Echoes in Time

OB

They stepped out of the portal and into the single most chaotic room Loki had EVER seen. And coming from a God who made a living out of chaos that was quite some achievement.  It was as if someone had taken the inner workings of the machine that was the universe and dumped it out of a big box onto the floor.

The floor of a room he knew instinctively was in the TVA itself.  The walls and the floor looked as if they were straight out of some 1970's Midgardian home décor catalogue.  The walls, floor, and ceiling, a delicate shade of caramel with bold orange highlights.  The overhead lamps shone down like a hundred eyes watching.  It had all the hallmarks of a corporate nightmare.  

And just like the best nightmares, it seemingly was endless.  The corridors to the back of what appeared to be a large horseshoe shaped workshop bench disappeared off into infinity.  The bench itself was covered in wires, tools, and bits of machinery.  Clipboards with lists, scraps of paper with drawings, little glass tubes with pieces of broken gadgets.  Half finished repairs and notes on spikes.  A large rubber stamp that made a satisfying "crump" when it marked a form with the word "Complete." The detritus of a millennia of keeping the timeline flowing.

Loki picked up piece after piece, fascinated and frustrated in equal measure.  This... whatever it was... he looked up at a sound.  Sygn walked over and pointed up.  There, on a harness, pottering around on an impossibly high shelf was a small man in a set of familiarly brown overalls.

Loki thumped the little half moon bell on the desk. It's insistent, "TING!!!" splitting the silence and making even him jump. The man looked down, dropping a large spanner that fell with a clang in front of them, making Sygn jump back behind Loki in surprise.   Sygn looked at Loki and shook her head. 

"You really had to do that?" she scowled, and inwardly, he cheered at her discomfort.

"What? That's what it's there for, is it not?" he shrugged.  There was a whir of cables, and the man - who turned out to be much smaller now he appeared before them - arrived smiling as he disengaged his harness.

"Hello! I'm Ouroboros . Welcome to time repair, maintenance, and development." he smiled and held out his hand, then snatched it back. "Wait... I know you don't I?" he said suspiciously. "You're HIS friend.... Mobius... you're Mobius' friend..."Yes, yes, VERY pleased to meet you, Loki!" he re-extended his as he squinted at Loki, then stood back a bit. "You don't look like your photo, you know. Much..." he held his hands apart, vertically."Much bigger."  He smiled and nodded enthusiastically.  

Loki frowned slightly, unsure quite how to take that, so he decided to ignore it.  

Sygn stuck her hand out. "And I'm Sygn...."

"Oh, I know who you are." he said solemnly, all mirth gone and eyes trained on her. "He told me about you too." She withdrew her unshaken hand and self-consciously stuck it in her pocket.

"Ouroboros, I need your help. " Loki paused and felt the bile rise in his throat. "WE need your help,  don't we Sygn." he looked at her, and she smiled, eyes like a snake as she glanced at OB again.

"Yes, we most certainly do. Time to go, gentlemen." she giggled a little at her own pun.   Loki rolled his eyes and covered them with his hand.  OB shrugged.

He paused and picked up a piece of what looked like a bullhorn, pressing a button.  It shrieked with feedback, and he smiled and dropped it again. "Good! Working again.  Another job done."  he scribbled on what looked like some kind of invoice and theatrically spiked it with the others.

Loki swallowed and looked at him in shock.  Sygn looked at him in disgust.

"We don't have time to wait, Mr Ouroboros." he tried to explain, "We need to repair the timeline before it all falls apart and the entire cosmos falls apart."

"Not all of it." their new companion looked at them steadily.  Sygn and Loki looked at each other. 

"What do you mean not ALL?" Loki asked, taking a step forward. Was this some kind of trick?  Was there somewhere he could take Elli, and she would be safe?  

"Well, no, but there is a way to stop it happening in the first place.  It's not pretty, but it's a fix.  A permanent fix.  But we can't do it from here.  We need to go... on a little trip."  OB looked at them and nodded.  "And please, it's OB Loki." he smiled.  

"So what are we waiting for?  What's the fix?  Tell us please OB, tell us everything.  Loki! Get him told.  Threaten him or something, you fool!" Sygn was getting frantic. Loki was instantly suspicious.  Was she about to double cross him AGAIN?  

"It's Prince Loki to you, lady! Ob turned on her as he pointed at Loki. "And I don't threaten, so you're wasting your time."  he gathered up a few papers and an orange embossed notebook.  "We have to go.  The person we need isn't here.  She's... she's somewhere else." For a second, OB paused and looked at Loki.  His face became quiet and serious.  "You won't like it, Loki, but I promise, if there was any other way...." 

Loki now knew what it was like to feel true desolation and loss. The other person? He knew without being told.

"It's Elli, isn't it?  You need Elli to fix the timeline. Well, you can't have her. She's mine. No OB there HAS to be another way, please.... You just can't...." he stopped, aware they were both staring at him as if he were mad.  He'd started to cry.  Openly cry and grab OB by the lapels of his overalls. He released him, patting the material down and stepping back.  Wiping his face with his hands, he sniffed and tilted his chin up defiantly. "You can not have her."

Ob shook his head. "I don't know, in all my calculations, we had someone to... well... someone to step in.  It was never going to be me, and I didn't expect HER..." he side-eyed  Sygn, who turned offended

"Oi you little dweeb, don't forget to whom you are speaking.  I am the future queen of Jotunheim..." she said grandly.

"About that..." Loki started to say, and OB decided it was time to beat a hasty retreat. 

"I'm just going to get my coat..." he muttered and left them to their squabble.

When he reappeared, Loki and Sygn were standing, literally back to back arms folded, sulking.

"Ready?" he asked with a forced air of confidence. "Sooner we get on the go, sooner the timeline is fixed."

Loki looked at him sadly. "Please, OB, please try to think of another way? Surely you can give it more thought.  There must be other scenarios."

"I'm sorry Loki, what makes you think this is the first time I've looked at this?  In every eventuality, this is the only way.  It takes great strength and power to accomplish what we need to do.  It needs someone with the weight of history behind them. All of history." his voice was flat, deadpan, as emotionless as it had been excited.

Loki nodded.  "Ok, let's go.  But I ask one favour.  Just one. Of BOTH of you." he paused, and for once, his sadness touched even cold-hearted Sygn.  They nodded.

"Yes?"

"Let me tell her, in my own way, what we need from her."

OB and Sygn nodded.  He opened a portal, and Loki paused, catching Sygn by the arm. "This means we don't have to go through with our bargain. If she's.... well... if I won't have...." 

"Oh Loki, do you think for one minute I would tell the poor woman as she's about to sacrifice herself for you, that I had just slept with the love of her life? " she looked - almost astonished.

Loki paused. Was that an accusation too far? "Sorry. Come on." he stepped through the doorway, and Sygn smiled.

"You bet your sexy Jotun ass I will buster...." she said as she closed it behind her.....