Mobius walked down the hall after Wanda was taken away and Loki was secure in the time loop prison.

He arrived in Ravonna's office like she'd requested.

Something felt off though. Earlier, when he'd been walking to Wanda's cell room, he'd stopped by to see B-15 and she seemed a bit shaken up.

"Did the Loki variant say anything to you?"

"Yeah. He said this place is lying to us."

"Oh."

"Why?"

"Just.. Doing my job."

Then the whole rant that Loki and Wanda made up happened after that. It was just off-putting.

"Mobius?"

Ravonna snapped him out of his thoughts. She had a clipboard with a sheet she needed him to sign in order to seal the magical variant's disclosure.

"Oh, yeah." Mobius said.

He grabbed a pen and sighed.

"You okay?" Ravonna asked.

"Yep, I'm good."

Ravonna took back the pen and picked up the clipboard with a nod.

"Case closed."

"Yes."

She set it down dramatically behind her and looked at Mobius.

The two sat at opposite ends of the couch, looking at one another. Mobius had picked up a glass of alcohol and Ravonna picked up her own glass.

"Cheers." She smiled.

"Cheers."

"To putting all this behind us."

The glasses clinked against one another and Ravonna took a long sip while Mobius's glass just went back to his lap.

"Amen." Mobius muttered with a nod.

Ravonna looked forward at a wall of souvenirs from past cases.

"If you could go anywhere, anytime, where would it be?" She asked Mobius.

"Well I can go anywhere, anytime." Mobius replied.

"You know what I mean."

Mobius gave a smile, then it faltered.

"Why wouldn't you let me interrogate Sylvie?" He asked.

"Sylvie?"

"The variant. That's what Wanda and Loki call her. Why wouldn't you let me, you know, question her?"

"I told you, we couldn't risk her escaping again."

"She wouldn't have escaped."

"The other variants got away during you first interrogation, didn't they?"

Mobius turned away from her and back to his glass.

"Ouch." He chuckled.

"Come on. Anywhere and anytime on the timeline. Where'd you go?" Ravonna repeated.

"I like being here now, with you, doing the work."

"Fine." Ravonna scoffed, taking another sip from her glass.

She set the glass down on the table and leaned back on the couch.

"I received word from the Time-Keepers. They want to personally oversee the Variant's pruning. Annd, they want you there too."

Mobius gave a bit of a shocked look.

"It's about time. Great." He nodded.

His mind went back to before the Nexus line from the variant's appeared.

Ravonna walked out of the elevator that lead to the Time Keepers.

"What'd they say? Are you okay?" Mobius asked.

"No! No, Mobius. I'm not. Under the best of circumstances, it's jarring to stand before the Time-Keepers. And this is not the best of circumstances." Ravonna said, her voice fast and upsetting.

"Yeah, but they can't blame you."

"They can and do. The variant was right here. What if she got to the Time-Keepers?!"

"I know. But she didn't." Mobius said calmly.

"No. But she got away. Along with the Loki variant AND the Wanda variant that I got you permission to bring in here."

She stated daggers at him, then sighed.

"Do you have any idea how impossible it is to keep the timeline stable?" She asked. "The Time-Keepers are all that stand between us and full-scale calamity."

"And I'm glad they're on our side. But if they want me to find Loki, Wanda, and the Variant, I need access to Hunter C-20." He said.

"I'm sorry but that's impossible."

"Look, when we found her back at Roxxcart, she kept saying, 'It's real. It's real.' over and over. And I need to find out what that meant and what else she saw when she was with the Variant. Look, I know there's protocol, but she could have information-"

"She's dead! Mobius."

"What? How?"

Ravonna sighed, as if it was hard for her to say.

"The Variant. She enchanted C-20, scrambled her mind."

"I don't get it. She seemed okay. She seemed fine."

"At first, yes. But by the time she got in here, she could barely speak. The decline was steeper after that."

"I didn't know.."

"Nobody does. We don't want people to panic. Can I trust you to keep that between us?"

"Of course. Yes. I'm sorry."

Mobius gave a small smile, as if that would get him more answers.

"When.. When did you first notice what was going on with C-20?"

Ravonna gave a half hearted laugh.

"Mobius, what is going on with you?"

"Nothing!"

"We did it."

"I know."

"The Time Keepers are happy. Mission accomplished."

"Yes, it's great. Mission accomplished, it was just that she seemed fine when I, when I saw her. I mean, a little freaked, but fine."

"Well she quickly wasn't fine."

"Okay." Mobius nodded.

"Okay." Ravonna repeated.

She gave a look of concern to Mobius.

"C-20? The Variant? All these questions, what are you getting at?"

Mobius couldn't bring himself to tell her what the variants claimed.

"I don't know... I, um, something just seems a little off."

Ravonna shook her head.

"Fine. You want the truth?"

Mobius looked at her, listening to what she had to say.

"I'm trying to protect you. Would you normally interview someone like that? Yeah. But the Variant scares the hell out of me, and I didn't want to see anything happen to you."

She leaned in closer and her voice lowered.

"C-20 lost her mind. She couldn't even form words by the end. I just couldn't deal with that happening to you or anyone else..." She looked down. "Is that what you wanted to hear?"

"Yeah if it's the truth." Mobius replied.

Ravonna scoffed, turning back to him.

"You've been spending too much time with those variants, especially the Loki."

Mobius chuckled.

"Yeah. I definitely have been spending too much time with them, especially Loki."

"What we do here matters!" Ravonna said with a smile.

"I know."

"When we're out there, fighting for the fate of the Sacred Timeline we're also fighting for this. For us. Friends against time, allies to the end. You've seen all of existence, same as me. So you know, friendship like ours is.. Uncommon."

She looked at him with a sad smile as she said her little monologue.

"And worth fighting for." She finished. "Same as the Sacred Timeline."

She picked up her drink again from the table, taking a sip and Mobius smiled.

"It was a good speech."

"Thank you." Ravonna chuckled.

"I knew I was your favorite analyst." He laughed, causing Ravonna to laugh as well.

"So what are you gonna do with that trophy?"

He pointed at the sword that previously belonged to Sylvie.

"Oh!" Ravonna said, just then remembering it was there.

"Where's that gonna go?" Mobius asked.

"You're right."

Ravonna set down her drink and stood. She picked up the sword and walked to the trophy wall across the room.

"Let's see..."

While her back was turned, Mobius pulled out his Tempad. It was a different one from the one that opened up the Time Doors. This was one that could display things and show recordings and things in that nature.

He set it on the table and silently took Ravonna's Tempad and slipped it in his jacket.

"Uh.." Ravonna mumbled as she looked for a place to put the sword.

She set it on a small stand and backed up to admire it.

"How's that?" She asked.

Mobius gave a nod as he looked at the display.

"Looks perfect. You're running out of room there."

He picked up his glass and stood.

"Alright, I will see you later on."

"One drink?" Ravonna asked, looking at him with a grin of disbelief.

"I had two, didn't I?" Mobius chuckled, downing the glass in his hand.

"Mobius! This is a career case. You sure you're okay?" She laughed, walking over to him.

"I'm just exhausted, dealing with all these wizards. Or would they be considered sorcerers? Witches? Ah who cares."

He set the glass down on the table and Ravonna kept a concerned look on him, not fully believing his excuse.

"Let's finish this." She smiled.

"For all time." Mobius nodded.

"Always."

"I'll see you up there. Thanks for the drink."

He exited the room, Ravonna watching him leave.

Mobius walked to the library where he knew no one would be. He just needed a quiet environment while he looked up something.

He stepped between two random shelves and pulled out the stolen Tempad.

He turned it on and held it like a miniature computer. He quickly clicked a few things, searching for info on C-20.

SEARCHING...

The device beeped as it finished.

Extracting...
Case: KTW12031DLF949UARI21
Re: Hunter C20

LOADING DATABASE.

OPENING PROFILE

He clicked another button and the screen formed into a status update of the Hunter.

It showed an image of her to the left of the screen with the title HUNTER C-20 underneath.

The right said
STATUS: DECEASED
Mission Info
[ 1 ]
[ 2 ]
[ 3 ]

Mobius clicked the 1 and it sent him to another screen.

FILE FOUND:
Mission Debrief
44YIO Classified
Haven Hills, AL
Roxxcart

Then the screen switched to a recording.

"You're not hearing me. I was there."

C-20 sat in a room similar to that of the variants's. She was speaking normally, better than she had when Mobius found her at the Roxxcart mall.

"This was real, what I saw. This is a place that I've been. This wasn't the TVA. This was a memory. I lived down there. I went to that bar. I had friends. I had a whole life on the Sacred Timeline!"

"Calm down." Someone who stood behind the recording said.

"Calm down? I'm a Variant! So are you. So is every single person in this place."

"I'm ending this."

Mobius paused the recording as another person entered the frame.

He zoomed in on the person.

It was Ravonna.

She'd lied to him.

Mobius quietly shut the Tempad, unsure of how to feel. The variants were right. And he'd treated them like shit for it.

He put the Tempad back in his jacket and gave a shaky breath.

He quickly pulled out his other device and opened the red timedoor.

He walked in to see Loki standing in the middle of the Time Loop Prison.

"What are you doing?" Mobius asked.

"Passing the time." Loki scoffed.

"Do you care about this Variant?"

"Sylvie? I'm not sure if care is the right word. I mean apparently I'm soo in love with her." Loki rolled his eyes.

"Shut up!"

Mobius cut him off and Loki gave a slightly offended look.

"So you really think you deserve to be alone?" Mobius asked.

Loki didn't reply.

"Loki!?"

"You told me to shut up."

"Do you really believe you deserve to be alone?" Mobius repeated.

"I don't know."

"You better figure it out quick, because the Nexus event that the three of you caused, I think whatever that connection is, can bring this whole place down. So we better understand-!"

"We?"

Mobius gave a sigh.

"Do you swear she didn't implant those memories in Hunter C-20?" He asked.

"Mobius, no. I believe her. Ask Wanda, Sylvie enchanted her."

"She did?" Mobius asked.

"Yeah, back on that planet."

Mobius sighed again.

"Alright, come on."

He opened another red time door and the he gestured for Loki to follow him. Loki hesitated, but did.

The two walked into a room where Wanda was sitting on the floor, looking up at a clip of a young Sylvie playing with toys.

Wanda turned and looked at the two.

"Wanda, what did Sylvie show you while she was in your head?" Mobius asked.

"What?" Wanda asked as if this were a joke.

"What did she show you!?" Mobius demanded.

"Uh.. She brought me to a place where, where I recognized. My home when I was with my children. Then we went to HYDRA, then back to the home." Wanda said, confused.

"What did she tell you about the enchantment?"

"That she could pull out memories and implant herself in them to get what she needed. Why are you asking this?"

"You were right. Both of you. About the TVA." Mobius admitted. "You were right from the beginning."

Wanda glanced at Loki, then back at Mobius, glad he'd finally gotten some sense.

"And if you want to save this Variant, or Sylvie, you need to trust me. Can we do that?"

Wanda nodded.

"Yes." Loki said for the both of them.

"Okay." Mobius nodded.

Wanda moved closer to Loki and Mobius since she was a fair distance away.

"You could be whoever, whatever you wanna be, even someone good." Mobius said.

Neither knew which one of them that was directed to, so they both just decided it was for both of them.

"I mean, just in case anyone ever told you different." Mobius finished.

Loki smiled, as did Wanda.

"And I'm sorry for calling her your girlfriends. Clearly something else is going on." Mobius added.

Wanda opened her mouth to speak when the doors to the cell room suddenly opened.

All three of them turned their heads to see Ravonna and four guards marching in, three of them holding prune sticks as the ready.

Loki backed up a touch, moving his arm in front of Wanda to block her as Mobius stepped forward.

"I think you have something of mine." Ravonna stated.

"Yeah, I got all the way down there before I even realize I picked up yours."

Mobius gave a chuckle and took out his Tempad from his jacket inside pocket.

One of the soldiers held out his hand and Mobius handed it to him with a grin. All of the other soldiers didn't budge, making it seem like this was more than a cherry accident.

"What's going on?" Mobius asked.

The soldier who took the Tempad handed it to Ravonna.

"What's the problem, Ravonna?"

Mobius kept a smile, but both Wanda and Loki's faces were not showing any sign of joy.

Mobius's smile faded when Ravonna didn't reply.

"You know where I'd go if I could go anywhere?" Mobius asked. "Wherever it is I'm from."

Wanda and Loki looked at him, Loki with a touch of fear in his eyes while Wanda had a touch of pity.

"Yeah, wherever I had a life before the TVA came along. Maybe I had a jet ski. That's what I'd like to do. Just riding around on my jet ski." Mobius said, his voice calm despite the amount of weapons pointed at him.

The soldier who originally had taken the Tempad from Mobius turned on his own prune stick.

"Prune him."

Ravonna gave the order and the soldier stabbed his prune stick into Mobius's gut.

"Mobius!" Wanda shouted, attempting to grab Mobius away.

But it was to late.

Mobius was gone.

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My favorite quote of this chapter: "But the Variant scares the hell out of me,"