Page 48 of Assassin

They let him leave with her when it had been their job to ensure she was safe to leave.

Spoiler.

She hadn’t been.

“Thank you,” Poe said, taking the file and envelope from the man with his spare hand. “Again, I’ll be in touch,” he admitted.

Jagger didn’t know what to say, but he hoped this worked out. He’d lost too many friends to this kind of PTSD.

“Take good care of him.”

He reassured him.

“I will, Jagger. You’ll get updates through Elizabeth. We’ll see you later,” he said, as he began helping Gamble walk out of the house.

When they reached the bottom, Maura was standing there with Zayn, and they were both at attention, saluting him.

She had tears in her eyes, and Zayn did too.

“We love you,” she said, getting no response from the man.

Poe didn’t force him to respond. The man was allowed to feel what he felt.

That was the bottom line.

If Gamble didn’t want to say goodbye, that was his choice.

Poe, on the other hand, was too busy working on an action plan to get this man back to normal.

The basics came first. The location would be safe, he’d have food, and he’d be clothed.

He was weak, so feeding him was the first step.

His healing began now.

As the driver helped him get Gamble into the vehicle, and then got back behind the wheel, Poe sat in the back with his new patient.

The man looked exhausted.

That had taken all he had.

“Home, Reginald. We have some things we need to do today,” he admitted.

The man started up the Mercedes, and pulled away from the curb.

The whole time, Gamble just wanted to lay down. As he leaned on the door, Poe touched his arm.

“You can lay across the seat if you wish. You’re lacking fuel for your body to do the simplest of things, so you will need to rest more. Take a break.”

That was the best plan.

Gamble could hide in his head for a while, and if he was lucky, Storm wouldn’t be there too.

“Thank you,” Gamble said, moving in the opposite direction, as he tried to squish himself into the space.

It wasn’t comfortable.

And he looked ridiculous.

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