You peer around Loki. The men in suits were keeping their distance...for now. You go to reach for the motel key but Loki beats you to it. His hand slips into your pants pocket and feels around. He grabs the key and sticks it in the door. You are very glad he isn't looking at you, because you are blushing. Once the door is open, you quickly back into the room. He closes the door and you immediately sprint to the bathroom to grab your things. You turn to run to your bag by the bed when you run into him instead.

"Ow!" you exclaim, almost dropping your items.

"There is no need to rush." he says calmly. Too calm in your opinion.

"Are you kidding me?"

"Trust me."
You walk briskly to your bag, trying your best to not panic.

"What are we going to do about..." you glance over at the scepter. There was no way you were going to be able to smuggle that past them.

"Do not fret. I will take care of it."
You watch as he waves his hand and the scepter shrinks to a smaller size. He slips it in his pocket. You finish packing and grab your car keys.

"Okay, I think that's everything. Ready?"

"Of course."
You take a deep breath and step out the door. Luckily the car is close by. You have the urge to sprint to your car but you resist. You unlock the car and put your bag on the back seat. Loki opens the passenger door and straps himself in. You follow suit. You put the key in the ignition. You slowly back up, looking at men in rear view mirror. They are just standing there, staring. You pull out of the driveway and onto the road. Soon you are back on the freeway.


"We are pretty close to our destination." you say, looking at the map on your phone. "And we haven't been followed."
It had been about 45 minutes since you had last seen the men in suits. You breathe a sigh of relief. Your phone instructs you get off at the next offramp. It was the most deserted offramp you had ever seen. There are no buildings around except for a run down gas station. You see a gray building in the distance. It stands alone. You pull the car over to the side of the road.

"That is it then?" he asks, looking out the window.

"It is," you reply. "Now, time for you to answer some of my questions."

"Fair enough."

"Who are those people that keep following us?"

"They are guarding the Tesseract."

"And what is this Tesseract?"

"Basically, it holds unlimited power."

"Huh. So, let me get this straight. You're just going to walk in there and take it and I'm suppose to wait here and watch the car?"

"Actually, I have an idea." he grins.


"I REALLY hate you right now." you mutter, pulling down on the hem of the black dress you were now wearing. The sun was beating down and the ground was dry and dusty.

"Should I conjure up something else?" he smirks as he looks you up and down.

"It's a bit short, wouldn't you say?" you do your best to walk without tripping in the red heels. "Also, these...shoes...are kind of inconvenient for walking in the desert..."

"It is a part of the plan, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah."

"Good luck."

"Thanks," you start to walk away and then look back, "at least one of us is enjoying themselves..."
You couldn't believe that you were going along with this ridiculous plan. These people were probably government trained. They wouldn't be easily fooled by anyone, especially you. You continue walking for what seems like forever. you finally approach the door of the building. Two men in black suits and wearing dark sunglasses are standing there. You take a deep breath and proceed.

"Excuse me!" you call out to them in a distressed tone, "I seem to have gotten lost and my car has broken down. Can you help me?"
They look at you and then each other. One of them whips out a cell phone.

"Don't worry ma'am." The man with the phone says, "we'll call someone to help you."

"Oh thank you so much." you reply, flipping your hair.
You look around. Where was he? The man gets off his phone and walks back over to you.

"Someone will be here shortly."
You suddenly hear the other man by the door cry out. You both turn to see Loki standing there holding the scepter, which was back in its original form. The man sees his comrade lying there on the ground, seemingly unconscious, and flips his phone open again. You swiftly kick him in the back of his knee, catching him off guard. You watch him fall to the ground. You place your foot on his hand and press down a little.

"Drop it!" you demand. He hesitates and you press harder. "I said drop it!"
He lets the phone go and you kick it away. You look up and see that Loki has already entered the facility. You head for the entrance, leaving the man to catch his breath. You cautiously peer inside before entering. There isn't a soul in sight. You slowly walk down the corridor. You feel a hand grasp your arm as you are swiftly pulled aside.

"Let go of-" you start to struggle until you look up and see who it is. "Oh it's you..."

"We are close." Loki smiles. You hope he's right.
He had changed back into what he had been wearing when you had first seen him.

"Hey, some tennis shoes would be really-" You are cut off by the sound of gunfire. Loki quickly pushes you ahead of him. "On second thought, a gun would be fantastic!"
You run as fast as you can down the corridors. Everything is a grey blur. You dodge to avoid incoming bullets. Alarms are now sounding. You have no idea where you are going.

"This way!" Loki says as he grabs your wrist and pulls you down a different corridor.
You slow to a walk as you approach a metal door.

"Is this it?" you ask, out of breath.

"I believe so." he pulls it open.
You are anxious to see what is on the other side. You hoped that it wasn't more men with guns, but you knew it would be. Stepping through the door, you are amazed at how vast the room is. You see several people working away. They are all gathered around computers and other equipment scattered around the room. It looks like they are doing tests and diagnostics. You spot the glowing cube and nudge Loki. He nods. You both stand there silently. A tall man dressed in black turns to face you. He is wearing an eye patch.

"Who are you?" he yells, grabbing a gun from his coat and pointing it in your direction.
You are terrified. Without moving a muscle, you glance over at Loki, who seems unperturbed. He has to have a plan...right?