Night 50: Entry Room

[poorexample]

[From here.]As he entered, Castiel confirmed that this room, unlike the one he'd checked before, was empty. That was preferable; the less people he needed to deal with, the faster he could find what he was looking for. What the room had instead was a plethora of doors. The one to the right most likely led into the room he'd previously checked, but

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[predictator]

Izaya gave the room on the other side of the door one last sweep with the light before writing it off as of no further interest. He had caught sight of a door on the far side of the room, but based on its position, it probably just led back into the hall from before.

He turned away, joining Castiel at one of the desks. "I can't guarantee how well substitutes will work, but I can give it a try," he said, coming to a stop near the man. He leaned over, trying to see into the open drawer. He would need something long and thin to substitute for a pick, and something flat to provide torque in place of a torsion wrench. Paperclips could substitute for both, as long as they weren't too flimsy. He reached past Castiel to snatch a pair out of the drawer.

Izaya spun around to lean back against the desk as he started straightening one of the two paperclips. He hummed tunelessly to himself as he worked, but ended on a note of frustration when he tried working a sharp bend near the end. He gestured to the drawer without looking away from his work on the paperclip, asking, "You didn't see any pliers in there, did you?"

[poorexample]

If the lock-picking didn't work, then Castiel was fully prepared to use a more forceful method. The only reason he was hesitating was due to the fact that making that much noise could easily call the attention of their captors. There was a large chance that they were already being tracked, but on the off chance that they'd managed to slip out of notice, it was best to play it safe. Provided it didn't expend too much time, at least.

Using his flashlight to illuminate Izaya's hands, Castiel watched as he started to unbend the paperclips, straightening them out into something that would serve as a lock-picking device. He seemed to be having some trouble, though, and so Castiel nodded and started to dig through the items in the drawer, searching for an appropriate tool for the job.

However, it seemed that they were out of luck, and so Castiel didn't hesitate to flip the flashlight around and offer it to the boy, blunt end first. "You should be able to hammer it into place with this. Or I can do it while you hold the clip in place." That would require the boy to trust his aim, but Castiel hardly planned on missing.

[predictator]

Izaya reached out a hand to take Castiel's offered flashlight, but then reconsidered. He would need two hands in order to use it as a hammer, and the light would be more useful then than it was when all he was doing was straightening. His own flashlight had been tucked under his arm; he could use it as long as he had enough light to see where to aim.

He waved the outstretched hand in a gesture of refusal, taking his own flashlight into his hands again instead and clicking it off. "Just keep the light on my hands so I can see," he said, pushing away from the desk and spinning once more to face it. He set the unfurled paperclip on the desk with the end hanging out over the end, holding it in place with one hand. With the other, he raised his flashlight and brought it down in a swift motion, making contact with the wire and bending it. A second hit followed, this time by swinging the flashlight across horizontally at the already-bent end, and finished the job.

"That'll have to do," he remarked, tucking the flashlight under his arm once more to free his hands and make a much broader kink in the end of the other paperclip. He headed for the double doors, trusting that Castiel would follow him with the light. It wasn't strictly necessary-he couldn't illuminate the inside of the lock, after all-but it would still be nicer than working in the dark. He came to a stop in front of the doors and knelt down, slipping the paperclips inside the lock.

[poorexample]

In this case, Castiel did not have an issue with relenting to someone who knew what they were doing. He nodded, keeping the light directed on the paperclip and the boy's hands while he worked. While the result wasn't perfect, it seemed to be sufficient enough that Orihara was ready to give it a shot. Castiel trailed after him, though not before casting a glance over his shoulder to make sure that they were alone.

They were this close to getting through what might very well be the front door (though it could just as easily lead into more winding hallways, he reminded himself), and no one had come for them. Castiel couldn't be sure if they had somehow gotten lucky (that seemed doubtful), or if this was some sort of test. He hadn't worked under circumstances like these often, except for perhaps that "TV Land" that Gabriel had seen fit to force the Winchesters through.

As Orihara worked, Castiel kept the light on him, though he saw no reason not to direct a few questions of his own at the boy. If it turned out that he needed silence to work, Castiel trusted he would say so. "Can you think of a reason for why you might have been seized from your home and brought here?" he asked, trying to run possible reasons through his mind. In his case, it was a simple explanation, but for a random human from Japan, it became more complicated.

[predictator]

Izaya could think of plenty of people who might hold a grudge against him, but only a handful who might have the ability to do anything about it. Even among them, something like kidnapping him and putting him into a hospital in Tokyo or in America or anywhere else seemed too mild an idea of revenge to be likely... and the bad sort of hospitals would have had much better security.

"No, I can't," he answered innocently as he worked on the lock. He paused in his actions momentarily, tilting his head up. "Oh, but I heard about a lot of disappearances around Ikebukuro and Shibuya a few months ago. Though those were usually illegal immigrants or runaways..."

He went back to work with that, redoubling his efforts. The paperclips weren't very strong, but they were adequate enough; it was much longer before he was able to turn the lock. Izaya rose to his feet, dusting off his knees, and then opened the door. Cool air from outside came rushing in.

He smiled at Castiel. If there was a guard lurking about outside, he'd rather the other man be the one to get caught. "After you."

[poorexample]

So, as far as Orihara knew, there wasn't much of a reason for him to be here. That could either mean that he was picked at random, which seemed strange (why would whoever was behind this have grabbed someone all the way from Japan? Distance didn't matter much to demons, and even less to angels, but nonetheless it was odd), or he was important without even realizing it, much like Adam had been.

But could all of the other people he had seen around this place truly be a key to the apocalypse? It seemed more like that they were fodder; a sacrifice, perhaps...

Castiel was drawn out of his thoughts when he heard the lock give in to the boy's handiwork. Good. Clearly he had picked out someone who was at least partly capable, though that didn't mean Castiel was going to be trusting the boy with his life anytime soon. Loyalty was earned, not given, and there were only two people who really had his devotion these days.

Straightening up, Castiel felt the cool air and realized that they had, in fact, found the way out. Once again, this felt as if it was all being accomplished far too smoothly, but apprehension would get him nowhere. And since he preferred to be in the lead, he was walking through the door before Orihara had even finished saying "you."

[To here.]