[color=#b97703]“I don’t know about never, but now is definitely more fun,”[/color] Cas shrugged as he waited for Iris to get into the passenger side of the car. They could have easily waited for the lockdown to be lifted before they went back to the woods to look for her ID card. If they had, they wouldn’t have had to sneak past the royal family’s security or leave after the sun had gone down for the night. Everything they were doing now was technically more inconvenient, but he wasn’t going to complain. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d enjoyed himself so much. It really did feel like they were living out the movies he had grown up with as a kid, and the adrenaline of creeping around to avoid being spotted by anyone got his heart pumping. So caught up in the excitement of it all was he that he’d forgotten why he’d been reluctant to leave the mansion in the first place.

Once Iris had settled into the car, he circled back around to the other side and hopped into the driver’s seat. As expected, the key was safely hidden away in the glove box, so he pulled it out and turned it in the ignition. The car came to life with a quiet hum of its electric engine, and he turned to Iris with a grin. [color=#b97703]“Twenty minutes starting from the second I put this baby into park,”[/color] he nodded. Whether or not twenty minutes would be enough time to find her ID remained to be seen, but he was more invested in the trip for the adventure of it than the success. He hoped she wouldn’t be too disappointed if they ended up having to turn back without the card later on.

Putting the thought aside for now, he reached for the clutch and put the car into drive, simultaneously hitting the button to open the garage door. The mechanism groaned as the panel slid upward, and he winced. Hopefully they were far enough away from the main building that no one had noticed the sound. He wasn’t about to wait and find out though. Without skipping a beat, he pulled out of the garage and brought the vehicle around to the private road that would take them out to the gate at the edge of the property. The next part was tricky. Security would be alerted if a car drove up to the gate when it was still closed, since someone needed to screen the driver and decided whether or not to let them pass. However, there was about a two second window between the underground panel that tripped the alert and the point in which he could open the gate by himself with a button inside the emergency vehicle. If he timed it right, he could open it manually without the security team receiving a message that there was a moving car heading away from the building.

Focused on making sure they could get past without getting caught, he didn’t talk as they approached the gate. Only after he pressed the button and saw the barrier part without turning on the light that connected it to the security team’s intercom did he finally turn back to Iris with a somewhat delirious laugh. [color=#b97703]“Oh my god, I can’t believe that worked,”[/color] he shook his head. [color=#b97703]“We’re officially in the clear. No one has any idea we left, and as long as we play our cards right, they won’t know when we come back either.”[/color] Reaching across the center console, he took her hand in his and grinned. [color=#b97703]“Let’s get your ID back.”[/color]

--

The rest of the trip to the forest went by without a hitch. Cas followed the posted speed limits to avoid getting pulled over, and none of the soldiers patrolling the area seemed to pay them any mind. The enforced, city-wide curfew was ten o’ clock, so they didn’t look strange driving down the highway at nine. Blending in as perfectly as he could have hoped, they made it to the woods on the edge of the capital in great time.

[color=#b97703]“I feel like Bonnie and Clyde,”[/color] the prince joked as he climbed out of the car. He’d parked on the side of the road so they could get back to the mansion quickly as soon as they were done looking around. Striding over to Iris’s side, he opened the door for her again to let her out. [color=#b97703]“And I’m convinced. You were definitely a bad girl before you lost your memories,”[/color] he teased, closing the door behind her and locking the vehicle. [color=#b97703]“No one else would suggest to do something like this when there are criminals on the loose.”[/color]