post-s01e06 back when we thought Loki could've just been at the wrong TVA somehow

Mobius is getting desperate.

He can't count the number of timelines he's been to; the number of Nexus he's followed only to turn back around within seconds because it's not where he wants to be. There are so many Nexus events in times and places where he knows Loki should be, but never is that Loki the one he's looking for.

Mobius opens another Time Portal, knowing damn well that is not going to lead him to his best friend but unable and unwilling to give up.

He finds himself in the Asgardian weapons vault, somewhere he's never been on any timeline but one he's seen more times than he can count. This is where it all goes wrong. This is where Loki finds out what he really is. This is where the truth begins to drive him mad.

It seems that's already begun. Loki's already had his realization; he's already processed his grief in its simplest form, and now he's here for revenge. He's here to find a way to prove himself, and, for him, that starts with stealing the Casket.

But then Loki looks at him, and the pure confusion on his face is enough to stop him, at least for the moment. Mobius closes the Time Door, prepared to open a new one. He has a list of times and dates to visit before he returns to the TVA to try again, and this is just the first stop of many.

The TemPad flies out of his hand and into Loki's, and in the blink of an eye, it vanishes.

Shit.

"Who are you?" Loki demands.

"I'm nobody," Mobius tells him. "Just passing through. Can, uh..." He smiles awkwardly and holds out a hand. "Can I have my TemPad back? Then I'll get out of your way."

Loki narrows his eyes, and Mobius swallows hard. Yeah, he's not getting that TemPad back right away.

Loki eyes him for a moment. "How did you get here?"

"My TemPad," Mobius says. "Which is what you just took from me. So if you could just give it back, I'll leave you to this." He gives him an awkward thumbs up. He just wants to get out of here without making a mess. Why is that so hard?

The TemPad reappears in Loki's hand, and the god studies it carefully. He raises his gaze to meet Mobius's, and his hand clenches, squeezing the TemPad apart in one swift movement.

"No!" Mobius lurches forward like he's going to grab it, like he could possibly save it now, even as Loki dumps the broken pieces on the ground. His heart drops and he stares at it, frozen in place, not sure where to go from here.

Loki stalks up to him, his head held high but his gaze lowered to look at the man, and Mobius forces himself to meet the god's eye. He's never been intimidated by a Loki before. Many have tried, his Loki included, but it's never worked until now.

"You're not of Asgard" Loki says, his voice dangerously low. "What are you?"

"Honestly?" Mobius says. "I'm sad. That's what I am. So thanks for that, Your Highness."

Loki grabs his arms, his fingers digging in hard enough that they'll definitely leave some bruises behind, and shoves him against the wall. His face only inches from the analyst's, he growls, "I suggest you answer my question before I smite you where you stand."

"Okay, okay, let's not smite anybody," Mobius says quickly. "Look, I can't answer your questions. You wouldn't believe me. But I'm not here to hurt you, so you shouldn't hurt me."

Loki lets go of him, but before Mobius can try to move, Loki slams his forearm against his chest, holding him firmly in place. In his free hand, a dagger appears, and he presses is against Mobius's throat. "I will give you one more chance."

Mobius swallows hard. Okay, here goes nothing. "My name is Mobius," he says. "I work — err, I worked for the Time Variance Authority, where I specialized in catching dangerous Vari— god, this is way too much to explain at once." He racks his brain for an even simpler way to explain what he's doing here. "Okay, this is going to sound very weird, but I am friends with another you from a different timeline that no longer exists, and I don't know where he went, and that thing you just broke? That's my only way out of this timeline and into another to look for him."

Loki pushes his arm harder against his chest, and Mobius groans. "Do I look to be in a gaming mood?"

"Nope," Mobius chokes out. "Can you..." He grabs Loki's arm, trying in vain to move it just a little bit. It's getting hard to breathe like this. These shallow breaths aren't going to suffice for long.

Loki pushes back harder. "You truly thought you could waltz into my kingdom and lie to me?"

"I'm not."

"I ought to kill you here where you stand," Loki growls.

"You don't want to do that, Loki," Mobius says quietly, and each word is a struggle to get out. "Don't be the monster you've been told your people are."

Loki freezes, and Mobius can't tell for the life of him whether he's helping or hurting his case right now. He's usually so good at reading Lokis, but he usually has the upper hand when he does. This is a new kind of discomfort.

Mobius reaches for Loki's arm again and tries to push it away. He has a little more success this time; Loki's hold on him loosens, just enough that he can breathe unimpeded.

Mobius decides to push his luck, partially to show Loki that he knows what he's talking about and partially because he's fantasized about doing this for nearly as long as he can remember. If he finally has that chance, he can't bring himself to throw it away.

"And destroying Jotunheim?" Mobius says. "That's not going to win you the respect you're so desperately looking for — the respect you deserve. It's not going to fix your insecurities or make you feel like you belong, no matter how much you try to convince yourself it will."

Loki pulls his arm away and steps back, staring at him with wide eyes. "How do you...?"

"Because I know you," Mobius says. "I had my own Loki, remember? So I know you, and I know what you're about to do, and I am asking you, please, for your sake, do not do it. Don't become the villain just because they won't let you play the hero."

"If you truly know what I am doing, you know that I am playing the hero," Loki says.

"Murdering your brother is not playing the hero, Loki," Mobius says. "Neither is staging an attempted assassination."

"Asgard won't know," Loki says dismissively.

"But you will," Mobius says. "You never wanted to be king. This was just..." He gestures vaguely. "It's a side quest. You wanted to be loved and respected for who you are, and this?" He shakes his head. "This is not who you are, Loki."

"Isn't it?" Loki asks, his overconfidence showing in the smirk on his lips.

"No, it's not," Mobius says. "You're a trickster. You're a genius. You're Asgard's little mischief maker. But you are not a monster. Not yet."

Loki narrows his eyes. "How arrogant must you be to speak to me this way?"

"I'm trying to help you," Mobius insists. "If you really thought you were doing the right thing, you wouldn't be keeping it a secret. You know this is wrong, Loki. And deep down, I think you know it's not going to help."

Loki folds his arms over his chest, an eyebrow raised

"Maybe it works," Mobius says, "and maybe your father finally tells you he's proud of you, but once that high wears off, you're going to be miserable, because, in the end, he won't love you for you. He'll love you for the lie you fed him, and that's never going to be enough."

Loki shakes his head. "You're wrong," he says, but his voice shakes ever so slightly, his confidence wavering.

"You deserve to be loved, Loki," Mobius says. "Loudly and unconditionally, for who you really are. But this is not the way to get that.

Loki's eyes fill with tears, glistening in the dim light of the vault. "This is the only way," he whispers.

"It's not," Mobius insists. "If you go through with this, you're cementing your place in the worst hell you've never known. If you stop? If you take a step back and you fix this instead of digging yourself deeper in this lie? You might lose the throne, but you could still win your family's love. Talk to them. Tell them how you feel. Don't expect them to read your mind. They are far from perfect people, but they love you. They'll listen."

Loki squeezes his eyes shut, and a tear slips down his face. "Do you really think they will?"

"I do," Mobius says. "I promise. They love you. They want you to be happy. You deserve to be happy."

Loki chokes out a sob, and Mobius spreads his arms, a subtle invitation and an offer for comfort that the god takes without hesitation. Loki wraps his arms around him, burying his face in the crook of Mobius's neck. Mobius hugs him back, rubbing his back gently but not saying a word. He'll stay here as long as Loki wants him to — as long as he needs him to.

Loki sniffles. "Thank you," he says quietly.

"Of course."

Loki hugs him a little while longer before he finally lets him go, stepping a foot or two away but no further than that. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Mobius says. He's always dreamed of having the chance to do this; to stop Loki's descent into madness before it began, before he lost everything he could have had.

"I broke your... device." Loki glances at the broken TemPad on the ground.

Mobius sucks in a breath through his teeth. "Yeah, that's..." He nods slowly, eyeing the TemPad with a discouraged frown. "That's gonna be a problem." He looks back up at Loki. "You know what? That's a problem for later. I will find my Loki eventually, but right now, I want to be here for you." He rests a hand on Loki's shoulder, a small smile on his lips. "I'm proud of you, Loki. I really am."