(y/n) - your name

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"They lied to me..."

Loki and I sat in the projection room, contemplating what we had both just seen.

Loki was the man I married, he was the one I fell in love with.

He was the one I had a child with...

The old reel showed my full life, the fact that I had powers, the fact that I was able to jump between "movies" as my past self explained and the fact that I came from an alternate world.

The fact that I died in my world before and I came here to the MCU. I was happy. I was so happy and the TVA took that from me.

Loki wasn't convinced about my life film, calling it a bluff since when we watched his full reel, it showed his life completely differently. It showed his life till the end where he died by Thanos' hands and I had to explain to him that this was the sequence of events that followed the movie script from my universe once I understood the gist of that concept.

He still didn't believe me until his reel ended abruptly and started a new one. One where I was actually in his life. The real one where it matched with my real life film.

Loki watched the new life I had given him, us falling utterly in love, getting married and me saving him over and over. I couldn't watch the part where I died in his arms and the avengers had my funeral so he skipped it for me and I knew he couldn't watch it as well.

We both watched the ending where he cared for our baby girl and Loki realised that he had finally reached his happy ending.

"They lied to us both..." Loki mutters out and I played with the ring his past self gave me. Loki looked at it and I took the chain off to give it to him. "This was mother's wedding ring... did I-did future me give you this?"

"As a wedding ring... yes..." Loki holds the ring to his heart and I look away in guilt. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I couldn't protect your mother. I failed her. I'm a monster..." I sigh out and look down at the etchings on my arm, remembering all those scenes of me destroying things in sight, turning into a demon that easily took peoples life away.

I finally understood what they were.

The remnants of the life and death stones that shattered.

"You are not a monster. My mother loved you." Loki gives me back the ring and I look at him in confusion. "She would've wanted you to have it." I look down at the ring in my hand, an uncomfortable silence filtering between us.

"What do we do now?"

"I... I need some time to process this." I nod and Loki gets up to walk away when the door opens to reveal Mobius.

Loki and I swore to each other that we would feign innocence and not reveal what we saw to anyone. To pretend and play dumb. Mobius will only think that Loki saw his life film till the part where he died and I would pretend I didn't find my real one.

"Where were you both?" Mobius asked.

"Showed him where the bathrooms were and we came back here. Why?" We made sure to put back my reel and came back to the projection room to make it look like we didn't try to escape. Mobius shakes his head, taking my word for it and Loki looks at me in surprise at how easily I lied.

"I can't go back, can I? Back to my timeline." Mobius shakes his head and Loki sits back down on the ledge next to me. "I don't enjoy hurting people. I..." he sighs. "I don't enjoy it. I do it because I have to, because I've had to."

"Okay, explain that to me."

"Because it's part of the illusion. It's the cruel, elaborate trick conjured by the weak to inspire fear."

"A desperate play for control. You do know yourself." I signal Mobius to put his weapon away and he turns it off, setting it on the table.

"A villain."

"You're not a villain. You never were, not to me anyway..." I mumble quietly only for Loki to hear and he looks at me softly.

"Listen, I can't offer you salvation, but maybe I can offer you something better." Mobius starts.

"A fugitive variant's been killing our Minutemen." I speak up and Loki raises a brow.

"And you need the God of Mischief to help you stop him?"

"Could be a her but yes." I nod.

I didn't actually watch the Loki series back home yet so I have no clue who the killer could be.

This puts me at a disadvantage here...

"Why me?"

"The Variant we're hunting is you. A Loki variant." I answer him and Loki just blinks at me in shock, making me chuckle at his funny expression.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Where are we going?" Loki followed close behind me as I lead him down the hallways, going towards the inbuilding apartment rooms in the agency. I get in an elevator and press the button for the highest level.

"So what's your angle here?" I ask Loki as he stands on the other side of me in the small moving box.

"What?" He looks at me in confusion and I sigh out.

"You can't possibly think that I believe you are just going to be happy working for the TVA right? There has to be some part of you desperately wanting to get out of here."

"Is that how you feel?" I was stunned and I bite down on my tongue, not knowing what to say. The doors open and I walk out of the elevator until I stop at a certain door.

"This is your room." I step back and let Loki open the door, walking in as I stood by the doorway. It was a typical looking room with a bed, a drawer, a walk-in wardrobe, a TV and a desk that had a few books and a computer. Loki went straight for the remote next to the blinds and he switches it, stepping back in surprise as a whole glass wall opens up to reveal the TVA view just beyond it.

"Not the most luxurious room for a prince but I will accept it with grace." I snort lightly and Loki looks at me as I point to the two doors.

"That one is the bathroom and this one," I point to the door on my right. "Leads to my room. I live next to you in case you need anything and I can help you."

"Hmm, I can think of many benefits to that." I glare at Loki as he smirks at me.

"Get some rest pervert. You start training tomorrow." As I was about to leave, Loki called out for me.

"How do you feel about working here?" He asks and I turn around to see him sit on his bed. "Are you happy?" I open my mouth to answer but I couldn't.

"I...no. I'm not happy."

"And you want to leave?"

"Have you seen what my previous life was like!? Of course I want to leave! I want to be able to go to the beach, to go shopping, to go to festivals and concerts! I want to be able to see the night sky instead of a beige ceiling roof!" I sigh out as I run my hands down my face.

"I thought you liked working here."

"I was ignorant, a mindless drone before I knew I was lied to. Loki, I just want to live a life. Like the one I used to have." I mumble sadly and I notice a frown on his face. "Just... never mind. Sleep early, you have to wake up really early unless you're one of those early bird people." I shudder at the thought, walking away. "Night Loki." I call out as I shut his bedroom door, going into mine.

"Long day sweets?" Miss minute pops up and I jump slightly in fright.

"You need to stop doing that."

"You know I can't help it deary. Now what ails you?"

"Life." I shrug, grabbing my nightgown to change into after a hot shower.

"Well life is a never-ending conundrum but I think I have an idea of what may ease you. How does some hot chocolate and late-night TVA watching sound?" I don't answer Miss Minutes, shutting my bedroom door on her as I strip to take a shower. She waits for me outside once I was done, a big smile on her face as I notice a cup of hot chocolate on the coffee table in front of my swivel armchair with the curtains revealing the glass wall.

"You really know how to cheer me up. Thank you." Miss minutes beams happily as she flies around me, handing me my hot chocolate as I settle into the chair. I lean against the arm, my feet pulled up next to me as Miss Minutes pulls a blanket over me. She disappears and lets me watch over the view that is the TVA, vast and also never-ending.