Page 75 of Assassin

“I will. As soon as the burn is healed, we’ll take care of it. I promise.”

He slowly nodded, and that was all Poe had to see. It looked like he had his trust.

“Can you stand for a shower?” Poe asked, trying to figure out what would work best.

Gamble shook his head.

“I don’t know if I can.”

That left one option.

“Okay, a bath it is,” he said, getting up, turning on the slipper tub’s water, and filling it. He added some bubbles, not so he could have a bubble bath, but to give the man some modesty when he was in the water.

If it was him, he’d want someone to protect him when he was at his lowest point.

“Let me help you,” Poe offered, as he began pulling off his shirt. As he was close, and not combative, he saw all of the ink on his body.

He tried to distract him.

“Where were you when you got this tattoo?” he asked, touching his shoulder blade.

“Rwanda. I was helping some Marines out, and I had some time to burn. So I got that ink.”

Poe’s brother had a bunch of tattoos from battles, and he recalled him telling him pretty much the same thing.

Boredom.

“How about this one?” he asked, touching his other shoulder.

Gamble didn’t even have to look.

“I got that with The Hunters. The people I call my family. They were the ones trying to keep me alive.”

Poe tried to connect the man to something. It would keep him fighting.

“They love you a lot. I met two of them, and they were ready to strip search me and check my ID.”

He already knew who he was talking about.

“Jagger and Maura are Marines too. I let them down,” he admitted.

Poe began doing what he did best.

“Maybe they feel the same about you.”

Gamble paused.

“They never let me down.”

Poe went in for the kill.

“Funny. They would say the same about you too. Maybe you’re carrying that guilt for no reason. They are protective of you, and love you. You’re lucky to have people who feel that for you.”

Gamble remembered every moment they sat with him, tried to feed him, and kept fighting for him.

“If I don’t make it,” Gamble began, “I want to have some letters for them to get. Can you do that for me?”

“I can,” Poe admitted. “But I won’t need to, Gamble, because I have faith in you. You’re going to recover. I gave you my word.”

---