Work Text:
Hundreds of thousands of timelines flowed through Loki's awareness, but his mortal eyes remained firmly fixed on the man staring at the family he could never return to. Somewhere in the back of his mind Loki started scanning each individual timeline, searching for one where Shawn and Kevin might have been left completely orphaned with no one to care for them. It wouldn't be a perfect fit, but with a little nudge then maybe...
While he looked, Loki watched Mobius finally turn away from the house. Pulling out his TempPad, he keyed in a destination and opened a door. Loki didn't bother looking at the pad, knowing he would be able to immediately find Mobius whenever or wherever he chose to go. Even in an infinite multiverse, this was one story he would never lose track of.
Instead, he watched Mobius stare at the door for a long moment. He looked nervous now, but also braced for whatever came, and Loki thought about how brave it was to try and carve out a new future for yourself all alone. Mobius wasn't alone – he would never be alone as long as Loki sat at the center of the multiverse – but Mobius didn't know that. He watched as Mobius slipped the TempPad into his pocket, took a deep breath, and stepped through the doorway.
And vanished.
For an endless, eternal moment, Loki couldn't find Mobius anywhere in the multiverse. There were thousands of Dons at various stages of their lives, even tens of thousands, but not one of them was the face Loki so desperately needed to see. His awareness tore through the timelines, ready to destroy whoever or whatever dared hide Mobius from him. He would—
There was a sudden weight in the strands.
The realization was so unexpected that it jerked Loki's desperation to a halt. There was nothing that could weigh them down – Loki was the only one here, and the throne the only thing. But something heavy had become tangled in the strands. Something that struggled like it was trying to get free, or at least—
"Loki!" His all-too-mortal heart stopped as the achingly familiar voice called his name. "If you're here somewhere, I could use a hand!"
He parted the tangle with a brief gesture, making a clear corridor between him and Mobius. The other man was working his way free of the final strands, which were sliding away from him almost in apology. All Loki could do was stare as Mobius finished getting free, straightening his suit before looking around in interest. "I would say nice place you've got here, but I think it could do with some actual floor space. Maybe a cushion or two, if you're feeling really crazy." He focused on Loki. "Also, I would seriously give the hat another think-through. It is better in green than in yellow, I'll give you that, but I'm sure if you spent some time with it you could come up with headgear that doesn't immediately scream 'bull metaphor.'"
Loki couldn't seem to get enough air into his lungs. He half-wondered if this was some sort of illusion he hadn't meant to create, but when he flicked his fingers Mobius firmly continued to exist. He was here.
Mobius's expression shifted to concern. "You with me?" He waved a hand, like he was checking Loki's ability to visually track things. "Because I get it if too much of your brain is focused on the multiverse to pay much attention to the here and now, but I was kind of hoping to have a conversation."
It was impossible. It was infuriating. It was so wonderful he could hardly bear it. Desperation finally gave him enough breath to form words. "What are you doing here?!?"
Mobius settled back on his heels. "Funny story, actually." Awkwardness crept in around the edges of his voice. "I kind of retired from the TVA—"
Loki made a dismissive gesture. "I saw that part."
That made Mobius go still. "You were watching me?" he asked softly.
Now Loki was the awkward one, eyes sliding away from Mobius even as he kept track of him out of the corner of his vision. "I see everything, you know."
Mobius grimaced. "Ah." He was quiet now. Muted. "That makes sense."
Loki closed his eyes a moment, hating himself a little. If he couldn't be honest now, at the end of all things, there was truly no hope for him. "Of course I watch you," he breathed, a confession. "I check on all the others, but you..."
The words trailed off, his courage failing him, but as always Mobius saw him far too clearly. "Me, you watch," Mobius finished, tender enough to make Loki's eyes sting.
Loki swallowed. "I don't even understand how you got here."
Mobius pulled the TempPad out of his pocket, waving it around a little. "I told it to drop me as close to the center of the tree as it could manage. He Who Remains kept the Sacred Timeline as far away from himself as he could, but I knew you'd be right at the heart of everything." He let out a breath. "If you were still here at all, of course, and as long as wherever the center was had some kind of breathable atmosphere instead of empty space that would just instantly decompress me or something else horrible."
Belated fear clutched Loki's heart. "You could have died." Outside of the timelines, the one place Loki wasn't sure he could save him.
Mobius shrugged. "It's why I checked out my old life before I stepped through the door." His tone tried to make it sound casual, like it was no big deal, and though he knew it was a lie Loki would have never called him on it. "One last thing on my to-do list that didn't involve you."
That didn't involve him. Loki's chest clenched, hope and fear so sharp they were indistinguishable. He probably just needed to tell him something. Maybe say goodbye properly. Mobius of all people would understand why he couldn't leave.
And it was utterly arrogant of him to imagine Mobius would even want him to. "I ask again," he breathed. "What are you doing here?"
Mobius held his hands out in a "What can you do?" gesture. "Need a roommate?"
For an endless moment, Loki's brain refused to accept what it was hearing. Some things were beyond even impossiblity. "I don't understand."
Mobius dropped his hands with an exasperated noise. "Not making this easy on me, are you?"
Loki's heart started to pound. "Mobius..."
Mobius sighed, expression turning utterly solemn. Even from here, Loki could see that his eyes were wet. "Let me stay."
Loki instantly lost all the strength in his legs. He collapsed to his knees, heart tearing itself apart and putting itself back together a thousand times over. Mobius wanted to stay. Loki couldn't let him. "You can't want this." His voice was ragged as he flung his arms out toward the tangle of flowing strands around them. "There's nothing here!"
Mobius's eyes never left Loki's face. "You're here," he said softly. He crossed the distance between them, kneeling down in front of Loki without touching him. "That's enough for me."
His hands half-lifted, almost but not quite touching Mobius. If he let himself, there was a terrifyingly real possibility he'd never be able to let go. "It can't be." He curled his hands into fists, forcing them back. "I'm me."
Mobius had saved him once, but he couldn't let him do it again. Loki had sacrificed himself to save him. To save all of them. He couldn't let Mobius sacrifice himself for something so unimportant as Loki's heart.
Mobius looked like his own heart was breaking a little bit. "Yeah," he murmured. "You're you." Hesitantly, he reached a hand out to cradle the side of Loki's face. The electric warmth of Mobius's skin against his made it feel like he hadn't been touched in a thousand years.
It wasn't until Mobius's thumb stroked along his cheek that Loki realized his own hands were shaking. He closed his eyes, the rest of the multiverse a million miles away. "Go." His voice was a rasp, tears streaming down his cheeks. "Please."
"I'm afraid I can't do that." Mobius's voice was soft. "I've already lost too many people I love."
Loki's eyes flew open, heart stopping in his chest. "Love?" he breathed.
"Yeah." Mobius smiled a little, fresh tears in his own eyes. "It's just your bad luck you're the only one I actually remember."
Not even a god was strong enough for this. A tidal wave of need and longing rose up inside Loki, and he surged forward to take Mobius's face in his hands and kiss him like he'd wanted to for so long. Mobius kissed him back just as hard, taking all his need and giving it back to him in equal measure, and something that had been broken deep inside Loki for so long finally started to stitch itself closed.
When they broke apart, they were both breathless. "That sounded like a yes to me," Mobius managed, leaning his forehead against Loki's.
Loki laughed, happier than he'd imagined he ever could be again. He made the horns and cape disappear with a thought, outfit replaced by a jacketless version of the one he'd worn at the TVA. "Is this more to your liking?"
Mobius smiled, hearing the unspoken yes. "Well, it does do a better job of showing off your whole everything," he said lightly, sliding his hands back to thread his fingers through Loki's hair. "But seriously, you don’t have to get rid of the hat completely. All I'm saying is we should workshop it a—"
Heart full and legions of timelines singing through his thoughts, Loki cut him off with another kiss.