“Oh wow,” Lex hissed at the wind sweeping up through the vents. They were close to an exit, and for that he was grateful, but he was already chilled with sweat and this made it vastly more uncomfortable. He hadn't heard Blue stop, but he managed to catch himself when his hand slid forward into the back of her shoe. The sound of fabric shifting told him that she had the right idea. His hands traveled behind him, pulling his t-shirt free from where it'd been tucked into his belt and untying the long sleeve shirt from about his waist. He jerked them both back over his head, his t-shirt still cool and damp from being drenched in sweat.<br/><br/>The strange clanking of metal on metal hit his ears before they were assaulted by the stranger, echoing sound of air rushing through the tunnel around them. It reminded Lex of a wind tunnel, only a lot less roomy. They could better hear the noises from outside, of which there were few to be heard, but that meant that whoever was outside might be able to hear them too. Blue’s hands found his own again, instructing him and guiding him to the drop off. “Yeah, I'll let you know if it's all clear,” he joked, careful to keep his voice hushed. He managed to rock backwards to sit flat against the vent and scooted himself forward so that his feet dangled freely down the vertical shaft. He tested the drop at first, arms straining to support his weight as he slowly lowered himself just enough that he felt fresher, cooler air hit his feet. And he hadn't been shot yet, albeit his feet were kind of a small target, so he turned to where he'd heard Blue’s voice. “I think I've got it. Just, if you see me get shot eight or nine times, don't come down.” On a deep breath in, Lex let his arms buckle out from where they'd been supporting his weight, and he was far more aware of the burn in his muscles than he was of the fact he was falling.<br/><br/>Until he hit the ground.<br/><br/>Impact reverb traveled from his ankles all the way to his hips, because by some divine intervention he'd managed to land on his feet. He straightened his back and waited to he shot. If he'd been asked a decade ago, Lex would have probably said that his most mundane fear was not being able to see before he died. If he was going to be stabbed to death or something, he would have wanted to see it, to know it was coming so he could brace himself for it. Standing in the middle of some alley now, with no idea what his environment looked like or if he was surrounded and about to be shot, he was the calmest he'd felt in a long time.<br/><br/>“Okay,” he said when he heard no rustling of footsteps or racking of guns. He stood on his toes and reached above his head, fingers searching for the lip of the vent. After a few seconds of searching, he jumped up a few inches and found it. That was quite a ways down. He took a single step back, enough to be out of the way if she kicked at him on the way down, but close enough to where he could probably<span style="font-style: italic">try</span>to catch her if she fell.