Echoes in Time

Not again, please....

"You!" he hissed as he looked at Mobius. Of all the bloody times for the man to appear.  After all these years... how had he tracked him down?  WHY had he tracked him down?  They'd let him wander the timeline quite happily until now....

"Come on, time to go.  Put her down, please."  One of the black armour-clad Hunters stepped out from behind the man in the suit.  He held out his arm, gesturing for Loki to come quietly.

Loki paused and looked down at a now wide-eyed and shocked Elli.  "I have to go.  If I don't, they'll take you and prune you too, and we will never see each other again." he looked at her, and she nodded very slowly, understanding only a tenth of what he'd just said.

"P...prune me?"  she whispered from within his embrace, as unwilling as him to let go. "I... don't... understand? Loki? I don't understand..." her eyes, still locked on his, filled with tears. "Please?  Please don't go. We just... I just... who ARE they? " she turned to look at Mobius and the Hunter, now quite obviously female; she sported a large B-15 in orange on her helmet.

Hunter B-15 stepped forward and grabbed Loki's arm, pulling him away from Elli.  "WE are the Time Variance Authority, and HE is a fugitive variant who needs to be in custody.  Causing mayhem all over the timeline.  And now?  With you?  Another timeline Nexus event we can do without.  Come on L1130, your little jaunt is up."   

B-15 pushed Elli away, not unkindly. It was just the ground was uneven, and Elli was unsteady as it was.   Elli fell backwards and landed in a heap.  The shock made her cry out, although she was relatively unhurt.  Loki turned on B-15.

"Now hang on just a minute!" he raised a hand, finger pointing angrily.  B-15 wasted no time.  In a flash, a collar with a glowing red light was slapped on Loki's neck. "SHIT! NOT AGAIN!" he swore loudly, grabbing at it.  "Elli, I PROMISE I'll be back.  Wait for me, please, wait for me.  I won't let you down, not again." 

Mobius gently helped the now sobbing woman to her feet. "Elli Amundsen, isn't it?" he smiled softly. "I knew your... well, too many Greats Grandmother.  You look just like her." 

Elli looked at him and growled in a voice even she didn't recognise, "What the HELL are you doing to him.  A collar? He's not an animal! Let him go or by Odin you'll be sorry!" she stopped and bit her lip. Where in Gods name had THAT come from?

Mobius smiled benignly. "Yep. Just like her."  He turned, marking something on a manila file in his hand. "No reset, just leave her.  I don't think there will be any repercussions.  Did we get the other one.... Fandral?" he turned to B-15, who nodded.

"Yeah, I found him this morning.  Poor lad he was with got a bit of a shock, too.   He had to be pruned, though.  Not as strong as this one." She looked over at Elli and nodded. "Yeah, nowhere near as strong as this."

Loki was manhandled away, and Mobius turned to go, fiddling with some kind of handset he'd produced from his suit jacket.

"Mr Mobius?"  Elli put a hand on his arm, calmer now. "Please, wait...what... what's going to happen to him?" her voice echoed the genuine concern now flooding through her.  Mobius smiled and patted her hand in an almost fatherly gesture. 

"Don't worry, he'll be ok. I'll make sure she goes easy on him. We, like you, need him, it seems." he went to walk away, and Elli pulled him back. "I could come too?  Help you, too?" she was desperate now, almost begging.  Something told her that if she lost him now, she would spend her life waiting for him to come back.  

"I'm sorry, it's just not possible." Mobius paused, "B-15?  Bring him back here."

Loki and the Hunter walked back from the threshold of the doorway where they'd been waiting. Mobius took Loki by the arm.  "Say goodbye properly," he said softly, propelling him forward. "Hold on to her. Tightly, don't let go. You didn't get the chance the last time." He pushed him towards her, his hand brushing over the pocket of Loki's jacket. He smiled knowingly.

Loki looked sharply at Mobius.  What?  What was that all about? Holding her tightly? He looked down at Elli, tears coursing down their cheeks. "I promise to come back," he whispered. "I... I know you won't understand... but... through you?  I know again what it is to be loved.." he stroked her cheek, and she leaned into his touch.

"And to be loved in return.... I do understand Lo." she reached up and pulled him into a kiss as sweet and tender as he could have imagined throughout the thousand years they'd been apart.  Her lips were warm and soft and promised so much.  

Mobius stepped further back, and B-15 began to object. He silenced her with a raised hand. "No. Where can he go?  The collar stops the magic, making the tesseract just a lump of crystal. You know that as well as I do." 

As the lovers kissed, there was a strange noise, and they held each other, looking around. The noise came from a struggling B-15 as she was pruned by a very angry looking man in a brown suit.  In a ribbon of orange light and sparks, she disappeared into thin air, shouting as she did so.

The doorway began to flicker and change, and Mobius stepped forward, handing Loki the glowing stick he'd used to dispatch the Hunter.  "Go, before they find out and send more... The door has changed. I've changed the destination, and I've reset your Tempad.  GO MAN GO!" he pushed Loki towards is, holding Elli back. "You can't take her, but you can hide.  They'll not find you. Let the nexus die down. Here...." he pressed a button on a small device, and the collar fell off, red light dimmed.  "You got the cube?"  Loki nodded, and it appeared in his hand. Now his magic was restored.  Mobius nodded. "Good."

Loki glanced around and dived to the doorway.  "Thank you, Mobius.  Elli - I WILL be back. I promise, I'll find a way. I promise. I love you, Elli Amundsen."

The doorway closed, and the glow faded. All that was left was a thin rectangular scorch mark on the grass.  Elli stood motionless, expressionless.  Then slowly, quietly, she sank to her knees.  As she howled at the sky, the man in the brown suit knelt and helped her stand.

"It'll be ok.  Time will pass, but it will be ok.  I miss him too. I have ever since the first time we met." 

She looked at him and saw him, really saw him this time.  A man who spent his life chasing time. 

"But I don't want time to pass Mobius, I can't let him suffer like that.  Not again." 

"Look, let's get a coffee and a slice of pie.  I have a lot to tell you and, ironically, not much time to tell you in." Mobius laughed at his own joke. 

Elli sighed. This was more than her brain could cope with. She nodded, and together, they walked back to the town.  As she walked, she felt in her pocket.  Extracting the pouch, she smiled.  Loki may not be who she first thought, but she knew, without fail, he was exactly who she wanted him to be.