Slice Of Time

You eventually managed to calm down and you smiled at Mobius when he handed you yet another tissue. Your face felt hot and puffy and you were certain you looked gross but considering what you had just witnessed it really was no surprise. You glanced at Loki who was watching you with soft eyes before turning to Mobius with a frown "So, what happens now?"

He had that pitying look on his face again and you figured you wouldn't necessarily like his answer. "I will speak to Judge Renslayer about your case and I will do my best to convince her to let you stay with the TVA," he said slowly and you instantly got a heavy feeling in your gut. "What happens if she says no?" you asked and when Loki averted his eyes and Mobius smiled awkwardly you felt fear rise up your throat.

Both men shifted in their seats and eventually the agent spoke up and you stared in horror at his response "You get erased from the timeline." You blinked a few times before reminding your body that breathing wasn't optional and then turned to Loki with an icy glare "You may have just signed my death warrant."

The demigod didn't respond and you felt a sliver of satisfaction when he shrunk back underneath your scrutiny. A tense moment of silence passed before Mobius got up and asked you to follow him to a room you could use until a final decision was made.

You walked close to him since you were worried you'd get lost and now that you were not overwhelmed by strong emotions anymore you noticed how incredibly tired you were. Loki accompanied you and you could see him stealing glances at you out of the corner of your eyes. You wondered if he was asking himself what the other Loki had seen in you and your chest tightened at the thought.

When you finally arrived at a neat looking bedroom with en-suite bathroom Mobius turned to you and announced "There is someone I want you to meet before we call it a day." You registered a flickering in the corner of the room and a moment later a hologram in the shape of an orange clock with a face started jumping up and down in front of you.

"Hey y'all! My name is Miss Minutes and I'm here to help you with research and any other information you might need," the hologram said in a cheerful voice and you raised an eyebrow before stepping forward to inspect it further. You were amazed by the kind of technology the TVA possessed and since you wanted to stay on everyone's good side you smiled and greeted her politely.

"Oh I like you much better than him," she said with an adorable frown and you chuckled when she pointed at Loki who was looking unimpressed. Mobius was getting ready to leave you alone but you remembered something he hadn't addressed in his previous explanation "Why did you come to my apartment in the first place?" He sighed and ran a hand through his hair before responding a little too quickly "Oh it was just an error with the Timedoor."

You didn't believe him for a second but you decided that this moment was not the best to press for answers so you simply shrugged. Mobius and Loki left you to your own devices and with a final lingering look at their retreating backs you stepped into your room.

Miss Minutes offered to tell you more about the TVA but you declined since you were practically vibrating with tiredness at this point and with a chirpy goodbye she disappeared. You fell asleep almost instantly and you had a variety of gruesome nightmares that left you utterly exhausted when you woke up sometime later. You had no idea what time it was and if time was even an aspect within the TVA so you called out for Miss Minutes hoping she would show up.

"How can I help you?" her perky voice rang out and you smiled at her despite your skull splitting headache. She explained that the TVA was outside of the Sacred Timeline and therefore time didn't pass and people also didn't age. The idea of everything staying the same for eternity was a frightening thought and since you had barely absorbed all the previous information you decided to stop thinking about it. Instead you had a shower and when you stepped out your own clothes had been replaced with a brown suit similar to the one Mobius had worn.

You didn't bother pointing out the strange conformity and simply put it on before letting Miss Minutes guide you to the TVA canteen for some much needed nourishment. You were amazed by the possibility of asking for the food you wanted and it appearing in front of you and it strongly reminded you of the replicators in Star Trek.

Mobius and Loki were sitting at a table nearby and since you didn't know anyone else you reluctantly sat down to eat with them. The pain of seeing the demigod's face was not quite as sharp as it had been when he first walked through the Timedoor but you still felt vulnerable around him. You decided to focus on the plate in front of you and stayed quiet as the two men discussed their current case.

As far as you could tell they were hunting yet another Loki Variant and you briefly wondered how many of them there were in the universe. You looked up at Mobius who stopped speaking to give you his full attention. "Is there anything I can do to help? Sitting around isn't really doing me any favours right now," you said quietly and he immediately nodded.

He explained that this Loki Variant was killing TVA agents and stealing their time resetting charges. "We use them to remove any branches from the Sacred Timeline," Mobius elaborated and you frowned at the idea. "What happens to the people and the worlds in that alternate timeline?" you asked cautiously and your heart filled with anxiety when he responded "They get, uh, "pruned" we call it. It disappears but to be entirely honest with you I don't know what exactly happens to all of it."

You felt a shudder run down your back at the thought and you couldn't help thinking that the TVA sure had many secrets for such a powerful institution. You pushed your worries down and waved at Mobius for him to continue his exposé on the Variant. "We haven't been able to locate them and so far we only ever arrived after they had already attacked. They must be hiding somewhere on the Sacred Timeline but they're incredibly clever about not alerting us." It almost sounded as if he admired their ingenuity and you wondered how powerful this Loki must be if they could hide from the TVA.

Once Mobius had answered all your questions he suggested that you could help Loki with his research of Sacred Timeline events and you agreed with a sigh. Your plan to pretend the demigod didn't exist was clearly not working and at least this way you could make yourself useful and stop ruminating all the time.

He took you to the library and you marvelled at the sheer size of it as he led you to a table. You started looking through the files in silence and you swore he was glancing at you every now and then but you kept your eyes glued to the pages. It almost felt like you were reading some author's notes on a grand fantasy novel but the knowledge that everything in front of you were real events was truly mind boggling. You heard Loki huff in frustration at a disastrous galactic event and the sound was so endearing you couldn't help but laugh quietly.

The atmosphere was significantly less tense after that and you even started sharing interesting and funny bits with each other. You looked up at his face scrunched up in concentration and you accidentally said the next words out loud instead of just thinking them.

"I don't know if I should be angry or grateful that you brought me to this place."