Of Hunters, Gods, and Hooded Vigilantes (Moon Knight/TVA Hunter Reader)
Author's Note: I have been sitting on this one since (and a few other loki ri) since Loki ended. @selfryed suggested I post it . Hopefully it doesn't disappoint. I know not everyone likes Reader Inserts. But you all know how much I love Moon Knight crossovers. I'll write those boys into anything. Suggest away if you wish. Unbeta'd and Posted on mobile so please forgive any errors.
Sylvie, B-15, Casey, and OB pop up but no Loki or Mobius in this one. Sorry guys. Random letter and number combos for non important hunters.
Content warning: canon typical violence, some swearing, mentions of death, crying,
You track the rogue variant that had been messing with time, not quite as dangerous as He Who Remains. But somehow this guy had an artifact that he couldn't be allowed to keep. B-15 had sent a team that consisted of you and two other hunters.
It turns into more of a scuffle than expected. Hunter L-24 was calling for backup as you gave chase. You hated the fact you weren't in your actual armor. You had been trying to blend in. But you regret that now with the cut on your temple, dangerously close to your eye, and probably bruised rib. It hurt but that's the job. And you had the guy in the ropes until… until you didn't. Time was iffy with what this guy had taken and one second you were running through a side road through the highly populated area, but thankfully sparsely-filled street in what you knew of consisted of public housing. Next, you are cut off from your team in an alley. A manic laugh has you turn on your heels. You had really hoped you wouldn't have to use the pruning stick. This was supposed to be easier. Your hands move as if on their own with practiced movement of charging the weapon.
“Listen, buddy,” you said with false confidence to hide your unease. “We tried doing this the nice way, but you’ve forced my hand.”
“You still think you have the upper hand,” the man laughed, pulling a pistol. Oh that was not good. Those weren't even allowed in this country, you knew that. You hear the click of the weapon. But out of nowhere, the gun is knocked out of his hand by a metallic object. You lunge towards the weapon. And you can't reach it, but you do the next best thing. You pruned it. It disappears. Let the Void Lokis or Alioth have it. You turn towards the scuffle behind you, expecting to see your team. You are surprised to see a masked figure easily taking down the variant. You watch as the figure knocks the guy out.
“Uh…thanks,” you say as the vigilante turns to you as you power down your weapon.
You can feel eyes on you as you go over and pick up the artifact. The masked figure hasn't said a word. Just watching you. The wind kicks up as you place a pair of cuffs on the variant.
You grab your tempad and report in. “Variant secured, B-15,” you say. You look back and the hooded hero is gone. You hear the sound of rushed boot falls as your teammates meet you. You pick up the curved blade that had saved your life. You admire it as a timedoor appears.
None of you noticed Moon Knight in the shadows watching you.
— ◍☾ —
Marc couldn't believe what he was seeing. You were supposed to be dead. Everyone had said you were dead. It had torn him up not knowing what happened to you. What you went through. He always wondered if you suffered. If you had missed him. If he could have saved you if he hadn't left. But he had pushed that pain away and forced himself to move on. But that pain tended to pop up at random moments. He did not expect it to come up now. And it had Marc pulling back and letting Jake take over. But he kept watching. You looked so young. Like he remembered. Like time had barely touched you. How was that possible? Then again, they hadn't really aged much since Khonshu. But you weren't an avatar. He would have known or the bird would have.
And any doubt Marc had was gone when he heard your voice again. It was one he still heard in his dreams. One he couldn't forget. But Jake was wise enough to be cautious. If something seemed impossible and too good to be true, it probably was. So Jake removed them from the situation.
The next time Moon Knight was better prepared. There were too many questions they needed answered. So he started by seeing if you were you in the simplest way first. He called your name. And something in Marc shifted when you reacted by turning towards them. But his heart aches when you look at him and ask if they knew you. Even more so when you said you didn't even know you. And that was enough.
— ◍☾ —
The next time you are in that part of the timeline after you spent a few days working with the others at the TVA. You were in Eastern Europe tracking down a secondary artifact that was created alongside the one you collected in London. The same group of rogues. The same branch. Your ribs still ache from the last time. You were in full gear this time with a larger team. But you weren’t the only one with increased numbers. The variant had friends with the new artifact you were pursuing. Mid-fight again, out of the night drops the figure you now knew was called the Moon Knight. You hadn't read the hero’s file but you knew where he got his powers now. What you hadn't expected was what the caped hero did next.
He called your name. Well, not your name. It was what had been your name before you were taken from the timeline. You knew it was your name, but it didn't really feel like yours. Most everyone just called you by your hunter designation.
“You know me?” You ask because when you had skimmed your file to make an informed decision on staying at the TVA you think you would have noticed if it had mentioned a hooded hero with the power of a literal god. Then you laugh at your own statement. “I don't even really know me.” And before you know it you feel arms around you and with speed you couldn't even comprehend you find yourself somewhere else. You stumble back as you look at your new surroundings.
“What…what did you do that for?” You reach for your weapon.
“I'm not going to hurt you,” Moon Knight says, his mask disappearing to reveal a face. One that seems oddly familiar, but you didn't know for sure.
“Then why did you take me from my team?” You glare.
“I just want to talk,” he says.
You say nothing as you reach for where your tempad is secured.
“Don't you remember me?” he says. The whole suit vanishing now. He stands in front of you in jeans and a henley.
“I'm sorry,” you tell him but for some reason there are tears in your eyes. You don't know why but the look on the man's face breaks your heart. “I’m not…I'm not who you are looking for. I'm…I'm just a hunter.”
“But you are, you answered to her name, you're-” He's cut off as a slight woosh and shimmer of a timedoor appears. Moon Knight’s suit is back and he moves between you and the door. You actually find it rather amusing. As if he was protecting you. Too bad he is protecting you from your team. Your friends. Your work.
The timedoor opens and you are stunned to see Sylvie walks out in the god's fully armed glory.
“Sylvie,” you say in shock. Last you knew she had returned to her fast food life.
“B-15 called,” Sylvie states. And that tracks.
“How long?” You ask wondering how long had actually passed at the TVA if Sylvie was called in.
“Long enough,” Sylvie says and you sigh.
“Who the hell are you?” Moon Knight snaps at Sylvie.
“She already said who I was. I'm Sylvie. And you took my friend here against her will and I hoped that avian god of yours would know better. Stupid bird,” she spits as she summons her sword.
“What the-”
“He didn't mean it, Sylvie. He's confused he-”
“You defend this broken puppet?” Sylvie asks in amusement. And Moon Knight clearly didn't like that because you notice a slight shift in his stance and suit as a fight breaks out. And it's an interesting fight.
“Your bird god is weak, his hold is pitiful,” The silver tongued variant snides, “To need a human puppet.”
“Avatar,” Moon Knight corrects.
“Same thing, a human shield to hide behind,” Sylvie grins.
You gasp as Sylvie gets close enough to put a hand against Moon Knight's chest. And she sees it.
You hear a deep growl and Sylvie is shoved back. “Stay the fuck out of my head!” Moon Knight snaps.
You expect Sylvie to return to the fight but instead she appears next to you.
“Now, now, lover boy, no one is going to hurt anyone.”
“Speak for yourself,” he hisses.
“Your anger is misplaced, puppet,” she says before looking at you. “He does know you, knew you, the timeline you.”
“What?” You look between the female god and the hero. You see the masked hero’s shoulders go tense.
“I can show you,” Sylvie grins.
“Wait, hang on-” Moon Knight says, his mask dropping.
Sylvie takes your lack of a refusal an answer, her hand touches your temple.
You gasp as your mind is flooded with images. A history you didn't remember. It brings tears to your eyes and steals the breath from your lungs.
Moon Knight shouts your name again as you stumble back against the wall.
You’re overwhelmed. You hear shouting and the recognizable sound of Sylvie’s laugh.
“I did you a favor,” the female god of mischief says, her focus back on the unmasked man.
“No one asked you to,” a voice you now recognized as a version of one you knew lifetimes ago. You knew his name.
“Marc,” you don't even realize you say it out loud. You really did know him. His head snaps to look at you as you say it.
“You're welcome,” Sylvie says before she and the timedoor vanish. Marc curses Sylvie as he moves beside you in an instant.
“You're okay,” he says, his eyes full of an emotion you can't pinpoint. “We’ve got you.”
“Marc?” you say again, needing confirmation. Your hand raises but is hesitant to touch.
“Do you remember me now?” he asks, a slightly hopeful look on his face. His gloved hand grips yours.
“I…I do,” you tell him.
“Okay,” he says. “Good.” The suit drops away. His hand squeezes yours and he leads you into a building. An apartment building you realize. You follow him into a studio apartment with a large fish tank drawing your attention. Two goldfish swimming around. You approach it with amusement. You almost forgot that people really do keep pets. Pets aren’t really a thing at the TVA. No time. Not really.
You hear Marc moving around behind you, then his voice, hushed as if talking to someone. But when you glance at him through your periphery he doesn't seem to be talking to you.
“Make yourself at home,” he calls over to you, but his accent is different. You look at him with amusement. All your years, centuries, eons maybe, of hunter training has you fully turning to observe him. You had seen him change in flashes as Sylvie showed you what she deemed important. Conversations with mirrors. Changes. Shifts. He was like a variant with variants of his own in his mind. This is what she had meant by him having a broken mind.
“You're not Marc, are you?”
The man looks momentarily stricken. And you wonder if you should have phrased that differently. “Sorry, that sounded accusatory.” You carefully remove your helmet and move to set it on a nearby table. Your weapon too. “Sylvie didn't show me everything, so I…I don't know your name.”
“Steven,” he says without hesitation, now knowing that you aren't too afraid. Knowing that him fronting hadn't ruined things.
“Okay,” you nod. You activate your tempad and send a message to B-15 that you were okay and that if they needed you to just let you know. You contemplated leaving it with your weapon and helmet but you were still unsure what to expect. So you kept it secured in its spot.
“What do you remember?” Steven asks.
“Bits and pieces,” you admit. “But honestly, it's more like watching an old movie with some of it. It doesn't feel real.”
“I know the feeling,” his voice is kind and there is a sympathetic look on his face.
“I'm sure you do,” you nod.
“You're not afraid?” He asks.
“I mean, I have spent an unknown number of years, maybe millennia, lifetimes, as a hunter. No name, just a letter and a number. Reporting to superiors that worked for a lie. Made to believe I was always like this.” You say. “It's more jarring than anything to have real memories again. To think I had childhood. A real life.”
You sense a shift and his old, more familiar accent is back.
“What happened to you?” He asks.
“It's a very long story,” you say. “What's the last thing you remember of me?”
“While I was gone. You vanished, they said you ran away, but that was bullshit. You would have told me. Left a letter. Something. Then I come back to missing persons posters all over the city. But it's Chicago. No one was confident they'd find you. I couldn't find you. They wrote you off as dead when no traces of you were found anywhere. It was like there was nothing to find.”
“They wouldn't have, still won't,” you say sadly.
“What?” He frowns. “The hell does that mean?”
“It means I read my file, well, skimmed it. My nexus event was before that point. But the sacred timeline me. The me you knew, I'm sorry Marc but she’s gone.”
“But you're right here,” he states.
“Like I told you, I'm not actually her. I'm…from a different point in time. Before you left. Before…”
“What do you mean a different point in time? How is that possible?”
“Because the people I work for, the place I was, it's like a city outside of time.”
“How can anything exist outside of time?”
“How can a man fly and survive death?” You ask. “The details are complicated and honestly, I understand it less now than I thought I did before. We exist to protect time from those who tamper with it.”
“So you can time travel?” He asks.
“Yes, but,” you know you need to draw the line in the sand now. “But whatever you are thinking, please don't.” And he studies you. You look so tired. And sad. Very sad.
“It's not as easy as you would think. Changing time has horrible consequences. The things I've done. The people I sent to that monster. I thought what I was doing was right. That I was protecting the timeline. Preventing something terrible. Turns out. We were the terrible ones. All those branches. All those people. Feed to Alioth.” You were crying now. It was the first time you ever let yourself think about the all devouring monster you had sent so many to face.
“Oh darling,” you hear the British accent back. “You didn't know. We’ve all done things we regret. Especially us,” he glances at the reflextion of Marc. “You didn't know what you were doing, you said so-”
“You don't get it,” you tell him. You dug out the engraved token and placed it on the table. A coin, a momento Dox had given you once as a reward after a partially difficult mission. It looked like a souvenir coin. Embossed edges. You ran your fingers over the seal and motto.
“For all time. Always,” you repeat the motto you had molded your life to follow. The atrocities you helped orchestrate. “Anything any of you have done in your life is a fraction of what I was part of. I shouldn't be here. I don’t deserve to have this.” You grab your weapon and open a timedoor, you rush though. The door closes behind you.
Steven walks over and picks up the helmet you left behind and the coin you had placed on the table. Time Variance Authority. He looked at the others in their reflections. They all agree. They were determined to find out everything they can about time, especially time travel.
— ◍☾ —
Marc was angry. That woman just showed up, literally out of nowhere, and then nearly ruined everything. First she fights them. Then she gets in their mind, and Jake had violently objected to that. Having Khonshu in their head was bad enough. And it was already crowded with three of them in there already. But the real line was crossed when the woman that you considered a friend showed you the painful history you guys had. You had been so mad at him for leaving. Your tears were like ice picks in their heart. And he just got more angry with himself as you broke down over what you had been through. Everything he couldn't save you from. He didn't know what a nexus was but if it was anything like the turning point in their life, namely slowly dying in the desert until Khonshu stepped in, it couldn’t have been pleasant. So Steven takes over to let Marc process while someone tries to help you. The British alter had tried to comfort you but it hadn't worked. You explain a bit more and then like a switch flips, you panic. And you leave. Marc pulls further away to brood. They can't let this be the end.
— ◍☾ —
Time passes and your heart hurts less but you cannot forget them. You are helping look through pages of readings you were still not the best at analyzing. You were a hunter, not an analyst. But with fewer people now that many had left to live in the timeline, you had offered to help. To stay busy. You looked up from the file as Casey hurried towards you.
“We have a problem,” he says.
“Let me grab my gear,” you say.
“No need, no time anyway,” he says as he opens a timedoor. You follow him into the main monitoring bay. And the monitor is tracking a branch growing dangerously fast.
“I thought we didn't prune branches anymore,” you say.
“This isn't your normal branch,” OB says.
“Then I should get my gear, where's the team,” you look at B-15.
“You’ll be fine,” OB says as he opens a timedoor. You make sure your tempad is in its place. “Hold on, a solo mission but i-”
“Only you can handle this one,” OB says and guides you to the door. “You'll do great.” A gentle push and you are through the door. There is a large open tunnel before you.
“Oh, Loki, what did I get into this time,” you mutter looking up at the sky. “You'd probably enjoy this mess.” A woman walks towards you in the tunnel. You had seen pictures of her when you had been at Marc’s.
“I'm Lilah, come with me,” she says. You look at her outfit.
“You’re an avatar, right?”
“I am, and a friend of Marc and Steven,” she says.
“Are they okay?” You ask.
“Why don't you see for yourself.”
You follow her until you are in a giant temple. Statues and hieroglyphics surround you. You see Marc in front of a number of people on a dais.
Your footsteps are louder than you would want them as all attention turns to you.
Marc's eyes go wide for a moment and he calls your name. But before you can answer him. You are greeted by name by the woman in the middle.
She introduced herself as the goddess Isis. And you do your best to bury your nerves and act appropriately. You lower your gaze out of respect.
“At least this one knows respect,” a man says. He is scolded by another.
You are made to kneel beside Marc.
“I'm sorry,” he says.
“You did this? You made the branch?” You whisper. You can't believe it.
“You must be curious why you are here,” Isis states. You lower your head again and stare at the floor. She seemed to be expecting an answer.
“I…was sent to the timeline by my superiors, they said that I was the only one.”
“Your companions are not wrong, but it was more we believed it was only fair you had a say in your fate.”
“My fate, your grace?” You cringed. The only god you knew was Loki, and he hasn't made you act in servitude.
The goddess hums in amusement. “Spector here cares very dearly for you it would seem. Even willing to travel forbidden planes to find you again.” You look over at Marc but he is starting a hole in the floor.
“Why?” you ask him.
“You left, and we didn't want to lose you again,” he admits.
“Osiris, Thoth and Horus are not pleased with your meddling, Spector,” the goddess says. “Be glad it is me before you and not my beloved.” She grins. “The passage of time is not yours to hold, Marc Spector, Khonshu knows better.”
“He wanted no part of it,” Marc admitted.
“The only reason you are not facing harsher penalties for your actions is because you have honestly done worse. And your heart was in the right place. Love makes fools of most mortals.” The goddess grins. “But you step outside your station, Marc Spector, once more and your punishment will not be so lenient.”
She dismissed everyone.
You turn to find Lilah is gone.
“I'm sorry,” the recognizable voice of Steven says. “I am so sorry. I didn't know they would care so much. It wasn't like we moved the stars again. Not that noticeable.”
You turn to look at him. “I told you guys that messing with time is dangerous. Then what do you do, you go and mess with time. Have you lost your mind?!”
“Well, by typical diagnostic specifications, technically we did a long time ago, when I came into existence,” Steven notes.
“Steven!” You shout. “You can't just change reality because you missed me. That’s not-”
His expression changes. His tone and accent too. “And you can? Do you have any idea what it was like to have you show up years after being told you were dead and then you just leave. Gone to somewhere we couldn’t follow. And you thought we would just let you go? A heart can only break so many times. We failed last time. We weren't going to fail again, not when we could actually-”
You silence him with a kiss.
“Take me home,” you tell him when you separate for air. They don't have to be told twice.
— ◍☾ —
Marc hadn't thought he could have happiness like this again. Even after he had found you again. The three of them had agreed that having you in their life was important, but he couldn't have anticipated having you literally in their bed.
You snuggle closer and bury your face in the warmth of his neck. Whining at being woken. So abruptly. You feel the laugh from the body beneath you as he turns off the alarm.
“Rise and shine, sweetheart,” Marc says.
You grumble incoherently as you try to bury yourself in his warmth.
“You keep squirming like that, sweetheart and we are going to have a problem.” You giggle. “I'm serious, baby.” He moves the hair off your face so he can see you. “Donna will kill Steven if he's late again.”
You weigh your options. You shift your weight again earning a groan from Marc. “I could just use a timedoor and get him there on time.”
“Lo siento, mi amor,” Jake says as he takes over. “But you always say we shouldn't mess with time.”
You groan but don't stop him as he gets out of bed. You settle for stealing his pillow.
You yelp at the playful swat to your sheet covered behind. His hand rubs the now stinging skin through the sheet as Jake laughs. You glare at him but the face that greets you is one far too soft to be Jake Lockley.
“We’ll make it up to you, darling,” Steven says as he leans in and kisses your forehead. You pull him in for a proper kiss.
“Do we have time for pancakes?” You ask against his lips. And how could he say no to that?
You let him go and he looks at you like you hung the moon. Extra funny considering the lunar deity they serve. “We can make time for pancakes,” he assures you.
“You still want to watch that movie tonight?” Steven asks from the kitchen as you get dressed. You didn't have much other than your uniform so you had really just stolen a shirt that was far too big on you, his clean boxers, and a pair of socks so your feet wouldn't get cold on the hard floors.
You laugh as you remember you had stumbled upon one of Brad Wolfe’s schlocky films on a streaming service.
“Gods yes,” you laugh again. “X-5 was such a prick. Mobius said I have to watch them. They are hilarious, and they aren't supposed to be.”
“Are they scary?” Steven asks and you know in some reflection Marc or Jake is probably rolling their eyes, or laughing. You couldn't be sure.
“I'm sure Jakey will take over if it's too scary,” you wrap your arms around him as he cooks. He scoffs slightly but grins as you kiss his shoulder. “We've both fought worse than whatever monster Brad deals with in this one.” You grin. “Besides, we could take ‘em.”
“I'm sure we could, love,” Steven grins.
4 notes
·
View notes