Nightmare

I Mess up Really Bad

"Selvig, where are we?" I ask nervously, since I can't teleport without knowing my general location.

"Why?" The sharp question comes from Loki, who is glaring at me intensely, while the four guards stand to the side, watching intently.

"Because I wanna know where we are and where we're going, so I can tell how much longer I'm going to have to go with nothing to do and no food." I meet his gaze evenly, daring him to question me further when I've given him a valid reason to answer the question.

I should be smarter. But I feel as if it's safe for me to lie to the God of Lies, solely because he's bad at it himself.

"We're somewhere in Ontario, Canada. We've got another hour to get to where we're going," Clint tells me after pulling out his phone.

PHONE. I FORGOT ABOUT MY PHONE. I'VE BEEN BORED THIS WHOLE TIME AND I FORGOT I HAD IT. I'M SO FUCKING DUMB.

"You are pretty dumb," Clint admits, grinning.

Wait, did I actually scream that out loud at a public place?  "Shut the hell up," I throw the retort at him.

Then I realize that Clint acted just like he normally does, while under the Mind Stone's influence.

Is it possible that even if you're being controlled by the scepter, you can act like yourself? Like only a few of your goals are changed, but mostly everything else stays the same?

Does that mean I could be under the control of the scepter right now and not know?

Well, probably not, because I just thought of escaping, and probably will try  to do it in a few minutes. I don't know if I can, though, because I have to know where  I am, and a province is too general. I need at least a city name, which I don't have.

This new discovery can potentially allow me to roast the hell out of Loki and Clint without anyone questioning why I still act like myself.

I reach into the pickup truck and get my crutch. I walk into the building after the seven of them.

"Meet us at the cars," Clint tells me and two of the guards, who are female. Her outfit is black and green. But not Loki-green. This is more of a parakeet green. One is as tall as me and a couple years older, with dark brown hair in a braid and olive skin. But her eyes are a light blue-gray. They're not electric blue--

She notices me staring at her and shakes her head almost imperceptibly. I get the message: Not now.

The other guard, about thirty, has green hair in a ponytail and green glasses. She has the same outfit as the first girl.

(+)

The three of us head to the women's bathroom, and I look at the brown-haired girl. As soon as the green woman walks into a  stall, I yank off my mask and wash my face. I whisper in the brown-haired girl's ear. "What's your name?"

"Soturi. You're not under his control?"

"No, and I'm not explaining until I'm sure I can trust you." I tell her quietly.

"And how do I know I can trust you?" Soturi asks, her voice growing louder.

"How are you not under his control?"

"I have a necklace right where he put the point of the scepter."

The toilet flushes, and we share a panicked look. The green lady walks out and looks at us suspiciously. "I could hear everything you were saying, by the way," she says, washing her hands.

My heart starts pounding like it's about to jump out of my body, and in the mirror, I see myself pale considerably, if that's possible, since my skin is whiter than the ivory skin tone.

She laughs dryly. "He didn't get me," she adds.

"How?" I ask curiously, yet warily.

"Let's just say I'm not completely human. And you may have noticed that I have a small metal symbol right where the scepter happened to touch me," she explains, pointing at a small 'Ω'  on her chest.

"What does it mean?" I ask.

"It's the name of my squadron: Omega."

"That's all very well and stuff, but how are we getting out of here?" Soturi cuts in, and I'm glad she does, because we have little time.

"You're not going to. I can't take people with me when I teleport, and this Loki is really powerful and stuff. Just do what he asks, don't question it, and never, ever  lie to him. Other than that, just act like yourselves. You're not in danger unless he finds out what happened with you guys and the scepter. Got it?"

"What if he asks where you are?" Soturi asks nervously.

"You won't know where I am, so just tell him the truth: that you don't know. Tell him exactly what you see me do when I leave. Come out of the bathroom in two minutes."

Ava nods shakily, but green lady says nothing, watching me coldly. I'll have to ask her what her name is later.

I shove open the bathroom door and almost run to the cars. No one is there. Good.

I run to the edge of the parking lot and teleport to the hills behind the rest stop, my crutch supporting my left ankle.

I'm going to have to teleport in extremely short jumps and take rests every now and then, because if I have no idea where I am, I can only teleport as far as I can see, which isn't much in the dark. And if I teleport to Europe from here, I'm likely to pass out immediately. If I jump to Antarctica, I'll probably end up in a coma.

If I take small jumps way too many times, then I can pass out, too. I'm getting really tired right now.

So I keep popping ahead, as far as I can see, turning slightly sometimes so I can get somewhere.

I need to get to a nearby city, town, or even a farm and ask which city I'm in, or closest to. From there, I'll get home and not interfere until the battle. This trip will be pretty annoying though, because every time I teleport, a popping noise is heard. Sometimes it can get really loud.

Sounds like a good plan. I see lights ahead and quickly pop there. Then my heart stops beating. It must be a mistake. I must have gotten turned around a little too  much.

Because I'm back at the rest stop. And the pop was loud enough to alert the guys and Soturi, who are now waiting at the car. Green woman isn't there yet.

That's when Loki looks up.

The lights from the rest stop along with my extremely light skin is not helping me stay hidden.

Fuck.

I turn around and teleport to the farthest hill I can see, but I drop the crutch when I end up--

Right in front of Loki.