Heists and Vengeance

Fifteen

Cole

"Aim a little more to the left." Cole reached over, and adjusted Lana's stance. "Yeah, that's it. Now fire!"

She took a deep breath, and Cole watched as she pulled the trigger of the gun. He winced when he saw how far from the target it had gone.

He'd been given the task of training Lana in basic firearm use, to prepare her for the mini-heist she and Brett were planning, in the hopes that if they were threatened, she'd be able to defend herself. He'd chosen an abandoned alley as their practice range, somewhere where no one would catch them. He didn't need anyone knowing that the Aces were training new members. However, he thought as he watched her struggle with the gun, watching her, they probably wouldn't feel very threatened.

Despite Lana's lack of skill in the field, he was fairly certain that they'd be able to pull the thing off. They were planning to go in two nights time - Brett had found out that Carmichael was away on a work trip until next week, giving them less security to worry about. And anyway, he was good enough with a computer that they'd be in and out in fifteen minutes, max. He'd offered to come, but Brett had turned him down, saying that three would be a crowd, and according to Erin, he'd said the same to her. Though Cole didn't believe that it was just that that had caused Brett to say no – there was something deeper there, he could tell, an underlying need to satisfy his pride.

But he hadn't pressed, because they were more than capable of handling the situation on their own. As long as the marksmanship didn't fall to the Turner.

"A little help?" Cole blinked, and realized that Lana was struggling with the magazine.

"Here, let me." She handed him the gun, and he deftly replaced the ammunition. At first, Lana had balked at the idea of using real guns for practice, but he'd convinced her that it was best to start with the real things, and get a feel for them.

"Alright. Now this time, don't grip the gun so tightly – it'll mess up your aim. Just be less tense, and loosen your hold. No, not too much-" he said, as Lana slackened her grasp and nearly dropped the firearm. "Just...it should be firm, but not too firm."

Lana sighed, and dropped her arm to her side, gun in hand. "I'm never going to be able to do this."

Cole frowned. While a small part of him did agree with her inside, he knew that demotivation wouldn't help her get any better. But he knew that the usual words of comfort wouldn't work on her – she was far too smart to think that believing in herself was the power to everything. So, how could he motivate her without sounding like a twat?

Suddenly, he knew exactly what to say. He walked up to her, and waited for her to look up at him. "Alright. Listen. Let me tell you something. You're never going to be a great sharpshooter. I guarantee you that."

She raised an eyebrow, and made to speak, but before she could, Cole raised a hand.

"But guess what? That's okay! Your skills lie in other things, that don't happen to be marksmanship. Your ability with a gun is not why we took you on – it's because of your connections, your knowledge. You know more about Carmichael and his dealings than the rest of us combined."

She was smiling now, and Cole took that as evidence that it was working.

"So...teaching you how to handle a gun is merely a precaution, so that you can defend yourself, if you ever need to. But, that doesn't mean you have to be awesome at it. So take the pressure to be perfect off yourself, and just shoot."