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Chapter Text

Mobius is dying. And that's not an exaggeration either. He can't tell if it's from the hangover that's starting to dawn him or that cold he got earlier in the week but he feels absolutely dead. He'll blame the hangover part, the headache on Sylvie. He told her to back off the drinking but does she listen? No.

He is slow to open his eyes. The sun is just barely peeking through shabby green curtains with holes in them. Downstairs, he can smell Chinese food being cooked. Looks like his neighbors are starting the day early. Despite the constant smell of food, living above a Chinese restaurant isn't bad. They give him free food and lots of fortune cookies that he never reads. Mobius never goes hungry.

Even now he hears a woman coming up the stairs to give him his breakfast. He counts down to the moment she's by the door too easily.

"Mr. Mobius," he hears her call, "I have breakfast!" Then lots of knocking occurs which makes his head ring.

"Okay," he groans, "okay. I'm coming."

It takes a lot longer than it should but when Mobius finally opens the door, Ms. Chen gasps. "Mobi. You're face, your shirt."

Mobius frowns. "What?" He looks down and pales. Crap. He bled again.

"You really need to see a doctor," Ms. Chen tuts as if seeing Mobius bleed everyday doesn't phase her. "You could bleed out one day and then I would have to break down your door to a bloody body and I'll get blamed for it."

Mobius really does attract people who show they care in weird ways. He takes the small box from her and says, "I'm fine, Ms. Chen. I'm sure I'm just acclimating to the dryness."

"Um-hm," she says with enough sass to kill an elephant, "well, when you die expect me to tell you I told you so."

Then she's running down the stairs, yelling something to whoever is cooking with food. Mobius shakes his head and closes the door. He peeks in the box. It's some of those cream cheese raccoons. He smiles but doesn't eat them yet. He needs to take care of this blood.

Mobius has been having bloody noses for a while now. It's not new. In fact, quite typical. It is odd when he doesn't wake up with a bloody nose. As he stands in front of the mirror, he frowns. Ms. Chen is right, though. This one seems worse than the others. Instead of small drops these are large ones that are all over his shirt. His mustache is caked in it. Some of it is still fresh. It's getting worse. Like his colds.

Originally, Mobius thought it was just his blood adjusting to real time and germs he hadn't experienced in a long time. But now...he's not so sure.

But what else could it be? He supposes it could be some disease that Don had before he was taken but Mobius doesn't think thats it. Don and he struggle with mental health, not physical ailments.

Mobius sneezes and his nose starts bleeding again. The world spins and he grips his sink tightly. Maybe he should go out today. Get some fresh air. There is a park not too far from his apartment. It's a nice park. Green. Lots of trees. Dogs, kids, the whole shebang.

So Mobius cleans up, throws his bloody shirt away and spends a long time in the shower, soaking in the warmth and scrubbing the blood away. He stays there until the water turns cold. He is slow to dress in a sweater and jeans. With fall approaching, it is safer to be warmer then let himself get even more sick than he already is.

Mobius gets his blazer than his temp pad that has about five messages on it. Four texts from Sylvie about how bad her head is aching and one from B-15 asking if Gwen put her suit with his stuff by accident.

Mobius does go to the TVA on and off. The new variants are fun. And as Mobius walks down the stairs, waves at Ms. Chen and goes down the street, he thinks about that. He promised B he would be a part-time employee but he can't be there everyday. He tried that and it didn't help. Staring at the ever-growing tree everyday. Looking at the propaganda. His desk, mugs, pie, all of it. The statue was the last straw. He left as the plans were being drawn up. He still sees it when he goes there. He was there for the dedication. He had to make sure it was done right, with honor and respect. He hasn't looked directly at it since.

But he does help with various cases like the nightmare case or with new recruits like Gwen or Gambit, no matter how much it hurts. And, oh boy, does he know how well it hurts.

It's a sunny day so that means kids and parents are out running around. People are sunbathing, taking in last of the warm days. It's supposed to snow next week but the weather guy is known for getting stuff wrong. It'll probably rain if anything. Mobius makes his way to the bench in the middle of the park that looks out over an open space where people play frisbee. A jogger passes him. Kids yell. As he sits, he thinks this is life. This is life. This is how so many people throughout the universe, throughout time have lived. This is life. One he had once upon a time.

And yet isn't what Mobius has now life. Going to his part-time job. Hanging with a friend from another world. Walking in parks. Living above a restaurant. Getting sick. Going and feeling the seasons.

So why does it feel like he's not. Living that is.

Mobius leans his head back even though it just makes his nose even more stuffed up and stares at the trees above him. The leaves are all sorts of colors. Reds. Yellows. Oranges. Some are still green, slowly fading. His eyes catch on those.

Mobius takes a deep breath before whispering, "Loki."

The wind picks up, as if it heard him. A leaf rips off the tree, drifts into the air and settles on the bench next to him. Mobius wonder how often people see him and think he's crazy but if Loki really can hear him then it really doesn't matter, does it? The people don't know it, but he does.

Mobius smiles even though it hurts. "Hey, pussycat." The breeze rattles the leaf. "Another day. Got some cream cheese ragoons today. Ms. Chen is adamant and I eat." The leaf hits his leg. Mobius laughs. "Yeah, I know, you do, too. But I think I'm getting too chubby. Maybe I need to go to the gym. Lose some weight." A few more leaves rain down, covering him. "Oh, stop, losing weight isn't that big of a deal. Besides maybe I need the extra agility."

A kid yells down the path and a soccer ball skids past.

"Sylvie is doing well," Mobius says. Two kids run by. He watches them go. "She's living the dream. I think. Has been coming around more often. I think the whole nightmare thing and that murder really spooked her. Either way she wants me to come to her branch even more now. I have no clue why. I'm okay here. I like it."

Mobius is lying and he thinks Loki knows it because the whole tree starts shaking with the wind. Leaves are flying now.

"It's not so bad," Mobius says, "nobody wants me dead here. Nobody looks at me strange or with pity. I don't see you every time I turn around. No mugs, no files, no statues, no big windows leading to nowhere. Just humans like me living life."

Somewhere thunder rolls. The sun disappears and Mobius shivers. Tears touch his eyes and he has to take a deep breath before he whispers, "I miss you."

Lightning flashes and thunder roars above him, shaking the ground. Kids scream and parents start shepherding their kids away from the trees, away from the park.

Mobius stays where he is, letting the rain drench him. The individual drops soothe him into a lull where he debates if maybe this is Loki's doing or maybe he's just losing his mind.

*****************************

Mobius's shoes squeak as he climbs the stairs to his apartment. He feels as if he's going through the five stages of grief for the hundredth time. The doctor he met with when he got here said to just let the feelings come but he doesn't think she meant over and over again. Talking to Loki is a form of denial. Stomping home in the rain, saying he should die of pneumonia just to spite Loki is anger. Bargaining is saying I'll go inside if Loki does. Now he's on depression but Mobius is trying not to let it show because if Ms. Chen sees him she'll make him eat until he throws up and he'll be even more miserable.

Mobius is so focused on that, that he doesn't notice the thrumming that's coming from his apartment until he's at the door. Then he hears the drums and guitars and he sighs. Ah. This is why he needs to text her back.

He opens the already half open door and smell the fast-food assaults him. Sylvie is on the couch, using his coffee table as a drum as she follows along to some song on her record player. It's like Ravonna in reverse. Instead of Mobius giving her treasures, Sylvie just drags half of her stuff here and dumps it so when she's over she can play her record player, drink her soda and do whatever it is she wants to do.

Then he notices the duffel bags in the corner and sighs. Mobius lifts the needle off the record and the music stops. Sylvie is immediately on him. "What was that for?"

"What are those?" He asks, pointing at the duffel bags.

Sylvie blows a big bubble from her weird pink bubble gum, then pops it. "Duffle bags. I didn't know the TVA let blind people work for them."

"I hope Matt Murdock comes and murders you in your sleep," Mobius growls.

"I think you already were," Sylvie holds up his night shirt that is covered in blood.

"Why are you digging through my trash?" Mobius grabs the shirt and goes to put it back in the bin.

"Because time travel makes me need to pee and it was in the bathroom."

Mobius shoves the shirt to the bottom of the trash. "We both know that's a lie." He makes his way back to the living room. "You didn't answer my question."

"Which was," Sylvie pops another bubble.

"The duffle bags."

"Oh," she says as if she just noticed them, "you're packing."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not. I like this timeline. I'm not leaving it."

Sylvie gives him a dirty look before she snaps her fingers and the duffel bags are suddenly full. "If you don't like it you can always come back."

Mobius sighs and slumps onto the couch next to her. It bends under his weight and he almost falls all the way through. He leans his head back, snorting back snot. "If I had a job, I couldn't leave."

"Then it's a good thing you don't," Sylvie leans above him, her hair falling over Mobius's forehead. "You know we're just worried about you, right?"

"Too much, I think," Mobius mutters.

Sylvie rolls her eyes and slaps his shoulder. "Come on. The new restaurant opened in town and I want to try it."

"And you need me for that why?" Mobius asks as she drags him to his feet.

Sylvie proceeds to throw his bag over her shoulder and say, "You have better taste buds than me."

As she opens a time door, Mobius says, "I can't decide if that's a compliment or you telling me to eat less."

Sylvie laughs.

**************************

It's a small restaurant commemorating the founding of Oklahoma. There's wagons and barrels and old glass bottles everywhere. It looks antique, like stepping into the old west. They have free oil samples so customers can buy bottles of oil. There are old books on shelves, candy in jars and to put everything off kilter a soda machine.

Sylvie gets a soup and soda while Mobius gets a large roast beef sandwich. They talk about everything and nothing, how sick Mobius is all the time and how humans need better medicine. She says he should move to 2099 where they have better care. Mobius just chuckles and shakes his head.

"I can't live both in 2099 and with you," Mobius says, "it has to be one or the other."

"Fine," Sylvie says, taking a sip of pop, "live with me and visit 2099 periodically. That's where your doctor will be."

Mobius jumps when a sign hits the window. The poor waitress yells. Flat against the window is a sales sign that says .99¢. Sylvie takes a long sip then says, "I think he has a very strong opinion about this."

Mobius doesn't feel anger very often. It's something he'd felt for far too long after Loki left. But here it is, some sign telling him 2099 is better. He scowls. "Okay, Sylvie. I'll move in with you. Things are cheaper here anyway."

The lights flicker. Sylvie glances up. "Weird how he can talk to us like this, huh."

"It's swell," Mobius says, taking a big bite and just about choking on it, causing the lights to flicker even more and the poor waitress to question if a tornado is coming.

Sylvie taps her cheek. "You're still mad at him."

"I'm not mad at him. I just..." Mobius slumps back, looking up at the ceiling, causing mucus to roll down his throat. "I wish I could stop caring."

"What do you mean?"

Mobius rubs his face, breathing heavy, "I miss him. Everyone knows that. But it's been so long. And I still worry. I get sick with it, Sylvie. It's probably why I'm sick half the time. I want to find him then I hate him because he left then I'm bargaining with the universe to get him back, then I'm down in the dumps and then I'm okay again. It's the same cycle everyday. Every week. Every year."

Mobius slams his fist on the table and the plates shake. "I'm sick of caring, Sylvie. Because he can cause the wind blow and the lights to flicker but none of it matters because he isn't here. I don't want some sign that he can see me, I want him here and that's never going to happen.

"Then I just start a new cycle of hating myself because I'm mad at him for some saving everyone, for being selfless, the person I knew he could always be and here I am being selfish for wanting him back."

Mobius groans. His head hurts. He went too far. He knows it. What day is it? What time is it? Where is he? He looks around for a moment. He's with Sylvie. He knows that much. This is been happening too much lately, too. Mobius's old age is starting to catch up to him. Maybe he should see a doctor. If his brain is going he would like to know.

Once the light dims and Mobius can see straight again, he looks up. Sylvie has a look of pity that makes his skin crawl. "Please don't look at me like that," he says.

"You're nose is bleeding again."

Mobius looks down and sighs. Indeed it is. His shirt is covered in small drops. He grabs a napkin and folds it to stuff in his nose. He's tired. A nap sounds good.

"You're a good man, Mobius," Sylvie says, "I never gave you enough credit for that. It's okay to be mad. It's okay to miss him and wish he were here. I think he wishes he were here, too."

Mobius sighs and looks outside. The sign has fallen, revealing a dark gray sky. Looks like the storm followed him.

He hears Sylvie scoot her chair back and stand. Her hand lands heavy on his shoulder. "Let's go home."

*************************

Sylvie and Mobius became friends sometime after Loki left. When Mobius was spiraling and she was readjusting. They drank, they talked. He learned that maybe Loki actually did like him. Sylvie says it's more than that. He doesn't hope that's the case. He has thought about them living together before but despite what Sylvie thinks, she is a Loki. No amount of denial can change that. Her eyes are the same. Her attitude. He couldn't do it.

So she spent years trying to convince him and Mobius has spent years saying no. He asked her why once. She said she wanted to try to live with someone and see why the humans like it. But she doesn't trust anyone so how could she ever do that unless it's with him. Mobius asked her why she trusted him when she never has before. Again she said she wanted to live with someone and Loki liked him enough to want to stay at the TVA so Mobius must not be horrible to live with. That just brought up memories of Loki in his old apartment at the TVA so he never brought it up again.

But Sylvie has month after month, year after year, tried to convince him. It's practically become a joke at this point. She's become a loyal friend which Mobius thinks even surprises her. She's a bit awkward at it. A little too rough at times, but what can he say. He's a sucker for Loki's. He always will forgive them. Even if it's after locking them in a time loop and let them get kicked around for a little while.

When he had told Sylvie that, she had said, "Loki's right. You're not as good as you seem."

So as they walked back to her place, Mobius yawning and her staring at the sky, he smiles.

"What are you smiling at?" She asks.

"What? A man can't smile sometimes?" He jokes.

"Just a moment ago you were yelling about how you hate yourself and Loki so, not really."

Mobius shrugs, "Well. I'm just thinking about our odd friendship. It's quite odd. You know that right?"

Sylvie shrugs, "I try not to think about it. I'm already awkward enough around you. I don't need to think more about it than I have to."

"Like the time you bought me an electrical outlet as a gift?"

"Who says you wouldn't need one one day?"

"Loki, who keeps my lights on long after the bulb breaks."

Sylvie curses and Mobius laughs, starting an awful coughing fit that nearly careens him into the road. The sun shines all of the sun. Sylvie and Mobius try try not to notice that it's only on him.

"So," Sylvie says as they round the corner to her apartment, "guess who I met in the future the other day."

Mobius smirks, "You're hopping your own timeline?"

"I'm investigating. I wanted to see Oklahoma in about forty years."

"Oh, boy, this should be good," Mobius teases.

Sylvie rolls her eyes. "I was starting to look at how the menu was changed when a woman comes roaring in, asking for two Happy meals and large cookie. She slumped onto the seat behind me to wait and I couldn't believe my eyes. It wasn't for the nose I would have brushed it off."

Mobius feels his eyebrows raise. "Are you telling me I'm a woman in this timeline?"

Sylvie shoves her key in the door and the smell of lavender and fast food hit Mobius. "Her name is Donna. She sat and told me her and her kids were on a cross country trip to meet up with her ex-husband who had an affair three times. She said she told him the last time if he has another he better not come back. He never did."

"You seem weirdly excited to meet a variant of mine in some McDonald's forty years from now," Mobius says, spying her couch and his head longs for the chicken pillow.

"That's not the point," she shoves her phone at him and there on her Facebook app is a gray haired woman with a crooked nose and two little girls. She is friends with Sylvie.

"You know, you're probably really screwing with time and space by hijacking Wi-Fi to your 1987 apartment."

Sylvie rolls her eyes and turns off her phone. "Remind me that variants of you never excite you."

"Will do," Mobius smirks, "so you're just friends now or something?"

"Yep," Sylvie pops the p, "and I'm quite content to keep it that way. Unlike Loki."

"Haha," Mobius says sarcastically. He slumps onto the couch and Sylvie sighs.

"Right. Sick. Do you want a blanket?"

Mobius nods but he's already halfway out of it. "That would be nice. Thank you, Sylvie." Maybe he should be concerned that he's this tired. He really should be.

Instead, Mobius yawns and turns on his side. He barely hears Sylvie say, "Sleep well, Mobius."

Mobius hums, then let's the soft cushions envelop him.

****************************

"I wish you would be happy."

Mobius startles. The sun glints off the ocean and into his eyes. It's peaceful. The sky is white. "What are you talking about?" he says, soaking up the heat in his shorts and thin white shirt. The wind blows through his hair and he inhales as much sea breeze as he can. "I am happy."

"No, you're not. You're pretending in front of everyone."

Mobius frowns. The ocean is not so enjoyable anymore. The sky seems to fizzle like a TV losing signal. He shakes his head. The fuzz goes away.

"You aren't yourself anymore. I miss you."

"I haven't changed much," Mobius says. He feels the sand beneath his hands. For some reason it's fuzzy, too. It doesn't feel right. Why doesn't it feel right?

"You've repressed yourself. I miss your real smile. Your real laugh. Sylvie made you laugh today. I don't know if I'm happy she did or not. I should be because you never laugh anymore. But I can't help but be jealous about it."

Mobius's bones feel sore. The wind fuzzes again. He rubs his chest willing the pain away and the heat back. There's a moment of silence where in Mobius tries to take a deep breath.

"I want you to see a doctor. You're not doing well. You shouldn't be as sick as you are after so long. You're getting worse."

"I'm okay. I feel fine. By tomorrow I'll be good as new."

Mobius finally looks over at Loki. His knees are up to his chest. His hair blows elegantly in the wind. Funny thing is that his face is blurry. Like Mobius can't focus on it. No matter how hard he tries, the film never goes away.

Chapter Text

They can't find Sylvie yet. 

O.B wouldn't even let them out of the contamination room until Doc Clock showed up and scanned them over. And that wasn't until Loki had helped Mobius get out of his suit. It was horrible. It was like being a turtle on its shell. Mobius couldn't flip over. He couldn't move, sit or stand. He just had to watch as Loki took off his shoes and do a stupid little grin at the hole in his sock before moving on to the gloves and smiling again at how small his hands are compared to the suit.

"Will you stop laughing at me and get this suit off!" Mobius howls at him again trying to stand.

"I'm not laughing," Loki says even though he clearly is. He goes for Mobius's helmet next and it's strange listening to his hands flip latches and twist the helmet off. But as he does, a frown comes across his face. He rips the duct tape off the helmet and it disintegrates in his fingers.

"There is a crack in this," he says, poking the glass.

"Yeah," Mobius says, shoving the helmet the rest of the way off. He takes deep breath of real air before continuing, "O.B. put the duct tape there for a reason."

But Loki isn't satisfied with that. He grabs Mobius's hand and pulls into his feet. As he does he says, "Are you sure you're all right? We did just watch that tape turn into nothing."

"I'm fine," Mobius says. Loki goes to the back and rips off latches and unzips zippers, releasing Mobius back to his pants and dress shirt. "We got to find Sylvie remember."

Mobius watches Loki's face as it shuffles through frustration, want, indecisiveness and conclusion. He sighs. "If you start feeling sick, you need to tell me. None of this is going to matter if you're not-"

"I'm. Fine," Mobius hisses again. He's ready to leave this room and start researching. Just because he's not close to Sylvie it doesn't mean he doesn't care. And if he knows anything about Dox it's that she's going to go her route really quick.

Mobius feels Loki's eyes burning into his back but he can't focus on that. Sylvie is important right now. Not him.

About a minute later, Doc Clock arrives, her teal color complimenting the room. She gets right to work, scanning Loki. At the cut on his arm she squeals, 'oh my,' and takes out a mixture of bandages in the first aid kit on the wall before cleaning and bandaging the cut, all the while Loki complains about how she's being too rough and to let him do it.

After a long while, she gets to Mobius. She scans him, takes a blood test that leaves his arm bloody and shakes her head.

Immediately, Loki is on her as if one minute thing will make him right and he'll have Mobius put on bed rest by that alone. "What is it? Time radiation? Is his blood spaghetti? What?"

"Loki, can you breathe for a moment please. It's probably just my blood sugar. It gets high sometimes."

"Your blood sugar is not the problem," Doc clock growls before sending his information into the ether and turning to Mobius, "Who are the timekeepers?"

Oh, boy. Here they go. Mobius crosses his arms, "Entities that don't exist. I hope you've been updated on our issue."

Doc Clock frowns at that but continues her little interrogation, "What is your purpose?"

"Now or before you all brainwashed me?"

"Just answer the question."

Mobius rolls his eyes. "To analyze and protect time." It's a summary of what they are still doing so he's not wrong.

Doc Clock scowls, "Last one. What was Loki's mother's name?"

"Frigga."

"No. His biological one."

That stops Mobius. Stops Loki, too. Loki doesn't know her name but Mobius should. And he does except that it's not coming to him. There is a fuzzy spot where her name's supposed to be. Laufey and who? Laufey and...

Loki is looking at him expectantly and that's where the iceberg tips. Mobius growls, "Does it matter? We have more important things to worry about Doc. Can we go or not?"

Loki's frown deepens. Doc Clock taps her foot angrily. "Your vital signs are all over the place. I suggest a good meal and sleep. And not for twenty minutes! Eat some brain food. Not sweets!"

Then she's gone. O.B. unlocks the door. "All right, guys, come on up."

Mobius moves to the stairs but Loki catches his shirt, holding him back, "Mobius, are you sure you're well?"

Mobius pats his hand. "I'm okay, Loki. Really."

But he looks skeptical. "Let's get to your apartment."

"But, Sylvie-"

"I can't do this without you at full health, Mobius. Sleep and food first then the case."

Then he's dragging Mobius up the stairs, past O.B., and out of the room.

"Really, Loki," Mobius says even though his head is starting to hurt, "I'm fine."

***************************

The sun blinds him when he wakes up. He has to cover his eyes in order to see. He's on a couch. Not his couch. Does he have a couch? It smells weird in here. Where is he?

He sits up slow. He feels nauseous. The world spins for a moment. When it's done he gets his feet. Clothes and bags with a big M on the side litter the floor. The M stands out. He doesn't know why.

His stomach growls. He's hungry. As if in a trance he goes down the hall a little and turns left. A small table, fridge and counter greet him. The sun shoots off the table illuminating scratches in it. Something niggles his brain about it but he passes it off when he feels how dry his tongue is.

He opens the fridge to a water filter and a gallon of fruit juice. Is this what he likes to drink? He picks up the juice and opens the lid. Where are the cups? Does he have cups? 

Before he can drink it, a voice calls out, "Mobius?"

He looks up. In the doorway is a blonde woman with messed up hair, a t-shirt that says Led Zeppelin and short shorts. Feet bare. She's staring as if it's strange what he is doing.

"What are you doing?" She asks.

He looks at the juice container then at her. Does he know her? He holds the juice out to her, "I'm thirsty."

She wrinkles her nose, "I don't think I've ever seen you thirsty for juice you hate."

He looks down at the juice. It's a strange purple. Smells strange. But it's his fridge. Is this his fridge? Is this her fridge? Is it their fridge?

The woman is by him, taking the juice from his hands. "Just cause you're sick it doesn't mean you have to drink my juice. In fact don't drink my juice. I don't need whatever you have."

She puts it back in the fridge. As she does he looks at her magnets. There is one he recognizes from some restaurant with a purple monster and a clown. The M keeps ringing in his head. He knows it but what is it.

"What, are my McDonald's magnets too weird for you?"

He looks at the woman again. Her face... where has he seen it before? The more he stares the more her frown deepens. She's tensing. "Mobius, are you okay?"

Finally, he says, quite confused and uncertain, "I don't know. Should I be?"

Her face goes hard. He steps back instinctively. Is she angry? She crosses her arms. "That's not funny. You know it's not funny."

"I'm sorry," he says, raising his hands, "I'm just confused is all."

"About what?" She hisses.

"I don't know you."

She pauses, her face scrunched into an angry confused stare. "What do you mean you don't know me?"

"I don't know you," he repeats, "I don't know if this is my house or your house or our house-"

"Our house!" She practically screeches.

"Okay, it's not our house. Is it yours?"

The women's mouth closes, something burning behind her eyes, "If this is another one of yours and Loki's tricks-"

"Who?"

The woman pales. She's starting to look sick herself. "What do you mean, who? Loki! The man you're in love with and who loves you and sacrificed everything for-"

For you. For all of us.

He screams as his head pounds and memories come back. Sylvie. He's at her apartment. He's sick. Loki. He's Mobius's friend. He's gone. But Mobius can't imagine his face. Why can't he imagine his face!

"Mobius?"

His hands are shaking hard as he looks up to Sylvie who is on her knees by him. He didn't realize he'd fallen. Mobius slowly sits up, his body aching. He's in the kitchen. Didn't he fall asleep on the couch?

"Sylvie?" He says, trying to get his hands to stop shaking. His head hurts. Mobius feels the back of it. He thinks there's a bump.

Sylvie suddenly grabs him and hisses, "Who is Loki?"

It takes a moment for that to register and then Mobius scowls. "What kind of question is that?"

"Answer it!" She practically howls.

"He's the pain in my behind that left because he's a masochist!"

Something hits the window and they both jump. As Sylvie lets him go and pants into her chest, she says, "I don't think he appreciated that comment."

Mobius looks around. He's on the floor by the fridge. If he was over even a few more inches he would have hit the counter. The sun is shining bright. Morning. It's morning.

"What happened?" He asks, "I thought I was on your couch and-"

"Don't tell me you don't remember the last ten minutes?"

"No," Mobius says, "I don't remember anything. The last thing I remember is you talking about some chick who looks like me."

"She is you but that's besides the point," Sylvie grabs his face, nails almost biting into his skin, "I need in your head. Something is wrong with it."

Mobius shakes his head, jaring her hands lose, "No, I'm fine. I'm just sick."

"Sick? You couldn't remember anything! Me, Loki, the apartment, your name. You had a seizure right here on my floor. Don't tell me there's nothing wrong with you!"

Mobius really looks at Sylvie now. Her pale face, the tears in her eyes. She's breathing so hard she might as well be having a panic attack. He takes her hands that are still hovering by his face and presses them to his chest. "Breathe with me, Sylvie."

"I am not-"

"Do it or I'm not considering it."

She grinds her teeth but takes a deep breath in, holds it with Mobius and exhale slowly. They do this a couple times. And as they do Mobius to calm himself, too. Seizure? Memory loss? This hasn't happened before has it? Well how would he know. He doesn't remember them. But one would think he remember a seizure. Or at least have a scar if it's happened multiple times. Peculiar wounds even. But he doesn't.

Suddenly Mobius coughs and the taste of blood fills his mouth. Sylvie and he watch his blood splatter on their hands. Another bloody nose.

Mobius curses. Sylvie nods. Her tears have finally broke through. She yanks her hands away to brush them off but only succeeds in smearing blood over her cheeks.

"I'm okay-"

"Shut up. Just...shut up."

Sylvie sits back while Mobius looks around for a paper towel or something stick up his nose. The world spins as he stands. That was not a good idea. He must look bad because Sylvie is on her feet, handing him a tissue and pulling him into a chair all in one swoop. 

"Thanks," he mutters, shoving the tissue up his nose.

"I guess I'm still not allowed in your brain?"

Mobius shakes his head, "I'm fine."

"I really wish you would stop saying that."

Sylvie washes her hands. Mobius's vision spots for a moment then goes away. He's going to throw up. Vertigo was not on his list of illnesses for the day. The world tips. He pulls out the tissue that's been immediately soaked. Sylvie gives him another.

"How long has this been happening?" she asks, sliding into the chair across from him.

"What, the bloody noses?" He asks.

"All of it. Seizures, bloody noses, memory loss-"

"I don't know," Mobius says, "I literally can't remember the one from fifteen minutes ago. Let alone if it's happened before."

Sylvie groans. Mobius pulls out the tissue. She gives him another. "Fine. The bloody noses?"

Mobius shrugs, "For a while now. It started happening a few weeks ago."

"Weeks!"

"I just thought it was dry weather. People get those, you know."

Sylvie bangs her head on the table and does a partial screen. "Men! Why are they so dense! All of them!"

There's another bang against the window. A lying tree branch. Mobius snorts, "I don't think he liked that comment."

Sylvie glares at him. "You realize how serious this is, right? This is not okay. Something is seriously wrong with you."

Mobius waves her off, "Maybe it was just one of those random things like the cold in summer."

"I have never heard you say something so stupid in my life."

Mobius takes this tissue out, too. All three are soaked and the flow is not stopping. He groans. He really doesn't like that she may be right about this. He's fine, he swears on it. 

Something flutters in the sunlight and lands on the table. A business card. Sylvie snorts. "Well, Loki has said his piece."

"What?"

She shows him the card. "Looks like we're going to a doctor."

********************************

"So some doctor came to McDonald's and gave you his number and work card and you've just had it on the top of your counter ever since?"

Sylvie hits a bump hard and Mobius nearly bashes his head into the dashboard. She turns the corner sharply and Mobius can't help but wonder if she learned how to drive from a shrub.

"I didn't want to keep it. Not at all interested. I kept it in case of emergencies. Which was smart because this is one."

"I'm sure he'll love seeing you with another man. Am I just a ploy to get you out of dating some doctor?"

She spirals into the hospital parking lot as thunder rolls overhead. Tornado today? That would be his luck.

She parks right after stomping on the brake so hard Mobius almost goes out the window.

"Who taught you how to drive," Mobius groans, head spinning. Vertigo is going to be bad today. 

"Come on," she says, unfastening her seat belt, "is your nose still bleeding?" Mobius takes the soaked tissue out. It's a trickle now but it's still coming.

Sylvie curses. She grabs the card from the cup holder. "Well, come on then. The more blood you lose the sooner you die." Mobius rolls his eyes as she slams the door.

"And this is why we don't live together," Mobius growls to himself. He jumps when the radio turns on, squeals and then says, "You said it, partner," in an old western voice.

Mobius smiles. "Hi, Lokes."

Sylvie yanks the door open, scowling, "Am I going to have to carry you in?"

Mobius raises his hands in surrender "I'm coming! I'm coming..."

But getting out of the truck is not safe. Mobius about stumbles and falls into the car beside them. The world spins and Sylvie has to hold him up right. His nose seems to bleed more. Sylvie curses. "You're going to bleed out through your nose."

For some reason Mobius giggles at that. "Wouldn't that be ironic. I survived pruning, walking out to the loom and a stabbing but what gets me is a bloody nose."

Sylvie rolls her eyes and drags him to the hospital. There, doctors immediately tak him back because he guesses for small town a bloody nose that's not stopping is actually a big deal so they take him to the ER where they set him on a bed and say the doctor will come soon.

He's just starting to relax a little when a balloon, half deflated, blows across the floor in front of his bed. He can barely read it says thank you. Mobius rolls his eyes and looks up at the ceiling.

"You know if I was anyone else that would be extremely creepy. You know that right?" The lights flicker and Mobius can almost hear his laugh.

Then comes the clonking of Sylvie's boots. She's half jogging down the hallway to his little cubicle of a bed space. "I stuck you in the hall I see. Right where anyone can see you."

Mobius looks at the bed across the way. The hospital is quiet. A slow day. He shrugs, "People have seen me in worse. Besides if it was bad, I'm sure I'd be somewhere else."

Not long after a nurse comes by. She's super friendly. So friendly in fact that the balloon comes back and she trips over it several times. Sylvie has to leave for a moment and let out a hyena laugh halfway down the hallway. The nurse looks at Mobius in question as she takes his blood pressure. He shrugs, "She had a little too much to drink this morning."

The nurse just nods though she gives Sylvie weird looks when she finally comes back.

When the lady is done filling out her chart, she says, "Alright, Doctor Spooner will be back soon to check on you. Your nose seems to be slowing so hopefully that will stop soon. If you need anything please call me," she pats his hand and winks, "I'll be happy to help you."

Then she turns to go. As she exits, the balloon gets underfoot again. She looks flustered but manages to keep smiling until she's gone. Then Sylvie starts laughing. Mobius rolls his eyes, "Oh, Sylvie, give the woman a break."

Sylvie walks around the bed to the little table and snatches up a note card the nurse left. "Ooh," she says dramatically, "Don, my number is blah blah blah. Call me. Whatever you need I got it. Nurse Victoria Kilns." Sylvie grins at him, leaning over and sticking out her lips as if looking for a kiss. "I don't know, Mobius, I think you might just be here to meet your soulmate."

Sylvie makes a gross squeltching sound the same time a box of Band-Aids falls off the top shelf of the cabinet the nurse left open and hits her in the head. Mobius laughs so hard a big stream starts again and he almost chokes on blood. Doesn't make it any less funny though.

"It sounds joyful over here." Around the corner comes the doctor, standing tall, a big grin on his face. He's not looking at Mobius though. He's looking at Sylvie. "Hello, Sylvie."

Sylvie is still rubbing her head from where the carton hit her. "Doctor," she growls.

When she doesn't give him more than that he frowns. Mobius looks as Sylvie and wiggles his eyebrows. She punches his arm so hard he swears he'll never get feeling in it again.

"Sorry, doctor," Sylvie says, finally standing straight, "he has a strange sense of humor when he's like this. I think it's something you should look at as well as his... other ailments."

"Ouch," Mobius mutters as he rubs his shoulder.

The doctor shakily laughs then looks down at his chart. "Don Laufeyson, correct?" Mobius frowns. Laufeyson? The doctor looks at Sylvie, "He's your brother-in-law?"

Brother-in-law! Mobius looks at Sylvie who looks positively giddy about this lie she concocted.

Sylvie puts her hands on her hips and nods as if that's the truest and most proven statement in the world. "Yes, he is."

"Well, Mr. Laufeyson," the doctor plops onto the stool beside Mobius's bed, "I can see your nose has certainly bothered you. Is there anything else?"

"No," Mobius starts to say but Sylvie is quick to begin her own list of infractions. 

"He's been sick more often. Constantly. He's more sick than he is healthy."

"Sylvie..."

"This morning he forgot everything. Where he was, who he was, who I was. Then he had a seizure. Then that nose. It bleeds everyday. It did twice yesterday and today it hasn't stopped."

"Thank you, Sylvie," Mobius growls, cutting her off. She glowers hard at him.

"It's important to tell the doctor everything, Don," she hisses.

"Thanks, mom," Mobius hisses back, "I'll keep that in mind the next time you want to shove me under the bus."

"How long have these symptoms been occurring?" The doctor asks. When Mobius looks at him, the doctor smiles. Sylvie's right. The more you tell us the better we can help you."

He wants to tell him he's fine and he's going to say that just as that creepy balloon floats up over the doctor as if mocking him. Mobius glares so hard at it he's surprised it doesn't pop.

Mobile slumps back into the bed, angry. He has to bite his tongue in order not to lash out. "I've been sick on and off for a while. Maybe a year or more. I move around a lot. Makes sense I get sick. Same with the bloody nose. As for my memory, I couldn't tell you. I don't remember my memory being gone. Doesn't seem like there are any gaps. For all I know this could be the first one."

The doctor looks at Sylvie. "Have you or his wife seen anything with his memory?"

Sylvie irks at that and it's almost as if she forgot what the 80s look like in regards to same-sex couples. "My brother," Sylvie growls making the doctor startle and pale, "he's not mentioned anything regarding memory but he has urged us to go to the doctor for some time. I don't remember any other memory issues other than this morning."

The man looks slightly put off now. And Sylvie enjoys making him squirm. "Does it make you squirm that Don and my brother are married, doctor?"

If Mobius's nose didn't feel like it was going to explode he'd hide behind his hands and never come out. He closes his eyes instead because this is too absurd for him right now. Same sex marriage wasn't even legal in this era so now he's a criminal plus some. Wonderful.

"I... no," the doctor stutters, "it... It's fine. I just don't-"

"Let's get back on track shall we," Sylvie huffs and Mobius can practically feel her sarcastic anger burning holes in the guy's head, "or should we get another doctor?"

The doctor clears his throat. "Right, so your brother said-"

Mobius hits Sylvie so hard in the thigh she doubles over. He points a finger in her face, eyes wide open as he says, "Not a word." They already blew this guy's mind with gay marriage. They don't need to add gender fluidity to the mix, though Sylvie looks like she is wanting to dig the whole ten times deeper for this guy. That balloon doesn't look to happy either. Either they find out what's wrong with him or they leave and Mobius is not going to another doctor to get poked and prod.

"We can help stop your nose from bleeding for now, sir, but I would like to do some blood work. Is that all right?"

Mobius looks down at his shirt and then back up at him, "Well I have plenty of it. How much do you need?"

*************************

"That was the worst hospital I have ever been in! Sylvie howls as she slams her trucks door shut. Mobius is more gentle with it. His nose has stopped bleeding thankfully but they have no answers. Not until tomorrow at least.

"And that doctor," she grasps the wheel so tight Mobius's imagines she's thinking of squeezing the guys throat. "Homophobic bigot! I can't believe he dared to ask me on a date!"

Mobius shrugs, "He seemed to get used to the idea after a little while-"

"No, he didn't. I told him Loki and I are gender fluid while you were getting your blood drawn."

Mobius snorts way too hard and Sylvie spins so fast he swears she almost takes the wheel off. "If you start bleeding again, I'm not taking you back in there! I'll just rip your nose right off you!"

That only makes Mobius laugh harder and honestly it feels good. But it tires him out way too quickly and he's slumped in his seat by the time they get home. Her home. It's Sylvie's home. Why does that feel like it slipped from his mind way too easily. Kind of like Loki at Roxxcart-

And suddenly a horrifying thought comes to mind. Mobius's eyes whip open, the tiredness so quickly gone. He inhales so hard it gets Sylvie's attention.

"What is it?" She asks as she puts the vehicle in park, "What's wrong?"

Mobius blinks hard. Loki. Focus on Loki. His black hair. His tall figure. His... his...

Why can't he remember? Why can't he remember Loki! 

"Sylvie," Mobius says, panic, a clawing painful choking thing crawls up his throat. He can't breathe. "I can't remember him."

"Who? Who can't you remember?"

Mobius doesn't dare look at her. Not when tears are starting to cloud his vision and he's starting to hyperventilate.

"Loki," he croaks, "I can't remember Loki."

****************************

They don't go to bed that night. In fact they stay up all night trying to peace out everything Mobius has forgotten. Sylvie even spends an hour describing Loki to him. His looks, personality, their adventures, even what he sounds like. All it does is make Mobius feel worse. He can't remember how their hug felt or Loki's smile at the end of it all. He can't see the color of his eyes or hear his voice. None of it is ringing a bell and when dawn breaks the sky in two Mobius is about ready to jump off the roof. How can he not remember any of this. Loki has always been the most important thing in his life and now he can't even remember his first words to him.

And frankly Sylvie is scared, too. With every no Mobius gives her, she looks more and more deranged, as if he's driving her to insanity. Is he? He feels like he is. Mobius feels quite insane himself.

They barely eat, too scared to move. To break the spell that is what seems to be a brief reprie illness until the phone rings and they nearly kill each other trying to get to it. It's one of those landlines. The ones with the cord that is so long you can take the phone into the other room but no further.

Sylvie gets it first. "Hello?"

Mobius tugs on the receiver cord until she scowls and tips it so they can both hear. "Hi, Sylvie," some nurse says, "we got the results of your brother-in-law's tests."

"Glad to hear," Sylvie says, scowling at Mobius, "what does he have so we can get rid of it?"

There's a shuffling on the other end of the line then the nurse says, "Well, that's just the thing, ma'am. He doesn't have anything."

Sylvie and Mobius stand speechless for a moment. Then, "What?" Sylvie chokes, "How can that be? His memory. His sickness-"

"Is not appearing in his blood work," the woman says, "he's completely healthy."

Sylvie covers the receiver and looks up at the ceiling, "Oh norns, we went to a quack hospital."

"But there is something strange with his blood over all."

Mobius yanks the phone from Sylvie's hand and says, "What's up with it?"

The woman pauses then says, "Are you Don?"

"Yes, I am."

"Well, Don," she says while Sylvie yanks him back and forth until they decide to put their heads together to listen, "when the doctors were looking it over, they saw that some of your cells were disappearing."

Mobius frowns, "Disappearing?"

"Yes. It seems like something is eating them. Tearing them apart and turning them into string before disappearing altogether."

String? Eating? What is she talking about?

Sylvie yanks the receiver back and hisses, "Is that what they have in their notes? That his cells are being eaten?"

"Yes, ma'am. The sample was gone this morning. Almost as if it evaporated."

Evaporated. String. Eaten. What the- could it- no...

"How can you just lose a blood sample!" Sylvie's yelling when Mobius takes the phone back.

"Would a better description of what was happening to my blood cells be turning into spaghetti?"

The nurse is quiet for a moment. Then she says, "I'll ask. Please hold."

Then she's gone and Sylvie is glaring at him. "Spaghetti?"

But the look he gives her makes her stop and go pale. The loom, Mobius mouths and she gaps.

"You never went to the loom."

"Not when you were there I didn't. I did when we were helping Loki to stop time-slipping."

"How could any temporal radiation get you with the suit on?"

Mobius has an idea of how but the nurses is back before he can answer her. "Yes," she says, "they say that would be an excellent description of that. Your cells have spaghettified into non-existence."

Mobius feel sick. He barely registers the phone falling from his hand as Sylvie tries to get his attention but he's numb. Spaghetti. Wasting away. Aging away. How is this happening? Now? Why now? It's been so long. How is he not dead if-

"Mobius!" Sylvie shakes him roughly. There's a loud crash of thunder and rain is hitting the window hard. Almost as if someone is in anguish. Angry. Desperate.

The phone is back on the wall. His nose while not dripping feels ready too. But it's just not just his nose. It's everything. It all feels on the edge of collapse.

He's being destroyed inside out.

"Mobius?" Sylvie says again. Her voice is unsteady. Her body tight like a spring. 

Mobius swallows hard. "We need to see O.B. Now."

*********************************

"Is there a reason you're hovering over me like some kind of creepy stalker."

Loki is sitting inches from him on the bed in Mobius's TVA t-shirt and orange shorts. His hair is still damp from his shower. Mobius can barely see him in the alarm clocks light.

"Stalkers are already creepy," Loki mutters, eyes glinting.

"You know what I mean."

Loki shuffles, moving the covers more. He's uncomfortable. "You should be asleep."

"I would be if I didn't have Count Mischief stalking me."

"I'm not..." Loki abruptly stops talking as if he's tired of arguing. So is Mobius so he starts to sit up before Loki shoves him back down. His face is squashed in his pillow as Loki says, "I'm going in the other room. Go back to sleep. I'm sorry I'm disturbed you."

Mobius flails for a moment until he grabs Loki's shirt and clings to the hem of it until he says with more force, "Go back to sleep."

"Loki, please sit down."

Loki groans. Mobius is half out of the bed, gripping him like a lifeline until he walks backward and Mobius can get back on the bed. Loki sits on the edge, back to Mobius, so he stares at Loki's hair and wonders if it's naturally soft or if he has a secret recipe to keep it that way. He's rubbing his palm. Mobius can feel the flexing of his muscles from where he grabbed the shirt. Loki is nervous.

"You should be sleeping, too," Mobius says.

"I can't," Loki whispers, "too much on my mind."

"If this is bothering you we can go now. The sooner we get Sylvie the better."

Mobius starts to get up again but Loki presses a hand against his chest, laying him back down. He keeps his palm there flat against Mobius's sternum as if he will fight him. Mobius can't. He's believe hia inside are going to fry the longer the hand is there. The pressure feels good. The coolness of Loki skin calms him. It takes all too much concentration to keep his breathing even.

"It's not..." Loki stops and sighs, "I'm... sorry, Mobius."

Mobius grabs his wrist, squeezing it. "What's wrong?"

Loki turns to look at him, "I don't think you are okay."

"What do you mean?" 

"That piece of tape was practically burned through. Doc Clock sounded uncertain. Are you sure you are well?"

Oh. Mobius sees. He smiles even though Loki can't see it. "I'm okay, Loki. Promise. I haven't turned to spaghetti yet. I still remember you. I'm healthy and here."

Loki sighs, "I know that. And I see that. But I can't shake the feeling that if I close my eyes..."

It'll all go away. Mobius tugs on Loki's shirt with the hand not around Loki's wrist, pulling him down onto the small bed. "Mobius!" Loki complains as he collapses into the pillow. 

"I hear a good way to ease nightmares is by having someone with you," Mobius says, burying back into his bed. 

"I'm not having nightmares."

"Day mares. Whatever. Same thing. Come on. If you're not going to sleep at least lay down and watch me. Standing over me like a gruesome creeper won't help me sleep at all."

Loki glares at him but either way, whether reluctant or not, he buries himself into Mobius's bed as well. But they don't sleep. They just stare at each other and to be frank it's soothing. Loki's eyes glint every time they move. Mobius feels the gods hands squeezing and releasing his pillow repeatedly. He wonders if this is strange for Loki, too.

As for Mobius, his cheeks are burning. He's glad the lights are off because he doesn't think he can take the look on Loki's face. He was bold. Too much so. Loki is in love with Sylvie. And here Mobius is pushing him into his bed. Like some love sick jealous fool.

Mobius hates this. He's pathetic. He can't think about this right now though. Sylvie is important to whatever Loki saw. She's monumental. If they are to sleep to make this happen, Mobius will.

It takes a lot of time. Whatever that is here. Lots of time staring and thinking and slowly, intimately, Mobius begins to drift off. 

At some point it looks like Loki's form contracts in drastic ways, every which way possible making the bed shake. He's too out of it to be concerned about it. But before Mobius drifts completely off, Loki says, "Mobius, promise me, if you ever are sick, feel off, feel..." He doesn't finish but Mobius gets his point, promise me, that you will tell me and get help."

Mobius chuckles, half asleep. "Get help... yeah, Lokes. I promise. I'll tell you. I promise."

"Okay..."

Mobius feel something brush his face. There's a soft pressure on his cheek. "Sleep well, Mobius." As everything fades away, he says more but Mobius is too far gone to hear it. All he can say in turn is that he loves him, too.

Chapter Text

"I can't believe I'm letting you drag me back to that nightmare of a place you call home."

Mobius rolls his eyes, half tempted to throw his tempad across the room. "I'm not dragging you anywhere. I told you to stay back on your timeline and I would deal with it."

"So what? You can come back and tell me everything is fine when it clearly isn't?"

Mobius groans. He knows everything is not okay. He knows it without a shadow of a doubt. But he hasn't said it allowed. He can't. If he does, he feels like the world will fall apart. Or turn to spaghetti. To be honest either is viable at this moment.

"I don't need a babysitter, Sylvie," Mobius says as he sits on his couch and types in the rest of O.B.'s coordinates, "I'm a grown man who can deal with a little illness."

"Says the man who thought he was okay for the past year despite having a bloody nose for nearly every day of it."

Mobius sighs. He's too tired to argue with her about this. "Sylvie, come or don't come. I don't care. But I do not want to hear about how awful the TVA is while we are -ah!" She moves to argue but Mobius is sure to stop her. "You know I'm not happy about the TVA either. But they are the only ones who can fix this. And O.B. and B-15 and Casey are not the villains. Not anymore."

Sylvie clenches and unclenches her fists. They don't talk about the TVA often if at all. It's a sore subject for both of them. She hasn't been back in a long time unlike Mobius who likes to see O.B. and the others every once in awhile. He doesn't expect her to ever go back. But the wind and the storm outside is getting worse, his nose is crackling and he's feeling nauseous so he'd rather get this done with now.

Mobius stands up and opens the time door while Sylvie watches, hand on her hip, chewing on her lip, shaking. Mobius turns away and whispers under his breath, "I'll be back here soon, Loki. This is nothing they can't handle."

The wind stops for a moment as if taking a breath. That's when Mobius walks through. 

***************************

Mobius doesn't comprehend it sometimes. The things Loki does to let him know he sees him. It took him a long time to even recognize it but once he did, he could see where Loki was all along. It started small. A cool breeze when Mobius was hot like in front of Don's house. Or his drink falling off the bar when someone poisoned in it. Or the time he decided to go on a diet and signs for pie started popping up everywhere.

It was, is, the little things. And as the time went on Mobius started to wonder how much communication he was missing. Are the dreams messages? Is every song he hears conditioned to him or just happenstance? And he also wonders if he is talking to Sylvie, too. Or Thor. Frigga. O.B. Sylvie at least knows. She brings it up all the time. So he must talk to her. So it's not like Mobius is special.

And that takes Mobius in the same circle that he's always going in. He's angry because Loki was never clear about how he feels. Chasing down Sylvie after she yelled at Mobius made him think she was right. Then he learns that Loki was defending him. Then he says that stupid 'for you, for all of us' line that had Mobius twisting in agony for far too long.

Sylvie insists it's him. He's always too tired to argue. But Loki does speak to him. Mobius could ask him. Ask for some kind of direction but what good would that do to him. If Loki indicated he doesn't share Mobius's feelings then Mobius would be heartbroken and as much as he loves Loki's company, he would need to ask him to focus on Sylvie and forget him. He would truly have to move on.

But what if he indicated a yes. What if Loki did share Mobius's feelings and the food and the signs and the songs are actually him trying to tell Mobius that. Then that's hell because he is in some tree far away and Mobius is here living above a Chinese restaurant with Loki's variant who keeps trying to get Mobius to move. And they can't be together. They can't do anything except talk to space and have leaves and signs be their only way of portraying love.

Mobius wouldn't be able to live if it's a yes. 

So Mobius doesn't ask. And he keeps talking to open air. And Loki keeps using objects to talk. And on the circle goes. Save the TVA. Mobius doesn't know if Loki can see him there. He assumes he can. He assumes he hears them. It's not like Mobius hasn't dreamed of Loki before at the TVA. He assumes his power is lessened somehow, because Mobius expects his reaction all through this process with O.B.

Instead there is nothing...

***************************

Mobius comes through to O.B.'s desk, where he is already looking up at Mobius from some trinket he is messing with. He's not surprised that Casey is with him.

"Hey, Mobius," Casey says. 

O.B.'s eyes widen, "and Sylvie. Wow. What an honor."

Mobius turns. Sylvie looks extremely uncomfortable as the door closes behind her. She crosses her arms defiantly. "Skip the pleasures. We have a problem."

Mobius groans. He points his thumb at her and mouths to O.B. 'she's the problem.'

Casey snorts. O.B. looks confused. Sylvie slaps his back and hard. He stumbles into the desk and starts coughing. When he pulls his sleeve away, when he can finally breathe again, there is blood. On his tongue, on his lips, even on his coat sleeve. His friends gasp.

Casey grabs his shoulder, forcing him to stand straight. "Mobius, what happened?"

Mobius smiles weakly. "That's the thing."

"We don't know," Sylvie finishes. 

O.B. looks almost speechless. Casey, while looking entirely to pale for his own good manages to pull out his tempad and stay into it, "Doc Clock, we need you down in R&A. Immediately."

***********************************

While they wait for Doc Clock, Sylvie spills all Mobius's 'secrets' to Casey and O.B. about how sick he's been and how the doctors described what was happening to his cells as turning into spaghetti. O.B. looks more and more horrified by the second while Casey looks intrigued. 

"Wait, so you've been sick for how long?" He asks. 

Mobius shrugs, "How am I supposed to know. If my memory keeps going out how am I supposed to know how long I've been sick."

"What's going on?" 

They all look up on the ceiling and there's a woman in white and black suit crawling around. She waves at Mobius, "Hi, Mobius, long time no see."

Mobius stares. What is she? She's obviously a spider person but which one. He can't see her face...

When he doesn't respond her brow pinches together. She drops from the ceiling to the floor by him. "What, no hello?"

Suddenly O.B. is in his face, scaring him, "Is this one of your memory lapses? What's her name?"

"Memory lapses?" The woman says, "What are you talking about?"

"Mobius is sick and we don't know why," Sylvie huffs, scrolling through her phone.

"Sick?" The woman says.

"What is her name, Mobius?" O.B. asks again.

The woman looks at him and Mobius is grateful he can he can't see her eyes cause he couldn't bear to see her in pain at the fact he can't remember who she is. He slowly shakes his head, not daring to answer. "I'm sorry..." he whispers, a slow pressure building in his chest. It's painful. He's pain filled. "I don't know you."

The woman almost seems to deflate. Slowly she pushes back the hood and removes the mask to show blonde hair and blue eyes. Worried ones. "Gwen," she says, Gwen stacy. You helped me when I first got here. You took care of me. Don't you remember that?"

"Of course he doesn't." They jump. Doc Clock is on O.B.'s desk, tapping her foot angrily. "If he had let me finish scanning him all those years ago this wouldn't be happening."

Mobius sighs internally. Of course it came back to bite him. The clock motions back to Gwen. "Go on. Tell me something about her. That's not obvious."

Mobius looks at the spider girl who is fiddling with her mask now and looks a tad sick. Her eyes. He recognizes her eyes. But. He doesn't know her...

Mobius shake his head. "You got me." He curses. This is really happening. He can't believe this.

Doc Clock smiles. "You bet I do. Med lab, now."

***************************

Mobius lays on that stupid table for what seems like forever. Doc Clock scans him multiple times while Sylvie looks absolutely bored and Gwen sits by his side. O.B. looks upset beyond measure.

"If there was something wrong with him since the walk to the loom," he is saying, "then why didn't you pick it up when he got stabbed? Why is this only coming up now?"

"His stabbing was not on a molecular level," Doc Clock growls, "not like this."

"A reality shard affected him on a cellular level," O.B. hisses and Mobius finds it terrifying that he's never heard him sound like this, "if this time radiation is doing exactly as you say it is-"

"It's not time radiation," Sylvie hisses from across the room, "Loki wouldn't allow that."

"Loki has no control over Mobius's health," Doc Clock says, "and all readings and charts add up to that," she finally looks away from Mobius and to the group around him, "time radiation."

"Shouldn't it have killed him by now then," Sylvie barks, "or long before now. How could it take so long to affect him?"

Mobius looks at Gwen who seems to be the calmest of the group but in her eyes he sees the storm. And suddenly, a memory comes. Strong and soft. He smiles. "You're the one who gave me the teddy bear," He whispers and then she's looking at him, eyes big. "One day when we were investigating a carnival you got me a teddy bear. Said it suited me. That was you, right?"

Her eyes water but only for a second. She nods. "Yeah. Yeah, Mobius that was me."

Mobius smiles. He still has that bear. It's on the shelf next to Sylvie's record player. 

Suddenly Doc Clock is in his face, a scowl marrying her features, "Why didn't you report these symptoms earlier?"

All of these clocks need to go bye-bye. He'll put an end to them himself. 

Loki glares at her, "Maybe I thought it was a normal human sickness. You know, cause I'm human and not a robot."

She glares harder, "If this doesn't kill you, your mouth will." She spins, much like a clock and his scans show up. Like the doctors on Earth said, his vitals look okay. There's no real sign of damage. But upon looking at a deeply internal facet, the scans are red. That's what Doc Clock focuses on.

"Your internal organs are being consumed," she says, "this time radiation is eating you inside out. Your liver, spleen, stomach, even your lungs are starting to disappear, leaving little holes that are killing you. Your white blood cell count is too low. No doubt from the radiation eating them."

"What about his memory?" Sylvie interrupts, "If this thing is eating his brain, then shouldn't other aspects of his mind and body be affected?"

"Can we stop with the eating metaphors please," Mobius growls, feeling sick.

Doc Clock flips her switch to show his brain scan. "I have no doubt his speech and nervous system will be affected soon enough. But if it's eating cells and moving on, then it is mostly a spot on his brain, killing the part that holds memories."

Great. Can't wait for the moment he can't even think anymore. "Why did it take so long to affect me?" He asks, "this happened so long ago. Why didn't it kill me sooner?"

"If I had to guess," O.B. starts, and for the first time Mobius notices how broken he looks. How pained and close to tears. "It's from hopping between the branches. The radiation would have slowed to match real time."

"And when he's here?" Sylvie asks.

O.B. shrugs, "Still moves, but it's a lot slower which if anything it's going fast or even slower in him. There's no telling. Temporal radiation is unpredictable. There's no telling how fast it will go. If I had to guess, the more there is, the faster it goes. Like a heat conductor. The faster the atoms move, the hotter the object is. Might just be the same with temporal radiation."

Gwen is rubbing her head, "So this thing is eating him slowly or quickly depending on where he is. How do we stop it?"

Then the tears are back in O.B.'s eye. "We don't."

Sylvie reacts so fast he's pretty sure she was just waiting for O.B. to say that. "I call B.S."

"Sylvie," Mobius mumbles as his head starts to hurt. A dull throbbing pain appears behind his eye that is slowly burning up until his vision fuzzes.

"No!" She shouts, "How can there not be a way to reverse it. It's literal time. The saying 'killing time' can't just be metaphorical. Not here."

The silence that follows is deafening. If O.B. doesn't know how to cure this then there really isn't any hope. And for some reason... Mobius is okay with that. For some reason he's completely calm. He's dying and he's completely calm.

Maybe Mobius always knew. It's not like the thought hasn't crossed his mind. He doesn't want to die. Of course he doesn't. But the universe doesn't give him pleasantries like that. It never does. He didn't have agency for eona. He can't love Loki because Loki has to let everyone live. He can't have a life.

And for some reason he is okay with that.

Mobius stares at the ceiling, feeling slightly numb. Maybe that's why he's okay. Because he can't feel anything. Gwen is saying something above him. Sylvie's throwing a fit. O.B. is starting to cry.

The light is hurting his eyes. He's tired. So he covers his eyes with his arm, and lets the throbbing darkness taken him deep, deep under.

****************************

When Mobius opens his eyes again, it's back to popcorn ceilings and the smell of McDonald's. He feels like throwing up. He wonders if that's because his stomach is being eaten away. The fan is whirring above, even though he can hear rain, a downpour, hitting the window.

"It hasn't stopped," he hears Sylvie say from somewhere to his right, "I think he knows. He's probably always known."

It takes far too long for him to realize that she's talking about Loki.

"Should I remember coming here?" Mobius asks.

"No," Sylvie's disembodied voice says, "I carried you back here. O.B. insisted we get you back to the timeline before you got worse. He... he's not doing well, Mobius. He could barely make the call to B-15 and Casey. He's blaming himself."

"He shouldn't," Mobius says as lightning flashes outside. He wonders if Loki blames him or O.B. "We didn't have a lot of time. I was only focused on fixing Loki. I didn't care what happened to me. I did at first but after he disappeared..."

"And now you're paying for it."

Mobius finally looks at Sylvie, really looks at her. At her bruised eyes and messy hair. She hasn't slept. Not since the hospital. He doesn't think she's eaten, showered, anything. She looks like a crazy woman living off her adrenaline alone.

"You need to sleep. Maybe eat? When's the last time we ate?"

Sylvie's eyes narrow. "Mobius, you're dying and you're concerned about food?"

"Priorities," Mobius mutters and almost immediately he knows that's the wrong thing to say.

Lightning flashes. So does Sylvie's eyes. 

"Priorities," she hisses, "what is with you and food? Your body is shutting down. It can't keep you alive anymore because you're disappearing little by little and all you want is what? Pie!"

Ah. The old drudgery of pie and food and everything else in the world. Mobius was hurt last time. This time, he's numb.

"Eh, not pie. Not feeling sweets right now. When's the last time I ate an apple? Fruit would be good right about now-"

She grabs him and shakes him so hard his neck cracks and a dull ache starts. When he can see straight again, Mobius sees tears in Sylvie's eyes, ones that are overshadowed by the rage, the fire of a traumatized woman dealing with a stubborn man.

"O.B. his turning circle for you. Gwen is a mess and soon all of our friends will know and your sitting here asking about food. What is the matter with you?"

Mobius pushes her back and she lets go. The world spins. Thunder shakes the apartment. And he. Doesn't. Care.

"This is some kind of shock to you!" Mobius bites, "You really don't think that after everything that has happened, mind wipes, He Who Remains, the loom, Nightmare, Wanda, Loki, did you really think it wouldn't end like this? The universe is not in my favor, Sylvie. You know there are no happy endings for me-"

The windows behind them blowout. Sylvie and Mobius duck as glass rains over them. The wind roars blasting the apartment and within it, an angry, angst filled scream. And it continues for a long moment. It rattles Mobius's teeth, his hands over his ears as it goes. It's going to be something he'll never get out of his head.

Ever.

Eventually the screaming stops but the curtains still flap, thunder still roars and Sylvie and Mobius both stay curled on the floor like children. Rain covers the floor and them and by the time Mobius can pry his stinging hands from his skull, he's drenched.

Sylvie is heaving breaths in and out like she's having a panic attack. Her hands are so tight to her head Mobius is surprised she hasn't yanked out half her hair.

"Sylvie," Mobius huffs, reaching out to her wrist. She smacks it away quite violently.

"Get out," she hisses between her knees and elbows into the wet air.

Mobius feels his body stutter. Is he feeling again? Is he finally coming to reality because Sylvie... is breaking?

"I don't-"

"Get out!" She screams and a bright flash of green sends Mobius back to the floor. Then she's on her feet running down the hall, slamming the bathroom door shut. Something shatters and Mobius flinches.

The wind blows harder and Mobius shivers. His head throbs and her apartment shakes. He shouldn't leave her. He really shouldn't. He should comfort her. But he clearly can't think straight. Mobius said things he shouldn't. Sylvie and Loki don't deserve any of that. He hauls himself to his feet and into the rain, closing the door gently as he goes.

******************************

Mobius is robotic has he slowly goes down his apartment stairs. From the kitchen he hears Ms. Chen yell his name. He should take her food today. It's good food. He doesn't enjoy it enough.

"It looks like it's going to rain, Mr. Mobius," Ms. Chen calls. 

Of course it is. Loki followed him home. 

"Indeed, Ms. Chen," he says, leaning against the counter when he reaches it. Who knew stairs could make you so tired, "what do you have cooking?"

Ms. Chen looks at him suspiciously. He rarely asks about food. Of course she's wary. She's used to shoving it down his throat.

"Are you well, Mr. Mobius. You look pale."

Should he tell her? Should he tell her he's dying? That his body is turning to nothing but misplaced pieces of time. It would only be fair in case she breaks into his apartment and finds his spaghettified body. But he can't find it in his heart to do it. So instead, he smiles and says, "It was a long night. I'm a little tired is all."

"Mm hm," she says suspiciously, "you sound like my children. Always tired but never sick until they ruin my kitchen floor."

Her kids are grown ups now but from the sounds of it they must have been some interesting kids. "I would love some of those dumplings you like to make. I would like to finally try them."

Ms. Chen swallows hard. She's suspicious but respectfully doesn't call him out for it. "We will bring it to you, Mr. Mobius." Lightening flashes as she yells back to her cook then turns back to him. "You're not going out, are you?"

"Only for a little while. I haven't spent time in weather like this in a while."

Ms. Chen smiles weakly, "Don't get pneumonia. I would hate to say goodbye."

Mobius smiles weakly back. Pneumonia is the least of his worries. He tastes blood. Thunder rolls.

*******************************

It doesn't rain. Not at least while Mobius is eating his food. He goes back to the same bench he was at days ago and stares at people gathering their things to avoid the storm. Joggers move a little quicker and kids squeal at the sound of thunder.

The food is good. Incredibly so. And it's there as Mobius fills his face with the best Asian food he's ever eaten that it really hits him. He's never going to eat this food again. He's never going to enjoy the smell of the rain or the sound of thunder. One day he's here, the next he's not. And no one will know the difference. Not in this world. Or even in half the worlds of the tree.

It's enough to put him in a depression. 

But then he looks up at the sky that looks more green than a gray and not because of tornado. And even though he's not here, even though Mobius only knows that he's listening is because of the strange leaves swirling around him, he knows all of this is worth it. Mobius helped a Loki become someone he always thought they could be. And then that Loki released the multiverse, keeps it alive. Mobius helped something amazing and beautiful be created. Lives. Trillions of them. He got to be a part of that. Even if it was a little bit.

Mobius doesn't really care if he is remembered. His ego was never something he needed a boost for. He cares that he left the world doing something good. He always thought that was keeping the sacred timeline flowing. Making sure there is pure order. But now... he guarded the timelines for a while. Fought off nightmares. Integrated new variants into the TVA. Maybe it's time. Maybe he's no longer needed.

When he's finished eating his noodles, he looks up at the clouds. "I'm sorry," he whispers, "I should have listened to you. Maybe after everything I should have gone and got checked out. I just wasn't ... I wasn't a priority for me. Still not I suppose."

Mobius sighs. The wind howls. But it's warm like a hug. A slight drizzle starts. "I'm happy, Loki. I mean I miss you. Gosh, I miss you. But I'm happy with my friends. My life is... good." Thunder rumbles and Mobius can't tell if it's a bad or a good rumble. But then tears touch his eyes. Loki.

Oh, Loki.

No more random objects flying around. No more stars or snow that talk to him. No songs or random radio noises. 

No more Loki.

And that's when he cries. When a sob split's his chest in two. "Oh, Loki," He sobs, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry..."

The rain comes down harder but Mobius can barely feel it. His nose starts bleeding, mixing the taste of metal and rain in his mouth. He grips a hand over his heart and bends over until his nose is close to his knees. 

And he sobs. He sobs and sobs. And the clouds with him. 

Oh, Loki. If Mobius hadn't tried to save him this wouldn't be happening and yet he would change nothing.

Love is a sweet, sweet poison. 

*******************************

"I've heard of people dying from grief but I never truly believed it could happen."

Mobius doesn't look at her. She's leaving now. Now that a new system is in place Sylvie doesn't feel needed which they all know is a load. She'll keep her eyes on them. Everyone knows it.

"Thought you were leaving," Mobius says, keeping his eyes on the ceiling.

Mobius lets her sit on his desk. He still doesn't look. "I just wanted to say bye. Though I doubt it will be for long."

Mobius starts, "What? You plan on going to where I'm from or something?"

She doesn't reply. Mobius sighs. "Thanks for the help, Sylvie. I'm sure B appreciates it."

"I just want to help you, Mobius-"

"You just want to tell me to move on just like everyone else. Don't pretend."

"He's gone-"

"And so are you."

At that Sylvie stands over him, her face angry. "Don't," she hisses, "be putting anything on me-"

"I'm not-"

"You look like death warmed over, Mobius. Is that what you want? To be dead."

Mobius lurches up from his seat and stares her right in the face, nose to nose. Sylvie doesn't flinch. Neither does he.

"You better get going, Sylvie," Mobius says biting the words he truly wants to say, "I hear that broken ice cream machine calling your name."

Sylvie's eyes flare and Mobius almost believes she's going to hit him. Instead she grabs her coat she left on his desk and marches away, but not before saying, "You know, Loki gave us time, Mobius. He gave us a chance of life. What you're doing is not a living. He cares about you." Then she turns from where she's opened the time door. Her fiery eyes match his. "And other people care about you, too."

Then she's gone and Mobius is left staring at his desk while analysts around him murmur. He growls and slumps back in his seat. His head hurts. He's too old for this crap.

"Mobius?"

Mobius looks up. Casey stares at him, worried. He sighs. "Did you find the file?"

"No. Still working on it. Are you okay?"

No. Mobius wants to march out that gangway and find Loki. And if he dies so be it. Instead, he smiles and says, "Of course, Casey," as the taste of blood fills his tongue, "I am as healthy as a horse."

Chapter Text

Mobius doesn't know when things change. One day he's asleep on his couch by himself with a bloody nose, the next O.B.'s hovering over him with equipment to monitor his cells and Mobius's feeling worse by the day. B comes in and out. Gwen always brings people by. People Mobius should know like the guy with the claws named Jimmy who he apparently helped train and looks more and more pissed off every time Mobius doesn't say he remembers him.

There's also Gambit who Mobius doesn't remember but every time he shoots out a card a blur of something from when Mobius was stabbed comes to mind. He doesn't remember Gwen really either. She mentions people that he should remember like Brad or Ravonna. But his memory is getting worse. It's obvious when one day he wakes up and he can't remember something as simple as where he put his toothbrush.

And then there's the matter of O.B. and Sylvie. The worst of it. Gwen and Jimmy's eyes are horrible but it's nothing compared to O.B.'s constant apologies and Sylvie's temper.

Here's the problem. Time radiation is simply that. Time on steroids. Time moving too fast for anyone's good. Unusable time. O.B. has been trying to figure out how to extract the radiation but that's not possible. It's not a tangible substance that can be touched. It's small abnormal atoms that eat other atoms to make more of itself. And there's no telling where the source of growth is though O.B. assumes it's Mobius's frontal lobe from how his memory is going so fast and how he constantly is getting bloody noses.

So O.B. can't figure out how to cure him because what can fight temporal radiation and Sylvie's upset because she thinks she can get one of Idunn's apples and it would solve everything but Mobius disagrees. "Loki wasn't eradicated," she would say, "and he's eaten one." And Mobius would say, "Loki spent norns knows how long mastering time. I don't think it has to do with Idunn's apples." And Loki is driving both of them nuts. At first they thought he was trying to help but after a while of him just throwing objects and all of it going nowhere, they figured he's was just trying to get them to do things that wouldn't aggravate the radiation. Like the time he smacked Sylvie with a chocolate store open sign and they went just so Mobius could try some new delicacies.

Essentially, Loki doesn't know anymore than they do. Which scares O.B. to death. 

There is a plus to all this though. Mobius is not angry at Loki anymore. Well... actually, that's a lie. He's absolutely mad at Loki but he's also content. He supposed immenent death will do that to you. Mobius misses him but he's also happy he doesn't have to deal with the the nagging he knows comes from him over this.

"Does it hurt a lot?"

Gwen's voice pierces his thoughts. She sits on his coffee table, as he lays on the couch, staring at the ceiling. She's been by a few times. Trying to jog his memory of things. Who she is. The pie at the TVA. His trip to the 1893 with Loki. His time before Loki. A lot of the time though, those memories are gone for good.

Mobius shrugs, watching flecks of dust dance in the sunlight. "Not really. Not yet. My head hurts a lot. I...I..."

Mobius swallows hard. So does Gwen. "It's starting to reach your speech, isn't it?"

Mobius shrugs again. He wants to say no, but that would be a lie and they both know it. "How's O.B.?"

Gwen shakes her head. "Not good. Casey's trying to help him out, but he's diving into his own self-made hell trying to save you."

Mobius shakes his head too even though it makes his vision jiggle. "He would have found it by now if there was one."

Gwen sighs. She looks at the teddy bear and fiddles with her web shooters. "We can't give up."

"Why?" Mobius doesn't mean to say it like he does but he has to know. "I left the TVA again. I don't do anything except mope. Why save an old man like me when there is so many other things going on?"

Gwen doesn't explode like Sylvie did. Instead, her eyes tear up and she looks away from the teddy bear. "Because we love you, Mobius. What other reason could there be?"

Mobius doesn't really know. He coughs. Blood speckles his sleeve.

Gwen ignores it in favor of grabbing his hand and getting him up. "Come on. Let's go get some pie."

Mobius smiles weakly, "Key Lime?"

Her smile doesn't look any better. "Always."

**************************

"O.B., can you look at me?"

He's observing Mobius's blood cells under a microscope. Bent over, muscles tense. It Mobius's fifth time here. Feels like the hundredth. Mobius has been pricked and prodded more than he cares for.

O.B.'s hands shake as he taps something on his tempad. He swipes a hand over his forehead then says, "I can't. I need to get this done."

Mobius shakes his head. "O.B."

"If I can just find a way to interact with your cellular structure-"

"O.B."

"Then I could find a way to let them fight off spaghettification. I can't reverse it but I could at least give you a fighting chance!"

"O.B.!"

O.B. jumps. His tempad clatters against his desk. Mobius pushes himself up from where he lays on the stretcher O.B. has brought in for for his benefit. They still don't know if he's better off on or off the timeline, but either way it doesn't matter. Not for much longer.

Mobius gets all the way up and says as gently as he can, "Can you look at me?"

O.B. shakes his head minutely, as if denying any of this. "Please," Mobius whispers.

O.B. hesitates, then slowly turns around. For once, Mobius sees how red his eyes are. How... devastated. It breaks Mobius's heart. The fact this is causing O.B. such pain...

Mobius gets up moving slower and even though O.B. objects, he places gentle hands on his shoulders before saying, "I want you to listen for a sec, okay." O.B. meets Mobius's eyes and Mobius doesn't think he's ever seen such sad eyes in his life. He shakes the scientist a little, "Are you listening?" O.B. nods but only slightly. Mobius make sure he's making eye contact as he says, "This is not your fault."

O.B. immediately jumps to object but Mobius holds his hands up, cutting him off before any word can get out. "No. No, this isn't your fault. It never was. The suit was the only size that could fit me. And I would have done it, whether it was safe or not. This isn't your fault."

And O.B. starts hyperventilating halfway through. Mobius guides him through a few breathing exercises until he's practically choking on sobs, then Mobius hugs him as tight as he can. He can't remember why he's here. He can't remember how he got here. But he remembers O.B. and that's enough.

O.B. grabs Mobius's jacket as he sobs, a sound Mobius never thought he would hear come from the little man and it's a sound he never wants to hear again. "I don't know how to save you," O.B. says through sobs, "I can't fix it and I can fix anything! Why can't I fix this?"

Mobius lets O.B. cry for longer than he thought he would cry. Mobius can't help but wonder how long he has kept all this in. When the sobs turn to heavy breaths, and tears and snot are dry, Mobius pulls O.B. back and tries to look in his eyes.

"O.B.?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you do something for me?"

O.B. finally looks more alive at the mention of a job. "Yeah?"

"Be my friend, not my physician. I need you with me now, not holed up here, berating yourself for something out of your control. I want my friend. Please. Before we run out of time."

O.B. almost starts crying again. "If I stop and there's a cure..."

It'll kill him if he finds one after Mobius is gone. But Mobius needs him to understand just this once.

"I know. It can save others if there is. Call me selfish, but I want my friend. Please."

Slowly, painfully, O.B. nods, "Okay."

Mobius smiles, albeit with a screaming headache and a bit of fuzz as he tries to remember how he met O.B. Does he even know? "Okay."

"Mobius," O.B. says so quietly he almost misses it.

"What?"

"I don't want you to go."

Mobius's heart lurches. Instead of letting his own emotions get the better of him, he simply nods and says, "Me, too."

*******************************

Maybe it's because she used to be a doctor or maybe it's because it just gets too heavy on the job but when B comes to Mobius or he to her, she makes sure they do something that makes them laugh. Laughter is the best medicine. 

Today, she comes to him at the park where he watches a squirrel climb his tree. It's a little gray squirrel with too much fur on its face. Mobius recalls Loki's alligator varia t. In that world he was a capibara. He wonders if there are other worlds where they are animals.

"Here."

Mobius turns as B slaps a salad in his lap with cucumbers and little tomatoes. He smiles at that. "Thank you."

"We're going to the zoo today," she says, chewing on what looks like a beef and cheddar sandwich. "I haven't seen animals in a long time. I can't even remember what a bear looks like."

Mobius snort says he takes the plastic fork from the plastic top to his salad and uses it to pry the cover off. 

"Should have brought Casey," Mobius says, "never seen a fish."

"He saw a fish back when we had to drag him on that Namor case."

Mobius frowns, tomato inches from his mouth. His silence must make B take pity on him. On his failing memory. "It was a while back. I don't think you were there."

Sometimes he wonders if she lies so he doesn't feel like he's dying as much. Again the words wants won't come out so he simply says, "Good."

They eat in silence and watch birds pick at their feet. Mobius frowns again. "Ikol?"

B shrugs, "Hasn't come by. Everything with the tree has been weird. It's like lights on a Christmas tree. Power turns on and off. It dims a lot when you're at the TVA. You think he'd send Ikol in then but he hasn't. I don't know if it's a lack of power or he hasn't thought about it."

Mobius nods. He misses that magpie. It was a piece of Loki he held tightly to for a long time. 

When she finishes her sandwich, she stands up and extends a handout to him. He blinks at her yellow jumper. That's new. 

"Come on, Pillsbury doughboy, before someone comes looking."

Mobius pats his tummy proudly before she opens a timedoor and they exit in San Diego zoo. They come from a closet and make their way through the amphibians. Through many monkeys and fish and lions. It's almost like a dream. Once in awhile, the wind will blow or some object will hit Mobius's leg that will tell him to get some food or go look at this peacock. And something in his chest swells because Loki is here in his own little way.

At the alligators, Mobius sits on the cold cement for a moment and stares. He thinks of other Loki's roaming in a strange void. Of an alligator with gold horns, a man with more wrinkles than him, and a boy that never should have been there in the first place.

B takes them through it three times and it's at the end of the second round that Mobius realizes what she's doing. It's not till they're at the peacocks again that she finally lets her composure slip. She sits on a bench and cries silently while he sits beside her and watches a peacock strut. He doesn't mention the tears. She doesn't mention his stumbling or stuttering. They just sit. When her tears are dry they move on.

They look at the capibara's for a while. She says they remind her of him. Mobius smiles. Then they leave, the security none the wiser.

************************************

Ikol left a long time ago when Mobius can only assume Loki found out he could signal them with a natural and sometimes unnatural phenomenon. He will admit, never allowed, he preferred Ikol. And maybe that's why his memory of the bird doesn't fade. It was his first hope that Loki was alive. His first communication to him after everything. How could he forget something that made such an impact on his life?

But then again, how does he forget Loki's face everyday. One day Ikol will disappear, too.

It's been years since mobius has seen the magpie so it's strange when he's talking to Ms. Chen and a magpie comes banging on the window. It scares Ms. chen to death and she tries to go out and hit him. It takes several minutes for her to realize the bird is his friend and several more to lecture him about keeping birds as pets. She only stops when he begins to collapse and he can't get a coherent word out. She drags him inside and lets him sit at a booth where Ikol pecks at the chips someone left behind.

Mobius can't say anything without stuttering so he says nothing as Ikol eventually makes his way over to Mobius and settles on his sweater, staring at him with eyes full of tears.

It's strange seeing Loki's emotions through a bird. But he does and Mobius can see the pain in his eyes as he caws weekly and nudges Mobius's chin with his head. He holds the bird close to his heart, allowing it to hear his heartbeat. Loki coos quietly. Mobius pets the soft feathers and slowly starts sobbing. He hopes Loki can feel him because even though it's not his skin it's his feathers that keep Mobius from completely falling apart. So they sit and cry until it's dark. And even beyond then, when back in the apartment, the bird doesn't leave. It never does again.

******************************

"Mobius?"

He looks at the blonde man who has entered his kitchen. He wears an orange T-shirt and white shorts. He looks dangerous save for his eyes that look so sad. Why is he sad?

"Yes," he says, his gaze turning to the bird pecking at his olives and tearing them to shreds. 

The man extends a hand. Scars cover his knuckles. Mobius takes it and he lifts him from the couch easily. "Come on. We got a surprise for you."

He slurs the word 'surprise' so bad he's surprised the man can't understand him. But he just smiles and nods, ushering Mobius to the bathroom so he gets a good look at himself. Is that himself? The man with big black circles around his eyes, pale skin and dim eyes. He tries to smile. It doesn't fix anything. His skin is tight over his face, showing his cheekbones. He needs to eat more but the thought of food makes him want to throw up.

The blond man gives him clothes and he changes into them. Shorts and a t-shirt that says 'Loki 4eva.' When Mobius comes out the man still waits. 

"What is your name?" He says as he pulls up a bright orange door. The name of it tugs at Mobius's brain, but he can't put a finger on it. 

"I...Mob...Mobius," he says as the words struggle to come out of his mouth. The man nods along like he didn't just ask an important question. Why doesn't he introduce himself? 

"Who is Loki?"

The god of...of... mischief. My... Friend."

The man really looks at him then. "What is the TVA?"

Mobius pauses at that. "Isn't that a agency place or something in the west?"

A cloud of sadness overcomes the man. "Not even close." Then he takes Mobius's hand and pulls him through the door to a beach.

It must be seeing B and Sylvie that brings his mind back to him because as soon as he sees them in swimsuits struggling to bring up a smile in the setting sun, he remembers and he jerks back into awareness, though the blonde man's name still doesn't reach his brain.

"Hey, Moby," Sylvie says, her voice soft and it doesn't seem right. 

"Don't do that," Mobius shakes his head. He coughs and a clot of blood comes up. He spits it on the ground and the tide that rolls over their feet washes it away.

Sylvie scowls and Mobius can't help but smile. Got her. Gwen, Gambit, Casey and O.B. join them. Mobius tries to remember how he met all of them. The only one that sheds any light is Sylvie and he blames that on the emotions of the moment. Her hair used to be different but he can't remember it anymore.

They are all in swimsuits and gear, delicate smiles painted to ward off pain though it does nothing for Mobius and he says as much, "If we are all here for a pity party, I I revoke my invitation."

There are weak chuckles and B simply shakes her head, "None of that here. We just wanted to do something for you."

"For all you've done for us, it's about time we did something for you," Casey adds on. 

His friends... they are too good. "That's unnecessary," Mobius stutters along, "I...you... done too much..." He cuts himself off before the wrong thing comes out. 

"Nonsense," Gambit says, "We're a team and family."

"You deserve this," B says, "more than anyone." She nods at Sylvie. They both step back and about ten yards out is a jet ski. Gold and green, soft curves and a roar as deep as his soul. How could he not have noticed it before. 

Mobius gasps and stumbles as he makes his way to the jet ski, ready to go, roaring softly. And from somewhere off the cliff comes Ikol. He lands in the middle of the seat, and struts, cawing proudly.

"Thank-," Mobius chokes, "Thank-" the you doesn't want to come out. 

"Well go on," Gwen ushers. 

"We'll be watching from a safe distance," the blond man says.

"Scardey cat," Gambit huffs.

The two begin to bicker as Mobius hops back and forth on his feet, too excited to move forward. He works himself into a dizzy roll before turning to Sylvie who watches with wide sad eyes. He sticks his hand out to her. "Ride with me."

Her face goes red. "No. Absolutely not. That thing is dangerous and I hate water. I'd rather die then-"

"Please."

Its stuttered. Short. But it does its work. Sylvies eyes look away before she sighs and climbs onto the back of the jet ski. The craft shakes under her weight and she leeches onto him immediately. "This is a death trap. I hope you're comfortable with the knowledge that you're leading us to our deaths."

"Come on, Sylvie," Mobius stutters as he eyes their friends who watch cautiously from the side, "live a little."

Mobius revs it and the jet ski takes off. Sylvie screams. So does Mobius. They do so for opposite reasons. The wind russells his hair, makes his skin cold, dries his eyes. The spray wet's his body and Sylvie's grip tightens on his shirt and he hopes she doesn't fall off cause she's sure to fall with him in hand.

Mobius heals louder. He yells until his throat is sore. And for once he doesn't feel like he's being pushed and pulled and dragged through every little thing. Like it hasn't been a thousand lifetimes since he's rode a jet ski. But he feels it deep in him. Something his body could never ever forget.

He takes them out, far out to where the beach is a speck on the horizon and there he stops. Sylvie's heaving behind him and slowly pries her hands from his body.

"I'm never doing this again," she says before gagging some more. 

Mobius swing's his leg over so he sits facing the shore. Sylvie follow suit, looking uncomfortablely at the water. "You really feel comfortable just sitting here on the water?"

"You can swim, can't you?" Mobius says. 

Sylvie sniffs, "Of course I can. It doesn't mean I like to. Besides, seidr like mine doesn't work well in water. If something were to happen right now I wouldn't be able to stop it."

Mobius hums, "Best to trust me then, huh."

Sylvie sighs at that. "Loki talked about that once. About trusting you, the TVA. Trying to rebuild things rather than destroy them."

"Wise man."

Sylvie nods. The sun gets lower. A few stars appear. Something in Mobius's chest tugs of the sight. He wants to be there. He wants to be a part of it. He doesn't dare say it though. It will only make Sylvie sad. Ikol appears, settling between them. He caws before settling in to go to sleep. Mobius rubs his back absent-mindedly.

"Thank you for this," Mobius says, "I appreciate it. It's not everyday you get to ride a jet ski." He sneezes. Blood clogs his nose. Sylvie heaves again.

"It's the least we could do."

Mobius's arm goes numb. O.B. says that will happen as his nerves get eaten. At least he won't die completely in pain. 

Suddenly Sylvie's head is on his shoulder. Ikol caws between them, sounding as confused as Mobius feels. "Sylvie?"

Sylvie sighs heavily, "We got more time with you than we thought we would. But this... It feels so final."

"Death is part of life. Can't fight it. Just got to accept it when it comes a knocking."

"Now you sound like me."

"Is that such a bad thing?"

"Right now, definitely yes."

Mobius snorts. "Some days I think you had the right idea in ignoring everything. Other days... I would never trade the pain for the world if it meant I never met Loki."

Her head turns away, looking down at the magpie. Her voice is muffled as she speaks. "I wish I had realized I was being stubborn so much sooner. I can only imagine how much Loki hates me for not caring for you sooner."

The magpie caws in protest. Mobius shakes his head, "If you had I wouldn't have accepted it. I'm not keen on being taken care of. I would have liked to be friends sooner but I also know you had to find yourself, Sylvie. The woman who doesn't always run or lives only to survive. I'm not angry about that. I never could be."

They sit in silence then, watching the nightfall. A fire starts on shore. Their friends sit around it, waiting for them to come back. Mobius wonders if they are making food. A hot dog sounds good right about now.

"Donna has been texting me."

"Donna?" He says, scratching his brain for a Donna. No such luck.

"You're variant," Sylvie says, "she texted me a few days ago thanking me for my help. Asked how I was."

"That's nice of her."

Sylvie nods, "Yes. She's like you. Kind. Protective. Has a weird obsession with water and watercraft."

Mobius chuckles, "She sounds reasonable."

"Impossible rather," Sylvie objects. Her hands clench against his, cold and soft. "But she'll never be you."

She wants to say more, but he knows Sylvie. She won't. She'll keep all the hard stuff to herself. And he won't push her because he's tired of the pushing. He hears Casey yell and Gambit holler before the group laughs, their voices echoing out to them. Mobius smiles. "Let's go back. It sounds like our friends are having fun without us."

He expects Sylvie's usual remark of 'they are not my friends. Don't drag me into their nonsense.' It doesn't come. Instead, she hums, sits up and turns back to sit so they can leave. "Let's take the scenic route," she says. 

"I thought you hated it," Mobius says. 

"Mobius," she says and there's a deep pain in her voice that makes him flinch. "Please."

He exhales shakily. The taste of blood covers his tongue. "Okay."

He turns back around. The jet ski shakes. Then they are off again. Sylvie holds him tighter this time. He pretends the wetness on his shoulder is the waves slapping and spraying the side of the jet ski and not the silent tears Sylvie releases.

**********************************

"I don't know what to do."

Mobius's eyes flutter open. Ikol is gone. Down by his feet is a man in green. His face is blurry. Big black horns protrude with flecks of gold strung through it like little paths. A hand rests on his shin. A gentle weight that grounds him to the moment.

"Loki," Mobius says. He still in his shorts and hawaiian shirt that he rubs subconsciously. Sylvie and B must have brought him home. The last thing he remembers is flames. S'mores. Laughing with his friends. He smiles.

"You're dying," Loki says, emotion clogging his voice, "I don't know how to stop it."

"Who says you have to," Mobius says tiredly.

"Don't talk like that," Loki growls, his grip tightening, "I did this so you and our friends could could live. This... This wasn't supposed to happen."

"You leaving wasn't supposed to happen either."

This dream, this vision, whatever it is, glares at Mobius. "I studied everything from quantum theory to time fault mechanics and I still don't know how to save you." He chokes, "It makes it seem like Kang was just fooling me all along."

"Who?"

Loki looks away. For a moment his whole body blurs and Mobius feels sick trying to hold onto the knowledge of who is sitting before him. Slowly he sits up despite Loki's objections not to. "Mobius, please, don't strain yourself. Please-"

"You know," Mobius says, "I don't remember ever dancing. I don't think I'd be good at it. But I always wanted to try." It is quiet for too long after that statement comes out. But it's hit it's mark if the grip on Mobius's shin is anything to go by. 

"You need to rest."

"I want to live."

And it hits even harder. Loki almost sobs. "How am I going to do this without you?"

Mobius shrugs and for a moment he believes he's talking to someone else. "A day at a time. That's what I always tell myself."

Loki sniffs as he stares. Slowly his green robes fade into a black suit. Mobius swears he's seen it somewhere before. Somewhere, someplace far from now but feels like yesterday.

Loki reaches for his hand and Mobius takes it. It feels like cool air running through his fingers. He wonders if he truly is dying now. That decay is a welcoming hallucination. Loki pulls him up and Mobius instantly falls into his arms. Slowly he gets his feet under him as Loki snaps on the radio.

A loud beat starts but it's slow enough to dance too as they are chest to chest swaying. Mobius lays his head on Loki's cold shoulder and lets him sway them, his cold hand permeating through Mobius's shirt from where it settles on his lower back. 

I tell myself you don't mean a thing

And what we got, got no hold on me

But when you're not there I just crumble

Mobius hums. Loki hunches just slightly, "What?"

"This is nice," Mobius slurs, "I missed you."

Loki turns his head, breath coming across Mobius's face, "You hated me."

"Never doesn't mean I wasn't mad though."

"I'm sorry. It was for the best."

"I'll just have to trust you on that."

Loki extracts him for a moment and spins him. Mobius laughs a weak breath of air. Then Loki dips him and the world spins. 

Must've been a deadly kiss

Only love can hurt like this

When Loki pulls him back in, his hand disentangles from Mobius's and he envelopes him, holding him close as they sway. His arms are so cold but there is nowhere Mobius would rather be. His mind hooks on the lyrics 'every time you g, it's like a knife that cuts right to my soul.'

"Will you stay?" Mobius asks. 

Lokis voice is wet, weak as he says, "I'm trying. Ikol will be with you. I promise."

"Hm...promises."

"I wish I could bring you here," Loki says as the song repeats, "keep you safe until O.B. or I find a way to save you."

Mobius laugh even though it's not funny. "I'd step out and time radiation would eat me inside and outside." Loki starts holds Mobius till he aches.

"There has to be a way..."

For a moment the cool air disappears then returns. "I'm fading."

Tears touch Mobius's eyes, "Don't go."

Loki pulls back even though his face and slowly his body is becoming a huge blur.

"Never. As long as you promise the same."

Mobius smiles weakly, blurriness starting to effect the edges of his vision. "Always."

They go to the couch and Mobius collapses fully into Loki , tired, eyes closing. "Oh, Mobius," Loki murmurs and Mobius wants to comfort him. Tell him everything will be okay. But the dark is calling. He has to go now. "I love you so much."

The cold air disappears. As the darkness comes the lyrics continue to play sending him off into a deep sleep.

Only love can hurt

Save me, save me

Only love, only love

'Cause only love can hurt like this

And it must've been a deadly kiss

******************************

Loki's magic is pulsing more than normal. It's weird being able to feel him in every timeline, feel him keeping them all alive. But Sylvie can always feel when he's near. It never surprises her when Ikol shows or a sign shows up or leaves fall because they always ping with his magic. Some power to alter things just slightly. And for the past week Mobius's branch has been full of it. Little signs. Ikol constantly there. He's showing his hand. But tonight the magic is sharper. Pulsing to that branch. Sylvie can almost feel how different it is from hers. It doesn't last long. Just long enough for her to make up her mind.

So when the magic eventually begins to fade, she speaks because she has to. If she doesn't she just might fall apart.

"Loki," Sylvie says, voice softer than she likes, "I know you can hear me."

It's a long moment before a branch outside her apartment hits the window and her suspicions are confirmed. She continues. "I know you have been spending a lot of magic lately. And normally I would tell you not to worry, but..."

Sylvie chokes. The wind picks up outside. The branch hits even harder. She shakes her head, "This is why I stayed away. The TVA is filled with nothing but pain. Mobius is dying for it and there is nothing we can do. O.B. has tried everything."

The apartment building groans. Sylvie looks outside at the clear night with stars that twinkle brightly. Stars Sylvie used to hate simply because they echoed the call of freedom. Now they just makes her sick.

"He's a good man," she says, her fingers going numb from how hard she clenches them together. "So good. And I wish we could celebrate him more, but it's like he's already gone. He can't remember me half the time. He looks at our friends like they are strangers. And the blood, Loki, oh, the blood."

The wind sounds like howls of pain and sadness. Sylvie doesn't let the tears come. Not today. "I'm angry. So angry at you." She grabs a pillow and rips it in half in the same motion that she explodes, screaming and throwing magic across the room. 

"I did all of this for you! I made sure he lived for you. When he got stabbed I was there for you! And I hate you for it! I hate you!" She screams again. Green spreads out from her, slamming furniture and belongings into the walls. Pictures fall off their holders. And she cries. She cries harder than ever.

When she can breathe again she says in a whisper, "I got lost. I let him save me like he did you. And now... now I'm as stupid as you." She curls into herself, knees hitting the shag carpet. Her hair hits the rug as she rocks back and forth, trying to push this pain away from her. But tonights activities stay in her brain. How fragile, sick Mobius looked. He was so quiet and not because of his whisper habit.

"Oh, Mobius," she sobs, "I'm sorry, Loki. I'm sorry."

And something deep in her continues to say this is the way of all the earth. Everyone dies, whether it's painful or not. At some point goodbyes must be said, sooner rather than later. How many good-byes has she said? How many did she not get the chance to do? It's all plain as day. So why does it hurt so much...

Sylvie screams again. From somewhere, someplace, a stupid tablecloth falls over her. She holds onto it even as the grief invades her senses. She cries then because she knows Loki is and for once she doesn't judge him for it. 

At some point the rest of her body meets the floor and she prays to the Norns that she's never believed in to spare all of them cause once Mobius is gone nothing will be the same again. She falls asleep laying on that shag carpet under that stupid table cloth, the wind beating on the windows. It's like any apocalypse she's been in only this time the world doesn't know it's happening. When Sylvie wakes up it's to Ikol banging angrily on her window pane, cawing like all else. 

Something is wrong.

Chapter Text

Mobius rubs his neck as he looks up at the ferris wheel. The sight makes him dizzy. Then again dizziness is becoming the norm. He's fine. Maybe he caught something in Broxton by accident. Or maybe it was something Brad carried into the TVA. Either way, if anyone asks, he's fine.

He is fine when Loki is blasted from the ferris wheel. He's fine getting the tandem bike and riding it after Victor Timely and running all the way to the docks and that's when the dizziness gets too much and he has to lie out on the wood for a moment as Ravonna and Victor get away.

Loki curses. "What's the quickest way across? Can we use the tempad? Can we get on the boat with it? Mobius!" Loki finally turns and spots him on the ground. "What are you doing?"

"I need a second," Mobius says, licking his dry lips. 

"They're getting away."

"And the world is spinning so unless you want me to fall off this dock I suggest you let me lay here for a moment."

Loki sighs heavily while Mobius stares at the stars. There's so many of them that spin and shine and twinkle.

He raises his hand, making grabby hands at Loki. "Hey. Lay with me."

"W-what?"

Mobius smirks. "Not like that. Come here. Look at the stars with me."

"Mobius."

"Loki." Mobius knows he sounds like a petulant child but how often has he seen stars like these. When it's so peaceful at least.

Again, Loki sighs, then slowly lays down next to him so they are looking up at the glowing sky above. The Moon blacks so many stars that not many shine out. A shame really. And yet it's more than Mobius has ever seen when he can just sit and stare. 

After moment, and when his vision stops spinning, Loki asks, "Was my mother's... farewell... beautiful?"

Mobius notes how he says farewell, not funeral. "Yeah," Mobius says, "it was." He continues to describe it, the beautiful balls of light that were lifted into the sky. The little boats and how the ashes of the Queen floated into the stars. And Loki smiles beside him, muttering a quiet 'good' every few seconds.

When he finishes describing it, Mobius let's that sit while he deals with the burning pressure in his head. "I think that's a nice way to go."

Loki sounds very confused and Mobius smiles at the image in his head of his pinched brow. "What? Being stabbed?"

Mobius chuckles. "No. The funeral. How she turned to ash and floated up to the stars." The words blur a little. I' would like that. Just float into the stars. Do you think... do you think I could be part of the stars when I die?"

Loki takes a long time to answer and Mobius has to wonder if he even heard him until he says, "Don't talk like that."

"Death is natural, Lokes. You know that."

"As long as I'm around, you're not going to die."

Mobius shakes his head, but doesn't argue. After another little while, when the sun starts to lighten, he sits up and pulls out his tempad, tracking Ravonna's usage to a warehouse.

"Come on," he says, standing a little unsteadily, "let's go get our variants."

He helps Loki up as the God grumbles. "Our variants. I should have destroyed that clock when I had the chance."

Mobius snorts as he opens the door. "Later, Lokes. Victor first, then her."

He steps through backward, taking one last look at the stars. Loki follows but instead of the stars, he looks at Mobius. 

"I hope I'll go to the stars when I die," Mobius repeats as the orange surrounds him.

Loki grabs his arm, grip tight, "Not while I'm here."

Again, he shakes his head, "Ready?"

Loki's fingers flare green, "Always."

*************************************

When O.B. gets the call, it's from a panicked Sylvie who is screaming inaudibly. Casey is with him in R&A trying to distract him with reports from Captain Carter about angry Steve Rogers and little kid Bucky Barnes.

But O.B. hasn't felt like gossiping in a long time. He won't say he wants to curse the day Mobius and Loki walked in here but he kind of does. Everything changed when they came in. The TVA was destroyed and rebuilt. He got put in a permanent position as lead IT. He has friends. Lots of them. He's rarely alone anymore. Somebody's always there to talk to him. He even got a cat! A flerken He supposes is more accurate. He adores the thing. Gets him out of his head. Helps him when the despair over not being able to help Mobius gets too much.

But right now he really wishes he was alone again. 

He hates this grief. It's a crushing feeling in his chest he doesn't know how to escape. And he hates it so much he even asked Doc Clock to take it away. Of course she said the only way to do that was take away his memories. And there is too much he would need to relearn to let that happen. Too much to relive. Too many memories he doesn't want to forget.

So he lets Casey talk about this case, letting the man distract himself in his own way until the tempad to O.B.'s left sounds and Sylvie's panicked voice comes through.

"Get medical here right now!"

"What's going on?" O.B. asks, his gut already filling with dread.

"Mobius won't wake up. I can't wake him up!"

And she sobs and there's a loud clatter before the line goes dead. And Casey is moving to grab him but O.B. is on his feet and running. 

"Get B-15 and Doc Clock ready!" He shouts as he pulls up Mobius's coordinates. "Have everyone on standby."

Then in a blink he's gone.

********************************

It's not that Sylvie was anxious. Or maybe it was and its such an incorporated part of her now she hardly notices it anymore. But something drags her to go to Mobius's as soon as she wakes up on that cold floor with a tree branch hitting the window.

So that's what she does. She gets up, grabs an eggo and makes her way to his apartment where Mobius sleeps on his couch, curled under a green blanket that looks a little too familiar.

She shoves the rest of the eggo in her face and shakes him, "Mobius, wake up. We got crap to do today. Annoying B-15. Picking on O.B. All of the fun stuff."

He doesn't stir and at first Sylvie thinks it's cause he's being stubborn. When isn't he? But then when she shakes him again and pulls the blanket away, he doesn't start. He doesn't even flinch.

That's when the panic sets in. She can't fix this. If he's dead then she's too late. If he's alive and in a coma... Sylvie's breath hitches but she pushes forward. She has to do something she swore she would never do. She promised him she'd never do. She enters his mind. It's as if walking into a war zone. Broken fragments of memories lie around her feet. Some of them are so blurry she can't tell who or where they are. Some song is playing on repeat. One line again and again. 'Only Love Can hurt Like this. It must have been a deadly kiss.' The clearest memory is of he and Loki dancing. It looks to be in his apartment which is impossible unless he's degraded to illusions. Then they are really in trouble.

"Mobius," Sylvie shouts and it's as if her voice just disappears into the void. There is no echo or real sound. Just a muffled softness that scares her more than it should. "Mobius, can you hear me?"

The clear memory repeats. She looks at Loki's face, how blurry it is. His hands are a little fuzzy. Sylvie hears her voice and turns to a piece on the ground by her feet of them on the jetski. She's not blurry but the colors are mushed together like an oil painting. Her voice sounds strange and she wonders if he's forgetting what she sounds like. Beside it is a memory of he and Loki in those tacky 1893 suits looking at the stars. 

As she bends down and draws closer to it something begins to happen. The image blurs before it starts to floating off, turning into strings before disappearing into the recessed his mind. Sylvie yells and tries to grab onto it but the strings slip through her fingers. "No," she says as the horrible reality of this lands on her. That memory is gone. It's not coming back. And soon all of his memories will be this way. 

As she's thinking this, a tingling overcomes her body. She chokes as her feet, hands, hair all begin to sphghettify too. 

"No," she yells before ripping herself from his head. She falls to the floor, her body spasming as she chokes on fading memories and feet and hands turning to strings. She claps her hands, pats her feet, making sure everything is intact. Her feet are still there. Her hands still function. She exhales, even though she's shaking so hard the world shakes with her. What she saw is what is happening to Mobius. He can't hear her. She can't wake him up. Has his body gone into shock? Will it ever wake up? She searches for the tempad stuffed in her pocket by B-15 one day (for communication purposes) and she drops it twice before opening it and getting a channel open to O.B. 

Sylvie doesn't really know what she says. She screams at him until she can't anymore and throws the tempad at the wall. Then she grabs Mobius's shirt and shakes him again. 

There is still no movement when O.B. runs through the time door. 

********************************

It's a flash of orange that brings him around. But only for a moment. Before it goes black again. The next flash has a face above him. They lean close before falling away again. Long hair. Teary eyes. Then it's back to black.

His body hurts, but he can't move. How could he when it feels like a world is on his chest. There is yelling he hears the next time he comes to. There's something wrapped around his face, making his face cold and chest inflate. A man with black hair and spectacles is shoving at a teal... oh, what is that? A teal circle with arms and legs who scans him before another clock -clock!- appears and ushers him out. The woman is there. She makes eye contact with him, but she's cut off by the teal clock who is looking at him more intently. Her mouth is moving so she must be talking to him. He can't really hear her though.

He shakes his head before a dizzy spell takes back over and he goes back to sleep. The last time he remembers waking up for only a moment, the blond women is leaning over him again and she's talking to but this time he can hear her. "Hold on, Mobius," she saying angerly, "please hold on."

"S-Syl..." He chokes. He doesn't really know what he's saying, just that she's familiar. 

She cries, "Oh, Mobius. Hold on. Just hold on and we can go home soon. Please, just a little longer, okay. Just a little longer!"

Then she's gone again. Somewhere green and thriving with life, a new voice is crying, too. 

********************************

Mobius wakes up to the awful smell of antiseptic and cold air plunging up his nose and into his lungs. He cough as the orange and white tiled roof of the med unit come in the view. A slow beeping comes from somewhere behind him. And this feels all too familiar. It gets even more deja Vu when he sees Sylvie in a chair beside him, reading a book though her eyes are not moving, so not really reading at all.

"Sylvie," he says so quietly that he's surprised she hears him. 

She flinches and her jaw clicks as she tightens it. "Are you really awake this time?"

Mobius exhales slowly, just noticing how dry his mouth is. "What happened?"

Sylvie flips the page, flips it back then slams it shut, irritation oozing from her body. "What do you think happened?"

Mobius looks around at the machines hooked to his nose and hand. At Doc Clock ticking above his head. And the pain that courses throughout much of his body.

He shuffles a little, wincing at the pain, "I got worse."

She slams the book on the floor. "You almost went into a coma. Doc Clock gave you more blood. I guess whatever was causing it was fixed with that. Blood transfusions. Brain trauma from turning to spaghetti. Fading memories. What is right with you, Mobius? Nothing! Absolutely nothing!"

If he had energy to care, he might try to calm her. That is not the case now. He sighs instead and says, "So. I'm close then?"

If he looks closely, he sees a tear appear in her eye. But she scrambles up in her seat and doesn't let it fall. "Yes. Closer than we ever hoped."

"We knew it was coming-"

"Shut up, Mobius."

They stare at each other, her in anger, him in passive acceptance. There's a small caw that gets his attention. Mobius turns to the white table by his bed. Ikol stands there, wings dirty and ruffled. He smiles, "Hi, Ikol."

He caws again and Mobius hears Sylvie inhale and exhale slowly. Mobius reaches out to the bird, pets him from head to tail, soothing feathers before Doc Clock appears, looking mad.

"O.B. has been contacted. He is on his way. Gwen is with him."

"That's not necessary," Mobius says slowly.

"Shut up, Mobius," Sylvie repeats, "give us a little break. We had a big scare. O.B. and Gwen need this."

Mobius sighs, settling into the bed. Waits for the inevitable tears, anger and norn's knows what else. It doesn't take long for O.B. and Gwen to arrive. And when they do, O.B. about pops a blood vessel. Gwen has her mask on but Mobius doesn't need her face showing to know what it would look like. He must look like hell. He has to. But he swallows past the dizziness and tries to wave. "Hi," he croaks before coughing so hard he sees stars.

"Oh, Mobius," Gwen whispers before she's at his side, rubbing his back. O.B. stands a way off, staring daggers into the screens behind him.

"Gwen," Mobius whispers back, trying to put his hand into hers. It shakes and she has to grasp his tight to make it stop. When did it do that? When did he begin to be so weak? Gwen helps him sit up, using the pillow behind him as O.B. comes to his other side.

"What's his readings, Doc?" O.B. asks. Doc Clock settles at the foot of Mobius's bed as the four of them turn to stare.

She taps her foot impatiently for a moment before sighing and pulling up some graphs. "Well," she ticks, "not good. Long diagnosis short, you're not going anywhere. Hope you said your goodbyes on the timeline cause you're not going back."

"I thought being on the timeline was helping me," Mobius says. 

"Were my calculations that far off?" O.B. stresses, his hands twitching.

"At this point it doesn't matter what calculations you did," Doc shoves the screen away, turning to Mobius, "Your mind is being eaten. Your organs are starting to shut down. I suppose the question is do you want to die alone or with friends? Because as your aura shuts down, it'll become harder to find you. When there's nothing left, you'll be alone to die."

"He's staying here," Gwen says, before turning to look at Mobius, "I'll tell Ms. Chen you said goodbye. I'm sure she'll make you one more batch of egg rolls. For the road." There's a crack in her laughing voice. 

Mobius squeezes her hand, smiles. "I would appreciate that."

Gwen nods, facing Doc Clock again who is glaring at Sylvie. Sylvie is standing now, arms crossed and foot tapping. 

"What else, Doc?" Mobius asks, drawing her attention away from the goddess. 

Instead she glares at him. "You rest. O.B. has some tests lined up. Things to do with temporal extraction and radiation for radiation. You'll do what he says and it will work or our goodbyes will be sent in the next couple of days."

Mobius's stomach flops. Days. Whatever days means here, he doesn't know how long, but it's not long either way. His body is well and truly failing. "Thank you. You're a good doctor, Doc Clock."

She hurrumphs, "And don't you forget it."

Then she's gone, leaving them in the state of foggy grief, sniffles and heavy breathing echoing off the linoleum. 

****************************

O.B.'s first test is temporal extraction and injection which unfortunately means Mobius has to go shirtless. Sylvie sticks to his side for this, but when she sees how skinny he's become, she covers her mouth and holds her hand tightly there.

Mobius is skin and bone. No matter how much he eats it doesn't stay. So he looks like a horror show. O.B. doesn't let it slow him down. In fact it makes the fire in him burn even more viciously.

"Hold still," he says as he takes a needle the size of Mobius's pinky and pushes it deep into his bones. Mobius can't help the scream that comes as he takes out the goldish infection and makes Mobius feels even more sick. Sylvie bodily runs into the table and Mobius had to try and force her not to yank the needle out and throw O.B. away. When O.B. takes the needle out, he quickly puts the entire thing into a quarantine case and sends it away. The bottle doesn't even make it to Casey on the other end.

It disappears in a cloud of spaghetti somewhere between the med unit and the cafeteria.

******************************

Mobius sleeps too much. People come and go as he sleeps. He'll pass out to Jimmy sitting and talking about his most recent mission and wake up to Captain Carter gently shining her shield. 

The one that makes him the most happy to wake up to is Casey. He'll have a big cup of ice cream ready to eat, then he'll sit and talk and complain about upper management. How he feels glued to his desk which he didn't have a problem with until O.B. took him to a world fair. He decided if it wasn't for Loki he'd be a circus man.

Eventually, Mobius gets the courage to ask him, "Casey, why are you so..."

He licks his spoon. "What?"

Mobius gently shakes his head. Doesn't shake off the dizziness though. "You're not crying or looking at me all pitiful or sad or even just here because I will be gone soon. It's just... odd considering the circumstances."

Casey pauses, lowering his spoon and sits for a moment, staring at the ceiling. Finally, he says, "Would it make you feel better if I was sad or angry?"

"Not really."

He sniffs, sticking his spoon back in the ice cream before saying, "When you first got here, I cried a lot. Knowing you're not going to be around sucks. After that," he shrugs, "I don't know. Maybe I cried the sad out. Maybe it's waiting for the final blow but I just want to spend time with you. We don't know how much we got left. I don't want to waste it being sad. I have plenty of time to be sad later. No use depressing you while we're at it, too."

Mobius chuckles at the last part. "Thank you."

Casey nods before stuffing another spoon of ice cream in his mouth. "Did you hear what M-20 did in IT the other day? Judge Gamble said it was the most scandalous thing she seen since you put your hand on Loki's waist."

Mobius laughs so hard Doc Clock has to come and reconnect him to the monitor. She scolds Casey but the look on the man's face tells Mobius he doesn't regret it and plans to do this all again very soon.

*********************************

It's the needles. The scans hurt but the needles are too reminiscent of when he was stabbed. He tells O.B. this as he tries his fourth test on him. It's a long shot but O.B.'s so desperate he's willing to try. Instead of taking the stuff out of him, he's putting some in.

Not the same radiation, O.B. argues, but the new kind that Loki left floating all over. The green radiation that makes the needle cloudy. Ikol should be here for this. But he's not. Sylvie made sure to distract him with other things though he could still be listening. How could anyone know for sure.

"Hold still," O.B. says as he sticks the needle in, apologizes as he winces. "Do you remember me?" The classic question that seems to have repeated answer.

"A little less than yesterday."

"I take it Gambit and Jimmy haven't come back."

Who? "No."

O.B. sighs but nods. As he pushes the scanners into his arms and chest he says, "B-15 hopes this works. She thinks it could have revital properties."

"She's the one in charge here, right?"

And again O.B. winces, "That's right."

"I like her. She's nice."

O.B. pats his arm. "Me, too. Are you ready?"

"For what?"

He explains the procedure. How Loki's radiation is going to mix with his and hopefully breathe new life into him. Loki is a big blur. He nods. "Go ahead."

There is a slight pinch. "Does it hurt?"

He tries to feel around his body. Wiggle his toes. Lift an arm. Take deep breaths. "No. I feel...good."

O.B. is looking at his scanner, only half listening. He's smiling. "Good."

********************************

Mobius likes the loom room. 

It's all kinds of shades of green and when the lights are off he can see forever. If forever was a dense green cloud.

The test worked. O.B. killed some of the poison. So now he gets larger doses of it. It helps his memory. Helps him eat. Live. Look a little better. And for a while that's what happened. Mobius got better.

Until O.B. lowered the dosage. 

The radiation came back in full force, making him camatose on Sylvie's bathroom floor when he went to visit her. Now his death is even more inevitable. He's sick all the time and O.B. has to double the dosage.

Essentially, without Loki's life sustaining magic, he's going to die. Meaning he's forever getting radiation in some form until his body decays beyond saving. 

So he stays in the Loom room. He has a cot there where he sleeps, eats, watch as time flow by. It makes him feel better, being there. Despite the nightmare where he knows Loki is there but he can't see his face so it's more of a mystery as to its context, Mobius finds comfort here. He feels closer to Loki. And judging by the way Ikol cuddles into him, Loki feels closer to him, too.

And sometimes he just dreams. 

************************************

Mobius knows Loki is looking at him. He can't recall what his eyes look like or his hair even the contours of his body. But he can feel it. And it feels as if they have been here before. But he keeps his gaze on the window as the green swirls by.

"It's beautiful," he tells him, voice muffled into the pillow beneath his head.

"I did it for you," he says, voice echoing in Mobius's head. That's right. That's what he sounds like.

"For all of us," Mobius rehearses even though that memory is dulling. The pain is not as sharp.

"I don't know if I can keep doing this, Loki," Mobius says, turning to the ceiling that flashes colors of the rainbow. "The dosages can only do so much. I'm prolonging the inevitable and I don't feel like it's fair to anyone."

"We want you alive," Loki argues, trying to disguise the venom with sugar coated sincerity.

"But is that the right thing to do. If the animal you love so much is suffering from an illness, do you prolong it just because you can't let go?"

"You're not an animal."

"My point still stands."

"You are trying to push together the ethical questions of life for animals and man which has no bearing on this situation."

"The fact there is a divide at all is sickening-"

"We're getting off topic," Loki's patience is reaching a sharp tip. If Mobius pushes hard enough, will he break? Will he let him go?

"My point is," Mobius pauses, cursing the stuttering that fills every sentence now. He pictures it smooth coming out, but imagination is not reality. "I can't keep getting the dosages forever. O.B. has had to up it twice now. At what point is enough enough."

"I don't understand why you don't want to live."

"Living is not lying on this cot forever, Lokes. It's not sleeping every minute you have a way. It's being with other people. Making people happy. Helping people. Making the world a better place. I'm not doing any of that."

"You make me happy." Mobius looks at the green blob that lies beside him and he wishes so much he could recall his face. "You help me. I couldn't keep doing this without you."

"You'd find a way."

"I wish you would stop downplaying your worth."

"What's your solution then? Pray O.B can attach a permanent radiation backpack to me and let me off to eventually die of natural causes."

Loki shrugs, his breath choked and sticky. "You shouldn't have to die. I don't want you to." He reaches out, runs a hand over Mobius's boney one. "Some days I wish we had never met. You wouldn't be in this state if I never came to the TVA."

"Yeah. But we wouldn't be free, either."

Loki draws a pattern on his hand as Mobius reminisces. "Free to love. Free to choose new paths. Be different people. Free to..."

He chokes. He swivels back to the window, to the green swirling outside. Loki grips his hand tight. "Mobi?"

Mobius's heart beats faster. He squeezes Loki's hand back as he smiles, heart swelling. Something he has long forgotten comes rushing back.

Yearning. 

And not just for something that could have been. But a solution to what he always wanted. 

A path forward.

"Free to live."

***********************************

"Mobius!"

He gasps awake to Sylvie shaking him hard. Her face is contorted into fear. Behind her O.B.'s typing frantically into his tempad as the pads on Mobius's arms push the green into his system.

He looks around. He's on the stairs to the room with all the suits. Above him green dances with shades of blue and purple occasionally poking through. He coughs and Sylvie grabs his face. 

"You have to stop doing that," she says, "I don't think I can find you collapsed for a fourth time."

"I know what to do," Mobius stutters. 

O.B. taps harder. Sylvie frowns. "What are you talking about? Do what?"

Mobius struggles to sit up so she gently pushes him up until he can see outside. The green swirls in both the tubes and in the void. He nods to himself as his heart begins to pound again and O.B. has to stop and listen to figure out the strange readings. 

"What is it?" He asks. 

Mobius smiles, gripping Sylvie's hand as he says, "To live. I know what I have to do to live."