Temptation

Nightmares....

Eva leaned against the tree and looked up into the night sky.  "Darling, come home to me? Please? I can't do this without you, I can't have our baby alone."

Tears washed her face, just as they had for the last two weeks. She held herself tightly as she sobbed. She was due to give birth to their son any day.

Loki and Mobius had not returned as promised.  They had not wandered in, laughing and joking as if they'd never been away. What they had done was leave a sad little girl, an angry little boy, and a grieving wife. 

There was a noise behind her, and a pair of strong arms hugged her gently.  She turned and sobbed into his shoulder.  "Oh, Volstagg, what am I going to do? Thor is off world, Frigga and Odin are gone. I can't do this..."

Volstagg pulled back and looked at her sadly.  "Eva, look at me?" She sniffed loudly and swallowed her tears, looking up into his normally joyous face.  Tonight, his eyes were clouded. "You can, and you will. You are NOT alone.  You have me and  Gundrun.  After the number of children we've had? There's no one better to be with you." He smiled, and she nodded.

"I know Volstagg, I just.... I just miss him. So much." She sagged a little, and he bent,slipped his arm under her knees, and lifted her into his arms. "Oh, Volstagg, watch your back! I weigh as much as a Bilgesnipe these days!"

Volstagg laughed loudly, "Oh no, Eva... not at all..." he paused and winked at her "far FAR more!" His laughter filled the air.

Carrying her back to the palace, they met Thor at the door to her rooms. Volstagg slipped her gently to the floor and bowed. "Your majesty! You're back! I hope your visit to Midgard was successful?"

He looked at Thor with a meaningful glance.  "I bring you a waif I found wandering the grounds.  Perhaps you have a need for such a woman?" He winked and retreated. "I will leave you to it.  Sleep well..." he bowed again and turned to Eva. "Goodnight Eva, we are but a few yards away if you should need us at any time."

Eva smiled and kissed his bearded cheek. "Thank you, Volstagg. Kiss Gundrun and the children for me? Sleep well."

They watched him walk away. Thor turned to Eva. "Oh little sister, you look so sad. Loki will return. I know if there is any way in the nine realms for him to be with you...." he held her close. "He loves you, Eva. That's all there is to it."

He pulled back and held her hand, looking her up and down with a quiet smile.  "So, no sign of Erik yet ?" He grinned.

Eva narrowed her eyes, "How did you...." There was a giggle from behind her, and she turned, hands at the ready. "Frigga Lokisdottir! You little monster......" With a shriek of laughter, the monster retreated into her bedroom.  "Just you wait! When I've finished with Uncle Thor, missy, you and I are going to have words!"  Eva tried to pretend she was annoyed at Frigga blabbing to Thor, but in truth?

In truth, she was glad. Glad to have someone to share it with. Thor smiled at her and opened to the doors to her chamber.

"Come, sit a while, and I'll tell you what happened on Midgard. I met up with Jane and Darcy. Oh, and you will NOT believe what Sellvig was doing. Naked in public. I was so embarrassed.....!" He laughed, and they closed the door softly behind them.

As Eva sat on the sofa, watching Thor recount his tale by the firelight, she appeared to listen intently. Laughing and nodding in all the right places. Truthfully, she hardly heard a word. Her mind was elsewhere, straining for another voice, another smile.

She would go back to the tree, tomorrow and every day. After all, he'd be back soon. Wouldn't he.......?

OB looked at the pair of them and shook his head. "It's not possible. You can't be in a timeloop. Not here. There IS no time here."

Mobius looked at him. "But we are. We've been to see you three times and every time.... look, believe me, Time is passing, and we're losing the variant.  We need to hurry."

"Tell me, OB - I can call you OB? Tell me, if time doesn't pass in the TVA, how do you measure your days? And WHY do you have clocks?" Loki added almost triumphantly.

OB scratched his head, screwing up his face. "You know? I have no answer to that. " he shrugged, "Oh well." He began to tinker with a piece of non-descript tech then tossed it behind him into a large basket. Picking up a clear plastic capsule, he unscrewed the lid.

For a moment, the lights dimmed as if there was a huge power drain somewhere close. Loki and Mobius stood, slightly disorientated.  OB seemed completely oblivious.

The two of them stood, staring at him.  "Yes?" He looked up again. "Can I help you? I'm OB - short for Ouroboris. You must be Mobius!" He held put a hand in greeting.

Mobius and Loki looked at each other and sighed. "Not again...." Loki groaned.

They had been here for days... weeks... each time getting a little further with the diminutive tech genius. What OB didn't know about the TVA and how its treasures worked wasn't worth knowing. 

Now, they at least could make the tempad go back a few minutes reliably.  Under normal circumstances, that would have been enough to go back to Asgard.  But this wasn't normal, was it?

They had to track down the variant and isolate them. If they didn't, if they fulfilled their task, Asgard, the TVA, Loki's wife, and children? All just the stuff of a good Saga.

Loki and Mobius patiently explained... again... OB tinkered again. It all seemed like some horrible dream, but sadly, horrendously, it wasn't.

This time tbough, this time when they explained about the 'timeloop' OB nodded. Loki and Mobius looked at him, lookedcat each other, then looked back. "You believe us?"

"Of course I do!" OB nodded, you told me last week, when you were here."  He shrugged nonchalantly.

"We... we were...."

"Here?"

"Last week?"

"Yes." OB nodded, "I was going to tell you how to fix it, but you left." He smiled and the others spontaneously hugged him at the same time.

"So you know how to get us from A to B to A again, no slipping?" Loki was sceptically hopeful.

"Yes, of course I do!" OB looked almost offended. " and as he spoke, there was a distant rumble of thunder. And the lights dimmed briefly again.

When they came back on, Loki and Mobius stared in horror.  OB was standing looking at them, smiling, hand outstretched.  "Hi! Can I help you? I'm OB - short for Ouroboris! Oooh a faulty tempad. I haven'tcseen one of them since......"

"Last week!. We know!" The chorused, their hearts sinking.

Loki put a hand over his eyes, "this is a nightmare......"