Out of touch (1)

e i g h t

The three walk through a glowing doorway and out onto a Renaissance fair, ones Anita had only heard stories about from her childhood. She felt nervous being back out in open. She was scared someone would come and snatch her up again. Unconsciously, she made her way to stand next to the raven haired man, tucking herself behind him slightly. He noticed though. Looking at the girl with worry in his eyes. He felt some need to protect her and so he made sure he stood in front of her proudly, an action that didn't go unnoticed by their newfound friend.
"Apex of nexus signature located ma'am" one of the minutemen says in front of them.
"Let me ask you this" Loki starts as he advances after the group, Anita now finding herself to be clinging to his coat.
"Why don't we just travel back to before the attack when the variant first arrives?"
"Nexus events destabilise the time flow, this branch is still changing and growing so you gotta show up in real time, did you watch any of the training videos you were supposed to?"
"Well as many as I could stand, your TVA propaganda is exhausting"
"And what do these do?"
"Reset charges prune the affected radius of a branched timeline allowing time to heal all its wounds" Loki answers as they come to stand outside a large tent.
"Which sounds like a nice way of saying disintegrate everything in its vicinity"
"He's on it, you alright back there?" He asks now looking to Anita who looks to him and then to Loki as she steps back from him, letting go of his jacket as she nods.
"I watched the videos, I mean some of them" Loki argues as they all make their way into the tent.
"So he's taking hostages now?" B-15 asks staring down at an empty helmet that is lying on the ground.
"The variants never taken a hostage before"
"Maybe he's upping his game" she responds.
"Or he pruned her" one of the minutemen suggests.
"A Loki couldn't have gotten on the jump on C-20" she says.
There is a tone of worry and defensiveness in her voice. She clearly cared for this person.
"I think you underestimate actually" Loki starts before he is cut off.
"Fan out and search for her" she commands.
"And hurry up, we're at three units until the red line"
"Let's go, she's right" the team agrees.
"Come on" Mobius says to the two and Anita starts to walk behind him shyly whilst Loki stays put in his place.
"Wait" Loki calls making them all stop and turn back to him.
"If you leave this tent you'll end up like them"
"What do you see?"
"I see a scheme and in that scheme I see myself" he tells the analyst before he turns to the group.
"We have a saying in Asgard, 'Where there are wolfs ears, wolves teeth are near"
He was making this up. Anita could read him like a book at this moment and she could hear all the lies pouring out of him.
"It means be aware of your surroundings which is absurd because my people are, by nature, gullible fools, a trait that I, the god of mischief, exploited time and time again simply by listening"
He was playing them. He was playing them right to their faces and was telling them outright what he was doing. She couldn't believe the misfortune they were falling into. And yet she said nothing. She said nothing because as much as she knew it was a lie, she wanted to trust him.
"My teeth were sharp but my ears were even sharper"
"We're running out of time Mobius"
"Hold it, just give him a chance"
A fool. They were all fools for his tricks.
"You remind me of them, the time variance authority and the gods of Asgard, one and the same, drunk with power, blinded to the truth, those you underestimate will devour you"
Everyone looks to him.
"You underestimate me, just as you underestimate this lesser Loki which is why you walk into one wolfs mouth after another"
"Two Units, he is wasting our time" B-15 practically growls.
"Okay, come on Loki, make a long story short"
"We need to look for C-20"
"That's exactly what the variant wants you to do" Loki interrupts but Anita isn't too sure as she too walks over to the trio.
"It's a trap, he's waiting for you outside this tent"
"Why would they stay where they know we will be?" Anita asks once again shocking Loki that she is even talking to him.
He couldn't tell how the girl truly felt about him. They understood each other. Both dangerous, both scared, both alone. But she seemed to be making it her mission to avoid him as much as possible.
He chooses to ignore her as they all turn when one of the minutemen pipes up.
"Should I secure the reset charges?"
"No, he wants me, I'm the key to his plan, he knows I'm almost stronger than him"
"One unit" B-15 is annoyed.
"And he rightly believes that together we can overthrow and rule the TVA but that's not what I want, I have a new purpose, I'm a servant of the sacred timeline and knowing what I now know about his tactics, I can deliver you the variant but I need assurances" he says coming to stand between Mobius and Anita.
She wonders if he has included her in his master plan. If he has planned to get the two of them out together. She doubts it but the question still spins in her mind.
"We'll need to speak to the time keepers at once, they're in graver danger than we realised" Loki whispers.
"He's lying, just playing games, there's no one out there" the analyst says turning away from him.
"Reset the timeline" B-15 orders as Anita makes her way to the woman.
She reaches forward to place a hand on her armour but is stopped when she faces the girl.
"I'm sorry about C-20" she whispers and the Hunter nods as a means of thanks before Anita makes her way back to the two men.
"You had me for a second" Mobius comments.
"Not me, I could see right through those tricks" she adds making Loki look at her with a gleam of admiration.
She shakes her head at him and follows after the other hunters, Mobius sticking to her side as they go back through the doorway.
"Back to your cell then" he tells the girl and she nods as B-15 starts to lead her away.
She makes it so far before she turns around to look at the God of mischief. He is already staring at her. They are both confused about the other. Whilst Anita believed he would save her, he thought she would betray them all with him. They wanted to know how the other would help them and yet the coldness between them was making it impossible. She turns her head back around and makes her way down another corridor before they reach the confinement and she steps in before the door is closed.
"Do you need anything?" The Hunter asks and she pauses to think.
"You have a library right?"
The Hunter nods.
"Can you get me everything on Loki, please?"
"Of course" she says before walking off.
If she wasn't going to talk to him, she could at least get her intel through her own research. She wouldn't give up on him.
Not yet.