"Okay," Allen started, leaning in closer to Piper, who had the practice dummy in the crosshairs of a sniper rifle. "Aiming small."
"You going to have to explain that" Piper mumbled, closing one eye.
"What do you think I'm doing?" Allen scolded, "Don't just aim for the person. Aim for a part of the person. Aim for the spine or the heart, be specific."
"Why?" Piper asked, lining up a shot.
"Take your shot," Allen ordered.
Piper did, and grazed the practice dummies hip.
"Dammit," Piper mumbled.
"Here, let me" Allen offered. Piper stood up and Allen went prone.
"I tend to aim for the spine, midway up the torso." Allen explained, adjusting scope "A sniper is a fairly accurate gun, but the farther away from your target you are, the more outside factors come into play."
"Like what?" Piper asked.
"Wind, direction, temperature, Hell I had a gun in the war that you had to factor in the rotation of the earth."
"You're exaggerating," Piper guessed.
"Only…" Allen trailed off, taking his shot, "a little." The shot hit right where he said it would. Severing the "spine" midway up the torso.
"Take a look," Allen ordered, "If I had missed by the small margins that tend to come into play, I still probably would have hit something vital. 'Aim small, miss small.'" Allen repeated.
"Shouldn't you be the one with the sniper rifle then?" Piper asked, pouting.
"Someone has to be the Shroud."
"We could just take them out from a distance," Piper suggested half-heartedly.
"Someone has to give them the chance to surrender." Allen said, grimly.
"You think so?"
"They're criminals," Allen explained, "Most of them are just trying to survive, some have taken that to the next level but still, they deserve a chance to lay down their arms."
"Is that how you fought the war?" Piper wondered aloud, switching places with Allen
"Someone else did the asking." Allen answered, crossing his arms, "By the time I was given orders, it was past the point of no return."
"What you're trying to do," Piper paused, searching for the words, "It's noble."
"Don't get used to it." Allen said as Piper took her shot.
"Why not?" Piper asked as she handed Allen the rifle.
"Nice shot." Allen said, looking at the target "center mass."
"Aim small, miss small." Piper repeated with a smirk. "Why not?"
"I'm not always going to get the luxury of giving a warning."
"Why not?"
"I don't think that's how the world works anymore." Allen observed.
Piper didn't respond, he was kind of right
It was time to kick the hornet's nest.
Two targets - Smiling Kate, the psychopath with a posse, and Northy, the coward with a crew.
Allen knew which one to go after first. Smiling Kate.
"Thank you all for coming out to play tonight!" Smiling Kate said, addressing her people. "We have the most wonderful toy to sink our teeth into, The 'legendary' Silver Shroud!" She mocked, making a face.
"This is nuts" She heard one of her posse mumble.
"Now sure," Kate said, deciding not to kill the doubter, "The Shroud's already killed some of our best, but that just makes the bounty all the more juicy. Now pack your goddamn gear!" Kate shouted raising her gun above her head, "Cause we're going to be going a-murdering soon."
"Sounds like fun," called a new voice suddenly, "I'll bring the stuff for s'mores."
Everyone turned to face the new arrival, a tall man, wearing the formal attire now known as the "Shroud coat."
"If it isn't the man behind the costume." Kate sneered as she approached the newcomer. "You've been naughty, Mr. Shroud."
"You get one warning, Katie" The Shroud said. Oh, Kate just loved when they played tough guy, "I don't have to kill you, but I will."
"Ooh, is the Shroud pleading for his life?"
"I'm pleading for yours, Katie"
Katie regretted the need to kill the Shroud so quickly. She liked breaking the tough ones.
The Shroud went on, "We can walk away from this without guns."
"Fine by me, I guess I'm going to have to rip your goddamn heart out!"
Kate didn't even get the chance to move before The Shroud seemed to disappear in front of her.
She definitely didn't get the chance to start barking orders before she heard the telltale, "plinks" of grenades falling on pavement.
The grenades exploded and shockwaves of cold enveloped her entire posse. Moments later, the Shroud reappeared and started putting bullets in the heads of her now downed posse.
The last thing Kate heard was were the warning words, "I tried Katie," before a bullet was put into her head.
"Stay here," Allen ordered. Kate was done; it was Northy's turn.
"I'm gonna need more than that!" Piper exclaimed, currently lying prone in a playground alien spaceship.
"Northy's over there," Allen explained.
"I gathered that from the veritable army," Piper hissed.
"I'm going to go and try to talk to him, when the bullets start flying, aim for the bodyguards, I'll handle Northy."
"How will you be doing this 'handling'? There's an army between us and him."
"Very carefully." Allen said, running towards Northy's hideout
"That's not cryptic." Piper mumbled as she lined up her first shot.
She saw Allen approach the building and faintly heard him call out "Northy, can we talk first?"
There was barely any hesitation before the bodyguards opened fire, Northy ran, and Piper made her first shot. She missed. There were seven bodyguards, she had nine rounds left in the mag.
"Aim small, miss small." She repeated to herself as she took another shot, this one striking a guard center mass.
When the bodyguards realized that both the Shroud and their boss were missing, they split up with three of the remaining six men looking for Piper. The other three chased after the Shroud, who was now pursuing Northy over the rooftops of Boston.
Piper took a deep breath, repeated her mantra, and took another shot.
The Shroud leapt over an alleyway, and ducked. The bullets flying overhead were more annoying than they needed to be. In the next ally, Shroud left a gift for his pursuers in the form of a bottlecap mine. Eventually, he and Northy ran out of rooftops to jump.
"Gun down, please."
"You think I'm going to just lay down and die?" Northy shouted when he saw the Shroud approach.
"There's no need to die, Northy." Shroud said, raising his own tommy gun. "I like having friends."
Northy growled, "I team up with you, Sinjin kills me and my family."
"You don't put that gun down and I'm going to have to kill you." Shroud warned.
"At least this way my family is safe."
"I can protect you, I can protect your family."
"No," Northy said solemnly with a shake of his head, "not even you can kill Sinjin."
"Nothing will stop me, Northy, don't make me kill you." Shroud urged. This man didn't need to die.
"Fuck you."
Before Northy could pull the trigger of his gun, the Shroud riddled him with holes.
"When will people start believing me when I say I can protect them?" Allen asked himself aloud. He shook his head one last time and threw his calling card on Northy's body.
Allen and Piper were in a hurry; recorded in the holotape they'd found, Northy had mentioned Sinjin paying a visit to Kent. Absolutely nothing about that was good news.
Naturally, they rushed Goodneighbor. They were met at the gates by Hancock, who looked uncharacteristically grim.
"Sorry Shroud, they got away before I even got there." Hancock apologized as Allen listened to the Shroud station, hearing were Sinjin was heading, hearing his buddy get shot.
"You did all you could." Piper comforted, speaking for Allen, whose eyes were hardening in a way Piper wished she could say was new.
"I'm going after Sinjin." Allen declared, shifting his gaze to Hancock and Piper, "Wanna come with?"
"Abso-fucking-lutely." Hancock answered, loading his shotgun.
With a smirk at Hancock, Piper said, "Let's go save our friend."
"So" Piper wheezed between gasps for breath. They had been running nonstop for an hour. "What's the plan?"
"The plan," Allen said, his breath still even, "is that we are going to run straight at Milton General Hospital and when we get there, we are going to shoot bullets at Sinjin's gang, the bullets will enter their bodies and kill them. Then, we are going to find and save Kent. And finally, we are going to attend Sinjin's funeral."
"I like it," Hancock commented, gasping even more than Piper "Wish there were less running, I really need to quit smoking."
"If you need me to I'll slow down but I am not stopping."
"Nah, thanks," Hancock said, taking out a syringe, "I've got a secret weapon." The ghoul proceeded to pump his system full of Psycho.
"Careful with that," Allen commented, "impairs higher function, won't know when you're injured."
"Among other problems," Piper added faintly, not having enough air to back up her words.
"Intervention later." Hancock ordered with a resounding bark of laughter.
"Stay out of sight." Allen demanded when they had reached the hospital.
"Fuck that," Hancock protested.
"I can handle this as the Shroud. But if he sees you, illusion broken." Allen explained, "When the bullets start flying, then you can join in."
Hancock turned to the reporter next to him and asked, "Is he always like this?"
"Only when he's angry,"
"Is he angry a lot?"
"I'll tell you when he stops." Piper managed to get out before the elevator doors opened.
"Shut up" Allen ordered, taking several great strides forward. Finally, after all the cloak and dagger, he found himself face to face with a ghoul named Sinjin
"Take one more step, and we get to see what's in Kent's head."
"I don't like it when people use my friends as a meat shield," Shroud proclaimed, "Bad start, Sinjin"
"Don't talk to me like that. See, some of these losers think you're some kind of a legend." Sinjin said, his gun not wavering a centimeter from the back of Kent's head
"Legends are usually works of fiction. Think of me as a fable. Ya know, the kind with a moral."
"Oh yeah, what's that?" Sinjin mocked.
"Don't fuck with the Shroud of Death!" Shroud snarled, suddenly yelling.
"We both know you're human, Shroud, no need to play games. Look at you – what a chump! Made weak by his ties, his friends. Lured you right into my hands."
"Friends make me strong, Sinjin."
"I can play you like a chump, all because I have your friend. So, where's the strength when you're about to die?"
"Feel the room, Sinjin" Shroud said, suddenly sounding gleeful, "Feel the fear. Remember the trail of bodies? They do," he pointed at the goons around them, "they remember how many I killed, all for my best buddy Kent."
"Enough talk," Sinjin snapped suddenly, his patience gone. "Here's what's gonna happen. I'm gonna kill Kent, then I'm gonna kill you. Then, I'm going to Goodneighbor and burning that whole place to the ground, what do you and your friends say about that?"
"You sure about that, Sinjin?" A small sadistic smile crept through the Shroud's words as he went on, "You trust your minions to take me down? You get one shot before I start shooting. You can shoot Kent, but what then? You trust these cowards to kill me?" Allen made smacking sound with his lips "The fear is palpable, Sinjin, it's delicious. You kill Kent, I kill your people, and then I make you suffer for the rest of your life, which will be long and painful. You turn that gun on me though, you get half a hope."
Shroud started to do a little dance in place and taunted the ghoul in a sing song tone as he spoke, "Maybe you're a better shot. Maybe I'm just human. Maybe you get lucky and I go down with the first bullet. Half a hope or certain death, Sinjin? Better decide quickly. Otherwise, I'll choose for you."
Sinjin hesitated, a fraction of a second, before turning his gun to Allen.
Sinjin was carrying a .45 caliber submachine gun, a crack shot can go from an at rest position, sight a target, and take a shot in half a second.
Allen had a similar .45 caliber submachine gun, also at rest. But his pistol was more accurate.
Allen pulled his gun down, tearing through the straps of the specially made holster, and raising to up to Sinjin.
The fastest shot from a holster was .252 seconds, but all that man had to do was hit a target, not even a specific target, not keep a target safe. That was a very special technique.
Allen had a fraction of half a second to aim and take a shot.
He took two.
The first grazed Sinjin's gun, throwing it off balance, the second struck Sinjin in the upper left shoulder.
The ensuing seconds were chaos. Hancock and Piper tried to join the fray but the Shroud killed fast. No more training, no more "two to center mass, one to the head." Five targets other than Sinjin, six headshots, four seconds.
Nobody hurt Allen's friends and got away with it.
Allen and Piper were at Power Noodles. After a couple of days in Goodneighbor on cleanup duty, Piper had wanted to check on Nat. Allen, of course, went with her.
"Do you think Kent's going to be alright?" Piper asked.
"The guy's tougher than he realizes. When he figures that out, he'll be just fine" Allen answered.
"Okay, I have a question." Piper started.
"Can it wait?" Allen asked.
"Just, hear me out first?" Piper requested.
"Fine." Allen mumbled.
"You don't seem the type to make friends quickly,"
"That's not a question."
"Well, and I am not complaining" Piper clarified, "What was with Kent?"
"Long story," Allen said, stirring his noodles.
"Not this again," Piper sighed.
"Well what do you want from me?" Allen asked, setting his bowl down.
"Secrets aren't healthy, even if there's nobody left who can be hurt by them." Allen stared pensively at his bowl.
"Back in the war," Allen recalled, "I had very little direct contact with my commanding officers.I always went through a middleman, if I had Intel, or needed help, or even just someone to talk to that reminded me of who I was, I had to talk to the same guy."
"Who was he?"
"A kid, codename William Friedman. It was weird to think of him as a kid, he was only a year younger than me, but he seemed more 'youthful' than the rest of us."
"Does Kent remind you of him?"
"Not really," Allen scratched the back of his head.
"Than what is it?" Piper pushed.
"War is nasty business," Allen said, "More often than any of us liked, we had to do bad things for, hopefully, good reasons. 'The greater good' and all that malarkey. Even the most dedicated of agents start to get tired of it eventually. Will, well, he believed in us." A wistful smile spread across Allen's face. "Not just the 'greater good' belief. He really thought we were heroes. After he died, we all went to his house, and on a cork board, he had articles from all around the world about the lives we saved. Those ops were exceptions rather than the rules, but he still believed." Allen's smiled disappeared. "It was nice to be believed in like that again, to be seen as a 'hero' rather than a 'necessary evil.'"
"How did he die?"
"Bone cancer, there was a reason all he did was manage the agents." Allen picked up his bowl and tried to take a bite of noodles, but fumbled with his chopsticks.
"Didn't they teach you how to use chopsticks, 'Mr. CIA'?" Piper teased, trying to lighten the mood.
"I spent most of my time in Russia. All they taught me was the different types of vodka." Allen said with an exasperated sigh, giving up and switching to a fork.
"Why Russia?" Piper asked, innocently. Allen sighed and put down his bowl.
"Look Piper, I know that there's no malice here. But I couldn't even talk to Nora about the details of my life as a spy. And it wasn't all just to protect her. Someday I'll be ready to tell you everything about everything. It's just a little too fresh."
"I can't promise I won't stop asking questions. It's in my nature, Blue."
"I'm not asking you to stop, but can you start accepting 'I don't want to talk about it' as an answer?"
Piper nodded. "I can do that."
"Great." Allen said, picking up his noodles.
"You gonna keep the costume?" Piper asked as they ate.
"The armor definitely, damn thing stopped bullets."
"What about the hat?"
"I'm not one for hats" Allen said, taking his hat off
"But you are one for skull bandanas?"
"Touché," Allen replied. He looked at the hat quizzically before reaching over and placing it on Piper's head.
"Hey!" Piper complained, taking it off.
"It fits you," Allen observed.
"You think?" Piper crinkled her nose. Still, she took off her press cap.
Allen shrugged. "Sure."
Piper put on the Shroud hat. She could get used to it. "So, what next?"
"Geez," Allen exclaimed with a chuckle "Can I finish my noodles first?"
With a laugh, Piper replied, "Take your time."