"Is it too late to sign up for a tour?" Crowley asked the receptionist checking his watch. 1:58, he was cutting it close.
"No not at all, just wait over there," she made a vague gesture gesture towards the small crowd chatting amongst themselves.
"Then we'll b-
"Oh, isn't he just adorable!" cooed the receptionist just now looking up. She twisted a bit in her chair trying to get a better look at the child's face but Barnaby buried his face further into Crowley's shoulder. Terrified that if he lifted his head for just a second Cain would see him, he gripped Rabbit so tight with shaking hands that it turned his knuckles white.
"Well Bart here is a little shy," Smirked the demon in a insincere apology, turning the small form in his arms slightly away from the front desk. Almost completely forgetting his fear, Barnaby gave a barely audible growl and clenched his free arm a little tighter around Crowley's neck in frustration. He knew better than to correct his guardian here, but Barnaby wasn't planning on letting the name thing go any time soon.
Still grinning at his small success, Crowley took his chance to escape the conversation and slipped away towards the other tourists. Most of them just ignored the demon, caught up in their own conversations, but he noted with some amusement the almost predatory gaze a few of the mothers had on him the moment he sauntered up to the group.
"So, are you here with the co-op or the summer school?" one asked feigning uninterest.
"Just, ya know, visiting," he replied absently, watching Cain out of the corner of his eye. He hadn't moved form his seat just idly scrolling down on his phone. Next to him the door opened and the large man was waved inside. Letting out a sigh of relief, Crowley felt his shoulders sag as Cain disappeared from view.
"So if your wife waiting in the car or..." tested the woman practically biting her lip as she pushed her stroller.
A flash of devilish delight popped into the demon's mind, " Nope, just me,"
"Oh tell me about it, it's so hard these days for us sing-" her flirt was cut short by an unamused looking intern holding a sign.
"Okay people, my name is Kevin and I'll be your guide today. Just follow me and please stay with the group at all times,"
Crowley was a little disappointed by his small temptation cut short, but shrugged it off. He had bigger fish to fry. And as he began to move forward the man could feel Barnaby stiffen against him. A pang of guilt flashed through the demon.
"Hey, he's gone," he whispered just loud enough for the head resting on his shoulder to hear, "But keep your head down," he added quickly eyeing a security camera suspiciously. Barnaby nodded into Crowley's shoulder shifted a bit so he could just barely see over it. Moving with the group the demon felt the soft fabric of the boy's beanie against his cheek and the comforting warmth of body heat.
The tour itself wasn't that interesting. Avis Labs headquarters was more of a management hub than a testing facility. It still had a few labs running small experiments, but it was mostly for show. None of it really stood out to the demon as he drifted to the back of the group, serpentine eyes scanning for signs of danger or anything that could be remotely useful. Settling a protective hand on Barnaby's back, he gave whispered descriptions of their surroundings and other details he thought would put the boy at ease. And to his relief, Crowley could feel the child's fear dim and his death grip loosen. No longer panicked, just weary.
"Let's move along, just the records room down this hall. Nothing too interesting here," Kevin chuckled, pointing with a shrug at a door along the wall before continuing on. Crowley paused for a moment letting the others shuffle past. Information, that's what he could really use. Even now he was mostly in the dark about this whole situation, just a little bit more intel maybe a location or two, and he could finally get this under control. Crowley watched unnoticed by the rest of the group as they rounded a corner and out of sight. Casting a glance over his shoulder the demon sent a quick pulse of energy through his fingers and into the doorknob, and before anyone could notice slipped in through the miraculously unlocked door.
Automatic lights flicked on to reveal a labyrinth of boxes and filing cabinets. At one time there must have been some sort of system but it fell into chaos years ago with the invention of electronic filing. Boxes had been lain in the floor instead of their respective shelves and most of the files were just sitting haphazardly collecting dust, except for a large disorderly stack next to the door labeled: To Be Filed.
"Keep an eye on the door while I look around," ordered Crowley placing Barnaby on his feet. Giving a nod the boy moved to the door and inched it open just enough so that he could see into the hallway.
Figuring it a good a place to start as any, Crowley made his way to the 'To Be Filed' documents and began to leaf through. Redone budgets, stress test analysis, a couple new personnel files but no one of interest, and even a proposal for re-painting the break room. Nothing even mildly useful or even slightly interesting. Frustrated he was about to give up in and move on when his eyes caught a glance of a manila envelope laying next to the pile on the floor. It must have slid off the pile before it could be properly filed.
Swiping it up, Crowley grinned at the red security stamp on the front. Opening up the top flap, the demon pulled out a few of the pages and began to read.
Misplaced Asset: Maximum Priority
Category: Experimental
Hair: Dark Red
Eyes: Brown
Skin: Tan
Height: 3' 10"
Description Notes: Two Functioning Avian Wings
Age: 88 Months*
ID: 5794K2B
Facility: Laboratory E
Date Missing: 6/8/2019
Experiment notes found at specialized facility
Two weeks, a shudder ran down the demons spine. Bart had been for the run for more than two weeks before meeting Aziraphale. He pushed away the thought of the child wandering alone for all that time, and skimmed further. Crowley had to hurry, who knew how much time he had. The rest of the papers were mostly reports filed by Cain, which would have been helpful except for the fact that they were outdated, the newest having been filled out last Sunday.
With a sigh Crowley put back the papers and resealed the envelope. Moving deeper into the room, he saw that the different shelves and boxes were labeled by section. But it was so disorderly, that the demon wasn't sure how much he trusted the little labels' accuracy. He strode past, ignoring most sections like budget, maintenance, and other mundane things. But stopped dead in his tracks in front of the filing cabinet labeled personnel.
It took the demon several ties to find which drawer held the security staff and once he did he had another problem entirely. He couldn't just pull up a file labeled Cain, it was obviously a alias, not something you file your taxes with. So Crowley had no other choice but to open each and every file to glance at it's ID photo. Moving as fast as he could, he worked his way through until stumbling on Cillian O'Neil, red hair and crooked nose.
Grinning devilishly, Crowley snatched the file and moved on. He couldn't afford to linger. Moving further and further into the dusty room, he scanned each and every label until he found it almost in the very back corner. Laboratories and Facilities. But to his dismay the shelf must have buckled, leaving mingled paperwork strewn over the isle. Any semblance of organization was lost long ago.
"Laboratory E, Laboratory E, Laboratory E," whispered the demon shuffling through the mess. It was impossible to tell what was what, there was just so much. He was running out of time, someone had to have noticed by now. Quickening his pace Crowley's search was becoming frantic. He simply didn't have the time to find what he needed. This wasn't going to work.
Closing his eyes, Crowley took a deep breath and focused. It wasn't really that big of a miracle, it was just that bringing anything into reality took concentration. He pictured every detail of it in his head, from the intricate snake skin cover to the ivory handle. And when he opened his eyes, a sleek brief case was in his hands just how he imagined it. Moving quickly the demon began scooping up files and shoving them in the case, it wasn't efficient or even guaranteed to have what the needed. But hell, it was all he could think of.
"Someone's coming!" whispered Barnaby racing over, almost tripping over the demon in the dark. Crowley quickly snapped close the briefcase hissing in his breath at the turning door knob. Turing his head both ways the demon searched for any ways of escape, but there was only way in and only one way out. The door was partway opened now, spilling light into the musty room. Crowley pulled Barnaby to his chest and put a hand lightly over the boy's mouth.
Keven stepped into the records room and flicked on the lights. Looking uninterested he glanced up and down at the disorganized mess. Moving down the rows he shook his head a little. And as he went along, the back corner caught his eye. With a gasp, Kevin made a beeline for the Laboratories and Facilities section. He rushed past a crouched demon to get a better look at the mess.
"Ulgh, the shelf. This is going to take forever to clean up!" Kevin whined. An idea flashed across his mind, "Unless I didn't see it..." With a shrug the intern turned on his heel and back to the exit. Casing a final look he flicked off the light and left.
Gasping for air, Crowley let Barnaby go. Panting from exhaustion he slumped against the nearest shelf, closing his eyes for a second as the world spun.
"Why didn't he see u-are you okay?"
"I'm fine, jus-just need to catch my breath," choked out the demon. That miracle took more out of him than it should have, he'd been overdoing it lately. Unlike Aziraphale he never had to worry about getting in trouble with his superiors about using his powers but even he had his limits.
"What happened?" Barnaby gaped. He was sure that they were going to be found.
"Just a little demonic miracle. Invisibility's a parlor trick," chuckled Crowley. Invisibility was actually a pretty hard parlor trick, but the demon wasn't about to admit that to a child. Barnaby gave a nod even though he had no idea what the man was talking about. For a few minutes they sat waiting for Crowley to pull himself together. It didn't take long for the the world to stop spinning and his lungs to refill with air.
"C'mon, let's get out of here," he said taking Barnaby's hand.
*seven years and four months for those of you who don't want to do math
Cain gave a groan stepping out of his boss's office. He'd received quite a chewing out for loosing the subject. Now he'd lost all leads and hadn't even had a single sighting for the past two days. How could he be eluded by a child! Shaking his head in frustration he made his way toward his car. Cain was willing to search every gutter, park, and alley in London if it meant finding that boy. Hands shaking in anger his keys dropped to the cement. And with a growl he bent down to pick them up. He had to be missing something, but what was it?
Across the parking lot his eyes fell on a lanky man holding a snake-skin suitcase in one hand and the small hand of a kid's in the other. It was the same man he saw walking in earlier. Cain was about to shrug off the pair, when he boy turned his way. It was him. Fire was growing in the well-built man's stomach as he watched the boy climb into an old-fashioned Bentley with the man. That's how the little brat did it, he had help.