Raven's POV

Noise leads us to a lab at the edge of the city that Lex built to help promote that he was creating jobs and boosting the economy in this area. Contrary to what he was telling the press, Baldy brought in scientists from other cities and was only hiring the locals as janitors and to run the cafeteria. Ass.

Riley ordered us in various points around the perimeter with strict orders to observe not act. She set me up at one of the side entrances and Alex was getting a birds-eye view. Snickering quietly at my own pun, I shift forward a bit and adjust my binoculars. Irritation (and a little bit of hidden amusement) run through me and Alex's bond. The next time the raven passes by, I stick my tongue out at the demon.

Static jolts me from my teasing. "I think I got a hidden entrance here at the back," Jessie informs us.

"They probably aren't going to do anything illegal where we can see." Russian curses fill the line for a couple seconds.

"That means we have to go in blind."

I could tell that she didn't like that idea. Hell, I didn't like that idea. Tapping my own comm., I get into the conversation. "If we need floor plans, Diablo can slip in unnoticed and look around for a bit, get a feel of the land, then slip out again." There's a second of silence where I can feel Riley thinking. Before she replies, I add, "He's almost as hard to kill as Phoenix and I can feel if he needs any help."

"Does he have his comm. on him?" I let out a snort. Riley sighs at that. "Of course he doesn't." She lets out another sigh and I can hear something shuffle over the line. "Fine but tell him I want him out at the first hint of trouble."

"Rodger that."

With that, I tune out the rest of the conversation (mostly Jessie's rambling with spaced replies from Noise at this point) and wave for Alex to come over. Kali and Jamie coil tighter around my neck as he comes closer and even lets out a hiss as he lands on the railing, not even bothering to shift forms. I stoke them under their chins to calm them as I relate the plan and Riley's warning to him. The demon was mostly bemused and reluctantly agrees before flapping off again.

I spend the next couple minutes half listening into the conversation over the comms., a tense stillness falling on me. Even though I could still feel him through the bond, it was still hard to not having Alex in my sight. It brought back memories of panic, screams, pain, and fear. I wanted to project my feelings, wanting to receive some reassurance, but I had to stop them from bleeding into the bond, not wanting to distract the demon.

"You doing okay, Beasty?" Noise voice cuts through my anxiety. Hearing her voice calms me a little and I take a deep breath before responding.

"Yeah, just forgot how hard it was to be separated." Taking another breath, I try to bring some laughter back into my voice. "He's okay so far, almost got stepped on though."

Noise and Jessie burst into quiet laughing and even Riley lets out a chuckle at the news. Controlling herself, Noise responds, "Oh, I'm so going to tease him about that later."

A freezing wave is the only warning I get before I feel a huge surge in magic. Letting out a startled gasp, I force my legs to get moving. As I scrambled to the ground, alarms blared through the air. Sprinting, I get to the back of the building before the first scientist bursts through the side fire door.

"What the hell was that?!" Riley barks.

"Alex reacted to something. I'm not sure what but he's angry."

"Shit! Jester get that door open!"

"Already on it!" Jester bursts past me, a streak of color, pulling things out of his bag and haphazardly sticking them to the door. Reluctantly, I stop a few feet and began surveying the area around us, hands up, ready to react to any threat. There's a little shout of triumph before a small hand grabs my elbow and tugs me away and down.

Boom!

I feel the heat of the blast on my back and I tug Jessie underneath me, blocking him from any debris. When the chaos calms a little, Jessie squirms free from my grip, a grin lighting up his face as he surveys his handiwork. I know I should be scolding him for making even more noise, but I was ready to crush him in a hug when I realized I was able to see white halls.

Riley and Noise show up at that moment, stopping me from rushing into the building. Kali hisses in response to my frustration but Noise keeps a hand on my shoulder until Riley calls the all-clear. Even then she sticks close as I run in, following the bond to Alex.

Riley shouts at us to wait but I ignore her and keep plowing into the building. Flinging myself around a corner, I almost run into a guard. In his shock, it takes him a second before he raises his gun and by then I've already flung my hands up. Vines and roots break through the floor and wrap around the surprised guard, forcing him to drop his gun. He lets out a shot before a vine slithers around his mouth.

Noise tugs me back around the corner as shots ring through the air. Jessie and Riley catches up then, the later shooting me a dark look as they crouch behind us. Noise searches through a pocket in her belt and pulls out a couple of silver ball looking things. Pressing a button on one of them, she turns and flings them towards the shooters before ducking next to me again. The shooting continues for a few seconds before cutting off into screams then silence.

Riley pushes on my shoulder to keep me down as she peers around the corner to make sure the coast was clear. When she's done, she uses her grip to hoist me up and slam me into the wall. I gasp as the pain registers, but she doesn't loosen her grip.

"When I say wait, you wait," she snarls. Anger courses through me (mine or Alex's, I'm not sure) and I open my mouth to hiss at her but she cuts me off. "I know you're worried and scared but that does not give you the right to endanger the rest of us. Do you understand me?" Mostly angry but now a little ashamed, I give her a nod and push her away from me. Her midnight eyes narrow underneath her hood. "No more running off. We are in unfamiliar enemy territory, we're getting through it together. Can you tell where Diablo is? Good. Lead and then we'll get the hell out of here."

This time I wait for her to signal before I start going down the hall again. The guards that were shooting were now all knocked out thanks to Noise's contraption. The three of us carefully step over and around the bodies while Jessie just strolled down the hall with hidden glee, stepping on backs, faces, and appendages along the way. Riley pauses at one, ducking down to rummage through his coat and belt. When she straightens up, a security pass is between her fingers.

Following the bond, I go straight down the hall and turn a couple corners before arriving at a stairwell. Footsteps echoed up and I pulled back from the railing to avoid being caught. There's the sound of a door opening and slamming shut then it was silent again.

Pushing past me, Riley carefully peers down the stairs. She turns back to me and asks, "Do you know how far down he is?"

I close my eyes and focus on the bond. Opening them, I try to keep my voice as soft as hers, "Too far to be the floor below us but he's still close. I think he's two floors down."

"Okay," she takes another look. "Let's go."