Nghh. No high ground. No vantage point with a straight shot, or at least nothing obvious. That meant closer quarters. Windows, fire escapes. Probably crossing paths with EPOL, since they were there trying to control the situation already. Fine. That was fine. Was it fine? [i]I don’t know if that’s fine! I don’t know if that’s fine at all![/i] He couldn’t think about that now, or he’d come undone into a disorganized mess like a bunch of tangled yarn. Or maybe that would just make the tangle worse. Was that better? H-heh! Dempsey didn’t know!

When the car door opened, the breath of “fresh” air (as fresh as the hot city air could be, even at night) felt like a hand of grace, and the redhead exploded from the cab like he’d been squeezed from a wet tube. Thankfully, nothing happened. [b]“Down we go, huh?!”[/b] The sniper tried to speak casually, neck jerking a little as he jogged a few steps around the manhole to warm up his nerves before his carrot top disappeared from view. 

His boots clicked on the ladder as they ascended. Dempsey climbed one-handed, the other frequently reaching back to touch his rifle. He pulled it forward from where it had been strapped across his back and jiggled it a little as he peered out the tiny window, calculating just how close the target might have to be. [b]“This could work, this could work,”[/b] he muttered. His hands were working like birds released from a cage, fluttering around the barrel of his weapon as he changed out the current ammunition for what Smoker had suggested. [b]“Could get a good shot, maybe. Probably. [i]Ngh.[/i]”[/b] He bit back a whimper and the words [i]what was that?[/i] as the echoing of dragging metal reached them in the little office. He knew what it was. It was what they were here to take care of. [b]“D’you—"[/b]

Dempsey trailed off as he turned and saw the guy who’d been calling the shots ‘disappear’ into smoke. Considering everything, he reacted surprisingly normally. It wasn’t the strangest thing he’d seen since becoming a contractor. Losing sight of their leader-figure did seem to up his anxiety, however, and he suddenly took a knee at the window, jamming the barrel of his gun up against the bars. His trigger finger cocked, pupils dilating, heart rate increasing. [b]“H-heh! That’s perfect, just perfect… guess I’ll wait… I can do that, yeah, just wait. That’s what he said. You guys can go through the door, and I’ll wait.”[/b] The jumble of words was basically nonsense. At least the comms were working—he hoped he’d get a heads-up before it was too late. 

Still, Dempsey kept one eye on the opening exit, a muscle in his shoulder jumping as he braced himself to swing around if anything nasty came through. Who knew what might happen?! What if there were more of them? His frizzy hair stood on end as if filled with static, fanning out slightly from his head like some Studio Ghibli character. Sneak attack?! Nope! Wouldn’t get [i]him![/i]