It had been seven days since Allen agreed to take a break. He'd spent the first two in and out of consciousness, the next two forcibly bed ridden by Dr. Amari, and the next three stuck in the basement of the Memory Den, undergoing rudimentary physical therapy. On the seventh day, Piper came to visit again.
The first thing Piper noticed when she walked into the Memory Den's basement was that Allen was shirtless, the second was that he definitely had more scars than the ones he'd earned over the last couple of days, the third was that he was punching the air.
"So is that physical therapy were you come from?" Piper joked.
"Nah," Allen said casually, pretending to duck, "we'd play rugby."
"What's that?"
"Long story."
Allen waved his arms around, Piper had no idea what he was doing but it looked precise.
"I'm surprised you're still here." Piper said, cracking open one of the two Nuka Colas she brought down with her and offering the other to Allen, who accepted with a mumbled "thanks."
"Why's that?" Allen said twisting off the cap.
"Amari told me she gave you a clean bill of health, I thought you'd be right out the door after getting that news."
"Well," Allen started, pausing as he put on a shirt. "I still don't know shit about the Commonwealth."
"I'm surprised that you didn't spend the last week grilling Amari about it."
"I've cracked KGB officers less tough than Amari." Allen replied casually.
"Wait, what?" Piper said coughing up a bit of her Nuka Cola.
"Long Story."
"That you'll tell me someday?"
Allen Looked pensive. Piper was hoping he'd admit something but…
"I've already got a job lined up." he changed the subject.
"Here in Goodneighbor? Quick warning, most of the work to be done here isn't above board."
"This one seems legit." Allen defended himself, throwing his arms through his coat.
"What is it?"
"Kent Connally from upstairs wants me to find the 'Silver Shroud' costume and any other memorabilia. Some plan about bringing the Shroud to life." Allen said sifting through his weapons. A 10mm, a few grenades, a throwing dagger, Kellogg's revolver, and some crappy improvised pistol that was offensive for Agent Marks to be in the mere presence of.
"Can he do that?" Piper asked, tossing the Nuka Cola in the trash.
"I don't think he meant literally."
"How's the pay?"
"Bad, so aim small." Allen ordered as he wrapped his face in his skull bandanna.
"Aim what?" Piper asked.
"Don't miss."
"Dammit Piper, I said don't miss!" Allen cried, ducking a feral's wild swing.
"They're ferals, Blue, kind of hard to hit." Piper defended, reloading.
So the job was both going well, or poorly, depending on your perspective of things.
On one hand, they found the costume, a script, and a toy gun that Kent was bound to love. On the other hand, they had walked into a nest of ferals. All in all it was a fairly balanced trip.
It took some finagling, but Allen and Piper eventually cleared Hubris Comics, ending up no worse for wear. But Piper forced Allen to take a break.
"Why, exactly?"
"Just because Amari gave you leave, doesn't mean you're back at a hundred percent." Piper explained. "I'm not going to let you overexert yourself."
"Is there a point to arguing?" Allen asked, finally sitting down.
"Not much of one."
"Fair enough. Hey," Allen suddenly interjected, "Do you listen to the Silver Shroud at all?"
"Sometimes, the signal doesn't always reach Diamond City." Piper said with a shrug. "Did you listen?"
"Not really my thing." Allen dismissed, before getting pensive. "Nora loved it though."
"Oh?" Piper replied simply. Less was more in this situation.
"She loved stories, the more heroic the better."
"Tell me about her." Piper requested gently.
Allen started fidgeting with his wedding ring.
"Some other time. Have we rested long enough?" he said in the same breath.
"Sure."
"You want me to what?" Allen asked with a furrowed brow.
"I want you to be the Silver Shroud." Kent said
"Why not you?" Piper piped up.
"I'm just not c-c-capable, I could be Rhett Reinhart but not the Shroud."
"Don't sell yourself short, Kent," Piper comforted
Allen interrupted, "Okay, but why me?"
"Because you're a lot like him, except I doubt you've ever shot down a blimp full of mobsters."
"Well," Allen said, cocking his head to the side, "They weren't mobsters."
Both Kent and Piper stared curiously at Allen.
"Long story."
"Besides, you've even got your own 'Mistress of Mystery.'" Kent Added.
"My own what?" Allen asked. Piper could practically hear the distressed grin.
"You know, the Mistress of Mystery, crime fighting partner, and lover of the Shroud." Allen and Piper stopped listening after Kent said "lover."
"Hold on..." Piper stumbled.
"She's not my..." Allen balked.
"I barely know..." Piper squeaked.
"I'll be the Shroud." Allen interrupted, deciding to pretend Kent didn't say "lover."
"Great." Kent exclaimed. "Let's get started."
"Do you really trust Kent?" Piper asked Allen, "Maybe Wayne Delancy isn't all Kent says he is."
"I trust him," Allen answered, putting on the "Shroud Hat" "doesn't mean I won't verify"
Allen took the walk as an opportunity to create his "Shroud" persona. As heroic as the Shroud was painted in the Radio shows, Allen didn't think he could pull it off. Slightly sinister, slightly psychopathic, with a healthy scoop of heroic, that Allen could do.
It didn't take Shroud and Piper long to find Wayne.
And when they did, Wayne was kneeling over a body. Which, admittedly, didn't paint him in a good light.
"Excuse me?" Shroud called. "Is this your handiwork?"
"Yeah, it's my corpse, buddy, buzz off." Wayne answered. The Shroud made some "Tut"ing noises.
"Sloppy work, not like Ms. Selmy and her little one. That was a crime worth its weight."
"Ms. Selmy was my work, freak, and it was barely worth it. Bitch didn't have two caps to rub together" Wayne growled.
"Sloppy again, Wayne." Shroud "tut"ed again, "You forgot a cardinal rule." Shroud taunted in a song like tone.
"What's that?"
"Never admit your crimes to an executioner." Shroud said, voice dropping, a dagger falling into his hand.
The Shroud was fast, Wayne tried to line up a shot but by the time his drug-addled mind focused the Shroud was already next to him.
Using the alleyway wall as leverage, the Shroud leapt behind Wayne. Then, in one swift motion, plunged his dagger into the back of Wayne's neck, severing the spinal cord.
The Shroud left a calling card on Wayne's body.
"I feel like you took some creative liberties with the 'Shroud' persona." Pipe observed, catching up with Allen.
"I think he's cooler this way."
"Guns down, boys!" Shroud ordered holding a dagger to AJ's throat.
"What are you waiting for? Shoot the bastard!" AJ cried.
"AJ's gonna die, kiddies. No more paychecks for you." Shroud teased "Is he really worth dying for?"
One by one AJ's bodyguards started lowering their guns.
"Oh, come on!" AJ exclaimed.
"Smart," Shroud said gleefully, "This way you can earn your redemption in this life, rather than the next." Shroud started to pull his knife,
"Wait!" AJ called.
"You ready to stop now?" Shroud asked hopefully.
"I can pay you, fifty caps." AJ offered.
"And here I thought we'd get along." Shroud said mournfully, severing AJ's jugular.
A wide grin spread under Allen's bandanna. If anyone deserved to die, it was a drug dealer selling to kids.
"Selling drugs to kids," Allen spat on AJ's corpse. "And I thought I'd seen the worst of mankind before the bombs fell."
"Was it really so bad before the bombs?" Piper asked, "The way Kent talks you'd think it was paradise."
"There were good things, don't get me wrong" Allen explained, "But most people saw the war as abstract 'thing' on some distant shore." Allen patted down AJ's pockets, he may not have accepted the bribe, but he'd take the money "They didn't know how close we were to exactly what happened."
"That doesn't exactly answer my question." Piper pointed out.
"That I believe I misunderstood the question."
"What was it like for the average Joe?"
"You'll have to ask the average Joe." Allen answered with a shrug
The pair left the alleyway, they found a bench to sit on, with the Silver Shroud station playing gently.
"What do you mean?" Piper asked.
"On paper I had a very ideal life, valedictorian, captain of the track team, I could have gotten a blank check to the college of my choice." Allen said, staring off into the distance.
"I know what some of those words mean." Piper grumbled blankly.
"People have killed for lives half as good as mine."
"So what made you join the army, if life was so good?"
"I guess it felt like my responsibility."
"How so?"
Allen probably would have dodged the question, but luckily Kent and his radio show did it for him.
"Attention all Silver Shroud fans!"