Freya hated her job.

And the fact that her job was literally her life, that she was created to do this, made her depressed quite honestly. So, to numb her thoughts, she decorated her desk with souvenirs from her travels: pens, toys, magnets, shot glasses, anything she could find. Mobius had added to her collection, and her most used item was a pink reusable coffee cup, which currently had an iced coffee swirling around in it.

But even her 'trinkets' could not save her from having Loki sat at the desk opposite her. Truthfully, it wasn't even Loki who was annoying her, it was Miss Minutes and her training videos.

"Okay, y'all, let's review what we've learned. What happens when a Nexus event branches past red line?" Freya peers through the glass divider and sees Loki with his feet up, flicking through one of Mobius' magazines.

"Very bad things."

"Come on, Loki. What is it?"

He sighs and looks up "It's when the TVA can no longer reset a nexus event. Okay? Boring," Freya smirks slightly and picks up her coffee, chewing at her straw. Shockingly, her and Loki hadn't got into many arguments, only one.

"If I sign this, it means that you start your training," Freya is leaning on her desk, Loki hovering over her, dressed in standard TVA uniform "But that means I become your 'mentor', so no messing around," she warns, pointing at him with a golden pen.

"I would never mess around!" He defends, putting his hands up in mock surrender

"Hm," she sighs and signs the wad of paperwork, she passes it to him "Your turn,"

"You've spelt your name wrong," he mutters

"No I haven't," she scrunches up her face in confusion "I know how to spell my own name,"

"No, look," Loki puts down the file and turns around manically, searching for something to write on, he finds a stack of post it notes and writes down 'Freyja'.

"Oh! That's how people traditionally spell the Goddess' name," he still looks confused "Loki, do I look like a Norse goddess?" she teases slightly and he analyses her face

"A little bit, Freyja had redder hair though, and was nicer," he grumbles

"I'm sure she was," Freya pats him on the back "Now sign,"

"I don't want to," he pouts "Your name is spelt wrong,"

"Loki, you can spell things differently!" she exclaims "Sign,"

"But-"

"It's my name!"

"No! Spell it the proper way!"

"What?!"

The argument had ended with Mobius appearing and leading Freya away, practically kicking and screaming.

"Right. And that would lead to the destruction of the timeline and the collapse of reality as we know it!" Miss Minutes exclaims

"Can you hear me?" he asks curiously "Are you a recording? Or are you alive?"

"Uh, sorta both," Miss Minutes shrugs, well as much as she can, Freya watches Loki look around for Mobius before rolling up the magazine and going to hit the orange clock.

"Ah! Watch it!" she jumps away and Loki grins " Where's your manners? Oh! Hey! Quit it! That is not nice!" She hops around the desk and into a computer "Jerk,"

"You can't hide..." he trails off as Mobius enters, taping him gently on the shoulder

"Training goin' well?"

"Yeah!" Loki says quickly, looking up at the man innocently.

"Is that my jet ski magazine?" Mobius points "Put it down," he then throws him a jacket in plastic wrap "Gear up. There's been an attack," he then stands by Freya "You too, let's go,"

Freya groans and slowly stands, watching Loki put on his new jacket, sees him pop the collar.

"Good, smart," Mobius compliments

"Cute," Freya winks, walking away, smiling at the large orange lettering that read 'Variant'.

Inside a briefing hall, B-15 explains the situation "C-20 and her team went dark shortly after they jumped into the 1985 branch. All signs point to another ambush. We've grabbed enough temporal aura to know it's our Loki Variant. But which kind of Loki, remains unknown.

"They're the lesser kind, to be clear." Loki interjects, B-15 sighs

"Let me see the back of that jacket," Loki turns in confusion, but manages to see the letters as the minutemen laugh.

"Very subtle. Well done,"

"I don't want anybody out there to forget what you are."

"Oh, your only hope of capturing a murderer?"

"No. A cosmic mistake-"

"Don't be cruel," Freya rolls her eyes

"What, you're standing up for the mistake now? Really predictable-"

"That's enough," Mobius sighs "Here's the deal. When we get out on the branch, we're not just looking for a Time Criminal. We're looking for a Loki. A variation of this guy," he points to the 'cosmic mistake "A type we should all be very familiar with, because the TVA has pruned a lotta these guys, almost more than any other Variant," Mobius projects several Variants into the centre of the room, Freya watches Loki's facial expressions as the variants change "And no two are alike. Slight differences in appearances, or not so slight. Different powers, although, powers, generally include shape-shifting, illusion-projection, and my favourite-"

"Duplication-casting!"

Mobius looks up from his Timepad, mildly irritated "Illusion-projection,"

"No, they're two completely different powers actually."

"How?"

"Illusion-projection involves depicting a detailed image from outside oneself, which is perceptible in the external world, whereas duplication-casting entails recreating an exact facsimile of one's own body in its present circumstance, which acts as a true holographic mirror of its molecular structure," As Freya smirks, Loki cheekily adds "But uh, you already knew that."

"Okay, take a breath," Mobius gestures "Noted," Freya laughs slightly under her breath "We're gonna break into two teams, including myself, Freya and Professor Loki,"

"Why?" A minuteman asks angrily

"Because whoever this Variant is, we haven't been able to find him. So let's bring in an expert."

"That's me," Loki grins and the group disbands, Loki walking in between Mobius and Freya "Do I get a weapon?"

"Nah."

"Well, I'll have my magic back. Is no one concerned about that?"

"Of what?"

"Me betraying you."

"Nah," Freya repeated Mobius' earlier words

"Why not?"

"You know that we can catch you. And how's betraying us gonna get you any closer to the Time-Keepers?"

"An audience with the Time-Keepers is on the table?"

"Keep that focus,".

On the time branch, the trio leads the Minutemen around the site

"Let me ask you this, why don't we just travel back to before the attack, when the Variant first arrives?" Loki speaks

"Nexus events destabilize the time flow. This branch is still changing and growing, so you gotta show up in real time. Did you watch any of the training videos you were supposed to?"

"Trust me he did," Freya mutters, remembering Miss Minutes' constant enthusiasm

"Well, as many as I could stand, your TVA propaganda is exhausting," No one notices Freya's nod of agreement.

"And what do these do?" A minuteman holds up a gold container

"Reset charges prune the affected radius of a branched timeline, allowing time to heal all its wounds. Which sounds like a nice way of saying disintegrate everything in its vicinity,"

"He's on it," Mobius grins

"I watched the videos! I mean, some of them..." Loki and Freya duck under the circus tent door which Mobius is holding open

"So he's taking hostages now?" B-15 asks, looking around the tent

"The Variant's never taken a hostage before,"

"Maybe he's upping his game,"

"Or he pruned her," A minuteman adds

"A Loki couldn't have gotten the jump on C-20."

"I think you underestimate, actually -"

"Fan out and search for her!"

Freya jokingly pats Loki on the back "Next time,"

"And hurry up, we're at three units until red line. Minuteman:

"Come on," Mobius goes to leave

"Wait...If you leave this tent, you'll end up like them," Loki says darkly, looking at the dead bodies

"Great! I'll go first!" Freya goes to leave, but Mobius grabs her forearm, she looks back at him "Oh come on, you're believing this?" she whispers,

"Give him a chance," Freya wants to object, but Mobius eyes are pleading, and his grip on her arm is soft.

"One chance," Mobius smiles at her and lets go, he leads her closer to Loki.

"What do you see?"

"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,"

"We're running out of time, Mobius," B-15 warns

"Hold it,"

"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,"

"Two units. He's wasting our time,"

"Okay. Come on, Loki, make a long story short,"

"We need to look for C-20!"

"That's exactly what the Variant wants you to do. It's a trap. They're waiting for you outside this tent,"

"Should I secure the reset charges?"

"No. He wants me. I'm the key to his plan. He knows that I'm stronger,"

"Almost one unit."

"And he rightly believes that together we can overthrow and rule the TVA. But that's not what I want. I have a new purpose. I'm a servant of the Sacred Timeline. And knowing what I now know about his tactics, I can deliver you the Variant, but I need assurances."

"Yeah?" Freya asks, pretending to be interested, Loki comes in between Mobius and her, whispering in both of their ears.

"Assurances that I won't be completely disintegrated the moment the job has been done. We'll need to speak to the Time-Keepers at once. They're in graver danger than we realized,"

B-15's TemPad beeps.

"He's lying. Just playing games. There's no one out there," Mobius looks away

"Reset the timeline," Freya instructs, walking away angrily

"You had me for a second. My ears are sharp too,".

Freya had to take a moment once they'd returned from the mission. Although she knew Loki was lying from the start, It made her angry that he thought he could manipulate them so easily, that he risked the mission. He wasn't to be trusted, and she knew that, yet still, Mobius had to place her at her desk with a bar of chocolate and a new coffee.

After calming down slightly, Freya walks down to the canteen where she finds Mobius sitting with a salad "Hey you," he greets "Feeling better now?"

"No," she falls down onto the chair next to him, their knees brushing "I don't know why I'm annoyed," she admits "I knew he was lying but he just-" she trails off "Ugh! He frustrates me!"

"Most people frustrate you Sunny," Freya glares at the nickname "Come on, lets get you some lunch," he taps her leg

"Not hungry," she grumbles, putting her elbows on the white plastic table, Mobius shrugs and continues eating, she watches him for a moment "How are you so relaxed, all the time?" this takes him off guard for a moment.

"I just take things how they come, I'm Chill," he gestures around the room "You're...not,"

"Maybe that's why we get on so well huh?" she smiles and he looks up at her slightly hopeful "Opposites attract and all that,"

As Mobius goes to reply, the two are interpreted by a loud, obnoxious, familiar voice.

"I found something!" Loki comes rushing in, a grin on his face.

"No, I said, 'Don't bother me until you've read all the files.'," Mobius grumbles, putting a forkful of salad on his mouth

" I have," he waves "Hi Freya,"

She ignores him.

"Every file?"

"Yes."

"Pertaining to the Variant?"

"The answer isn't in the files, it's on the timeline!" Loki sits opposite the agents, a file in his hands

"They're hiding in apocalypses,"

"Which apocalypse? Any time in history? There's, like, a million of 'em," Mobius shrugs

"Ragnarok. Are you familiar?" he holds up the file

"Yes. The destruction of Asgard and most of its people... I'm sorry."

"Yes, very sad," Freya can see the emotion in Loki's eyes, despite his nonchalance "Anyway, it got me thinking..." he looks for approval

"Go on," Freya sighs

"Nexus events happen when someone does something they're not supposed to do, right?"

"Well, it's a little more complicated, but, yeah."

"Great. And then that thing they're not supposed to do, cascades into a whole range of other things that aren't supposed to happen. And so on and so forth, until eventually, a new timeline branches. Yes?"

"Chaotic alterations of a predetermined outcome,"

"Exactly! So, let's just say..." Loki reaches over the table and takes Mobius' lunch

"What are you doing?"

"...your salad is Asgard in this scenario,"

"It's not Asgard, that's my lunch,"

"It's a metaphor. Just hang in there,"

"I want that salad,"

The annoyance from earlier in the day washes off Freya as she feels a smile tug at her lips.

"And I could go down to Asgard before Ragnarok causes its complete destruction and I could do anything I wanted. I could, let's say, push the Hulk off the Rainbow Bridge," Loki picks up the tables salt and pepper "There he goes,"

"The salt's Hulk?"

"And I could also... Set fire to the palace," In goes the pepper

"No, just stop. Don't set fire to the palace-"

"Okay? I can do whatever I want to do," he keeps shaking the salt and pepper " and it would never matter. It wouldn't go against the dictates of the timeline because..." he looks around in a panic, grabbing Mobius' empty can before standing up "Excuse me?"

"Oh, God!" Mobius groans and Freya laughs, loudly, biting her lip "I'm glad you're enjoying this,"

"You!" Casey exclaims as Loki appears by him

"Nice to see you. I just need this for a second. Thanks," he returns " Because the apocalypse is coming. Ragnarok, Surtur will destroy Asgard no matter what I do,"

"No, don't do..."Mobius trails off with a sigh, watching Loki pour the drink into the salad.

"There's the apocalypse.,"

"That's the apocalypse?"

"Ragnarok obliterates the salt. Ragnarok. There it is!"

"What am I lookin' at?"

"Okay, it was a clumsy metaphor. But you see what I mean. It doesn't matter. It could be any apocalypse. It could be a tidal wave. It could be a meteor. It could be a volcano, a supernova. If everything and everyone around you is destined for imminent destruction," he picks up the glass containers again, shaking them "then nothing that I say or do will matter, because the timeline's not gonna branch. 'Cause it gets destroyed,"

"Okay okay, stop setting fire to the palace now," Freya reaches over and grabs Loki's hands, taking the salt and epper from him

"The Variant could be hiding in the apocalypse and do whatever they want, and we wouldn't know!"

"Not bad," Mobius nods

"Take me to a real apocalypse, to Ragnarok, I'll show you!" Loki is practically bouncing off the walls with excitement

"Yeah. So you can run away back to your homeland?" Mobius chuckles

"No. No, I'm not going home. We can go anywhere!"

"I'm not taking you for a stroll along the promenade, much less an apocalypse,"

"Would you take me for a stroll on the promenade?" Freya smirks "Then I'll take Loki,"

"Why are you encouraging this?" he sighs

"You told me I'm not chill! I'm being chill,"

"Oh, Mobius, come on! What could possibly go wrong? We gotta properly test this theory!"

"Well, here's a fun theory. You lure Freya and I out into the field and stab us in the back. And that's a theory I don't wanna test,"

"I'd never stab anyone in the back. That's such a boring form of betrayal,"

"Loki, I've studied almost every moment of your entire life. You've literally stabbed people in the back, like, 50 times,"

Loki pauses for a moment, caught "Well, I'd never do it again, because it got old!"

Mobius genuinely laughs this time, putting his hand over his face, Freya's grin remains "Okay,"

"Okay, look, you don't trust me, you can trust one thing. I love to be right!"

That had won Mobius over, and soon they were stepping through a time door and into Pompeii.

"Here we go.," Loki mutters excitedly

"Shh, any minute now," Mobius is also somewhat excited and does a blowing up motion with his hands

"Until this entire town is wiped off the face of this planet. Imagine. All that volcanic ash..."

"I know. We don't want to get too giddy-"

"Oh, come on! It's cool!"

"No, it is cool, but it's just not in good taste because -"

"Well they're all gonna die anyway,"

"Jesus," Freya snorts

"Now listen, I'm gonna watch the TemPad for any variance energy,"

"Okay," Loki nods

"Okay, because we gotta be careful. If you're wrong, and there's a good chance you are," Loki looks offended at Mobius' words and looks to Freya " anything we do can create a huge branch."

"Oh, Mobius! You make even the end of the world sound boring,"

"Listen! Okay, we're not meant to be here. Okay?"

"Okay,"

"Can we stop saying okay?" 

"Anything we do can impact the course of history. Do you get that?"

"Yes," Loki sighs

"So we're gonna start with very small disturbances. Very small. Can you make bird noises?"

"Bird noises?" Both Loki and Freya turn to him in shock

"Yeah. Bird noises. Like some, like, whooshing noises," he starts to Coo and Freya's eyebrows scrunch and her mouth drops/

"Oh gods," Loki groans and runs off

"Loki! Loki!" Mobius and Freya watch as he jumps up onto a cart and frees some Goats "Go! Be free, my horned-friends, be free!" he switches into Latin, and starts to explain the situation the the Italians.

"We are from the future, right?" he checks "What is the TVA? I mean, it's from the future. It sounds from the future. It's pretty future-y," The volcano rumbles and the peasants start to scream "Right on cue! Enjoy your last meal while you can!" he starts to throw fruit around "Nothing matters! Nothing has any consequence!" he runs forward and grabs Freya's hands, pulling her into the street. He laughs and twirls her around "Dance while you still can! Whoo-hoo!"

"You're a mental case!" Freya laughs, but let's him guide her, as the volcano gets louder, Loki turns to Mobius

"How'd we do?"

"I don't believe it. Zero variance energy. No branching in the timeline!

"The TVA would never even know we were here. If it were me, this is where I would hide,".

The trio walk back into the office with a new purpose

"Doomsdays. The Variant's been ambushing our soldiers and hiding out in doomsdays to cover his tracks!"

"You're welcome!" Loki shrugs

"Yeah, yeah, for this theory to hold, the disasters have to be naturally-occurring, sudden, no warning, no survivors,"

"How many could there be?"

"I don't know. We're gonna find out!"

"Hey, Loki," he turns to Freya "Good job, we'd have never figured that out without you," she stops after noticing the sincerity in her own voice and coughs, "Y'know, just thought I'd tell you," a ghost of a smile appears on his face and they follow Mobius.