Chapter Text
Loki was going to stab someone any minute now.
He had no clue how long he had been stuck at this 'TVA' for but it had seemed like far too long for his liking. He wanted to go back to Midgard, back to Tony who would surely be worrying by now, back to their son who would be missing him even though he had been adopted only three days before Loki had been taken away by the TVA.
Loki was so close to getting out of here. If he wasn't being watched every minute then he would have left a long time ago with the Tempad Mobius thought he had 'lost'.
The only real problem was, well, he wasn't entirely sure how to use the Tempad. Just trying to navigate it was so frustrating that Loki was tempted to throw the Tempad against the wall but he always calmed himself at the last moment, telling himself the Tempad was the only way to get out of here and back to Anthony and their son.
So he took his time working it out, not wanting to get it wrong and end up in Muspelheim or something equally horrible. It would be worth the wait to see his family again.
In the end, it turned out that it was a good thing he had waited and taken the time to figure the Tempad out.
That good thing came in the form of a little girl Loki would come to care for and love.
It was another drag of a day, Loki clicking furiously at the Tempad. He was surprised the battery hadn't yet died on it.
He sighed, pressing in a destination and blinked when his timeline came up. He knew it was his as he had checked the files in the library when the annoying librarian hadn't been looking.
He stared at the little screen, hope blooming in his chest. This was it. This was his ticket out of here!
Loki grinned to himself but it faded quickly when he heard yelling coming from outside the room he was hiding in, away from Mobius and all the other pestering TVA Agent's.
Fear gripped him, wondering if the TVA Agent's had found out he had stolen the Tempad and was trying to make a getaway.
Loki stepped back when the door opened and a little girl raced in, quickly shutting and locking the door behind her. Long black hair slipped past her shoulders as she pressed an ear to the door and even Loki heard the hurried footsteps pass by, a voice speaking. "Find her. We can't let this Variant get away."
Loki rolled his eyes at Ravonna's voice as it faded away, the little girl taking a relieved breath as turned. She froze when she spotted Loki looking at her, like a deer caught in headlights.
"Hello," Loki said, voice soft as he was afraid he might frighten her.
She definitely looked frightened, a slight tremor going through her body as she pressed her back to the door, slowly slipping down it until she was sat on the floor, legs drawn up to her chest.
Tears welled up in her green eyes, much like Loki's own and his heart clenched at the sight. "Please, I d-don't know where I a-am. I don't k-know why I-I'm here—"
"Sh, sh," Loki hushed her gently, shaking his head as he stepped towards her but stopped when he saw her tense. "It's alright, Sweetheart. No need to be afraid of me."
She didn't look convinced, shaking her head furiously as tears fell. "I d-don't trust you. I don't know who you a-are."
She made a good point. She had no real reason to trust Loki at all. For all she knew, he could be another TVA Agent. Likely, that is what she thought.
"I'm not one of them," Loki assured her though that still gave her no reason to believe him. "I am much like you. A Variant. Do you know what that is?"
She slowly shook her head.
"It means that I am the same as someone else, though slightly different. There are many different types of me. Like you, Sweetheart. You're like me," Loki said softly. "I'm even willing to bet your name is Loki too, isn't it?"
Her eyes widened slightly though she nodded. "I-I am. Y-you're me?"
"I'm a Variant of you," Loki agreed. "The TVA took me from my timeline too. I'm trying to get back home to my family."
He held up the Tempad to her to prove his point, unsure if she even knew what it was though by the way she stared at it, he assumed she did.
"I could take you back to your timeline, if you wish me to," Loki assured her. "I need to get back to my own timeline first however. My husband is much better at this sort of technology than I am. He will be able to find your timeline without those dusty, old files the TVA keeps."
She nodded again, even more slowly though she looked rather hopeful at the statement.
Loki slowly drew closer, confidence growing when she didn't flinch away. He crouched down, holding out a hand to her. "I'll take you somewhere safe, away from here. Would you like that?"
He smiled softly, reassuringly and after a long moment of hesitation, and she gave a small teary smile back as she reached out to take it.
They both jumped when voices shouted outside the door, footsteps drawing nearer before the door handle jiggled.
The little girl gasped in fear but Loki was already scooping her up in his arms, holding her close as he backed away from the door that was suddenly pounded on as if someone was trying to kick it in.
Loki held her in one arm against his hip while trying to activate the Tempad one handed. He dearly hoped this would work otherwise chaos would erupt.
He clicked one last button on the screen and instantly the square portal appeared just as the door burst open, TVA Agent's flooding in, including Mobius who stared wide eyed at the two Loki Variants. "Loki, wait—!"
Loki didn't give him the chance to finish, turning and racing through the portal which closed behind them the moment he stepped through.