Echoes in Time

Stumbling around in the dark....

The portal open and waiting; Loki felt the distinctive "help" of a pair of hands sending him through. 

Before he had time to even consider any alternative, he was reappearing in a darkened room.  There were no lights, no indication of any timeframe where he was, and dear GODS, what was that SMELL? 

Snapping his fingers, he held aloft a small ball of bright white light. A stable?  Mobius had sent him to a STABLE?  What the absolute Helheim was he playing at.  There was hiding, and there was hiding.  This, he was sure, was the latter.

Just as his eyes were getting used to the gloom, he almost jumped out of his skin when there was a hot breat and a loud "Hurrrrumph!" In his ear. Leaping back, daggers instantly drawn, he came face to face with a very curious horse!  In the dark, all alone, he burst out laughing at his own timidity.  If only they could see the great Loki Laufeyson now! Cowering before a pair of dark eyes and long shaggy mane.

Daggers disappearing back into the ether where they came from, he grinned and walked over.  Clapping the horses neck, he rested his head against the warm skin. "Shhhh big fella... I'm sorry to intrude on your evening. I just need somewhere to shelter for the night so I can gather my thoughts.  Is that ok?" he looked up, and there was something comforting about the warm and gentle presence.

Moving to the side, he sat on a bale of hay and looked around. It didn't take him long to decide that the warmth of the dry stable, no matter HOW smelly, was better than taking his chances in strange surroundings.  Using too much magic wasn't a great idea.  Sometimes, it caused more problems than it solved.  He'd found THAT out in grand style in Salem.  How could he have known they were so hysterically puritanical. He wasn't a witch! 

Even if they DID convict him!

He smiled as he recalled their faces when he'd conjured a portal in the courtroom and simply walked out.  Witches, eh?  He'd show them!

Now, though, it didn't seem to have done him much good, did it?  He was all alone, the one person he thought understood him, other than his mother, of course, gone.  Where was she?  What was Mobius telling her? Would she EVER be with him again?  His mind reeled, and his stomach churned as he contemplated the next few thousand years without her. Before he could stop them, hot tears stung his eyes, and he wiped them away angrily.

"I will NOT give in.  I will NOT be used like a piece of equipment.  Elli will be ok. I don't have to go back...." he trailed off.  Of all his many faults, until now, lying to himself hadn't been one of them. Elli wouldn't be ok.  He would allow himself to be used. He knew that.  He just wanted her back. So very much.

Loki sat for a moment, wallowing in his own misery.  Then, he made a decision.  He would formulate a plan.  He would rescue Fandral from the clutches of the TVA, he would find Mobius and Elli, and they would high tail it into some convenient timeline where nothing and no one would interfere.

Great plan, Laufeyson, he told himself aloud. Fantastic.  And how do you propose to do that when you don't know where the Hel she is and what the Hel they want.  The key to that was simple.  Mobius M  Mobius.  The ubiquitous "grey man."  Or at least in his case, brown.

He had no way of knowing if Mobius had moved Elli to another time.  He had no way of knowing if they were planning to come to him.  If he moved and they did?  They could be playing time-hopscotch for eternity.  He sighed, this was getting him nowhere, and all he was doing was losing more and more sleep.

Then there was Fandral. Poor Fandral. Now in the clutches of the TVA. Loki actually felt guilty for saving him from Hela for him, only to lose his freedom to the ubiquitous "men in suits."

He sighed deeply. This was getting him nowhere. He was tired and it was late. He should sleep, and then he'd come up with something in the morning.

He conjured a blanket and a pillow.  Choosing a large pile of relatively clean straw, he lay down.

Then he stood up.

Quickly. 

A very disgruntled looking rat scuttled out from the hay and scolded him as it ran for its life.  Loki sighed. Even the wildlife had it in for him.

He lay back down and closed his eyes.  Silence filled the air.  An hour and a half later, he sighed and gave in. Sitting up again, he sat head in hands. He was still not asleep.  He waved his hands, and above him, stars and planets wheeled.  His own personal light show.  lying back down, hands behind his head, he watched as stars and planets were born, moved, and died.  Some he could remember seeing but others were mere sparks in the cosmos.

Briefly, he wondered if Heimdal saw across timelines as well as worlds.  Poor sod if he did! Loki's mind reeled with the exponential number of people THAT would be!

Soon, even his own personal planetarium palled.  He snapped his fingers, and it was dark again, just the gaps in the roof revealling the real stars.  He thought for a minute he saw the reflection of the Bifrost, but dismissed it as nonsense.

He sighed.  "Oh Elli, I miss you, darling." He said out loud, and Horse - as he'd named him - neighed softly. "Sorry, mate." He said quietly. Look at the horse. There was something oddly comforting about its presence.  Oddly familiar.  A horse was just a horse, wasn't it??

Eventually, Horse stood over him, watching carefully.  He was a simple soul. Just wanted to run in the wind, eat his hay, and occasionally, just occasionally, carry his rider into battle. Nodding gently, he closed an eye and fell asleep.

Loki smiled. It wasn't the first time he'd slept in a stable, but it WAS the first time he'd been alone.  His mind's eye went back to that night, Sygn and him, secure in each other's arms.

Sygn had been his lover, yes, but she hadn't been his love. He closed his eyes and, with the image of Elli, flooded his mind.

"Tomorrow my darling, I'll come for you tomorrow. I promise...." Finally, fitfully, he fell asleep.