SR1! V gets in some much needed shooting practice not too long after reclaiming the Saints' territory at the start of the game.

"Shit." V's hand trembled as she examined her last shot, still off by a foot or so. It was better than the previous one, but when you started off bad, moving up from awful wasn't a huge feat.

With a few weeks under her belt at the improvised range set up in the back of the church she'd hoped to see more improvement. Instead, she was sure that the range was trying to pull as much blood, sweat, and tears from her as possible. She swore again when her adjustments did nothing, and the only other guy at the range with her gave her a wary look before going back to his own shooting. When he hit the bulls-eye her frustration hit a peak, making her shots even more wild.

"Fucking hell," she said, reloading slowly. It was like her run with Julius and Troy again. The adrenaline had kept her moving, but it hadn't done anything for her aim until she'd picked up a VK's SMG. The great thing about it? More shots, more hits. The bad thing about it? No real need to aim. So, while the two men had been okay with her run, she'd gotten through it on sheer dumb luck alone, and she was not going to give them another chance to find out just how shitty she was.

Besides, she had a nice handgun to continue breaking in, and she wasn't about to let it gather dust. Not after the cash Troy had put forward for it.

She turned the gun over as she checked it, and had to admire it. The afternoon sun caught it just right and she shook her head. "Shame, really. Pretty thing like you stuck with me? I'm so sorry."

"Don't know about that, kid." Her heart jumped and she clapped a hand over her mouth as she turned around. Troy didn't exactly announce his presence, and now was no exception, as he stood with his cigarette between his fingers. "You're acting like the thing's cursed with you."

V flushed and held up the weapon in question. "It is. And that's not even getting into the fact that you wasted your money on a gun that I can't use properly. Would've been better off getting me a hose."

Troy thought that over as her silent companion skulked off, and she noticed that seemed to be a thing that happened whenever he'd enter a room. You either stood up straighter or made yourself scarce, because there was fucking up, and then there was fucking up in front of Julius's number two. It wasn't going to do you any favors in the long term.

Hell, it wasn't doing her any favors. She was racking up idiot points left and right, and wondered if Troy would ever call her on it. He seemed like a decent guy, but that kind of patience had to run out at some point, and she did not want it to be because of her screw ups.

"That's a special order. Better not to fuck around with that," he said, taking a few steps closer. "What's bothering you?"

She sighed. "I'm kind of shit at this. Which is why I asked for a hose, because SMGs really are a lot more forgiving. Or maybe I just don't have the patience for this."

"Aiming? Thought all you had to do was keep it in front of you and pull the trigger." She rolled her eyes and he crossed his arms. "It's not supposed to be easy. Some take to it better than others, but it's not like in the movies."

"Even with half of the Hollywood style shit you guys keep on pulling?" She mimicked his stance as she pretended to aim at the target and fire. "Stuff that shouldn't work, but does? You've all got some fucking secrets to share then."

"Is that how I do it?"

A grin eased its way onto his face and she nearly fumbled her response. "Yeah. You tilt your fucking gun to that stupid angle and it still manages to do exactly what you want it to do."

He laughed and that made it even worse. "Stupid, eh? Show me how it's supposed to be done then."

"Still working on that, chief," V mumbled, hefting the gun in her right hand. The two shots she let off were some of the worst she'd seen that day, she let out a noise of frustration. It was him. It was all him, and she felt the hole that she was digging get even deeper.

"Hey, you hit the target. That's better than most." She gave Troy a withering look, but he shrugged it off. "I mean it. You want to know something else? Your grouping's pretty good. Even though they were off, they're still close together, so just adjust your aim and you should be able to pull off some mean double-taps."

That was a compliment. "Mean ones? You're reaching."

He took one last drag of his cigarette and crushed it under his heel. "Reaching would be telling you you're a few practices away from the Olympics. Here, you're not bad. At least if you aim at a guy and shoot twice you'll hit him in the same spot, right?"

A compliment wrapped in a lovely sarcastic bow. She kind of liked that. "Shut up. That's a nice way of saying I'm not entirely a lost cause."

"Not the one you think you are." He walked up and tapped her left elbow. "Use your other arm to steady your hand. You're shaking just enough to throw your shot off, and until your main arm's good enough to stand on its own this is the only thing that'll help. You need to build up your basics before you add a flourish."

She adjusted her hold, but he had to step in again, this time to fix her grip. It didn't take long, but she wondered just when she'd started holding her breath. "...Like this?"

"Yep. Get used to that for a while and it'll help. Though your posture's off-" He put a hand on her back and she went rigid. "You've got to relax. The recoil's going to be bad enough, but you can't respond well if you're too busy waiting for it."

Then he tried fixing her shoulders and she knew she was going to chew a hole through her lip. "Sure."

"Sure?" He raised an eyebrow and she made a point not to look right at him. "That's making me feel confident. You want a better demonstration?"

Yes. No. V didn't answer and he continued.

"You've got to watch your feet too. Being aware of where they are is pretty fucking important." Troy lightly kicked the back of one of her boots and she moved it into what she hoped was the right position. "Okay. You got it?"

"Yeah." He let go and she let herself breathe for a bit before focusing her aim. Then she fired. It was off still, but she made a quick correction and tried again. The improvement showed and she had to smile.

"Looking good, kid. Keep up with that, and you'll be a pro in no time."

"Now you're laying it on a bit thick," she said, glancing over at him.

"Sure." The corner of his mouth curved up, and she flashed him the finger. "What? You never know."

"Where's my gold star then, teach?" she asked, putting the gun away.

He lit a new cigarette and by the time he exhaled she found her fingers itching for one. "Got to earn it first. Unless you want one for effort?"

"Bite me. Can I get a cigarette instead?"

It took him a moment, but instead of reaching for the pack in his pocket, he slipped a hand into the pocket of her hoodie. The pack was out before she could think of swearing at him, and he held the cigarette out almost innocently.

She took it – making sure to snag the pack back too - and tried not to think about the fact that he knew which pocket to pick. Then decided to pull an actual dare. "Got a light?"

Her lighter was in her other pocket. Her jean pocket. Troy's eyes flicked to the one in question briefly, and for a second she believed he might actually go for it. Bastard knew exactly where it was, and only needed to take it.

...But all he did was reach for his own, each motion calm and measured. A small part of her was actually disappointed at that.

It flashed and she turned away as soon as her cigarette was lit. "Thanks. Got any other bits of wisdom to share?"

"Yeah, plenty," he said, heading back towards the church. "Maybe for next time, eh?"

V blew out a long stream of smoke and kept her smile hidden until he'd left. "Maybe."