The Multiversal Road-Trip: Book Five

12

It seemed like some of the tension that had previously been in the room had dissipated, Stephen found, thankfully. At least now, he and Loki weren't in a bad mood with one another. Or rather, he wasn't in a mood with him.

Him saving his life may have had something to do with it.

Now Stephen just felt really bad for blaming what he had on Loki – Wanda had asked him not to say anything, after all, and he wasn't stupid enough to risk getting on her bad side.

Which was good. Because if they'd got on her bad side, things would be a lot worse for them right now.

But that didn't stop him feeling awful physically. If he was cooling down now, what the hell had he been like before? Plus he was aching all over, which wasn't pleasant, and he was stiff as hell. With all his medical training, Stephen would have liked to have thought he at least had some idea what was up with him, but he didn't.

He'd never treated a patient who'd nearly magically blown themselves up before though.

Ignoring that though, he was feeling much better than he had been, mentally at least. His emotions were back in check, and besides feeling guilty about potentially putting Loki and Scott in danger by flicking through dimensions so fast, the remaining emotions was mainly just determination to get this thing done and the boredom that always came when he knew he couldn't do anything because he was ill and would probably collapse if he did.

Good. That, at least, was better than the guilt.

Loki made them some magically summoned tea and then they got right to making a plan.

They all knew time was of the essence really – Wanda did mention her plan would be put into action the following day, after all, and it was... night? Early morning? No one was really sure – time didn't seem to be their friend at the moment.

Heck, they didn't even know where they were. Never mind when.

What the hell must those agent-soldier-dudes be thinking outside?

"I honestly don't care," Loki answered when Stephen voiced this after a long silence. "We're teaching them some patience. Life skills. They need those." In all honesty, Stephen had the impression he was quite pleased they were keeping them waiting. In a way, so was he.

"Maybe they think we're dead," Scott said, dead serious.

"With the way you've been waving your arms around with that tracker? Doubt it," Loki said, sipping his tea.

"You think these even still work after dimension travelling?" Stephen said, just to keep the conversation going, holding up his wrist in front of himself, looking at his tracker. It still had that blinking green light.

"I don't see why they wouldn't," Scott shrugged. "But we're getting side-tracked. We need to think of a way to get Wanda before the end of tomorrow/today."

Stephen frowned, dropping his hand over the edge of the sofa again. "Problem is, we don't know anyone who knows how to choose the right dimension."

"Yeah we do," Loki said, suddenly struck with an idea.

Stephen lifted his head way too quickly, immediately making him woozy. "We do?"

"Yeah. We do," Loki repeated, but he didn't look so enthusiastic now. "Your old pal. Mordo."

Stephen felt himself involuntarily clench up. Mordo had been locked up in Kamar-Taj jail since July, and he hadn't visited him once. "You can't be serious."

Loki was serious. "I don't see many other options, personally."

Stephen tried to sit up, even though it practically made him pass out and his temperature shot way up. The cloak pushed him back down, much to his displeasure, so he'd have to make his argument laying down like an idiot. "There has to be something else though! Mordo is the worst backstabbing son of a biscuit out there – he's bound to betray us or force us to make a bad deal, plus he's super manipulative and stuff. He'll probably end up betraying us, you know."

"You're forgetting I am also a manipulative backstabbing son of a biscuit, and I can read minds," Loki pointed out, the faintest hint of a mischievous smirk on his face. "I'll be able to tell if he's about to betray us."

Hm, good point. And really... it was worth a shot. They needed to get to Wanda tomorrow. Or today. Whichever it was. "But how would we even get to the Kamar-Taj prison? I don't have free entry, only the Sorcerer Supreme does. And definitely not you guys."

"Couldn't we just get that guy's approval?" Scott piped up. "The Sorcerer Supreme dude?"

"Who, Beyoncé?" Loki asked before Stephen could speak. "He hates me."

"He doesn't hate you... that much," Stephen said. They just weren't exactly besties. "And yes, I suppose I could ask, but Wong's a tricky guy. He'll get suspicious unless I tell him everything, and even if I did tell him everything he might not let us. He might. But he might not."

"Well, if he says no, we know an amazing prison escape artist," Loki said, smiling at Scott.

Scott returned the smile and winked. "You know it, dude."

"Lets do it," Stephen replied. "There's nothing to lose." This time, rather than trying to physically push himself up, he used his magic to lift him into a sitting position, surprisingly actually feeling alright. He stood up shakily, but stayed standing, which was the main thing. Loki and Scott stood too, as though they and the cloak were on standby in case he nearly face-planted again.

"Are you sure you don't want some rest first?" Loki asked, surprisingly concerned.

"I'm feeling better," Stephen said, which was a bit of a white lie, but oh well. "I'm just still not overly steady on my feet, that's all. But I'll be OK."

Loki put a hand on Stephen's forehead. Gosh, he was cold. "Well, your temperature's gone back down a lot now."

"Thanks Doctor Genius," he replied sarcastically.

Loki met his eye with a totally unamused look, then he moved his hand up from Stephen's forehead to his hair and completely messed it up, to even worse than it was. Stephen protested and tried to stop him, but Loki was already laughing, so he just stared at him. "Well, if you've got your humour back then you must be feeling better. Would you like to do the honours?"

Without another word, Stephen nodded, and with an outstretched hand, he made a portal straight to Kamar-Taj.