Family is for all time, always [1]

The Destruction of The Salad

~~~Loki's pov~~~

We left the analyst area and made our way over to the cafeteria. We ran into Catherine along the way.

~~~Catherine's pov~~~

I was going to check on Linda when she and Loki walked up to me in the hallway.

"What are you doing here? Did you read all the files already?" I questioned, puzzled that they were done so quickly.

"No, but he says he might know where the variant is hiding." Linda smiled up at me proudly.

"Really?" I asked him curiously.

"Yes." He nodded, confirming her statement. "I promise I'll explain in a second. Where is Mobius?"

~

We walked to where Mobius was sitting for lunch, and chaos soon followed.

"We've got something," I said when we were a few feet from his lunch table.

"No. I said don't bother me until you've read all the files." Mobius protested, looking up from his salad bowl.

"I have," Loki said.

I scoffed quietly, knowing that it was a lie.

"Every file?"

"Yes."

"Pertaining to the variant?" He elaborated, still not convinced.

"The answer isn't in the files. It's on the timeline." He explained as we sat down at Mobius' table.

This got my interest.

Linda sat between me and Loki, looking completely invested in whatever he was about to say.

I seriously don't get why she likes him so much. She's met hundreds of other variants before. What makes a Loki variant so special?

I mean, I like him, but not... You know what? I have no idea what I feel toward him. I like him, but it feels like more than that. And at the same time, I know it can't be more than that. We've only known each other for a few days at most.

You can't catch real feelings for someone that fast. Right?

"He's hiding in apocalypses." He clarified, noting Mobius' confused expression.

"Which one? There's like a million of them." I said, furrowing my brows, now starting to doubt his theory.

Then he took out a file. "Ragnarok. Are you familiar?"

"Yes. The destruction of Asgard and most of its people. I'm sorry." Mobius said sympathetically.

"Yes. Very sad." He started emotionless. "Anyway, it got me thinking."

I nodded, encouraging him to go on.

"Nexus events happen when someone does something they're not supposed to do, right?"

"Well, it's a bit more complicated than that, but yeah."

"Great. And then that thing they're not supposed to do cascades into a whole range of other things that aren't supposed to happen, and so on and so forth, until eventually, a new timeline branches. Yes?"

"Chaotic alterations of a predetermined outcome." I nodded.

"Exactly. So, let's just say," Loki took Mobius' salad, trailing off.

"What are you doing?"

"Your salad is Asgard in this scenario." He started.

"It's not Asgard. It's my lunch." Mobius protested.