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❛ ᴇᴡᴛʀᴛᴡ. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ᴛʜɪs ᴄᴀᴍᴇᴏ ᴀᴘᴘᴇᴀʀᴀɴᴄᴇ
ᴡᴀs ʙʀᴏᴜɢʜᴛ ᴛᴏ ʏᴏᴜ ʙʏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛᴠᴀ ꒱　


❝ I JUST SENSED THE [ LOKI ]
WITH THE MOST ARROGANCE
& LEAST IMPULSE CONTROL ❞

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Jimin finished dressing in the outfit she'd received for their next mission. While it felt nice— better than nice— to finally be in clean clothes again, she wished that they didn't have to be so formal. She bent to pick up her old clothes, which she'd stripped off in a heap on the floor, and folded them carefully before she set them in a neat pile on the bench so someone could take care of them.

When she left the changing room, neither Loki nor Mobius were there, so she went down the hall to find them. She tried different doors along the way, hoping they'd be behind one. A few seconds of searching later, she opened the door to find Loki behind it, half-dressed from waist down. He held a frilled white dress shirt in his hands, about to put it on, but looked up sharply at her entrance.

Although Jimin had never been an overly sexual person (she'd always fallen for someone's personality first before their appearance) she was not above admitting when she found something about a person attractive. She paused to stare at the god's surprisingly muscled chest— that is, for how lean he was— and took in his well-formed abs appreciatively.

Loki, being who he was, was not in the least bit embarrassed about the situation. In fact, she could've sworn that he lowered the shirt he was holding just so she'd have a better view. He smirked at her rather stunned expression. "See something you like?"

The agent jerked out of her stupor to shoot him an irritated glare. "I wouldn't be staring if I didn't like it."

Her short response only made him give her a shit-eating grin. "Perhaps I should attend this event shirtless so as to not obscure your view— or would that be too much of a distraction for you?"

She scoffed in reply. "You wish. I don't get distracted that easily. Besides, we're supposed to be blending in, not drawing attention. You can't just strut around like some attention-seeking celebrity— that's who we're going after."

Loki chuckled, a low, melodic sound that echoed in the room. "Oh, don't pretend you're not enjoying the show," he said, a twinkle of amusement in his eyes. "After all, who could resist such a magnificent spectacle?" He gestured dramatically to himself, as if presenting a masterpiece.

"Just put the shirt on, we're wasting time," the brunette huffed, stalking past him to grab the bowtie from where it was waiting on the bench.

He did as she said, though clearly at a much slower pace than one would normally do the action— as if he really were putting on a show for her. Rolling her eyes at his theatrics, Jimin reached forward to yank the shirt into place, practically ripping the material from his hands. The scowl on her face warned him not to tease her further, though he couldn't help but add, "if we're trying to blend in, then shouldn't you be wearing a dress? Isn't that more common for these Midgardian celebrations?"

Her fingers continued to button his shirt as she looked up at him through her bangs, which had fallen into her eyes. "You try fighting in a dress and see where that gets you. I'll take the suit any day, thank you very much."

She finished with the buttons, going all the way up to the one at the very top. Loki reached up to tug at the neckline. "Are you trying to choke me? If you are, I could teach you to do it better; I certainly wouldn't recommend using the shirt collar."

The Asian woman didn't reply for a moment as she slid the bowtie around his neck to fasten it in place, balancing on her toes to do so. She smoothed down the collar of his shirt, which had been lifted up while she put it on and stepped back. He looked undoubtedly handsome in the formal suit and despite all the ways he annoyed her to bits, she did still care about him (however reluctant she was to admit it), so maybe that was why her reply bordered on flirty rather than brusque: "oh, you'd know if I was trying to choke you. I prefer to do it with my hands, after all."

She sent him a smirk before she turned and left the room. Loki stared after her, his own smirk curling on his lips, amused by her unexpected response. Out of habit, one of his hands lifted to pop the collar of his shirt up in defiance to her actions. But, after grabbing the jacket that completed the outfit, he only made it to the threshold of the door before he smoothed the collar down, back to how Jimin had adjusted it.

"Now we look smart," the woman's words from what felt like a lifetime ago echoed in his mind as he did so, causing his features to soften into a smile.

✧✧✧

Jimin had travelled quite a bit for her S.H.I.E.L.D. job throughout the years, often teaming up with agents from other countries to get the mission accomplished. However, London— especially in 1977— had never actually been on that list. From what she'd heard about it, England was supposed to be rainy, dreary and cold. It wasn't currently any of those things when they stepped out of the time portal, though the pavement glittered wetly from a recent storm.

No one seemed to notice their appearance in a narrow alleyway, which was between a newsstand and the theater where their target was supposed to be. Round, fluorescent lighting fixtures hung from the overhand and illuminated the wall before them, which was decorated with movie posters. The trio paused to take in the scene in front of them but when no one said anything, Mobius prompted, "thoughts?"

"Sylvie's not here," Loki said certainly.

"We just got here," the other man replied.

The Asian woman shook her head. "Think about it: we've tracked Sylvie down to the end of multiple apocalypses; this place is just too. . . normal for her. Pigs would fly before she would be caught dead at a movie premier."

"Why would pigs have to fly?" the god asked, giving the brunette a puzzled look. "I don't think she could ride one."

"Midgardian saying," she explained briefly.

Mobius remained undeterred as he refuted their assumption. "Maybe she's changing tack. We got a hit on a TemPad that belonged to Hunter X-5 before it went dark."

They began to walk briskly towards the doors, where they would have to enter to find the agent they were looking for. "If the TemPad went dark then she found him first," Loki pointed out. "No question."

"I don't disagree," he said reassuringly. "But you said you want to find Sylvie, right? With Dox and X-5 not responding, this is our only lead."

"There's more than one way to skin a cat," Jimin allowed. "That's another Midgardian saying," she clarified for the Asgardian before she continued, "with all the new branches we won't be able to find her on our own."

They reached a crowd of fans who were waiting outside of the theater entrance. Metal restraining bars kept them from swarming the opening and there were random bursts of light as dozens of cameras went off at varying intervals. The murmur of the throng people grew louder as the actor— the man they were after, Hunter X-5— arrived on the scene. They cheered at his appearance and he waved at them as he got out of the car, soaking up the applause.

Inside the event was just as noisy as other celebrities talked amongst themselves and to the reporters. But, it made it easier for the trio to infiltrate the event as there was very little security (Jimin was not impressed. Sure, a movie premier didn't need S.H.I.E.L.D.-level safety, but surely it had to have something with so many famous people in attendance.)

"X-5 is an actor now?" Loki wondered as they slipped through the partygoers.

"Or he's undercover," Mobius suggested.

"I know undercover," Jimin countered. "This is too elaborate with no agency behind him."

When they caught up to X-5, the gray-haired man raised his voice above the crowd to ask, "will there be a Zaniac 2? You know, a sequel for the fans?"

This caught the agent's attention and he turned to smile at them brightly. "Mobius! Whoa!"

"Nice to see you haven't forgotten about the little people."

Hunter X-5 made sure to catch the notice of everyone nearby as he gestured to Mobius. "I used to work with this guy."

"You look great."

"Oh, thank you very much. You look pretty good. We're gonna need to catch up. Afterwards, all right?" The brunet patted him genially on the shoulder as he tried to walk off.

He startled as he ran right into Loki and Jimin, who were waiting nearby. Mobius was quick to correct him, "well, let's catch up now, maybe." In a quieter tone, he asked, "what are you doing down here?"

X-5 greeted the pair with a nervous 'hi,' prompting Loki to wonder in mock concern, "everything alright?"

His anxious demeanor didn't diminish as he placed a hand on either man's arm. Jimin made sure to stay on the opposite side of their little quartet, not keen on being touched by a stranger, however amiably. "Everything's great. I'm actually really glad to see you guys. I need to catch you guys up on what's going on here."

"Sure."

"But I think first we could all use a drink? What are you drinking?"

The gray-haired man shrugged. "Surprise me."

"Okay, how about you two?" X-5 questioned the remaining members of the group.

"Oh, I'm fine," the god replied.

"I don't drink on the job," the brunette answered, shooting Loki a pointed look. "Unlike some people."

He gave her an exasperated look in return. "That was one time!"

"You started singing and you made ridiculous metaphors. I've had enough of drunk gods for a lifetime."

Loki rolled his eyes. "It was a harmless bit of fun. Lighten up, Jimin."

She leaned towards him, crossing her arms against her chest. "We almost died on that planet because you got us kicked off the train."

"Guys," Mobius cut in, more incensed than his usual patient interruption of their arguments. He gestured to the empty spot before them. "The drinks don't matter. He's running."

"Shit," the Asian woman cursed.

✧✧✧

They burst out of the back entrance onto the darkened street just as Hunter B-15 caught him mid-escape. She ripped his TemPad out of his hands before he took off again with the trio in pursuit. Mobius dashed after him, calling, "Brad. Brad. Hold it! Stop! Come here."

Of course, the man didn't listen and continued to run. Jimin got her hands on his arm as they reached another alley, slowing him down so the gray-haired man could get his own hold on the Hunter. X-5 tried to throw them off, but he only managed to slam Mobius into the wall before the Asian woman pinned his arms behind his back, tight enough for him to grimace in discomfort. Frustrated, he burst out: "come on! You're gonna ruin my life here."

"Your life here?"

Being larger than Jimin (who had also spent the last several days— surely it had to be weeks now?— on the run with little food and sleep), he was able to jerk free from her hold. As he ripped himself from her grasp, the motion was so violent that it knocked her to the ground, her body slamming hard into the concrete. Winded, she lay there for a second to recover.

Unfortunately for 'Brad' (as that was what he was calling himself in this timeline), Loki had rounded the corner just in time to see him send the brunette to the ground. The god's eyes narrowed with dislike and he wasted no time in producing a flash of brilliant green magic that sent X-5 flying mercilessly down the stairs. His voice was cold as he demanded, "you still glad we're here?"

The brunet didn't answer as he struggled to stand, giving the dark-haired man a second to turn to the woman, who was just getting back on her feet His tone took a one-eighty as he asked (with genuine worry), "you alright?"

"I'll be fine," Jimin replied briskly, brushing off her hands. She gestured to where the man who had resumed his flight. "But he's getting away."

The agent knew that she wouldn't be able to catch up to the pair, so she guessed where they might be heading and took a different route, just in case X-5 had any tricks up his sleeve. (Perhaps she'd been spending a bit too much time with Loki recently.) 

✧✧✧

When Hunter X-5 reappeared in a deserted street, he looked around warily for any signs of the others who were working with Loki. Unfortunately (for him), he did not see the shadow of a slender, well-built woman blending into the darkness thanks to a nearby wall until it was too late.

Jimin sprang into action moments after he appeared, leaping from the gloom to aim a well-placed kick at his side. The impact resonated through his body and Hunter X-5 staggered, caught off guard by the sudden assault. Jimin, however, was relentless. Before he could fully recover, she unleashed a flurry of precise strikes, each movement calculated and executed with the precision of a seasoned fighter. She bared her teeth in a feral smile as she caught him by the shoulder to punch him in the stomach. "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice. . ."

Winded, the Hunter only let out a gasp in response as he made an effort to block her attack. Their fight carried them down the alley where, eventually, they began to hear the murmur of a crowd of people. Jimin felt a shiver run down her spine as they neared the group, the tingle causing the hairs on her arms to stand up. There was a sharp smell to the air, different than what usually came with the night, and the answer came to her as she ducked X-5's punch— magic. More specifically, Loki's magic.

The onlookers jeered at the male agent as they backed towards the group. Their voices became more distinct as they shouted things like: "look at him! Brought to his knees by a woman!"

"Where is the fancy lad going off to, then?"

"Is that the best you can do, weakling?"

The brunet finally managed to get his fist to connect, landing a hit on the Asian woman's shoulder. He panted as she stumbled back and he tried to reason with her. "Let's just hold on a second. All right? Relax."

He took the pause in their fight to pick up a piece of pipe on the street and he swung it towards her, willing to clock her in the head so he could get away. Jimin lifted her hands up to prevent as much damage as possible and braced herself for the hit— only, it never came. There was a shimmer of green magic and Loki appeared between them, catching the pipe in one hand as the Hunter swung it down. He gave the man a disapproving look. "So unsophisticated, X-5."

"Of course," he groaned at the sight of the god. He released his hold on the pipe and Loki tossed it to the side.

"You're doing your own stunts now?"

Jimin shook out her hands as the brunet struggled to take the TemPad he still had out of his jacket pocket. Before she could try and get it away from him to prevent him from using it, Loki waved a hand and it jerked out of his grasp. The actor stepped away with a scoff. "Real cute, real cute. You quit with the magic and fight fair."

He bumped into the Asian woman, who was still behind him and whirled around to face her. Her arms were folded across her chest and she gave him a scathing look. "You were about to knock me unconscious while I was weaponless. I don't think you should be the first to talk about fighting fair."

The Hunter tried to get away again, only to run into Loki at a different angle. The god's disapproving expression remained on his face. "I have to agree with my friend. It did look an awful lot like you were tipping the fight in your favor."

He scrambling backwards only to run into yet another Loki. This one walked towards him calmly with his hands in his pockets. As more copies of Loki appeared, Brad stumbled to get away from them, which ultimately caused him to back into a wall. He struggled to free himself as two shadows of a person wearing a horned helmet on their head appeared on either side of him. Loki's eyes flashed green as his shadows caught hold of either of the Hunter's arms to keep him in place.

"I didn't do anything wrong!" he protested.

Mobius announced his presence by asking, "yeah, but why'd you run?" He turned to the Loki on his left. "A little over the top, don't you think, all the shadow play?"

Jimin, on the other hand, looked at the Loki on her right. "You weren't almost made unconscious, Mobius. I think it was—"

"Spot on?" The Lokis around them disappeared, leaving only the one that Jimin was watching to reply. He glanced at her, a little impressed in spite of himself. "How'd you know which one was real?"

Jimin smirked and replied, "oh, it was easy. I just sensed the one with the most arrogance and the least impulse control. Turns out, Loki, even in multiplicity, you can't resist competing against yourself."

✧✧✧

Another change of clothes later— back into the T.V.A. uniform— the trio was waiting for Brad to join them, now dressed in a prisoner outfit. Loki's lips quirked at the man's new clothes and he tugged on the collar of his own jacket mockingly. "Suits you."

"You must love this," X-5 grumbled in return.

"It's tighter than you think it's gonna be, isn't it?" the god continued smugly.

Brad glared at him. "Yeah. I'll get you a looser one next time."

Tired of their snide remarks, B-15 held out the retrieved TemPad. "What is this?"

"That's a TemPad."

"What did you do?"

Unphased by her terseness, the Hunter merely answered sarcastically, "I put colorful buttons on it for you."

Equally resolved, the dark-skinned woman persisted, "you will tell us if you found Sylvie when you've had time in holding."

"Right. 'Cause I'm a criminal, right?" he asked, trying to jerk his arm free only for it to be held down by the Minuteman on his other side.

Mobius waved a hand towards the room. "Okay, come on, get in there."

"I see X-5 didn't go quietly," the Minuteman commented.

B-15 shook her head. "Quietly is not his strong suit. But he will talk once he's had time to marinate."

"He'll talk," Jimin agreed confidently. "I've seen men made of sterner stuff than him break. You just have to know the right method to use."

Loki gave her a curious glance at that, having grown used to her aversion of hurting people unnecessarily. But here, it sounded almost as if she. . . approved of. . . alternate approaches. Filing that information away for later, he pointed to the TemPad. "What about this?"

"Have O.B. check it out," B-15 recommended, handing it over to them.

✧✧✧

They returned to the room that served as the T.V.A.'s basement. It was just as messy as ever— maybe even more so now that O.B. was focused on only one task. The man in question was nowhere to be seen, so Mobius called out, "O.B.? Hello?"

"Ouroboros?" Loki added.

There was no verbal reply, but the sound of small parts clattering on the floor caught the trio's attention. They stepped towards the desk and looked down to see the Asian man sitting on the ground, cross-legged with a myriad of gadgets and wires surrounding him. He was muttering to himself as he worked. "Oh, man, I'm good. Okay, I've gotta weave these two wires together, and. . . I've gotta make this neat and tight, so it holds fast."

"O.B.?"

The man looked up and smiled at them. "Oh! Hey, guys."

"Uh. . . How are things going?"

"Well, the Loom is in rough shape. But I'm trying to figure out a retrofit device to handle all those new branches," he replied.

"He's got it covered," Mobius murmured to them before he addressed his coworker once more. "O.B., could I get you to take a look at this TemPad?"

He jumped up from the floor to take the device from him. "Let me see." After taking a second to analyze it, he decided, "ah. Interesting. Yeah, I can definitely get into it. Do you think this is a higher priority than preventing a Temporal meltdown?"

Ouroboros seemed startled when he received three very firm variations of 'no, definitely not.' He nodded in acceptance. "Seems prudent. Okay." He reached underneath the desk to pull out another orange book. "Everything you need to know about this, I wrote about it in here."

Jimin reached forward to take it from him, shooting the god a smug look. "Now it is the time to read the rules."

He waved an airy hand in response. "Yes, yes. Do enjoy the riveting literature while I handle the more pressing matters of the universe."

Mobius patted Loki on the arm. "I hate to break it to you, but we all have to be a part of this little book club. This is a group project and participation is required."

✧✧✧

"I'll screw this back in, right?" Loki asked. They were now sitting at Mobius' desk with the TemPad open— or, at least, partially open— before them. Jimin had the guidebook open in front of her as she scanned the pages.

"That's what it said on page seven," she confirmed.

The gray-haired man reached over to leaf through the pages until he found the one he was looking for. "No. Section forty-two should match with the system manager."

"Section forty-two is on page seven," Jimin corrected him, showing him the diagram. "See?" Then, she frowned. "Unless you meant a different section forty-two. Forty-two f, perhaps?"

"Forget the alphabet," the god said. "Just tell me if it's the one with the red light 'cause we've tried that already."

"Well, try it again," the T.V.A. agent countered. "You didn't have that pressed back, did you?"

Loki let out a frustrated breath. "It's too complicated."

"I thought you were supposed to be smart," the Asian woman retorted. "What happened to that?"

He glared at her. "I am smart. We just don't have primitive technology like this on Asgard. I thought you liked reading the rules. What happened to that?"

Mobius released a long-suffering sigh and sat back in his chair, pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers. "Guys, please don't start. This gibberish is giving me enough of a headache as it is."

"Fine," Jimin huffed, taking the book from him. "I'll be the mature one here. Look— you just had it upside down."

The gray-haired man groaned in defeat. "I just can't focus."

"Mobius," Loki began firmly. "Here's what'll help focus. If we don't work this out, this place is gonna be destroyed. Temporal meltdown or not."

They were then joined by Casey and B-15, who prompted the former, "Casey, tell them what you just told me."

"Miss Minutes is helping Renslayer," he announced without hesitation.

"That explains the radio silence."

"Hang on," the god started, holding out a hand. He closed his eyes for a moment to figure out how to best explain what he was about to say, then continued: "um, when we were in the past, we heard something. An old conversation between Renslayer and He Who Remains. It sounded like they were partners."

"She really is. . . Full of surprises," B-15 remarked.

"You can say that again," Mobius agreed. "Where are they, Renslayer, Miss Minutes?"

Casey shrugged. "Not sure, but I'll keep searching. If there's a hit on the TemPad, I'll let you know. But it'll take some time, so. . ." He trailed off to watch Loki fight with the device they were trying to break into.

The Hunter also noticed his actions and asked, "how are things going here?"

"Not great," Jimin admitted. "Someone wasn't as smart as he let on."

Loki glared at her in response before he offered a different answer, "it's all right. We'll get there. I just wish someone would read the instructions more clearly."

Although her reaction to his words wasn't as 'mature' as she'd claimed to be, Jimin didn't regret sticking out her tongue in his direction. Mobius sighed again and gestured to them. "I'm sure it would be going much faster if I wasn't trying to work with children."

"What is that?" Casey interrupted them, pointing to the device.

"It's just a rigged TemPad."

"What does it do?"

The god continued to fiddle with the technology as he explained, "that's what we're trying to work out. X-5 says it somehow blocks T.V.A. tracking."

"That's not what it does," the analyst told him. He reached forward to pick it up. "Yeah. Haven't you read the TVA Guidebook?"

"I mean, I haven't memorized it, but. . ." Mobius said.

"Uh-huh," Casey allowed, clearly not believing him. "It'll take me a while to analyze the modifications, but this definitely doesn't block any trackers, that's for sure."

"That's where we'll start with X-5," B-15 suggested.

Loki set the screwdriver that he was holding down harshly and moved to stand up. "Let's take a run at Brad Wolfe."

A/n: while writing this season I kind of came up with a theory about the Hunter naming system (the only flaw is that this doesn't necessarily apply to people like Mobius or Casey who have 'real' names.) Idk if MCU ever explained it, but my thought is that, because they're all variants, the alphabet part of their name (the 'B' or 'X') is the first initial of their real name from their timeline. Then the number part ('15' or '5') is the branch number they were found on. So B-15 would have a first name starting with B and she's the 15th variant they've found of her. Maybe the others were pruned or something which is why we don't see them (or they're working elsewhere in the TVA.) Idk it just seemed like pretty solid reasoning to me :)