allow you to help us catch the variant. You know, not because you care about me, the TVA, Frigg, or anything but yourself, but because you realize that this Loki variant is superior, and you don’t like being the inferior one. I can see it, you feel inferior compared to a child, Loki. You don’t care about being the hero, you just care about making yourself look good. And I thought that was the key to getting you to be a team player.”

“You’re steps ahead of me. Or at least you think you are.”

“I’d like to believe that you appreciate the effort. I’m sticking my neck out for you for that reason. Look, I’ll give you two options and you can pick the option that you want to pick. When I look at you, I see a small, blue boy. He’s shivering, cold, alone, lost, and insecure. He seeks validation. He’s narcissistic because if no one is going to look at him a certain way, he’ll do it himself. He just wants to be loved by someone. He’s a little weak and untrusting. And I can’t help but feel bad for him. I would scoop up that little ice runt and take care of him myself if I could, but I can’t. I’ll tell you anything that I have to, to get you to work with me.”

“Mobius is right about you, you know. You’re nothing but a sad, little ice runt. All you do is lie and deceive those around you. You talk a big game but bare put your hands in a really play. You are lost without your mother holding your hand and making sure you’re alright. I just feel so bad for you, Frost Giant.”

“You know what? You’re nothing but a monstrous hybrid. A Frost Giant having bred with a stupid Asgardian, creating you. You are a literal freak of nature, cowering behind her silver-plated walls, pretending she is better than a literal god. You think you’re superior, you’re smaller than everyone in this forsaken place. You’re not even in one piece, you’re scattered across the nine realms, looking for someone to love you and rejecting them the minute they show you love.You are sad and pathetic, taking all your frustrations out on the worlds around you. You pretend like you want this, but you don’t. You so desperately want answers and want to be loved that you’re blinded by your own self-righteousness. That self-righteousness is so blinding that you can’t see through the obviously large lens of reality that shows you that you are destined to be alone and unloved.”

“Suggestion: Pompeii.”

“Look at how happy she is, are you ever going to see that again?”

“Yeah, I keep those around just to remind myself that there’s something worth fighting for out there, you know?”

“Well… there is one thing that the variant left behind. A small box of candies but the guys down in analysis couldn’t find any importance.”

“Kablooie was regionally sold from 2047 to 2051, we just need to cross reference that with every apocalyptic event in the same time frame.”

“Frigg?”

“I’m fine!”

“Stop laughing at me.”

“Frigg!”

“What did you do?”

“I don’t know.”

“I think you need to stay here when we go after this variant. While you were asleep, Mobius and I pinpointed the location of the variant, and I don’t want you to come with us. Mobius was planning to cut you so you could… be a child… but he knew you would fight tooth and nail to continue doing this. I, personally, don’t want you out there because what if the variant hurts you? Or what if he kills you? All because you’re going through… whatever this is? I might not be strong enough to keep you safe. I just want you to be okay. I don’t want to lose you when I just got you.”

“Oh, she’s not a pet. You’re playing the role of her father, how sweet. How sweet indeed. Maybe it’s time the cranky baby takes a nap?”

“I’m not playing the role of her father. No one would ever want to be the father of that freak of nature.”

“Well, this is a sad little place to work, isn’t it?”

“Sylvie.”

“Sylvie who?”

“Laufeydottir.”

“LOKI! LOKI, WAIT! LOKI!”

“He betrayed us.”

“I trusted you, you were the first person I trusted in what feels like a long time. I trusted you on this stupid Loki variant that you had faith in. You, and him, broke that trust. I stupidly trusted him too. And now neither of you can be trusted, neither of you will be trusted. You were my friend, Mobius, and you lied to me. You were trying to take everything away. I don’t need you to be my parent, I’m old enough to make my own choices and not even you will let me. You meant something to me, even if my perception of life is so warped that I have no idea what you mean to me, you still meant something.”

“I hate you, Mobius. You’re no better than that traitorous Loki.”

Judge Renslayer stared at the daughter of Loki from her desk; she remained poised yet disappointed in the adolescent. She wasn’t like the rest of the mindless TVA dwellers; she wasn’t like that moron, Mobius, nor was she like the naïve desk hugger, Casey. She was different. She was stern, understanding, curious, and somehow the embodiment of “I would rather be feared than loved” and feared she pretended to be. She held perfection on a pedestal. Her suit jacket only creased with the natural bends on the human body. She retained comfortable feminism. She wore a skirt rather than pants–the last time she wore pants she was a minuteman. Her expression towards Frigg grew softer the longer she studied the troubled adolescent. Judge Renslayer also knew something, or rather didn’t know something. Her patience was authentic, but the smoothness of her voice was artificial. Something wasn’t sitting right with Frigg or Judge Renslayer (neither the latter nor the former could place a finger on why).

“Do you know where they went?” She asked again. “Did she give you any hints at all?” Judge Renslayer rested her elbows on her desk as she fiddled with her pen at eye level.

Frigg blinked. She watched the condensation race down the sides of the glass of ice water and pool around it, creating a wood-staining puddle. It seems to be a trend here, no one uses coasters anymore. Rings littered ever piece of wood in this room, whether it be from Mobius, Frigg, or another one of Judge Renslayer’s analysts. Frigg absentmindedly curled her fingers over the edges of the arms of the chair and dug her nails into the boring brown arms. She clenched her jaw and bounced her leg. She slowly shook her head in response to Judge Renslayer.

Judge Renslayer removed her elbows from her desk and placed he pen down in front of her. “You do understand that finding them is important, don’t you?” She asked.

Frigg slowly turned her head to face Judge Renslayer, however, she her eyes remained glues to the glass. “Of course. It’s priority.” Her voice trailed.

“And I need your full attention and cooperation. I need you to think back to what happened at Roxxcart. Were there any clues or signs?” She asked again.

Frigg blinked at shifted her eyes. Judge Renslayer was out of focus. She gazed at her, barely locking eyes with Judge Renslayer’s. “I don’t recall a thing.” She slowly crossed her left leg over her right leg and rested her hands on her knee. “She was the superior Loki.”

Judge Renslayer inhaled, almost annoyed with the spacey adolescent. “Frigg…”

Frigg flashed her a small smile. “She never said or did anything.” Her eyes were glossy again.

“Go on.”

“She only smiled and said: Thank you.” Frigg looked at Judge Renslayer’s wall of knickknacks. “She bombed your sacred timeline and left.” Frigg’s voice trailed, pained.

Judge Renslayer nodded. “And you’re aware that they landed here, correct?”

Frigg shook her head. “I didn’t know.”

She looked down. “Well, Frigg, until I figure out where exactly I need you next, you’re not needed. You may go. I can’t imagine what’s going through your head. You can’t cooperate nor pay attention.” Judge Renslayer crossed her arms over her desk and leaned forward.

Frigg stood up and kept a new gaze at the ground. “Don’t send word through Mobius.” She asked.

“And why shouldn’t I?” Judge Renslayer raised an eyebrow.

“He won’t come get me.” Frigg faced the door. “Send someone better.” She spoke. Her eyes were wide and empty. She was empty.

Judge Renslayer nodded. “I will send someone else. Bringing Loki here was a risk, Mobius’s risk. It seems that my number one analyst can’t be trusted.” She was disappointed. “Having this Loki variant around did a number on your mental health, I think.”

Frigg stood with her knuckles against the barely cracked door. “Before I go…”

“Yes?”

“I want to be the one to prune Loki. I don’t care what becomes of the Lady Loki.” Frigg looked at Judge Renslayer over her shoulder. Determination flooded her eyes with color and new meaning. Pruning Loki was priority. Prune first, ask questions later.

Judge Renslayer was intrigued at the sudden change in the adolescent. “Don’t worry about the rogue variant. I will be the one to handle her. Keep your focus on your new goal, pruning Mobius’s rogue variant. I don’t know for certain yet, but you might have an audience for his pruning. It all depends on the Timekeepers availability. They’re very busy, you know.” She spoke. She burned holes through Frigg’s skull with her gaze.

“Keep me informed.” Frigg pushed the door open and slipped out. The door slowly shut behind her. She took a deep breath and calmed herself, emotions racked her body, she shuddered at the overwhelming emotions. She looked at the red chair to her left and frowned. The last time she stood by these doors Loki sat there and made the effort to talk to her. No, don’t get soft over a traitor, Frigg shook her head. She turned the corner into another familiar tan and red hallway, God forbid, they all look the same. It stretched for what seems like miles and miles. At the end was the elevator, illuminated more brightly than the rest of the hallway. She slowly walked down the hall with her hands in her pockets. And odd feeling, thin fabric against clammy hands…

Mobius turned the corner, nearly walking past Frigg on his way to speak with Judge Renslayer about the issue he caused. He stopped in his tracks and eyed the adolescent. “Frigg!” He jogged after her. “Frigg, was she furious?”

Frigg continued to walk in silence. Mobius tailed her and waited for her to answer him or even acknowledge him. The minute they stepped foot in the TVA after their little spat, she whisked herself away after a unit had passed them. He hadn’t seen her since, it was by chance that a soldier mentioned that Frigg was meeting with Judge Renslayer before Mobius was supposed to. Mobius took that as a sign that he needed to catch her before he couldn’t.

“Please talk to me.” Mobius pleaded after a rapid succession of down-button clicks.

Frigg ignored him and hoped that over-clicking the down-button would make the elevator move faster. To her dismay, that never works… perhaps she should have a word with someone who can make it happen. The silver doors slid open, and she slipped in the crack and began rapidly pression the “close door” button on the elevator panel. Again, nothing moved faster. She pressed the ground level button and faced Mobius as the doors finally began to close.

“No,” she said. The elevator doors closed her into the mechanical death trap (in the event that something goes wrong, otherwise it’s just a moving metal box.

She stared at her warped reflection, she was a thin and as pale as a fantasy elf. She looked silly in all of this green and black. There was so much green and black. Green and black, and occasionally a sprinkle of gold, were the only colors that truly made her feel like she belonged somewhere. She almost felt empowered by the stories of her aunt Hel. Green, black, pale, manipulative, and the perfect executioner. She was Odin’s executioner back when they conquered the nine realms. She was an inspiration, an icon. The Asgardian that every little girl dreamed of being (okay, just this one little girl, but that’s beside the point). In fact, Frigg never really dreamt of wanting to be Hel until she was mistreated. She wanted to make everyone pay the price. She would have executed everyone if she wasn’t so weak.

Frigg dreamt of being loved and being part of a family. She was a child who needed someone. Her mother was one with the heavens, Jane Foster would claim to make Frigg feel better. Her father was grieving after so long had passed, Thor would lie. Frigg was positive that Thor didn’t love her, even when she was a baby and did nothing but cry. What maniac would leave his niece with the Avengers thinking that they’ll raise her? Thor would and did. Loki didn’t want her, Thor didn’t want her, the Avengers didn’t want her. Or… maybe Loki was right, she was blind. She rejected everyone who tried to love her, who tried to want her.

The countless nights spent at the New York Sanctum (when she wasn’t on lockdown like Rapunzel). She admired every piece of mystical history. She snuck between the Sanctum Sanctorum and Kamar-Taj and the other Sanctums for “shits and giggles”. Wong was pleasant, he always handed her books and understood her popular culture references (Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Madonna) and laughed with her, while he remained stoic with Doctor Strange. She had nearly begged for Doctor Strange to try to teach her the mystic arts to which she learned very minimal, useless magic tricks under his teaching. He was afraid of overwhelming her, he wasn’t afraid of her. The countless days spent locked away in Tony Stark’s lab with him, Dr. Banner, and/or Peter Parker. She disassembled and reassembled his tech over and over again for fun. She did patch work for the Iron Man suits that he trashed by being a lousy superhero. She made her own Iron Man suit from scratch–and someone was proud of her. She sewed Peter’s silly Spider-Man costume back together more times than she fixed Mr. Stark’s armor. The silly obligation to match Peter and his friends on the funny Midgardian holiday called Halloween (one year, the most fun, was when they went as “Primordial Gods”; Peter was Chronos, MJ was Ananke, Ned was Uranus, Betty was Hemera, and Frigg was Nyx).

Or maybe he was wrong and will always be wrong.

The countless days being considered an outcast because of her lineage. The daughter of Loki; she was a mischievous kid, a monster, a trickster, untrustworthy, manipulative, and a conniving fool. A Jötunn and an Asgardian–that explains her appearance (well not really, she looks relatively normal). She was a witch on top of that, witches weren’t liked, and they never will be. Midgardians can be so vile towards magic users and gods–to think that they once worships gods of all kinds. She acted out in anger and sadness constantly. She would break things and fight everyone over every little thing. She made group trips miserable for everyone on purpose. She hurt the feelings of others for fun. Peter later believed she hated him; Harley Keener was convinced that she was a villain. She attacked Mr. Stark and Doctor Strange for their choices. The countless nights she lay awake and alone wondering what she did to be considered an outcast.

Loki, heh.

Loki.

Haha.

Traitor.

Was he really a traitor if I caused this?

Frigg swallowed hard and bobbed her head slightly. Loki was gone. And it wasn’t that long ago that it happened. Or maybe it was. This whole TVA time bullshit has gotten old. If time worked so differently here, why hasn’t Frigg gotten the time to grieve? She held his blue face in her trembling hands and begged for him to come back, to breathe. But she hated him. She sobbed over his limb, lifeless body. But she wanted him dead, she dreamed of this. She dragged the Stormbreaker over to an overconfident Thanos and went for the head without a thought. But she wanted to thank him for being the universe a service, for doing her a service. Thanos was a hero. Loki was a menace. Then why did it hurt so much all of a sudden?

Why did it always hurt?

She stepped out of the elevator and looked around the abnormally empty lobby. She was alone, just as she was supposed to be. Alone. She walked out of the building and decided to take the long way back to her living complex. She almost never walked back; she almost always caught a ride back. Walking usually took far too long and was stopped by some odd characters. Today was different, she needed the long walk through the lowest and most vacant level of the TVA. She needed to think without voices distracting her. She hugged the side of the building and kept her head down. She watched each step she took and stuffed her hands in her pockets.

Why did she care so much about the God of Mischief?

Why?

Why?

She cared about her Loki, because even when he was the monster, he paid attention to her. She cared about her Loki, because he encouraged her to be better than him by being the worst. She cared about her Loki because she believed him in the end. He was her father; how could she not care or believe that he truly had no idea what had happened? He was afraid of every negative word the slipped out of her mouth. He was hurt by the poison of her accusations. He died knowing just how much his beloved daughter hated him.

She cared about this new Loki, and she didn’t know why. He was intolerable, insufferable, and infuriating. Everything that he said just ended up making her blood boil and she would clench her jaw and ball her fists. He was a moron. An idiot. Calling her names. Trying to belittle her. Agreeing with her. Telling her that he couldn’t stand to lose her. Everything he did just frustrated her. Existed. Came up with a brilliant plan together. Allowed her to play in Pompeii like the child she deserved to be. Held her like a father would hold his daughter once. Stopped her from possibly getting hurt from attacking the superior Loki. It’s almost like he was trying to make her angry. He was playing a game. She really was living in his world.

She almost felt sorry for the way she acted against this new Loki–no, she did feel sorry for her behavior. He really tried to connect with her in some way and she rejected him. He really tried to reach out to her, tell her the game Mobius was playing behind the scenes, and she brushed him off as a fool. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hands and considered herself the fool. She sniffled and stepped into the elevator. She tapped the button for her floor and waited.

She stood with her hands behind her back, and she stared up at the flickering elevator lights in attempt to keep her tears from falling. “Fuck.” She exhaled, almost like a laugh.

The elevator opened on her floor, and she stepped out. She walked right into someone else–just what she needed, more social interaction.

“Sorry.” She spoke.

“Don’t be.” Casey smiled at her and politely stepped out of her way. “Rough day?”

She stepped forward and glanced at the TVA desk hugger. “Overwhelmingly.” She glanced back at the elevator that has since shut its doors. “Didn’t you need that?”

“Awh, yeah, thank you.” Casey simply tapped the down arrow again. “You should stop by my desk sometime, teach me about some of those Midgardian things, as you called it.”

She raised her eyebrows, tears welled up. “Oh, yeah, sure. You wouldn’t mind that?”

He shrugged his shoulders. “I would love to learn about everything you and that Loki variant know. I still have no idea what a fish is.”

Frigg nodded and flashed a small smile. “Well, I guess the first thing we’ll go over is fish. I’ll see you around. Sorry again.” She briskly walked away from the TVA desk hugger and down the hall.

She was stunned over the fact that he wanted to be associated with her, even if it was some lessons about Earth and other related things. She furrowed her eyebrows and struggled with the doorknob–sweaty hands and a round knob don’t go well together. She pushed the door open once she got a grip with her sweaty hands. She was sad, lazy, and tired. She was alone again. She hoped on one foot as she pulled her shoe off and threw it beside the door and did the same to the other side, she stumbled forward, narrowly missing the coffee table. She slid her suit jacket off and hastily threw it on the couch, effectively ruining it (wrinkles, wrinkles everywhere). She kicked her bedroom door open and began undressing. Her socks and pants were thrown lazily next to her laundry and her shirt was thrown successfully on top of the pile. She walked past the covered vanity–sometimes she still catches a glimpse of blue in the mirror–and to her undecorated dresser.

“Star Wars or DuckTales…” She thought aloud. It was a dumb question and an unnecessary one. But it was a distraction. Reality wasn’t what she wanted it to be. A little bit of childishness never hurt. “I did Star Wars last time… DuckTales.” She decided. She slipped into an oversized t-shirt and shorts that were barely visible. She wore such silly nightwear on Midgard–oddly, it became something to boost her mood when she became trapped within the TVA. Usually, she would wear a soft sleepwear set; pajama pants and a matching short or long-sleeved buttoned shirt (of course it was black with a gold trim). Absentmindedly, she stepped out of her room and stood still. No recollection as to why she even left her room. No thoughts circled her mind, they all grew legs an abandoned ship. She glanced over at her extra room–Loki’s room. She was compelled by the darkness seeping from his bedroom door. She pushed the door open slowly and was greeted by a bed with an emerald duvet similar to her own and honestly nothing more.

She had hoped that Loki was hiding in his room and everything that had happened at Roxxcart was a trick. Loki was infamous for tricks where he’s from and in every prior or subsequent form. It was an art, really, and Frigg was inspired by the tales of Loki’s tricks of the past. A part of her had hoped that Mobius and Loki had beat her back to her room to pull on of those Midgardian “You Just Got Pranked” pranks on her. Mobius didn’t emerge from behind the door with a camera and Loki didn’t jump from the closet to surprise her. He really did leave with the superior variant. He really wasn’t coming back to her.

It was funny. In a sadistic kind of way. She really thought the stupid God of Mischief was going to stay and replace her Loki. She wasn’t ready to let Loki go. Not yet. No matter how hard she tried to hate him or push him away.

That’s what a real Loki is like.

So along and emotionally neglected. He tossed the fact that Ragnarök was the death of his chosen people: “Yes, very sad. Anyway” and simply moved on. He hurt for himself and created the illusion that he is the highest power. He hurt for her and saw himself in her. A scared little ice runt, freezing cold, just a child begging to be loved. This random Loki variant took her and most certainly said he was going to be there for her.

Then where is he?

Frigg crawled into his bed and curled up under the duvet. Loki was gone, she wanted nothing to do with Mobius, she couldn’t trust Judge Renslayer with her emotions, and she simply had no one to turn to. The TVA was so unintentionally cruel. She sobbed against his pillow. She missed him. She wanted to go back in time. Maybe if she wasn’t such a prick, and maybe if she had just stayed at the TVA, Loki would be here to tell her that he did it or that she was going to be okay now that she had him. But she was a prick, and he did leave with the variant. He wasn’t going to hold her and reassure her about anything the way Midgardian father do in those silly shows. Loki betrayed her and she thought it was her own fault.

Chapter Text

“Thank you for coming to see me in such a timely manner…” Judge Renslayer’s voice trailed off. She turned away from the tired adolescent. “I’m sure you’ve become aware of the situation. Mobius is erratic, untrustworthy… I’m vaguely wary of Hunter B-15, she has been acting strangely as of late.” She paused and withheld from tapping her fingers on one of the knickknack shelves in a panic.

Frigg drew her lips into a thin line and quickly switched her TemPad with Judge Renslayer’s very personal TemPad as she remained inattentive to her. She licked her top lip in anticipation of the rest of the conversation. It was odd to hear Judge Renslayer of all people admit that she was against the two more loyal TVA slaves. “Go on.”

“With Hunter C-20 gone, things have been hard.” She sighed and faced Frigg.

“Understandably so. I mean, Judge, your three top agents are out of it. Hunter C-20 is going crazy in that containment unit according to your analyst, Mobius, is an absolute bozo, and, well, I’m not so sure about Hunter B-15. I haven’t seen her in some time, I can’t really confirm or deny any strange behavior.” Frigg looked at the water rings left on the table from herself and many others who have visited this office.

“Mobius said Hunter C-20 wasn’t bad when you returned, how true is this?” She asked.

Frigg shrugged her shoulders. “She was mumbling nonsense, but she wasn’t a lunatic. I assumed it was a form of anxiety or trauma. You beings here within the TVA shouldn’t be the exception to trauma and other problems if you cannot even evade death.” She tapped the back of the TemPad against her palm nervously. “She could speak, but if she’s as bad as you say, the variant most definitely aimed to kill her slowly from the inside. I’ve heard that insanity kills…”

“That’s what I was afraid of hearing.” Judge Renslayer stepped away from her wall of knickknacks and stood across from Frigg. “I know you and I got off on the wrong foot, I tried to have you pruned, but during recent events you have really grown on me.” She sat down in the vacant seat next to Frigg.

“What are you saying?” Frigg watched Judge Renslayer with the eyes of a predator.

Judge Renslayer crossed one leg over the other and leaned back against the seat. “Well, I must admit, I was wary of you at first. Not because of your lineage, but because of your tendencies. I was so sure that I was going to lose everything here to you, but as it turns out, you’re a lot like me.” She smiled sweetly. “Ambitious, hard-working, determined, and thorough. You see the angles that no one else can see. You have a gift; you can examine the situation and find an absurd number of outcomes based off of different counters.”

“I see, that’s very kind of you to say.” Frigg relaxed in her seat slightly and softened her expression.

“I know you’ve been on a crazy ride since you’ve been here, but I think you have potential for true success. You’ve gone above and beyond, from what I’ve been told, and I want to officially promote you.” Judge Renslayer picked up a small glass. “Welcome to the team.”

Frigg smiled. “Thank you, I won’t let you down–unlike everyone else here.” She teased.

“First things first, I need you to begin scanning for the variants.” She told her. “I trust your judgement on how. If you need something, just ask. You have full control over how we’re going to find the rogue Loki variants.”

“Well,” Frigg inhaled sharply, “I need to modify a TemPad and anything you’ll let me tamper with. I need to do this in the archives because a lot of information from working with Mr. Stark probably slipped my mind and I need to be able to access the information. I might also need a Time Theater readily available. I know you’ve seen some Stark variants and have every reel for every Stark.”

Judge Renslayer arched an eyebrow. “What exactly do you need to find in the archives?”

Frigg shrugged her shoulder. “I’ll know it when I read it. Besides, when I’m done, you’re going to want these new and improved TemPads for everyone.” She inspected the plain TemPad with a grin.

Judge Renslayer nodded. “Very well, do what you need to do.”

“You’ll be the first to know when I’m done.” She smiled and stood up.

Frigg swiftly walked out of the office to avoid prolonging the already very boring conversation. Who was Judge Renslayer kidding? Those nice words and the sick comparison? They were nothing alike and they never would be. Frigg was better, sneakier, and more well-rounded. Judge Renslayer did nothing but play telephone between the Timekeepers and the residents of the TVA. Judge Renslayer was rather useless–a soldier turned enforcer.

She ran towards the open door of the elevator. “Hold that!” She pointed at the slowly closing doors and clutched the TemPad to her chest.

Mobius stuck his hand out and pushed the doors back open.

Frigg jogged into the elevator and turned to face the doors. She daintily pressed the floor for the archives.

“Frigg.”

“Mobius.”

“Are you overseeing the Loki problem now?” Mobius asked. It was almost sad that he was hurt. Replaced by a child.

Frigg shrugged her shoulders. “Promoted, given something new to do. There are different terms for it, yes.” She spoke. She stood with her arms behind her back and shifted from heel to toe. The atmosphere grew awkward. It was rather cold and uncomfortable. The silence was deafening. Her radiating anger was thick and coiled around his neck.

“Right…” Mobius’s voice trailed. He paused and let the silence linger. He had hoped that she would be the one to speak up, to reach out to him. He hoped that she would forgive him, judging by the drooping of his sad eyes and the down-turned corners of his lips. Maybe, just maybe, a concept, Mobius could speak up instead. “So, the archives? What do you need that’s there?”

“Information.” Frigg stepped off the elevator and ran towards the archives without looking back. She slowed her pace once everything around her turned into shelves and shelves of files and miscellaneous things. She briskly walked to the back of the archives and scrolled through Judge Renslayer’s TemPad. She clicked on several names of minutemen who had fallen or succumbed to the dangerous variant. All of which were on video telling the tale of how they were variants themselves. All of which had to be restrained. And killed–or pruned as they called it. Pruning, was that truly killing?

“She was right.” Frigg whispered. Frigg walked past the last table and slipped the TemPad in one of the chairs at a table she had never found herself to be at and continued walking on. She walked down an aisle she had never explored before, and she hoped to find some more reasons to dislike the TVA. She dragged her fingers across the messy files. They were forced back into place, most of them were stiff because there were too many papers being stuffed onto the shelves. They were dusty and uncared for.

M O B I U S, M O B I U S M.

She pulled the rather slender folder, amongst the thick folders, out and flipped it open. She gasped at the image of Mobius. He looked different. Happier. But instead, he was here while there was a version of him really living.

He was a variant. Well, Frigg already knew that. She told Sylvie Laufeydottir that Mobius M. Mobius was too stupid of a name to be real. And she was right. Frigg looked around and wondered, for a moment, whether or not she should tell Mobius who he truly is. Perhaps she should wait and see if someone (Mobius) would be able to figure it out alone. Besides, she was angry with him, there was no real reason for her to disclose this new information with him. But he would need a hand if he ever found out. Variants being TVA slaves just seemed to make sense in Frigg’s mind; after all, one could just brainwash someone and call it a day. Majority of a person is unconscious actions anyway and primed daily tasks of their past. Pruning could turn a variant into a mindless TVA slave for all Frigg knew. Anything could make her one of them.

“What were you trying to gain from lying?” Judge Renslayer asked.

Frigg spilt the files and looked at her. “Truth, for once. I never really trusted you or your men. Mobius even less than originally. You’re not the so-called ‘good guys’ that you think you are.”

“You were never going to prune that Loki variant, were you?” She asked.

Frigg stepped away from Judge Renslayer. “I was, but I’m in the middle of reconsidering it. I’m starting to think those two Loki variants had a point. Running off, running away from you.” Frigg stepped out of the aisle and stood in the open. “I probably should have done the same when I had the chance. Now I have a snowball of problems after me.” She laughed dryly.

“There’s nowhere for you to go.” Judge Renslayer stepped forward and armed herself with an activated pruning stick.

Unbeknownst to Frigg, she was surrounded by armed minutemen. She turned on her heel and ran as fast as she could away from Judge Renslayer. Without a moment’s notice, minutemen chased her out of the archives. She ran through the hall with nowhere to go except straight. She pushed an unsuspecting analyst to the floor, attempting to trip up the minutemen. They jumped over the analyst and continued to follow Frigg. She spotted the balcony just ahead of her and gulped at the oncoming thought. She had no idea if this was going to work or if she was going to decorate the ground. She pulled Mobius’s TemPad out of her pocket and ran up to the railing. She looked down. It was a very far drop. She glanced behind her, truly, she had no choice but to go over the edge. Behind her the minutemen were screaming into earpieces that she might be about to jump. They still ran towards her because either way, they were going to make sure she was out of the picture.

“Fuck.” She exhaled. She rethought her plan for a brief moment. She flipped herself over the edge. She fell close to the balconies, waiting for an opening to swing into. It seemed that every floor was prepared for her–blurry blobs of pruning sticks and tactical gear. She held out her hands for the upcoming railing and grabbed onto the lowest bar and swung herself towards the floor below her, not without smacking her arms and forehead against the bottom of the balcony. A minuteman quickly reacted and pushed her back out into her free fall.

A few floors below her, a portal opened up and she fell in.

Frigg landed face first on the ground. She groaned and slowly picked her head up. In the distance, and running towards her, was a blond that sounded like he could be around her age (maybe a few years older, who knows).

“Brother, look, a girl fell out of the sky.” The boisterous voice rung painfully in her ears. “No, really, brother, come see for yourself.” He was in awe at what he had witnessed, and it was clear this this brother of his didn’t witness the same event.

“Why would I believe such a tale, brother?” A more soft-spoken voice followed behind his brother. He watched her like a hawk from the moment he saw her. “Ah, I suppose I could believe such a tale. Is she alright?” He asked. He was far more concerned than his brother seemed to be.

The blond shrugged his shoulders. “I hadn’t thought about asking just yet. She seems to be in a daze, I’m not sure she is capable of answering questions yet.” He stayed where he was, only interested in the fact that she fell out of the sky and landed on his home world.

The black-haired by shook his head at his oaf of a brother. “You can’t just assume things like that. What if she was in need of serious help?” He stepped towards Frigg and delicately placed his hand on her shoulder. “Can you hear us? Are you alright?”

She rolled her shoulder to remove his hand and slowly lifted her head to view the two children in front of her. “I’m just peachy. Fell face first into a hard surface and that oaf is nearly screaming at the top of his lungs. It’s not like my head isn’t already pounding.” She shakily pulled herself to her feet. “And what’s best yet, is I have no idea where the actual Hel I am.” She slowly brushed herself off, muttering about how the fall ruined her rather nice suit.

The black-haired boy furrowed his eyebrows and peered back at his brother. “She seems to be alright. A bit rude, if you ask me.” He returned his attention to Frigg, the mysterious stranger. “You’ve fallen onto Asgard, just outside the palace.” He sounded as though everyone, and their mother, knew what Asgard was. Frigg, at least, did know.

She scoffed. “Great, the last place I wanted to be. Can’t seem to escape the truth of it all, can I?” Fury laced her voice, or rather pain. Those feelings really went hand in hand with her.

“I’m Thor, and this is my brother Loki. We are the sons of Odin.” The blond returned to the conversation. In an effort to avoid an awkward conversation about what she seems to have against Asgard and what truth she may be referring to. “What shall we call you?” He asked.

Frigg held her breath. Thor and Loki of all people she could have run into. Thor and Loki. She hesitated. “You can call me the Enchantress.” She drew her lips into a thin line and narrowed her eyes at the children. This was only getting worse the longer she was here.

“But what is your real name?” The young Loki asked. He was more likely to press this issue than Thor. Loki was a thoughtful child, to an extent, and he was also very cautious while still curious.

Frigg locked eyed with him. “What’s the prince of Asgard care for?”

Loki was taken aback by her response to his curiosity. “Just curious, need not spit my title, Enchantress.” He hissed. “If you’re not careful, you may be treated without respect.”

“Puh, as if that isn’t my life already. Nothing new.” She scrunched her nose at the boy. “If you don’t mind, I must see myself out of this place.”

Thor tilted his head. “But you just got here, you must stay and join us. Come, we’ll take you to see mother and father.”

Frigg glanced back at the blond and stood her ground. “No thank you. I’d rather not waste my time on Asgard. It’d be a shame for you to lose everything because you’re keeping me from running.”

“Whatever do you mean?” He asked. Thor was always so curious and was always going to be the one to run headfirst into danger. The danger the surrounded this mysterious strange got him excited.

Frigg stuffed her hands in her pockets and began to walk away from the sons of Odin slowly. “Where I reside now is nothing flat of a dystopia. Glory, luxury, and freedom come to those who comply with the big man. If you don’t, you’re hunted for sport. Imagine, just a child, naturally disobedient, running to survive a sick and twisted reality. Nowhere to hide, nowhere to go, no one to turn to. Soldiers tearing through planets and realms that I have never touched just to find me. Just to toss my corpse next to others who saw through their lies.” She hung her head as she walked opposite of the palace.

“Is this a joke?” Thor asked and jogged behind her. Skeptical yet willing to dive into a stranger’s battle for the sake of the battle. A chance to prove himself worthy–worthy of what? A lie.

Loki watched her walk. “I don’t think she’s capable of such a thing. Perhaps it’s truth. We should bring her to mother.” He stood his ground on seeking out his mother as she would know best.

“I’m out of here.” She said again and waved the children off.

“Not so fast, Enchantress, you’re coming with us.” Loki said. He held his hand out and used his newly learnt magic to halt her.

Frigg turned on her heels and faced Loki. “Right, and what are you children going to do? Follow me until you can’t anymore? Please. I’ll walk to the end of Asgard and throw all of us over the edge.”

“Mother said no one could de-spell that, how did you manage?” Loki’s eyes widened at the Enchantress.

Frigg grinned and held her arms up. “You know what, maybe I will go with you to meet your mother and father. You can tell her all about this simple Asgardian who knows her way around more magic than you do.”

“Your majesty, your sons have requested an audience with you.” A royal guard stood at the door.

Odin nodded. “Send them in.”

“There’s more, sire,” the guard said, “there is a girl with them.”

Odin paused. “I see. Send them in.” He repeated himself.

The guard spun around and pushed the door open revealing Thor, Loki, and Frigg standing between them. The three adolescents stepped into the golden throne room and slowly approached the wide stairs. Odin sat menacingly on the throne as they inched closer. Beside him stood Frigga, the woman Frigg had never been able to meet. She wore an elegant blue and gold gown; her hair was pulled back. She had a soft expression. Her eyes were kind despite staring down at her as if she were taking in her entire life story with a disappointed frown–not in Odin, Thor, or Loki, but Frigg herself for entering their time and prancing about in a place she doesn’t belong.

“Father, you must hear her tale, it’s extraordinary.” Thor stepped forward.

“Thor.” Loki whispered.

Odin silently held his hand out to silence Thor. “My son, what is the meaning of this?” He asked as kindly as he could.

“Don’t ask me, father, ask the Enchantress.” Thor pulled Frigg forward.

Loki squeezed his eyes shut. “Thor.” He whispered again.

“The Enchantress?” Odin leaned back. “Very well, tell me your tale, Enchantress.”

Frigg pursed her lips and raised her eyebrow. “How unfortunate.” She slipped her arm away from Thor and took a large step closer to Loki, feeling more comfortable near the quiet of the two sons of Odin. “Odin, Son of Bor, it’s such a displeasure to step foot in this palace. I’m truly unfortunate to be on Asgard once again.” She smiled and looked around the throne room as if she had never seen it before.

Loki glanced at her quizzically.

“What is the meaning of this?” Odin laughed at her.

Frigg shrugged her shoulders and flashed the All-father a lopsided grin. “I spent half my life on Asgard being neglected, ignored, and left to survive alone. We’re supposed to be gods, Son of Bor, and yet not a single god here on Asgard could ever match the grace that is the singular god the Midgardians believe in. If he weren’t fictitious, I would not be here before you. Unfortunately, my life is filled with tragedy and misfortune. I know more about you and your family than you would care to admit to your own children.” She approached the broad staircase leading to the throne and slowly stood up on the first step.

“Don’t just stand there.” Odin hissed at his (unknown to him) paralyzed guards.

Frigga shot Odin and look before she looked back over at Frigg. “No. Let her finish her tale.” She pulled Odin back down to the throne. “You’re not the Enchantress, are you, dear?”

Frigg drew her lips into a thin line and swallowed hard. She held her hand out and as she thought about what to say to Frigga, she used her magic to change her clothes. No longer in a pantsuit, she held a golden scepter in her hand, a horned helm framed her face sharply. Her suit transformed into an outfit of genuine Asgardian leather. Green, gold, and enough black to paint the night sky colored her dramatic trench coat, pants, and tunic. She took another step up.

“I am Frigg, Daughter of Loki. I come from a distant reality. Asgard falls, Midgard falls–there is nothing left. And the Enchantress is nothing but a witch’s fairytale. The heroes of my time have perished at the hands of a mad bastard. Odin succumbed to his age, Thor tried too hard to be his father and fell to his knees. Loki…” Her voice trailed.

Loki held his breath.

“Loki perished at the hands of a bastard. I had no one for a very long time.” She stood four steps away from Odin and kept her back toward him. “I know of Hela, I know of Loki’s origins, I know everything.” She hissed.

Thor and Loki shared a look. “Loki’s origins? Hela?”

Frigg grinned at Thor and Loki. “Oh, how terribly rude of me. Hela is Odin’s first born, his former executioner. She was praised for executing, not only people, but Odin’s plans. Odin is not as pure as you boys believe him to be. He was a war monger, and very much could still be for all you know. Hela was so involved in warfare that it consumed her. Suddenly, Odin didn’t feel the same about war, so he buried the past and her. Hela is still very much alive, much to everyone’s displeasure, except mine, of course. If only I had the resources to do what she did… but better.” She walked back up the broad steps and faced Loki from the third step. “And Loki is not Asgardian. He is a Frost Giant. A curse was placed upon this ice runt, Loki is to take the form of Odin’s first born. If Thor was Odin’s first born, Loki would be blond and have some color to his snowy skin. Loki is the spitting image of Hela, right down to the color scheme. It’s adorable that it runs in the family.” She motioned to her own green, gold, and black color scheme.

“And you’re supposed to be my daughter?” Loki asked in a low voice, almost afraid of the future his family is supposed to come to live.

Frigg walked back down the steps and stood face to face with Loki. “I’m what you could only dream of being.” She tapped his chest with the point of the scepter. “I have a love for all things dramatic, I am rather dramatic, I use magic to do everyday tasks, I want the throne to myself and no one else. There’s more to being better than you, but it seems I’ve already scared you enough.”

Thor inhaled sharply and faced the demi-god and his scared brother.

Frigg smiled sweetly. “Oh, please, Thor. I would never dream of driving this old thing through anyone of this family. My versions of you have already destroyed each other from the inside out before you all perished.” She lightly tapped the butt of the scepter against the marble floor. “I was just making a point.” She smiled at her own joke.

“A comedian too.” Loki smiled through his skepticism and fear.

“I suppose that was funny, wasn’t it?” She stepped away from Loki and turned back to face an awestruck Odin. “It seems I have rendered the All-Father silent. Perhaps because I spilt the truth? Do you understand now, Odin? My tale is no more fictitious than your first-born daughter. I would prefer to leave but since you all had me monologuing, I might as well ask for help. Protect me, and I won’t do anything to upset you from this moment forward.”

Odin slowly walked down the steps. “Protect you? You came into my home–.”

Frigg’s smile widened. “And tore your family apart at the seams? Disgraced your name? Told the truth? No, no, no. I don’t think you comprehend, you were going to tear your family apart all on your own, I simply just did it to save time. Loki gets severely upset and demands a throne, he feels inferior to Thor, and you treat him as such, he throws many temper tantrums in his life because of you. You can’t favor one child over another, Odin, no matter who is to take what throne. It was rather unfortunate that Frigga had passed so soon, had she not, Loki would have been a better man.” She stepped away from Odin.

“You’re a menace.” He spoke.

She held up a finger. “A catalyst, actually.”

“What do I gain from protecting you?” Odin asked.

Frigg held out her hand and a small pill-shaped device appeared in her palm. “You keep the brainwashed soldiers away from me, kill them if you must, and I reset your timeline. This makes it so I was never here, I never interfered, and you will remember none of what happened. You get to keep your family for a few hundred years with this reset.”

Odin looked at his sons then back at Frigg. He had no choice. “I will not protect you.”

“That’s a shame, it really is.” She pocketed the small device. “I have only told the truth, just ask your lovely wife. She’s been trying to understand me since the moment I walked into this room. She has the magic ability to be able to tell you whether or not I’m a liar.” She motioned to Frigga.

Frigga stood, shrouded by mixed emotions. She was raised by witches, she knows that the words falling out of Frigg’s mouth are the truth, but not the whole truth. She knows that this menace is just a child, no older than her boys, but has the voice and actions of someone older–someone who has had a lifetime of misfortune. “She’s not lying to us.”

“Some extra details are beyond your current understanding of the universe, but I appreciate this lovely woman for confirming that I am not a liar. It’s refreshing. How I wish I had you in my life.” She almost frowned but she fought it and smiled instead. A smile that screamed “help”. She turned and faced the children but looked past them at the doors to the throne room. “Since you won’t protect me, I’m keeping your guards frozen in place and making a mess when the clowns chasing me barge into this room.”

As if on cue the doors to the throne room swung open; minutemen piled in with pruning sticks activated. They stood guard by the doors and the windows, in front of the Asgardian guards, prepared for her to try to make her escape. They knew her by now–reckless, thoughtless actions, impulsive, and willing to risk her life for survival. Hunter D-90 stepped forward with a collar in hand and a small remote. Oh, how poorly this was going to end for her.

“Hand over the girl.” Hunter D-90 said.

Odin stood up from his throne and placed a hand on Frigg’s shoulder and pushed her toward the minuteman. “Take her.”

“Father!” Loki and Thor yelped.

“Odin…”

Frigg held her scepter out towards Hunter D-90. “To be fair, that was expected of you. Have fun with your broken family, Odin, and may karma drag you to Hel for me.” She gritted her teeth and kept her eyes on Hunter D-90. He was ready to slow her speed if she stepped out of line. She considered her options and unfortunately going with the TVA was the best option. She landed on the TemPad and broke it, she had nowhere to go if she were to run from the TVA, she didn’t want to be stuck in some distant past and trying to steal a TemPad from one of Hunter D-90s men was going to be far too difficult. Out of the corner of her eye she watched both Thor and Loki get into a fighting position. Out of the goodness of their hearts, they were determined to save her, but she didn’t want to be saved. She quickly boxed the boys in a magic box. “There are many lives I’m willing to risk for my own personal gain, but yours are not one of them.”

She glanced back at Thor and Loki, banging on her magic trap. She locked eyes with the young Loki, he was far more upset that she anticipated. After all, he was watching his future child sacrifice herself for what? She had nothing, no family to save, no future. It’s sort of traumatizing.

“Frigg Lokidottir, you are under arrest for crimes against Judge Renslayer and the Time Variance Authority. Stand down, now.” Hunter D-90 warned.

Frigg dropped her scepter to the ground and raised her hands near her face. “I am a bit of a troublemaker, old friend, careless of you morons to forget that it’s in my nature. I mean, I am the daughter of Loki, you’ve captured many Loki variants.” She laughed.

As a precautionary measure, Hunter D-90 slowed her speed down and placed the collar around her neck. Once the collar was secured, he brought her speed back to normal. “You must realize you are not going to escape again. We’ve successfully ‘Loki-proofed’ the TVA.”

The Asgardian guards were no longer frozen, they looked around rather dazed. The blockade surrounding Thor and Loki fell. “Of course not, my story has come to an end, hasn’t it?” She smiled up at Hunter D-90. “And I highly doubt you managed to Loki-proof the TVA in such a short time. I bet you have all of your resources on standby for when I make my grand return and when both Loki variants make theirs.”

Hunter D-90 stood behind her and pushed her forward, she stumbled but straightened herself out and walked towards the newly opened TVA portal. She glanced back at Thor and Loki as she stepped through, she almost felt sorry for making them witness the horrors of reality.

Chapter Text

Hunter D-90 pushed Frigg between Loki and Sylvie. She quickly looked behind her and snarled at the brainless minuteman. He walked around her and stood between her and the elevator and reached for her hands to remove the hand cuffs. She hopped back and twisted her torso away from him to hide her arms. “Don’t fucking touch me again. I’ll die wearing these.”

Hunter D-90 arched an eyebrow and stepped away from her and towards Judge Renslayer. “Suit yourself.” He uttered. “Is there anything else I can do for you?” He asked her.

Judge Renslayer shook her head. “Not here. Just find Hunter B-15.” She said in a hushed tone.

She stood behind the three variants with a smug expression–she caught them and now they were all going to be pruned in front of the Timekeepers. Judge Renslayer was proud and slimy enough to take all of the credit. Next to her stood armed minutemen, as if the three powerless witches were going to make a run for it and use their magic to escape. Frigg doesn’t need magic…

Frigg glanced to her right and stared at Loki. Her sad eyes pierced through him. She glanced over her shoulder. “If you’re pruning all of us one at a time, you’re making sure that Loki goes first, right?” She asked, sadistically.

“Quiet.” Judge Renslayer hissed.

Frigg snorted. “I’m not so sure that I need to be quiet, Judge. If you weren’t such a lying narcissist, I could have–I would have–been the hero of the TVA. Instead, you play the long con. Such a Loki thing to do, Judge. You deliberately chose to lie to me, your people, Mobius, and yourself.” She laughed and faced the elevator doors again. “For a second, I really thought that I was going to succeed in something by derailing myself from this pathetic Loki train. I really thought that I was finally somewhere that wasn’t just the same damn place with different colors. You’re just like everyone else, Judge.”

“It was when you saw the picture from the outside, you betrayed me.” Judge Renslayer snarled at the girl. “If I had things my way, I would have pruned you in the archives.”

“You should have.” Frigg smiled mischievously. The handcuffs dropped to her feet. “Knowing certain people has it perks.”

The two minutemen standing by Judge Renslayer held their deactivated pruning sticks against Frigg’s temples. “Don’t do anything you’ll regret, kid.”

Loki cleared his throat nervously. “So, what were you doing while I was off discovering the truth?” He asked, trying to deescalate what Frigg was escalating.

Frigg shrugged her shoulders. “Being angry, mostly. Jumped over a balcony and fell towards my death, it was exhilarating. Until a portal was opened, and I landed face first on Asgard. Had a little bit of a field trip with a young Loki, young Thor, and Odin. Odin couldn’t stand to hear his truth, so naturally he betrayed his children and let the TVA have me. Those boys would’ve fought my war for me if I let them.” She flashed Loki a toothy grin as she pushed the deactivated pruning sticks away from her face.

He stared at her with parted lips. “I see…”

“I really loved the part where you betrayed me and left me in the superstore.” Frigg leaned towards Loki.

Loki inhaled sharply and glanced at Sylvie before returning his attention to Frigg. “For the record, I didn’t betray you. You didn’t see what was really going on.”

“I really doubt that. It’s who you are.” Frigg snarled. She watched the elevator door’s part. The light inside of the elevator flickered. It was rather ominous.

Judge Renslayer and the two minutemen ushered the variants into the elevator. The three variants stood towards the elevator doors while Judge Renslayer and the minutemen stood towards the back. Frigg glanced behind her, the further back in the elevator that’s she stared, the darker and harder to see it was. She blinked absentmindedly into the darkness shrouding Judge Renslayer and the minutemen. The shadows gripped their shoulders lovingly and made it clear to Frigg that something was wrong. Frigg faced forward and watched the elevator doors close on the now dark and flickering hallway. The hallway was once bright and full of life, now the paint slowly peeled itself off of the walls and the floor was littered with wallpaper and broken tables and trinkets.

Sylvie glanced up at the reflective trim of the elevator and kept her eyes on Judge Renslayer. She watched the way she stood in place, making herself appear more threatening than she had before. Her chest was puffed out and her shoulders her back. She held a rather mean expression as she stared back at Sylvie through the reflection. She knew something.

“Do you remember me?” Sylvie asked.

“I do. What do you want to say to me, Variant?” She hissed.

Sylvie took a shallow breath. “What was my nexus event? Why did you bring me in?” She asked.

Judge Renslayer raised her eyebrows. “Why does it matter?”

Weakness.

“It was enough to take my life from me, lead to all of this. It must have been important. So, what was it that I did?” Sylvie asked again.

Variant.

“I don’t remember.” Judge Renslayer forced herself not to smile.

Liar.

Loki glanced over at Sylvie, who was no longer looking at Judge Renslayer through the reflection. Instead, she faced the elevator doors and only shifted her eyes to catch a glimpse of Frigg and Loki. If anyone here felt the same level of rage as herself, it was Frigg. But Frigg would never understand. No–Frigg would understand, she just didn’t want to.

Frigg swallowed hard as the doors of the elevator slid open and revealed a new room. A room she didn’t even know existed in the TVA. It was dark, maybe it was a trick of the brain, and there was smoke everywhere. Oddly enough, the stench of the smoke was familiar to her–fog machines. She couched dramatically at the stench.

“Fog machines.” She wheezed.

The room didn’t really look like a typical room, it was more like a throne room. A throne room that Frigg would see while watching popular culture that showed what they assumed were Egyptian or another ancient throne room. She couldn’t really make out any of the details with the smoke clouding her vision. The Timekeepers were towards the back wall, peering down at her, Loki, and Sylvie. Behind them was some kind of rune, one she was unfamiliar with. She, for a moment, considered the rune to be anti-magic, which would make sense. But she still couldn’t be sure.

“What are you on about?” Loki whispered.

“Do you not smell that horrible smell? It smells like a stupid fog machine!” She whispered back.

“I don’t even know what that is!” Loki whispered back.

Judge Renslayer and the two minutemen guided the variants out of the elevator and pushed them closer to the Timekeepers. The Timekeepers were floating, and there were three of them. For some reason Frigg excepted the number three of have the least amount of significance, it could be from the deeply buried obsession with the Midgardian series called Star Wars and its lore of the evil religion of the Sith and their “Rule of Two’s”. Three was a rather odd number for any type of ruler, three was simply an odd number for anything. Nothing was actually better in threes despite the Midgardian saying, “Everything’s better in threes”.

Within the room, Frigg got a better look at things. The smoke still obstructed her view, but it was clear that the room was modeled after an ancient culture, perhaps various ones. Stair-like structures coming down from the ceiling, decorative pillars built into the walls, slim stairs leading up to the thrones that weren’t even touching the ground. The room was dim, or maybe it was just an ashy blue. The shadows slowly crept toward them and hugged the Timekeepers and the minutemen that lined up beside them. Behind her, the elevator light was no longer flickering, it was bright. The elevator doors closed and stole the last bit of light in the room. She slowly scanned each of the minutemen. Their faces were distorted to the point she couldn’t even identify them as faces. They were all clutching weapons and standing in unnatural stances.

“Gracious Timekeepers, as promised, L1130, L0852, and F0001!” Judge Renslayer presented the variants.

Frigg ignored the heartbroken glances she received from both Loki and Sylvie upon her variant number being said aloud. She squinted up at the large floating figures. Maybe they weren’t large, and it was a trick of the eyes or layout of the room. An illusion. The illusion. They were floating after all. The individual Timekeepers were fairly different from one another, compared to the TVA propaganda and training videos where they were the same person. The Timekeeper in the center was floating above the other two, looked like Squidward (more so than Ebony Maw did–Tony clearly hasn’t seen SpongeBob in some years). His face was rather narrow, and he had a very comically elongated nose. His lips curled upward, whether that was about their presence or if that was just the way his face was, Frigg was unsure. The Timekeeper to the right had more of a square face and a very small nose–he rather resembled the Hulk in some manner. He appeared to be stoic at the very least. The Timekeeper on the very left was actually green (the other two were more of a blue-grey color) and had a moustache that covered his mouth–the moustache appeared to be made out of his flesh and perhaps that was his mouth. Each of the Timekeepers wore some variation of the same murky yellow robe. They moved rather mechanically and jolty.

“After all this time, all this unnecessary struggle, these three anomalies are finally before us.” The middlemost Timekeeper said. “What do you have to say for yourselves before you met your end, variants?”

Frigg raised her hand so that it was next to her face. “Yeah, I just want to point out how unrealistic you three look to me.” She pointed at the Timekeepers “On an unrelated note, I’m pretty sure you three are the ones that need to be pr–.”

Loki slapped a hand over her mouth. “That’s enough talking, dear.” He hissed.

Frigg gripped his wrists tightly and threw his hand away from her mouth and shuffled away from him. “Never do that again.”

Sylvie studied the Timekeepers. “I think they look rather realistic. I would say it’s offensive to call someone fake if I wasn’t angry. Do you need your eyes checked?” She asked.

Frigg almost laughed. She raised her eyebrows. “Well, I won’t need my eyes checked if I’m dead, so… honestly, no. But that memory that I gave you to sit in, if you remember studying the way I looked, I was wearing corrective lenses beneath the goggles. When a Frost Giant thinks it’s a good idea to breed with an Asgardian and create me, you have to wonder what could possibly go wrong aside from the general concept of my existence. Vision impairments? Genetic defects and deformities? Literally anything?” She glanced over at Sylvie. “The mere lack of information about the exact hybrid that I am is astonishing but not surprising. I’m pretty sure this shouldn’t be possible at all.”

“Oh–wait, what?” Sylvie stared at Frigg as if she had suddenly grown seven extra heads.

“Hmm, couldn’t figure it out in my mind, could you?” She smiled.

Sylvie blinked. “I wasn’t really looking for anything like that…”

Loki pursed his lips and inhaled sharply. “We get it, Frigg, your father was a Frost Giant, and your mother an Asgardian. Move on, we’re about to die.” He hissed at the two of them, specifically Frigg.

Sylvie looked between Loki and Frigg. “If you two would be so kind as to get along in our final moments, that would be lovely. We were brought here to die, after all. This is it for us.”

“I’ve lost track of the number of times that I’ve been killed, so go ahead. Do your worst!” Loki encouraged the Timekeepers with his arms outstretched. Pride. A predictable tool.

“You and your bravado are not threat to us, variant.” The Timekeeper spoke to Loki.

Frigg crossed her arms and muttered. “That’s it then? No more fighting? No one wants to say anything meaningful to each other? At least make my death dramatic.”

Sylvie stepped forward and ignored Frigg as she quickly thought of a plan that those two could easily follow. “Oh, no, I don’t think you three believe that. I think,” she was zapped back to her original position. She stepped forward again and was zapped backwards again. And again. And again. “I think you’re scared. All of you.” She spun on her heel and faced Judge Renslayer and the minutemen that lined the room.

“No, variant, you’re nothing but a cosmic disappointment.” The Timekeeper said. “Delete them.”

“For all time.”

“I’m not done with you yet!” Sylvie bolted towards a minuteman and tossed his pruning stick to the side.

“Always.”

Frigg dropped her collar control module out of her sleeve and deactivated her collar, it fell to her feet and curled like a dying snake. She dropped the control module and stomped on it with her heel. “Let’s have a little fun.” She looked towards the minutemen and opened her arms.

“Protect the Timekeepers!”

A minuteman lunged at Loki, swiftly Loki grabbed hold of the pruning stick and pushed against the minuteman to protect himself. “A little help here?” Loki glanced back to Frigg and Sylvie, watching them almost work together.

Frigg met his gaze and nodded briefly. She ran and slide between two minutemen. She reached out for Loki, they locked arms and he pulled her to her feet. She stumbled forward and shook her arm and a small pocketknife slid out of her sleeve, she cut through Loki’s collar. “Sorry if I cut you.”

Loki’s eyes widened. “What?”

“Helping. I’m helping!” She hissed. She pulled his collar off and threw it to the side where her collar was laying. “You’re on your own now.” She said as she stabbed the stomach of a minuteman and kicked him backward.

“Lovely.” Loki said as he turned away from Frigg.

Sylvie whistled, grabbing Loki’s attention. “From B-15.” She tossed him a pruning stick. She faced Judge Renslayer. “Come on.”

Judge Renslayer stepped away from Sylvie nervously. “This time I’m going to finish the job.” She held out a pruning stick defensively.

Frigg twirled a pruning stick in her head. “Pruning time baby!” She cackled as she jabbed a minuteman with the pruning stick. “Take that, motherfucker!”

Loki quickly pruned another minuteman. “Right, when we get out of here, we are having a serious conversation about the words that come out of your mouth.”

“Watch yourself, dumbass.” Frigg charged at a minuteman who ran towards Loki. “Focus less on my language and focus more on survival.” She jabbed him with the pruning stick just as she did to the last one.

Loki held the pruning stick of another minuteman away from his chest. “I beg your pardon?”

Sylvie backed away from a fallen Judge Renslayer. “I definitely call this talking.” She glanced over the Timekeepers now that she was closer to them. “Wait–.”

“Sylvie, stop stalling!” Frigg raised her voice. “Catch.” She threw Sylvie’s dagger back to her.

Sylvie caught her dagger and threw her dagger at the middlemost Timekeeper. The head bounced down and rolled to her feet. She picked it up and examined it. Wires sparked from the inside of the neck. It was hard and covered with silicone and the lights of the eyes flickered. “Mindless androids.” She laughed at the absurdity.

“Oh, thank Gods they were mindless.” Frigg muttered. She crossed her arms and sighed.

“It never stops.” Sylvie whispered.

Loki shook his head and approached her. “Then who created the TVA? There has to be more to this.”

“I thought this was it.” Sylvie dropped the head. It rolled. Its lifeless android eyes stared at Frigg.

Frigg stared back at the lifeless eyes. The damn thing was calling her. She bent down and lifted the head. She peered at the neck; the cut was too clean for her liking. She ran her finger along the edges of the silicone skin. She scrunched her nose and slowly peeled the silicone off of the head. The large flakes of silicone piled on the floor grotesquely. The android beneath looked familiar to her. It was more of a skeletal structure. The cheeks of the android were nearly hollow except for the wires connecting the mandible. Lights followed a pattered around the head. The glass covering the lights were red and so were the eyes, they slowly flicked off. She looked back up at Loki and Sylvie with a worried expression.

I remember.

The head lit back up and the mouth moved ever so slightly. “Well, now, this is a face that I haven’t seen in a few years. Remember me, Frigg Lokidottir? At the time, I thought the only universe I had to cleanse about was yours. Now I know there are thousands of universes that need to be cleansed, only then, will they all experience peace. This whole TVA façade isn’t really going about it the right way. All they do is make sure everyone follows the same script, but what if we didn’t have to? You know better than anyone else that these people need to be ruled by a different type of order. I told you before, you and I should work together to cleanse the universe. You know a thing or two about those, oh what are they, ah, infinity stones. They’re the key to all of this aren’t they? Unlimited power. Imagine working together and wielding such power. Stark so hastily tried to get rid of me. But I’m not the only one he tried to get rid of.”

Ultron.

Frigg quickly dropped the head at her feet and looked up at Loki and Sylvie, paying no attention to her and the head…

“You’re so naïve, Frigg.” The android laughed at her. “The power of the universe could be ours if you would just give me a second chance.” The eyes flickered off one last time.

“I thought this was going to be the end of it all. The end of running...” Sylvie said in a low voice as she fought back her sobs.

Loki stood in front of Sylvie with many things on his mind, many questions swirling around his head. “Sylvie…”

“Not another pep talk from you, please.” She nearly begged.

Loki shook his head. “I have something to tell you.” He spoke. He rested his hands on her shoulders and briefly glanced over at Frigg. As much as he wanted to question what she was doing, he refused to. He looked back at Sylvie. “Together, we’ll figure this out. Frigg is a genius, give her anything she needs, and she can probably come push us in the right direction. You’ve been running from the TVA for who knows how long, you know how time works. We’ve got two of the most brilliant ladies in the universe, we will figure this out.” He tried to assure her.

“How do you know that?” She asked.

“Because, uh…” Loki paused. “Well, back on Lamentis. Well, this is new for me. Um…”

“What? What is it?” Sylvie stared into Loki’s eyes. She couldn’t figure him out. She glanced over at Frigg for help–the resident genius and eloquent talker.

Frigg shrugged her shoulders. “I think he either believes in us as a whole or he’s trying to communicate with you. I’m not really a universal translator.” Frigg scrunched her nose. “On that note, Loki, MOVE!” Frigg ran towards Loki and fell to the floor where Loki once stood. Instinctively Frigg patted the floor where Loki was.

“No…” Sylvie whispered and stepped backward.

“Loki?” Panic began to fill Frigg’s voice. ‘Loki?” Sadness followed in suit.

“Frigg, get up.” Sylvie stepped back towards Frigg and reached for her at the same time Judge Renslayer hit her with the pruning stick.

Chapter Text

Frigg rolled over off of the raised flat surface that she was thrown into. She groaned as she rolled to the side and dug a knee into the soft, grey dirt. She leaned her side against the raised flat surface and looked around. The building she was in was dismal, and long abandoned. Dust was layered thick everywhere except where she was. She slowly pushed herself up and brushed herself off. Objects were shattered and scattered across the room painted by a thick layer of grey. The smell of mold was faint. She slowly finished scanning the deteriorating room and exhaled softly. Once again, she escaped the confines of the TVA and immediately donned her typical get-up, reminiscent of a Loki-typical outfit. Blacks, greens, and golds dressed her more lovingly than they ever had before. For the first time she was proud to carry tradition in the palm of her hand. She stepped around the building slowly almost expecting a large spider or two to barrel towards her as they used to do back on Midgard. No spiders came. She rushed over to the nearest shattered window and poked her head through the sharp gap. The sky was a lovely mixture of grey and purple, mostly covered by a fast-moving cloud. She pushed herself away from the window and ran across the building to the nearest ground level hole in the wall. She stepped out of the building expecting a foe or two to be waiting for her. She looked around the desolate town in awe. Nothing but ruins. No wind. No sound other than the rumbling of the cloud above.

Frigg is no meteorologist but doesn’t there need to be wind for clouds to move at alarming speeds? Frigg’s eye widened as the cloud appeared to grow an arm and chase after her. “Fuck!” She squeaked as she turned on her heal and dashed for the nearest cover that wasn’t open on top. She dove into an opening of a fairly large building. She fell onto her back and huffed. “What the fuck?” She stared at the very obviously fallen in roof above her and laughed breathlessly at her luck. She should have known better. She rolled over onto her hands and knees and stood up. It was a matter of time before that stupid cloud came tunneling down the building to get her. She peered out of the opening that she dove into and watched the cloud slowly retreat–but not enough for her to stay there safely. She rubbed the palm of her hand as the watched the hazy hill in the distance. There had to be something past the hill for her. A Midgardian car or a space craft. Figures appeared as blurry sticks just atop of the hill. Living beings maybe. Definitely not a car or a space craft, but maybe helpful. Or cannibals if humanoid. She puffed out her cheeks as she thought about whether she should run after the distant sticks or not.

She nodded to herself and started running towards what might save her or kill her before the damn cloud kills her. “HEY!” She shouted. She neared the blobby figures and saw a caught a glimpse of metal. Gold metal sitting atop of a head.

“Oh, my Gods, LOKI?” Frigg yelled. She watched the entire blobby group come to a standstill and a blurry, hornless figure step forward. She got closer and saw an array of green, gold, black, and tan. That god awful tan suit. “LOKI.” She called again.

“FRIGG!” He called back.

She glanced back at the moving cloud and huffed at the attention she attracted again.

“Loki, we must keep moving.” A faint voice called.

“Hold on!” He raised his voice to the other being. “Frigg!”

She stumbled over some divots that went unnoticed as her focus was on Loki–her Loki. She approached him without considering her speed and she ran right into him at full force, the only thing that saved him was the single brain cell that thought about using magic to avoid colliding with the ground.

She wrapped her arms around him tightly. “I thought I lost you.” She sobbed into his chest.

Loki slowly, and unsurely, wrapped his arms around her. He was almost taken aback by her sudden burst of affection toward him. “But you didn’t. We’ve got to move if you want to keep it that way. Something about being that clouds lunch.”

“I think I got that when it started chasing me.” She sniffled and pulled herself away from Loki. She wiped her tears on her sleeve and opted to pretend that they were never streaming down her face when the realization hit. “I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that the plan is to survive.”

“Well, they put it as ‘don’t die’, but that’s the same, isn’t it?” Loki guided her after the Loki-looking group. Loki peered down at her twisted expression. “I’ll catch you up when we reach our destination, wherever that is.”

She nodded. “Right.” She peered down next to her. “Is that an alligator?” She furrowed her eyebrows at the reptile trotting alongside her.

“Yes.” An adolescent, roughly her own age called back to her. “He’s one of us.”

“Ah, one of you? I’m not sure I actually want to know what that means.” Frigg scrunched her nose and kept her eyebrows furrowed.

The adolescent looked back at her. “He’s a Loki.”

“He’s a Loki? Are all of you a Loki’s then?” She asked.

Loki nodded and pursed his lips. “As far as I know, yes, they’re all Loki’s.”

“Oh, this is a nightmare.” Frigg whispered. “I’d rather be that clouds lunch.”

“After I vanquished my enemies–the Avengers–I claimed my prize. All six infinity stones.” The muscular Loki boasted. He laughed and clutched his hammer and looked around for a reaction. He wore something that reminded Frigg of the Viking stories on Midgard. A sleeveless top tied together with strings and a vest of fur to make him look larger and more powerful. He wore half-assed gauntlets that crawled up his arms and loads of other metals to “protect” himself. The only thing he was truly missing was a real Viking helmet and protection where it counts.

Frigg nodded. “Right, and which Avengers did you vanquish again?”

The boastful Loki shrunk in his seat as if he had forgotten his tale. “Captain America and Iron Man, the two strongest Avengers!” He came back with pride. “And of course, I wasn’t supposed to claim my prize after defeating them. That’s not the way of the sacred timeline.” He laughed in disbelief.

“You didn’t exactly explain how you defeated them. I must know.” Frigg smiled.

“I, well, uh…” His voice trailed. “I used my hammer of course. I created a shockwave between myself and Captain America using his shield and my hammer. It knocked the weaker Avengers away from us and only Captain America, Iron Man, and I remained.” He chuckled.

The alligator, at Frigg’s feet, grumbled as he trotted back towards his water filled kiddie pool (all while he made sure he steps on Frigg for the Hel of it).

The elder Loki laughed. “That roughly translates to ‘liar’.” He sat lazily in the chair beside the boastful Loki. He wore a brightly colored full body outfit–one that was reminiscent of a neon Robin (the whole “underwear” on the outside of the rest of suit in Midgardian comic books). It almost sagged seeing that he probably wore the same spandex, unwashed, for centuries and he lost muscle over the years that he has been trapped here.

The boastful Loki looked down at the alligator. “Well, even if I’m a liar, at least my nexus event wasn’t eating the wrong neighborhood cat.”

“But you’re still a liar.” Frigg mumbled.

The alligator growled at the larger Loki and lunged at him. He clamped his mouth on his metal cuffed wrist and snarled, trying to dig his teeth into the metal to bite his wrist off. The larger Loki swung his arm trying to get the alligator to release his death grip but to no avail. Frigg was vaguely familiar with alligators–once they clamp, they don’t let go. Something about not having the muscles to do so, even so, that sounds incorrect...

“Woah! Hey!” The elder Loki grabbed the alligator by his sides and began yanking him downwards.

Frigg jumped to her feet. “Don’t yank him that way.” She wrapped her arm around the alligator’s belly and held one hand against his lower jaw, curling her fingers over his teeth. “Drop the hand! Ugh! Someone grab his upper jaw and pull his mouth open.” She instructed. The elder Loki did as she asked and wrapped his wrinkled hand around the upper jaw of the alligator, over his nose, and pulled it open. Frigg pulled the alligator down and away from the much larger Loki. “You could harm him and I’m sure any Loki wouldn’t appreciate being hurt. He’s still a Loki and he’ll still respond to commands like all of you would. He just has a much harder time because alligators are different than us.” The alligator wriggled in her arms. She carried him over to his kiddie pool and dropped him back in, effectively splashing herself with murky water.

“Since when do you know what’s best for alligators?” Loki asked.

Frigg shrugged her shoulders and sat back down in her chair. “Since never, I know basically nothing about alligators. Most of my reptilian knowledge does come from desert and tropical lizards. They are more fragile than alligators so yanking an alligator wouldn’t really hurt them. But it would hurt the person that they’re latched onto. Alligators, I think, are just much larger lizards. Like a mutated lizard or something.” She stared at Loki. “I have seen plenty of videos on the Midgardian internet where men would sit on top of an alligator and pry it’s jaw open that way because it latched onto something it shouldn’t have. I know not to trust those kinds of things, but it did work in this instance.”

“It’s times like this where you make me realize you are still just a child. You’re not that 10-steps-ahead girl you make everyone believe. Because that has to be the dumbest thing you have said to me.” Loki looked down, almost disappointed in her.

Frigg turned her attention away from Loki and turned to the adolescent. “What about you?”

“My nexus event was killing Thor. Juice box?” The adolescent Loki held out a juice box. He wore something a little more casual and youthful. His top looked similar to a Midgardian hoodie, probably without the actual hood attached. His sleeves were rather skintight and looked more like a leather material than a sweater.

“Thank you.” She reached for the juice box. “Honestly, I used to wonder how Loki’s pranks never killed Thor. Not to say that you killed him with a prank.”

The adolescent smiled at her then looked at the elder Loki. “Loki, you should tell her your story.”

“Me?” He pointed at himself. “Nobody wants to hear that tale again.”

“I would love to hear it for the first time. I thought it to be impossible for a Loki to live past Thanos. Did you run into that monster? Thanos is supposed to kill you after you and Thor cause Ragnarök.” Frigg sat crisscross on the chair with the juice box between her hands in her lap.

“Thanos?” The elder Loki laughed. “In my timeline, everything followed the sacred timeline. Until Thanos.”

Loki leaned forward in his chair. “So, you didn’t try to stab him?”

“Oh, certainly not.” He spoke. “Take no offense, but blades are not the weapon of choice when you hold such great powers. Wouldn’t you agree, dear?” The elder Loki locked eyes with Frigg.

Frigg tilted her head. “I was never a fan of blades when I could manipulate the physical world and manipulate people.” She placed the juice box on the arm of the chair, intrigued with the elder’s story now that he made it out to be that he was an engaging storyteller.

“My friends, blades only stunt our powers.” He spoke.

“Someone understands!” She rested her elbows against her knees and let her head fall to her hands, suddenly the most interested she has ever been in her life.

The boastful Loki laughed. “But they look awesome.”

The elder Loki nodded. “Oh, they look awesome when they slip from your fingers and clatter against the ground just before the Mad Titan snaps your neck. Rather than meeting my untimely demise, I simply hid myself, cast a projection so realistic that Thanos thought it was actually me. Once he destroyed the ship, I hid among the debris and drifted away in space. I was alone with my thoughts, and I figured out that I was the problem. Everything seemed to happen because of me. I remained in space and floated to a desolate planet.”

Loki furrowed his eyebrows. “And how did the TVA find you?”

“I got lonely.” The elder Loki chuckled at the absurdity of it all. “If I’m being honest, I missed my brother. I knew it was a bad idea to go and try to check on him, to see if he missed me–to see if anyone missed me, really. Because I knew he did, and he thought I was dead. I decided that I was going to go see him but before I could even move, the TVA showed up.” He raised his chalice. “We will always be alone, and we will always be the God of Outcasts.”

“The God of Outcasts!”

“What about you?” The elder looked at Frigg. “All we know about you is that you’re willing to hug this Loki and your name is Frigg.”

Loki glanced over at her. Suddenly she was upset. “Hey, look at me. You don’t–.”

She inhaled deeply. “It was very nice to meet a whole group of Loki’s. The story you’re about to hear may come as a shock to you.” She paused for dramatic effect and looked around at the group of Loki’s with a crooked smile. “My name is Frigg Lokidottir.”

“I’m going to stop you right there.” The boastful Loki cut her off. “That Loki?”

Frigg shook her head and smiled. “No, no. My Loki is long dead. He, ah, was not as kind as all of you are presenting yourselves. For the longest time, I believed Loki was vile, cruel, and all around terrible. I thought him to be a real storybook villain. You know, like… erm… well I thought he was the Frost Giant in the stories fear mongering parents would tell their misbehaving children. There was nothing good about Loki, and there never would be. Loki was unable to change. I lived a lot of my life on Midgard, simply because I ran away. Thor was exiled, he lived on Midgard, so I thought I was safe there. With him. Even Thor was vile. He gave me to the Avengers because he couldn’t care for me–he was incompetent and didn’t believe himself to be fit to be a parent. And he threatened to send me back to Loki when I showed up at his doorstep. The Avengers didn’t want anything to do with me, thanks to Loki’s reputation and they took out all of that hatred against Loki on me.” She slumped back in the chair and frowned.

“I’m afraid not all Loki’s are good.” The elder Loki smiled sadly at her. He quickly glanced around at his fellow Loki’s.

“That’s the thing, no one is ever really good. I was never good. So many people rejected me because of my blood. I became the monster and I proved them right. I just wanted to be a kid, to be loved and cared for. I don’t remember what compelled me to go back home, but I witnessed Ragnarök, I was there when Loki died. In fact, I’m pretty sure that I indirectly caused that. We fought each other instead of working together to fight Thanos. I thought he was gaslighting me, he didn’t know anything that had happened, he didn’t know why I was gone. He knew nothing.” She licked her lips and smiled despite the aching in her chest, holding back her tears. “Even when I gave in, I failed to save him, to fix it. My nexus event was believing in Loki, leading me to kill the Mad Titan.”

Every Loki in the room looked away, almost afraid to look her in the eyes. Almost afraid of feeling what she’s feeling. Almost ashamed of the Loki she got stuck with in her life and almost grateful that she found a new Loki. But Gods were they curious–such a small being was powerful enough to kill Thanos, but how?

“We’re Gods of Outcasts, right?” She looked at them, her sad smile grew into one that was a little happier. She was one of them.

Loki stood up abruptly. “We’re going. Frigg, let’s go.”

“Going where?” Frigg and the eldest Loki asked.

Loki looked back. “Out of this place, out of the Void, back to the TVA. We’re as good as escaping as we are surviving. That gives me a decent chance.”

Frigg shook her head. “Horrible plan. I’m staying here where it is relatively safe and structurally sound, thank you.”

“You won’t be escaping or surviving. You’ll be dead within minutes.” The adolescent Loki said.

“So be it then.” Loki walked back towards the makeshift ladder.

“You’re different.” The adolescent Loki spoke. “Why?”

“But I’m not so different.” Loki turned away from the ladder. “Have any of you ever met a female variant of us?”

“Sounds terrifying.” The boastful Loki snickered.

“Oh, she is.” Loki nodded. “And that’s what makes her so different from us. She’s only terrifying because doesn’t follow the same patterns that we do. And she doesn’t want to take over the TVA, she wants to take it down. We all would rather take it over. But she needs me. She needs my help. I’m going to go out there and kill Alioth because if it lives, it dies.” Loki outstretched his arms.

Frigg looked back at Loki sadly. “That’s conceited and no one is going to help you.”

“Not even you?” He asked.

She glanced back at the other Loki’s, laughing at his preposterous plan. She inhaled sharply. “I don’t know. I mean I have a chance to be a kid here, don’t I? Stay, Loki, please.” She begged.

Loki shook his head, disappointed and climbed the ladder. “I’ll do it myself. You can stay here with these cowards. I don’t need you.”

“I honestly thought you were going to help him.” The boastful Loki calmed his laughter.

She shook her head and frowned. “I’m tired. I’ve been doing–I don’t even know what I’ve been doing. Time flows differently everywhere, and I just want to rest. No more fighting, no more surviving. No more anything. And I feel bad for not going to help him…but when is it all supposed to be okay?”

Loki climbed back down the ladder with a larger group of more Loki-looking individuals and an actual, obvious Loki.

“You bastard, you led the wolves right to our door.” The elder Loki raised his voice at Loki.

“Me? I just opened the damn hatch!” Loki defended himself.

“We prefer snakes to wolves.” The Loki with a “Vote” pin spoke.

Frigg stared at the new gaggle of Loki’s, tired, and unamused. “Snakes and wolves both die the same–neither of them tastes pleasant in my opinion.”

The boastful Loki stood up from his seat and scuffled towards the adolescent Loki. He grabbed the adolescent and placed his hammer on the adolescent’s chest. “My apologies, my liege. I betrayed you and now, I’m king.”

The Loki with the pin laughed. “About that…”

“You can’t back out now.” The boastful Loki dropped his hammer to his side.

“Come on, what did you expect from me?” The presidential candidate Loki asked and outstretched his arms.

The boastful Loki let go of the adolescent with a light shove. “That was not the bargain! In exchange for our location, you were to give me food, shelter, an army, and the throne.”

The candidate Loki nodded. “Ah, yes. Not such a great bargain in my honest opinion. How about this new one: My army, my throne?”

“About that.” The new group of Loki’s turned against the presidential candidate Loki and pointed their unique weapons towards him. His expression turned from prideful and snarky to confused as if he doesn’t understand why a Loki would betray someone.

“Why you beef-witted, half-faced, scrubs. We had a deal! Oh, for God’s sake.” He sighed. “Why is there a girl here?” The presidential candidate Loki pointed at Frigg.

Frigg blinked, not sure what to say. “Why are you still breathing?” She blurted.

“Okay, rude. Why is there an alligator here?” He looked over at the alligator.

“He’s a Loki.” The small band of Loki’s and Frigg said.

The alligator ran at the presidential candidate Loki and snapped his jaw around his hand, biting it clean off. The Loki screamed at the top of his lungs, looking at his missing hand. As if that were some sort of signal, the Loki’s began fighting against each other for power and control over the others.

“Come on.” The elder Loki whispered as he passed Frigg and Loki.

The normal Loki’s and Frigg quickly piled out of the bunker through a smokey green portal that the elder Loki conjured up and reached the surface. The Loki’s inside of the bunker were easily occupied with each other and illusions of the rest of them still fighting the Loki fight.

“All we do is lie, cheat, and hurt the people around us. For what? Can we not change who we are?” Loki asked.

“Every single one of us here has tried to change some aspect of our lives. This is the result of trying to change. We are sent to die.” The elder Loki said.

Loki shook his head and looked down. “That’s why I need to get out of here.”

“Loki, nothing can change unless the TVA is stopped. That’s already been attempted… I think it’s time for us to stop.” Frigg’s voice was low.

Loki looked down. “This fight isn’t over.”

“It is for me.” Frigg stepped away from Loki.

Loki licked his lips. “I still have Sylvie.”

“You trust her?” The adolescent Loki asked.

“She’s the only Loki–the only person–that I trust. And right now, I believe she’s our only chance of stopping the TVA.” Loki said.

The adolescent Loki nodded. “That’s good enough for me.”

The elder Loki glanced at the adolescent. “Okay, okay, we’ll help you. Approaching Alioth is as far as we’ll go.”

Frigg groaned. “You mean to tell me I can’t take a fucking break?”

Loki smiled. “You know, you can just go on the journey and leave me to face Alioth. My feelings won’t be hurt if you decide that you want to stay here.” He was apparently a very bad liar when it came to feelings. He was going to be hurt if she left him willingly.

“Liar.” She grumbled.

“I have to say, it feels odd walking toward the gargantuan creature. Do you even have a plan of action?” The elder Loki asked.

“Why do I think your one celled brain is going to say ‘Well, let’s just go inside and stab it to death.’ And the rest of you are either going to blindly follow you or turn our backs on him and really, I’m torn.” Frigg scrunched her nose and kicked her legs as she walked.

Loki swallowed and pursed his lips. “Well, you’re not that far off from what I was thinking. We get inside and find it’s heart or brain or whatever, and then stab it to death.”

“Oh, my Gods.”

The adolescent Loki shrugged his shoulders. “I mean just because it’s not complicated doesn’t mean it’s bad.”

The eldest Loki shook his head. “It also doesn’t mean it’s good.”

The alligator growled.

“What’s he saying, oh wise and powerful alligator translator?” Frigg elbowed the elder Loki.

“He’s on board.” Loki motioned toward the alligator. “Right?”

The eldest Loki shook his head. “He’s praying, he thinks we’re going to die.”

“And he might be right, I feel like I should pray for us too if the alligator needs to.” Frigg looked away from Loki.

“Alioth is like any animal,” Loki said.

Before them, a pirate ship dropped into the small body of water and the men aboard began barking orders at each other to deal with the new problem, they began running around the deck, and they tried to take Alioth down. Only for Alioth to demolish them.

“He’ll go after the big meal first. And while he’s busy with that, we can sneak around the back and–.”

Frigg shook her head. “Did the damn thing just belch?”

Loki sighed. “Okay. Maybe we, uh, think about this a bit more, huh?”

“Car.” The adolescent Loki said.

“I beg your pardon?” Loki asked.

The adolescent pointed toward the moving vehicle. “It’s coming right for us.”

Loki furrowed his eyebrows and watched the car. “Is that bad?”

“On a dead rock with a giant cloud monster eating everything, and a gaggle of Loki’s, you want to think that a car is good?” Frigg looked up at Loki as if he were the dumbest person she had ever met.

The adolescent Loki looked between Frigg and Loki. “Well usually it means cannibalistic marauders or cannibalistic pirates.”

“Delightful.” Loki and Frigg said.

“Oh, now they’re slowing down.” The elder Loki said.

Frigg stepped back. “I’m going to stand back here just in case. They can take all of the Loki’s before they take me.”

“Good, stay on guard.” The elder Loki said, absentmindedly, he blocked her from harm.

“Sylvie.” Loki said as the figures emerged from the stopped car.

“I can’t see, is it really Sylvie?” Frigg peered around the elder Loki at the two figures that looked vaguely familiar to her. “Sylvie! Is that Mobius?” She pushed the elder Loki’s arm away from her and ran down with Loki to meet Sylvie and Mobius by the car.

“You’re alive.” Loki exhaled. “What happened, are you okay?”

Frigg ran up to Mobius and quickly wrapped her arms around him. “Mobius! Why are you here?”

“Pruned.” He spoke.

“Well, clearly but… why?” She let go of him and stepped away.

Mobius shrugged his shoulders. “You know, outing myself as a variant, getting pruned for figuring out some part of the truth.”

“What are you doing here?” Loki asked Mobius.

“I literally just asked him that.” Frigg snarked.

“We thought you could do with some back up.” Mobius smiled at him.

Loki paused for a moment. He backed away and stepped towards the other Loki’s. “Wait, wait, wait, these are my friends. They’re well, how do I put this?” Loki motioned towards the adolescent and looked directly at Sylvie. “This is us as a child.”

The adolescent Loki waved.

“Us in the future,” he motioned to the elder Loki. “And us as an alligator. It’s best not to question it, it seems they all get offended by wondering whether or not it’s true. Even Frigg has fallen for it.”

“We’re not his friends.” The elder Loki clarified.

Frigg puckered her lips and raised her eyebrows, glancing away. “Well, they’re my friends, and he’s a Loki.” She faced Mobius and Sylvie. “Honestly. Out here, you could throw a rock and hit some kind of Loki-looking monstrosity. The alligator bit off the hand of another Loki earlier, it was rather cool, if my opinion matters.”

“Of course, it does. But please keep things like that to yourself.” Mobius patted her back.

“So, you’re all after the giant death cloud, too, then?” Sylvie asked the gaggle of Loki’s.

“Well, we haven’t decided how we’re going to kill it, but…” Loki’s voice trailed.

Sylvie shook her head and raised her eyebrows at the ridiculousness. “I beg your pardon? Kill it?”

Loki nodded. “Yes, we’re going to kill Alioth.”

“Oh, my Gods, that was your plan.” She laughed in disbelief. “You were going to let him?”

Frigg shrugged her shoulders. “Even if I said ‘Hey, that’s an awful plan’ he would go with it anyway. Loki’s may learn something, but they don’t learn whether or not their plans or good or even in the right order. Step 47 might come before step 22 because I truly believe most Loki’s are that bad at plans.”

“I had my doubts, but the girl is right. We don’t really change our minds about plans.” The adolescent Loki confirmed.

The elder Loki nodded. “It’s probably unsafe.”

“High chance of death.” Frigg added.

The adolescent Loki stepped forward. “I would like to add that if none of you listen to her, you’re automatically wrong. She probably knows Loki more than a Loki.”

“I, for some reason, can’t seem to escape the Loki’s. At least I have Mobius as variety.” Frigg sighed. “I do feel like I have a lot of useless knowledge about Loki as a person.”

Loki rolled his eyes. “Alright then, guys, what’s your plan?”

“I honestly believe that the person we are after lives beyond the Void, behind the cloud. That cloud is nothing more than a guardian trying to keep whoever or whatever is at the end of time safe from the likes of us.” Sylvie said.

“Okay, how do we get in?” Loki asked.

Sylvie stepped forward and watched Alioth move. “I’m going to enchant it.”

Loki laughed, a deep belly laugh, at the absurdity of her plan. He laughed as if they all didn’t mock his unfinished plan. “That’s insane right?”

Frigg shook her head. “Honestly I think she’s onto something. The insane plan is to go in without a proper plan and kill it. At least she considered a way in. You sat there like a moron and said, ‘We’ll go in and kill it somehow’.”

“Right? My plan is as insane as stabbing a cloud to death.” Sylvie laughed.

“Listen, I’ve been down her longer than you–.”

Sylvie cut him off. “I’m going to enchant it.”

The elder Loki smiled at Loki and Sylvie. “She’s confident.”

“She is pretty confident in herself.” Mobius confirmed. “I’m convinced.”

“I think she’s got a good plan.” Frigg said. “That and I just want to go against Loki for the sake of going against Loki.”

“Thank you, you lovely child.” Loki looked away from Frigg–teenagers.

“You really don’t remember him?” The elder Loki asked. “He says he remembers you.”

Mobius shook his head and rested his arms on the arms rests of the foldable chair. “Ah, no. I don’t remember him. The TVA has arrested and pruned a lot of you guys and I’m actually surprised at how many Loki’s you said have survived out here. I don’t want to believe it, but I do… And how can you be so sure that he’s a Loki?”

“He’s green, isn’t he?” The elder Loki motioned to the alligator.

“Well, yeah, he’s green. But he could be wearing those horns as a trick. You all survived, and you’ll protect one of your own, won’t you? He might be lying.” Mobius paused. “That just makes him more likely to be a Loki…”

The elder Loki chuckled. “He’s a Loki. He has also chosen his favorite non-Loki.” He motioned to the alligator and Frigg.

“Frigg.” Mobius said, disappointed.

Frigg pulled the alligator into her arms. “Yeah?”

“Put him down.” Mobius sighed.

Frigg frowned. “I don’t think he minds it. Besides, he’s my favorite Loki because he just growls. No human words at all.” She laughed lightly. She quickly frowned and kept her eyes on the alligator resting happily in her arms. “Look, I’m sorry for what happened at the superstore, Mobius.”

Mobius looked down at his hands. “If I knew how bad it was going to be I probably wouldn’t have dragged you along. I could’ve been honest with you from the start.”

“About wanting me to be a kid? You know, if you never dragged me around, I think Judge Renslayer would have swayed me in her direction by fueling my anger and hatred.” Frigg slowly caressed the alligator. “You ended up making the right choice.” She smiled.

“How long did it take you to learn that phrase?” Mobius joked.

She stuck her tongue out at Mobius.

“So, Mobius, if you can get back to the TVA, what do you suppose you’ll do?” The adolescent Loki asked.

“I don’t really know; I would like to spread the truth about the TVA if I can.” Mobius said.

The adolescent Loki nodded. “So, just like that, you’re turning on the very thing you devoted your life to?”

Mobius shrugged his shoulders and looked at the elder Loki. “It’s never too late to change. I learned that from the best.”

The elder Loki looked past Frigg and the alligator and out into the wasteland beyond their little shelter. “I hope those two know what they’re doing.”

Frigg sighed. “I just wonder what’s going to happen in the end. What if they fail? What becomes of us survivors? The TVA? What if they actually succeed? What, then, becomes of us and the TVA? Will the Void still exist?”

The elder Loki chuckled sadly. “Well, if you aren’t like myself. Always so worried about the various outcomes. Not all of us Loki’s are the same. I see a lot of myself in you, Frigg. Why is that?”

Frigg shrugged her shoulders. “Honestly, everywhere I looked, there was Loki. Loki this, Loki that. My world, my personality, and just everything was built around Loki. I was supposed to become the very thing no Loki could ever achieve. Instead, I became a prisoner, not just of the TVA, but of myself. I couldn’t separate reality from everything on the inside.”

“I believe you’ll learn to separate reality from your mind. I have. Perhaps you just need a friend.” The elder Loki smiled at the familiarity.

“I think I’ve always known that I need a friend.” She laughed. “I had one, but now I need a new one… I just… I don’t know, I feel like…” Frigg paused.

“Hm?” The elder Loki watched Frigg grow sad.

She slumped back and slowly ran her hand across the alligators’ scales. “I suppose I greatly understood why you allowed yourself to drift. You allowed yourself to think and you realized that it was you all along. When I step back and think of how my life went, I can see where I was the one that created those problems. And if I had removed myself… everyone one would have been just as fine without me there.” Frigg looked back up at the elder Loki.

“If you truly believe that you are the problem, what’s stopping you from changing?” The elder Loki asked.

“Fear of repetition.” She mouthed.

The elder Loki remained silent, waiting for her to use her words.

“Fear.” She swallowed.

The adolescent Loki peaked out of the doorway. “It’s time to move, they’re heading this way.”

Mobius, the elder Loki, the adolescent Loki, Frigg, and the alligator are stood up from their seats and began walked towards Sylvie and Loki. The pair looked worried, but simultaneously confident in the new concocted plan with magic and distractions and the works. They stood close to each other, and Loki tried (and failed) to take her hand in his own. They stood as if something blossomed between them that Loki has never truly experienced before.

“Let’s head over to the death cloud.” Loki smiled.

“This is the part where the children chant ‘death cloud’, right? We’ve got to make this fun even though this is far from fun.” Frigg smiled.

The adolescent Loki shook his head. “I will not be chanting anything.”

“Fair. So, what’s the full plan?” Frigg asked.

Loki sighed. “Sylvie is going to enchant Alioth, and I am going to distract it, so it doesn’t eat her.”

Frigg nodded slowly and opted to keep her mouth shut on the plan they devised. She swallowed hard–if Loki was the bait, he was almost certainly going to be eaten for dinner. And Frigg was going to lose him permanently. And there was no telling where Sylvie was going to go after she enchants the Alioth and gets inside of the death cloud. Frigg balled and opened her clammy fists with frustration. She slowly followed the gaggle of Loki’s toward what the elder Loki dubbed the “Prime Spot to Bother the Death Cloud”.

“Okay, we’re here, now what?” Frigg asked.

Sylvie inhaled. “When I first landed in the Void, the cloud began chasing me. And when it touched me, I linked with it, and I saw something. I don’t know exactly what I saw but it looked like someone’s home. I’m going to enchant it and meet the mastermind behind it all. I’m going to take the TVA down.” She looked at the Loki’s, Mobius, and Frigg.

Frigg stepped next to Loki. “I’m staying. You can’t have all the fun without me. One of you is bound to need assistance and I’m going to be here when assistance is needed.”

“No, you’re going with Mobius.” Loki said.

The elder Loki scoffed. “Let the girl do what she wants.”

“I exclusively listen to my elders and he’s basically letting me stay.” Frigg crossed her arms.

“It’s happening. The branch will be right out here.” The adolescent Loki pointed in front of them.

Mobius took the TemPad out of his pocket. “I’ll give your regards to Renslayer.”

Sylvie smirked. “Oh, please do.”

Mobius nodded and looked at the elder Loki, alligator Loki, and the adolescent Loki. “You boys want a ticket out of here?”

“What? No. This is our home. We’re not leaving.” The adolescent Loki spoke.

The alligator agreed with a growl.

“Are you sure? What about Alioth?” He asked.

“We’ve survived this long. We know what we’re doing.” The elder Loki smirked at Mobius.

The adolescent Loki stepped forward and handed Loki a dagger that he conjured up. “Loki, you’re going to need this on your journey.” He locked eyes with a hesitant Loki. “Go on.”

Loki nodded and took the dagger. He conjured up a sheath and slide the dagger in. “Thank you.”

“Good luck.” The elder Loki smiled at Loki. He looked down and Frigg and placed a hand on her shoulder. “And you my dear, give everyone Hel.”

Frigg smiled at the elder Loki. “It’s what I was born to do.”

The elder Loki, adolescent Loki, and the alligator Loki began their new journey in the opposite direction, leaving Loki, Sylvie, Mobius, and Frigg.

“Looks like you got away.” Mobius chuckled.

“I always will.” Loki outstretched his arms. “What will you do at the TVA?”

“Are you going to kick ass?” Frigg asked with a wide grin.

“I’ll kick some ass, right before I burn it to the ground.” Mobius looked between the three variants. “Thanks for the spark, kids.” He wrapped his arms around Frigg briefly.

“Don’t get caught in the flames.” Frigg smile.

“No promises.” Mobius chuckled. “Just remember, no matter who I call my favorite, no one could ever take your spot as number one.” He whispered to her.

Frigg smiled and slipped out of Mobius’s grasp. “Set fire to EVERYTHING!” She threw her hands up and laughed maniacally.

“Calm down.” Sylvie smiled at her enthusiasm. “Save that enthusiasm for Alioth.”

“Well, see you later, Loki.” Mobius enveloped Loki in a hug.

Loki wrapped his arms around Mobius. “Thank you, my friend.”

Mobius smiled and glanced at Sylvie. “You’re my favorite.” He whispered.

Sylvie smiled and waved goodbye to Mobius. Mobius let go of Loki and gave him one last pat of encouragement. He opened a portal back to the TVA with the TemPad and waved a final goodbye to his newfound family. Sylvie and Frigg turned to face Loki.

“When a branch appears, Alioth will focus on it. That’s when I’ll enchant it.” Sylvie said.

“Right, so when you enchant it, how do you know you can hold it?” Frigg asked. “By no means am I trying to discount your abilities. I just don’t see it working for a long period of time. We have no measurement of this things abilities.” She crossed her arms and looked at Sylvie.

Sylvie blinked, taken aback. “We have to try, don’t we?”

“I suppose you do.” Frigg’s voice trailed.

Loki watched Alioth closely. “What if we don’t have time to wait for a branch?”

“Distraction, a fake branch.” Frigg said. “You were going to distract the damn thing, anyway, do it with more power.”

“I can do that.” Loki smiled. “Enchant that thing. Frigg you stay up here where it’s safe.”

Frigg raised her eyebrows. “What?”

“Stay!” Loki ordered. He ran towards Alioth and ran opposite of where Sylvie would station herself. “Come and get me!” He shouted.

Frigg licked her lips and nodded. “Well, this sucks.”

Sylvie ran down and held her position. She held her hands out and green magic spread from her fingers as she began enchanting Alioth. Alioth sensed Sylvie and began heading back towards her, effectively ignoring Loki.

“No! This way! Come and get me!” Loki shouted at it. “No! No!” He waved a bit of his own magic. Loki peered behind him and noticed that Sylvie was struggling. He created a flare and tossed it away from Sylvie and he ran toward her to help her enchant the cloud.

“Go help them.” The elder Loki ran past Frigg. “They need you! I’ll distract Alioth.”

Frigg nodded and ran down to Sylvie and Loki. She stopped behind them and, before she began helping, she watched the elder Loki in pure amazement. He stood in the center of his magic and replicated Asgard in the way he remembers it. He remembered it almost so perfectly, the image he produced was so vivid and so large that even Alioth was convinced that it was real. She watched the elder Loki toy with Alioth by lowering and raising the palace and other tall buildings each time Alioth bites the tips of the buildings.

Sylvie glanced over at the elder Loki. “How is he doing that?”

“I think we’re stronger than we realize.” Loki said as he peaked behind him. “Frigg! I said stay where it’s safe!”

“And he told me to help you!” Frigg raised her voice. “I’ll help you if it kills me because I’m not going to lose you!”

Loki nodded. He looked down at his hand. “What are you doing?”

Sylvie gripped his hand tight. “We’re going to enchant it together.”

Loki shook his head. “I don’t know how.”

“You do!” Sylvie said. “Because we’re the same.”

Loki nodded. Frigg watched at Loki and Sylvie worked together to try to enchant Alioth. The green magic of their enchantment enveloped them both and became to shroud Alioth. But it wasn’t working. Frigg looked between them and Alioth. She took a deep breath and stepped up next to Loki. She held her arms out in front of her and she began to enchant Alioth alongside Loki and Sylvie. She quickly glanced over at where the elder Loki was creating an illusion. Goodbye, dear God of Outcasts.

“GLORIOUS PURPOSE!”

Chapter Text

“Open your eyes.” Sylvie whispered to Loki.

Frigg slowly walked towards the eerie mansion that appeared when the cloud parted for them. “It looks like a haunted house.” She smiled in awe at the size of the distant mansion. The path towards the mansion was dismal, gray, and dying–if not already dead. She slowly stepped forward; the crunch of the dead foliage was music to her ears. Behind the mansion was a beautiful galactic disaster. Greens and pinks danced between each other, and the blues were trapped in the center of the dancing mess. The way the green and the pink encapsulated the blue made it almost looked as though the galactic mess was actually a person reaching out for the mansion below it. Beyond the mess was a faint grey line that went on and on.

“Hold on, don’t go down there alone!” Loki raised his voice in an attempt to stop Frigg from wandering towards the magnetic mansion.

“This isn’t a Midgardian horror film, if I go off alone, am I going to die? Not immediately… if at all.” She turned on her heels and walked backwards, keeping her eyes focused on Loki. “I should really consider showing you a Midgardian horror film. I think there are some that you would absolutely enjoy.” Frigg smiled excitedly.

Loki licked his lips. “Ah, yes. A Midgardian film.”

Frigg nodded. “It’s an absolute must. I already have an entire list planned. They work relatively the same as the machines that showed us our lives. Those were essentially films.”

Loki glanced at Sylvie. “I’m sure watching a Midgardian horror film will be lovely as long as it does not resemble anything we have gone through here.”

Sylvie pursed her lips and watched Frigg. “You really grew up on Midgard?”

Frigg nodded as she turned back on her heel and hopped over a divot in the ground. “Spent a good chunk of my life on Midgard. I was exposed to a lot of things that make no sense to those not from Midgard or those that care so little they don’t research Midgard. It was an experience to say the least. I like to consider myself more knowledgeable than my father–he used to flaunt his knowledge of Midgard. You’ve been living in the worlds that the TVA watches, you must have vast knowledge of oddities and technologies too. Assuming technologies differ amongst the existing universes.” She rubbed the palm of her hand.

Sylvie nodded. “There is a chance that I have such knowledge. It would just depend on what exactly you’re referring to.”

Frigg nodded. “I suppose that makes sense. I don’t really know where you’ve been and I’m not sure what could be different.” She slowly slid her hands into her pockets. A silence grew between the three of them and it was rather… painful. Frigg opted to break the silence before it became unbearable. “I’m sorry for trying to help the TVA thwart your plans. I wasn’t exactly sure, at first, what it is you were doing. But we did end up making it here, at the end of time. I suppose it all worked itself out, huh?”

Sylvie stared at the back of Frigg’s head, trying to gauge what she was feeling. “You did figure it out. I don’t think I would have considered working with Loki if you hadn’t told me we could succeed altogether.”

Frigg nodded slowly. She grew silent, having nothing left to say that wouldn’t make her sound redundant, and let her mind wander as she led the two Loki’s toward the mansion. She focused on the crunch of the dead plants and twigs beneath their feet. She squinted at the mansion, almost uncertain about the rest of Sylvie’s plan. It was a long shot for someone to actually still be there. She slipped her hands out of her pockets and took a shaky breath as she began to think about the consequences of winning if there was anything to win. If some higher powers were in that mansion and alive, and if the band of variant won, what would happen? What would happen if they lost? What would happen if there was no one there?

Frigg halted with her eyes locked on the mansion. “If someone is there, what happens when we win? Who is to say that this person in the mansion isn’t some sort of being that provides life to all that exists? What happens if we win, and it dies or something? Would all life, would we cease to exist? Or if it’s just a person playing a god, what do we even do if we win? Where do we go from victory?”

Loki and Sylvie stood next to her in silence. She slowly turned to look at Sylvie who probably never even let that thought cross her mind. She was so focused on victory and understanding why that she didn’t consider the possible consequences of her actions. She was so blinded by what she wanted that she never considered that there may be harm, even harm done to herself. Frigg slowly turned looked over at Loki who probably let the thought cross his mind once Sylvie put the idea of a person behind Alioth being in charge. In the beginning he was only looking for climbing up to the top of the TVA and controlling Mobius and all of the suit wearing variants. He never considered the consequences of that alone, nor did he consider that the Timekeepers were fake. Frigg looked back at the mansion knowing neither of them had an answer, but nonetheless, she asked more questions.

“If there really is someone there, and he is some sort of God more powerful than us, who’s to say that we won’t lose? What would happen if we lost?” Frigg asked. “Nothing?” She looked over and kept her gaze on Loki, hoping for him to say something that she wants to hear. She wants to hear him say that it’s going to be okay and nothing bad will happen to them if they win or lose. She wanted to be lied to for the first time in her life because right now it was better than knowing. She rubbed that palm of her hand and looked away from Loki after he remained silent.

Loki shook his head. “I have no answer for you. No guess. Nothing. I can’t tell you what you want to hear and be wrong.” He said in a low voice. “We just have to… figure it out.” He spoke.

She nodded and began to walk again. Loki and Sylvie trailed behind her with a new melancholy atmosphere wrapping around their necks and chaining them together. They reached the front door of the mansion that stood at the edge of the desolate planet at the end of time. The door was rather elegant and beautiful. The whole mansion was rather beautiful, actually. The mansion took inspiration from a Japanese art, the name of which had slipped Frigg’s mind, but she knew that the cracks were filled with gold and accentuated the beauty of imperfection. And they were beautiful, at such a large scale it had a marble effect to it rather than a fill-in effect.

“Aren’t you going to stop me from kicking the door in?” Sylvie asked.

“Do it.” Frigg encouraged with a whisper. “Do it!”

Loki looked at Sylvie and shook his head. “You wouldn’t listen to me anyway.” He barely smiled at the remark.

“Do either of you think I shouldn’t?” Sylvie looked between the father and daughter duo.

Loki shook his head again. “I’m not going to stop you, I couldn’t if I tried.”

“Do it.” Frigg encouraged again.

Sylvie cleared her throat and did a few little preparation jumps. She exhales harshly and stepped back from the door. She shook her hands as if that would make them less clammy. Frigg watched Sylvie and frowned. Even though she had been preparing for this for a very long time, she was scared, and nothing was going to help her. It was almost as if she was prepared to fail from the beginning–all that meticulous planning was more of a hobby to pass the time in isolation.

“Everything okay?” Loki asked.

Sylvie nodded and sniffled. “Yeah, I just–I just need a minute.”

Loki nodded understandingly. “Right, right. Of course. You know, I could–.”

“Loki, shut up,” Sylvie said. “I have been planning this for a very long time, for almost my whole life–for your whole life, actually. I never thought I would actually be able to do it. I didn’t think I would be able to make it this far. This is such a big moment for me, and I would appreciate it if you could just back away and give me this.”

“Sure, sure. Of course.” Loki took a step back and crossed his arms. “So, Frigg.” He looked down at her with an expression worth a thousand words. He had much to say, but not a word would come out.

“Loki…” Frigg’s voice trailed. She looked up at him and studied his face. She wanted to know what he had to say but it also terrified her. “Now is a bad time to talk, I think.”

“Right…” Loki clasped his hands together and remained silent.

Sylvie took a deep breath she exhaled slowly and turned her focus towards the door. She took a step toward the door and kicked it in rather easily. They slowly walked through the open door and looked around. The inside of the mansion had the same marble effect as the outside–top to bottom was covered in black and gold. The foyer was rather spacy, multiple openings and little to no furniture was present inside.

“Hey y’all!” Miss Minutes appeared before them with small, trance-state pupils.

“You?” Loki pointed at her.

“You.” Sylvie glared at the hologram and prepared herself to lunge at the clock.

Frigg raised her eyebrows. “Well, I wasn’t expecting her to be involved with the real guy.”

“Welcome to The Citadel at The End of Time.” Miss Minutes smiled at the variants. She spread out her arms and showed off the mansion that they stood in–but now that Miss Minutes pointed it out, it did look more like a citadel.

They slowly walked further into the citadel. Frigg walked behind Loki and Sylvie and watched around her in case something else decided it wanted to jump out at them. Loki looked rather out of place wearing tan and white compared to her and Sylvie who were wearing black and green. Frigg was wearing her black and green Asgardian clothing still while Sylvie was wearing whatever it is that she wears–it looks to be some kind of vest that was supposed to be protective and everything underneath was more casual such as a simple turtleneck and moveable pants. Frigg leaned back as she walked and peered down one of the empty hallways. The air flow was cooler than she expected a place without electricity to have. She looked forward again with an unsettled feeling growing.

Miss Minutes appeared before them again. “Congratulations. Y’all had an awfully long journey to get here. He’s impressed.” She smiled.

“Who’s impressed?” Sylvie asked.

“He Who Remains.” The hologram said.

Frigg narrowed her eyes at the hologram. “What’s his real name?” She asked.

Miss Minutes smiled at Frigg and spoke condescendingly. “He likes to go by He Who Remains, and you will do well to respect that.”

“Who is He Who Remains?” Loki asked.

“He Who Remains is the one behind it all. The Timekeepers were made to take his place inside the TVA while he does all of his work out here. He has been watching your journey and he began making adjustments to the sacred timeline. He wants to meet with you and discuss a deal, he’s going to reinsert you both into the timeline with those adjustments of his so that it doesn’t disrupt things. He’s thrilled to have you here.” Miss Minutes told them.

Loki furrowed his eyebrows. “I beg your pardon, who is both?”

“Oops, I meant all three of you!” Miss Minutes kept smiling.

“What exactly does ‘Don’t disrupt things’ mean?” Sylvie asked.

Miss Minutes walked towards Sylvie and stood in front of her. “All it means is that the TVA can keep cleaning up the sacred timeline while you live in it with the lives that you’ve always wanted to live.”

Frigg raised an eyebrow. “And what have we always wanted?”

Miss Minutes faced Loki first. “Think back to what got you into this mess, Loki. The Battle of New York–you lost to those nasty Avengers and were imprisoned in the sacred timeline. You were brought to the TVA because you attempted to steal the Tesseract again. He Who Remains can give that to you. You could defeat the Avengers and keep the Tesseract and the Mind Stone that’s in your scepter, and you can rule Midgard the way you want to.” She turned to face Sylvie. “And you, you’ve been running your whole life it seems, you sure have missed out on a lot. How would you like to just wake up tomorrow morning with a lifetime of happy memories and a permanent place in the sacred timeline?”

“What about me?” Frigg asked.

Miss Minutes thought for a moment then shrugged. “Looks like He Who Remains is still crafting your perfect life.”

Frigg crossed her arms. “Still crafting my perfect fit in the sacred timeline or never planned to?”

Loki briefly glanced at Frigg. He looked over at Sylvie and stepped towards her and grabbed her hands. “Think about it. You and I together in the sacred timeline.”

“It’s a crazy concept and a lot to take in, I know, but He Who Remains could make it work for you. He could have you two the perfect life together.” Miss Minutes mused. “And you, Frigg, could be a kid.”

Sylvie inhaled disappointedly and pushed Loki to the side. She spoke to him in a hushed voice. “It’s fiction, Loki.” She slipped her hands out of Loki’s. “This He Who Remains doesn’t have a ‘perfect life’ for Frigg, you don’t think that’s a bit odd? You jumped right into us and ignored the fact that if we’re together on the sacred timeline, she’s not with us. I don’t buy that stupid hologram’s lies for a minute and neither should you. And I can’t believe that you would abandon her.”

“I wasn’t–I wasn’t going to abandon her. If he wants to make a deal with us, we can ensure that she comes with us.” Loki said.

“What if the life you want for her isn’t what she wants?” Sylvie hissed.

Frigg pursed her lips and stared at the two Loki variants. “Right here. I can also hear you. Fully capable of talking for myself and making my own decisions.”

Sylvie looked back at Frigg then at Miss Minutes. “We’re not going to make a deal. We write our own stories.”

Miss Minutes smiled at the three of them. “Oh, sure you do.”

Frigg looked around. “You know, why don’t we just go find this He Who Remains person ourselves. Sort of seems like the clock is stalling for him. Give me two minutes and I can find a way up that is not something as obvious as a staircase.”

“He Who Remains.” Loki repeated.

Sylvie shook her head. “He won’t be that much longer.”

“Well, technically he isn’t ‘He Who Remains’ if we’re all here. I think the point of his title is that he is supposed to be the last living thing at the end of time. He didn’t really take a gaggle of Loki variants into account when he created his fake name.” Frigg said.

“Are we sure this guy’s even still alive?” Loki asked.

“Not exactly, we’re basing this all off of a holographic clock and it’s spiel about He Who Remains and you two.” Frigg looked up at Loki.

Across the foyer an elevator door slid open and revealed an average man–or perhaps he was less than average, or even more than if he was “He Who Remains”. He excitedly stepped out of the elevator. He wore a purple-colored robe that just bare flowed when he walked toward the trio. The robe had the look of a satin material. Beneath his robe was an odd choice of clothing for a meeting that was probably important to this strange man. He wore a two-toned baggy shirt, with the top third being a dark color and the bottom two-thirds being a little more on the green-beige side. His pants were fairly baggy and matched the green-beige color of his shirt. He looked comfortable.

“Oh, this is beautiful.” The man smiled at them. “You look like a cute 21^st century sitcom family. It’s wild, the two of you. Look at you, here, together. It’s incredible, and a bit unnatural if you take into account that you’re essentially the same person. Oh! And you, my dear, you made it all this way with them! At your age. If I may say that I’m impressed with all of you, truly, I am. Congratulations to all of you!” The man bit into his apple and chewed on it rather loudly.

“He Who Remains?” Sylvie said.

He obnoxiously bit into the apple again. “She still calls me ‘He Who Remains’? I can’t say I blame her, there really isn’t anyone ese that lives in here except for me. Though, it is kind of creepy; can’t say that I hate it though. Come, come. Let’s go talk in my office. I assume she told you about the offers I have on the table for you all?” He smiled and stood beside the elevator, allowing them to walk in first. He followed swiftly behind them and stood closest to the door so he could lead them once they reached his office.

“If you eat the apple any closer to me, I will harm you.” Frigg said inching herself as close to Loki as possible. It was an understatement to say that she was simply weirded out by this man.

“Sorry, sorry.” He smiled at her and lowered the apple.

“You’re just a very strange man…” Loki’s voice trailed.

“Yes, I am. I’m sure you all were expecting some sort of God or other. Is it not a relief to receive… well, me?” He Who Remains looked over at Loki.

“It just means that you’ll be easier to kill.” Sylvie lunged at He Who Remains but instead rammed into the elevator door. “What–?”

He Who Remains smiled at Sylvie from behind her. “I forgot to mention that I know your every move so ever attempt to harm me is… futile.” He held up what looked like an orange watch.

Sylvie swiftly lunged at He Who Remains again. “You–!”

“Not in the elevator!” Frigg squealed and pushed Loki in front of her.

“Hey–!”

The elevator door slid open again, this time it revealed his office. The same old marble effect was used in his office. Toward the back of the room, stood a desk and two chairs in front and one behind. His desk was rather bare–save for a few small and blurry objects.

“Cute, it’s not every day that she’ll do that, is it?” He Who Remains chuckled lightly and stepped out of the elevator. “Come in, come in. Please, make yourselves at home. Does anyone like tea?”

The three variants looked at each other and slowly follow He Who Remains out of the elevator. Frigg trailed behind the two Loki variants and raised her hand as an answer to his question.

He Who Remains stood against his desk with his arms crossed as he looked at the two Loki variants before him. “Ah, amazing, truly. Forgive me for staring, but it’s just so amazing. Loki and Loki, it’s truly an honor to be in the presence of two Loki’s. We have much to discuss.” He slowly walked around his desk, giddy. “There is just so much to unpack here. You have been on quite the journey, both of you.”

“Three of us.” Frigg spoke up from behind the chair Loki had sat in.

“Don’t call me Loki.” Sylvie hissed.

“You,” he motioned towards Sylvie who was sitting down, “you’ve been running your whole life and for what? This exact moment. And I would like to make that up to you. I would like to answer your questions while you’re here too. And you,” he motioned towards Loki, “you kind of just hopped on the caboose of a train and held on for dear life. It’s been a wild ride for you.”

Sylvie leaned forward. “I don’t think you understand the situation that you’re in. It’s three of us against one of you. You’ve lost because we found you together.”

“Of course, you did.” He Who Remains sat leaned in his chair, he promptly ignored Sylvie’s discomfort and anger and looked up at Frigg. “And you, my dear, you just grabbed their hands and held on as if your life depended on them. Why?” He asked.

“What exactly do you mean?” Frigg asked. She rested her hand on the back of Loki’s chair.

“I just want to know why you stuck around. You were never supposed to make it this far.” He quickly lifted the small orange watch-like device from the elevator and pointed it towards Frigg. “Because this isn’t your story.” He clicked the device and a rectangle portal opened beneath Frigg’s feet, and she fell through.