#time lovers

"What mission?! Loki never told me he was going on the field today!"

HB looked sheepish and guilty.

"We really needed him and his... special talents. Loki agreed on the only condition that you were not told."

"What?!" Mobius felt like he was going from bad surprise to bad surprise. "But why?"

"Mobius, I can't tell you... you'll find out... when you see Loki, I can't tell you more. He wouldn't want me to."

"But how bad is it? How is he?"

"He has a concussion and is unconscious, but the prognosis is good."

"What do you mean by concussion?!"

They had arrived in front of the room where Loki was supposed to be, HB put her hand on Mobius' arm to try to calm him down, "I'll explain when we get to the room" seeing that Mobius didn't want to give up, she added, "Please Mobius..."

Mobius, clearly upset, nodded and they entered the room.

They approached the bed where he could see his lover lying down.

When he got closer, he couldn't hold back a gasp.

Loki was in his frost giant form.

Mobius came even closer.

He could now distinguish the blue skin. Loki's hands, resting on the white sheet, were bringing out that special shade of blue.

He had already seen Loki's appearance as a frost giant in the TVA files, but seeing him in the flesh had something unreal, almost magical.

Yet it was his Loki, the fine features of his face, his long fingers, his long black curls.

Mobius could not resist the impulse to touch him.

He delicately took Loki's hand in his own. At first he was surprised by the coldness of the skin, but nothing that he could not bear.

The only thing that distressed him was that the hand was inanimate in his.

The door to the room opened and Mobius gently let go of the hand to turn to the doctor who had just entered.

"Are you..." the visibly embarrassed doctor didn't seem to have how to address their relationship.

"I'm his partner, at work and in life." Mobius replied in a firm voice.

"Um... alright... uh... let me first reassure you that your... companion is fine. He has not suffered any damage from his concussion and he should wake up any minute now. All that's left to do is wait. You can stay with him as long as you need to. Let the nurses know if anything changes."

Mobius nodded and thanked the doctor, who excused himself and left, leaving Mobius and HB with the still unconscious Loki.

Mobius pulled out a chair, placed it next to the bed and sat down. He took Loki's hand in his, stroking the back of his hand with his thumb and looking at Loki's face with a worried look.

A hand came to rest on her shoulder and gently squeezed it.

"Mobius, it will be alright, Loki is strong."

Mobius nodded then asked softly, "HB, what happened, and why didn't I know about this mission?"

"The Void Research Team reported to us that a frost giant was hiding, and they didn't want him to think of them as the enemy. Their goal being to save any variants that might have survived. Loki found out about this and offered to help, by taking his frost giant form, provided that you didn't know about it. We agreed because we had no better solution. Everything went well, Loki had managed to "tame" the ice giant, but one of the team members -who was already sanctioned I promise you-, made a sudden movement that scared the frost giant who in a defensive movement sent Loki flying, hence his concussion. Everything is back to normal now."

"Except for Loki..." muttered Mobius.

"I'm so sorry Mobius, I'm sure he'll wake up soon." replied HB, squeezing his shoulder again before continuing, "I have to get back to work, let me know if he wakes up."

Mobius simply nodded his head.

Once HB was out, he moved even closer and pushed a strand of Loki's hair back behind his ear and asked, his voice hoarse with emotion, "Sweetheart, why...why did you hide it from me?"

The hand in his quivered slightly.

"Loki?"

The hand moved slightly again.

"Yes, that's right sweetheart, wake up..."

He saw the eyelids flutter and slowly open on the scarlet pupils.

Then as consciousness slowly returned, he saw surprise and then panic come to dull the brilliance of Loki's beautiful eyes.

"Mo- Mobius... What are you doing here?"

Loki squirmed, trying to remove his hand from Mobius' and turning his head to the side.

"Loki...? What's wrong?"

Without turning his head and still trying to free his hand, Loki whispered, "I... didn't want... you to see me like this..."

"What?" Sweetheart please look at me, and answer me, why didn't you want me to see you like this?"

Loki shook his head and did not answer.

Mobius took the cold chin firmly, and turned Loki's face towards him. Loki clenched his eyes shut, refusing to meet Mobius' gaze.

Mobius said softly, "Loki, please open your eyes and answer me."

Loki whispered, his voice broken, still without opening his eyes, "I am a monster, how can you look at me and touch me, when I look like this?"

Mobius, not letting go of his grip, answered in the same gentle tone, "The same way I touch and look at you every day, sweetheart.

"How could y-"

"Open your eyes and see that I am not lying to you," Mobius continued gently.

Loki swallowed and slowly opened his eyes.

He gasped as he faced Mobius' gaze, for it was a gaze in which he read no rejection, no disgust, no dislike, just love and awe.

"I... I don't understand... I never... never... how..." Loki stammered, completely unable to believe anything he read in Mobius' eyes.

"Loki... even in this form you are you, how could I not love you? These fingers..." He gently kissed Loki's fingers one by one, " These are yours, this face and these eyes..." He delicately traced the features of Loki's face with his fingertips, "these are yours, and this heart..." he leaned over and placed a kiss in the middle of Loki's chest, "this is yours. Loki's heart. How could I not love it?"

"You... you mean it?"

Mobius took Loki's hand and placed two fingers on his own temple, then said softly, "Look for yourself in my head, if my words are not enough for you."

Loki shook his head and replied, "No, I believe you. As incredible as it is, I believe you."

The red pupils were filled with disbelief and something akin to wonder.

Moving his hand to Mobius' cheek, Loki whispered with a broken voice, "Every time I've done something, or said something that I think will drive you away from me, every time you prove me wrong and show me how worthy I am. You're the first one to do that for me. You're the first to break through my darkness."

Mobius placed a light kiss on his trembling lips and said as he pulled back, "It's about time someone did." He grasped Loki's hand again and said with a wink, " The only thing I miss now is Loki's smile."

Mobius was delighted to see probably one of the most beautiful smiles he had ever seen on Loki's lips.

A smile that said the happiness of being accepted.

A smile that said happiness to love and be loved.

A smile that said nothing but happiness.

_________

Whole series of oneshots here : X