I'd Like to Meet Her

Jack and Keith are now both sitting in the small bar that Keith picked out.

Jack makes complaining noises sitting down.

"Ouch. Ouch."

Jack is trying to complain about his bullet grazed thigh. He's actually wearing a new pair of pants that he changed at his apartment. His old pants were stained with blood.

"Don't whine. I aimed at your left thigh intentionally, because that's an area what will not affect your day-to-day function. Again, I usually only aim for the head. I was very merciful."

"Dude, it makes sitting a pain. And, it's going to hurt like hell when I shower."

Keith just laughs and shakes head. "You are funny, kid. I know this little wound doesn't bother you at all. The sooner you drop your act, the better."

Jack is dumbfounded. Jack didn't even think he was faking his whining, but maybe he was. Keith seems to be quite observant.

It is true, he's never the kind of person who focuses on pain. Otherwise, Jack wouldn't be able to beat up anyone. Punching people hurts your own fists, too. Especially the knuckles.

"Why are you calling me a kid. I'm not that young, you know." Jack protests.

Keith laughs, "I'm older than you, so that's what I'm going to call you."

"How old are you?"

"I'm in my 30s. How old are you?"

Jack narrows his eyes at Keith, "Seriously? You don't know already?"

"Fine. I do know. You're 25. Let's order something to drink."

Keith orders beer but out of a glass bottle.

"Let me give you a piece of free advice-- don't drink anything on tap.  I order everything in a bottle, and I always make sure I open my own bottle," Keith says to Jack.

Jack thinks Keith is paranoid because Keith probably does a lot of awful things to other people, so he thinks others will also do bad things to him.

"So, I think the job with Rick Powes is a decent deal for a young man of your age. Anyway, it's a start, you'll get paid more later."

Jack doesn't say anything. He's just playing along. He's not going to say anything until he can talk to Bob about this again. But, he is curious about Keith.

"So, who is this...Nitte...? Why do you find her a threat? If she's working for a losing side, then you shouldn't worry."

"Well, I wouldn't worry if I hadn't seen her superpowers myself. She can shapeshifts." Keith's facial expression doesn't change.

"Hang on, you've seen her shapeshift? Her?"

"Yeah. Her. Nitte. She can shapeshift. She's a shapeshifter, although she prefers the term, Skinwalker. I have no idea what the difference is, and I don't really care."

Jack is beyond shocked. He stares at the surface of the bar. And then he orders for an Irish beer.

Keith observes Jack's reaction and he chuckles, "Your reaction is a little different from what I expected. You're shocked, but not like-- 'wow, really, someone can shapeshift'-- but more like, 'wow, really, her?' So you know someone who can shapeshift?"

"Like I said, I like to read all kinds of legends so I am familiar with what that is. I guess I've never thought someone can shapeshift and lives near here."

"She's not from New York originally." Keith is very glad that he's got Jack's attention.

"I guess." Jack mumbles, and grabs the beer that is now placed in front of him.

"That is also why I cannot let her get to you and do things for her. She's uncontrollable."

"You're not exactly a safe person," Jack snorts.

"Well, I don't shapeshift and I don't have any supernatural power. I just shoot. I have a clear goal and I'm upfront with you. She says she's working for Eleanor Abbot, but God knows what else she's up to." Keith puts one leg over his knee, and leans back.

Jack's instincts say, Keith wants to talk a little more about what he's good at.

So Jack says, "Hey Sergeant, I actually wanted to enlist when I graduated from high school. It sounds like you've been trained very well. Did you enlist, too? You also talked about arrows and bows. The military uses those?"

Keith does appear to be quite glad that Jack brings up this subject, "Yeah, I was part of a secret joint Special Operations Command, in which only two people are chosen to be trained in archery in the entire U.S. military. So, you are looking at one of the only two in the entire nation. And the other guy was just an understudy, a standby. He's never actually got to use it." Keith tilts his chin up, looking proud.

"Cool, so you're the only one. But what can an arrow do that a bullet can't do?" Jack says, knowing he can finally take a glimpse into Keith's mind. Jack needs to find a leverage on Keith.

"What I did was within a confidential operation, so, all you need to know is, unlike a bullet, an arrow can fly out in a variety of parabolic lines if I adjust my distance and my force. Do you know what 'parabolic' means?"

Jack is offended by Keith's tone, but he puts on a smile, "Oh yeah, is it like a natural curve created by the gravity and whatnot, right?"

"Yeah. So, with bow and arrow, I can shoot behind the enemy line. I can also attach explosives to the arrow, so I can bomb a very specific target accurately and take them by surprise. So we don't have to dispatch fighters, bombers or drones, which can be detected by enemies easier. But I was primarily a sniper. I once fired one bullet and took down three men running towards different directions."

Jack can see that the past glory in the military service is something that plays a huge part in Keith's psyche.

Jack nods, "That's awesome. You don't need supernatural powers. The skills you have are impressive enough."

Keith laughs, "I wouldn't mind to have some superpowers myself. What kind of superpowers would you like if you could have some?"

Jack laughs, "Well, probably the ability to fly. I think that's pretty cool. But now that you said Nitte can shapeshift, I'd like to meet her," Jack jokes.

"No problem. Like I said, that's your job now. To watch her."