G.U.A.R.D. Book #3: Recusant

-20-

    Turns out, Slade had planned a joint training session for the afternoon. He, Daniel, and I all went to floor thirty-one, where there were climbing ropes. Of course, Daniel was already perfect in every way when it came to scaling the thick pieces of torture. But me? Oh, no. I was still as bad as when I had first arrived.

So we spent the next to hours of just learning. To. Climb. Needless to say, I was beginning to like Lee Slade less and less.

When evening swung by, we ate dinner, and Slade finally gave me my chance to take a shower. He also cleaned himself (but in the other bathroom). We rendezvoused outside the bathrooms, and he took me back to the office. No surprise.

"Okay," Slade sighed, throwing himself on his desk chair. I went to my bed, longing for a book. But the moment the thought entered my mind, Slade rolled over, holding a deck of cards in his hand.

"What are you doing?" I questioned incredulously.

"Well, you've had a long day. What better way to unwind than to play a game of cards?"
"I can think of a number of ways."

"Well, I'm glad you can count." He had already begun shuffling. "You know Go Fish?"
"That's a kid game."

"So you do know it!" The man grinned at me. "Great. It was my favorite growing up. My uncle used to play it with me all the time."

"Your uncle?" I asked. Please don't shut me down. I am so done with secrets.

"Yeah, my uncle. My aunt would sometimes join us, but... not that often. Your go."

I picked up my hand, gazing at my cards. "Uh... got any twos?"

He shook his head. "Go fish. Any eights?"

I gave him two. "What about your parents? Did they not play with you?"

"No. My mom died from a tumor when I was five, and my dad was in an accident two years later. So my aunt and uncle raised me."

"... I'm sorry."

Slade laughed. "Natasha, I'm over forty years old. I've had ample time to get over their deaths."

Quietly, I asked, "And have you?"

Slade didn't answer right away. Finally, though, he said, "Some days I have. Other days... I wonder how things would have been had they raised me. But I've been through a lot more than just two deaths."

I wasn't sure what to say to that, so I just told him, "You get to go again."

"Got any threes?"

"No. Go fish. Got any fives?"

He gave me two. With a smile, I laid down my four fives.

"Any... sixes?"

"Go fish. You know, you can keep asking me questions. I don't mind. Definitely not as much as most of the agents here."

I bit my bottom lip. Then a thought occurred to me. Before he could ask for another number, I blurted, "How do I know you're telling the truth?"

"Huh. Guess you don't know." He gave a shrug. Then he smirked at me. "But I just happened to pick a two. Got any?"

I sighed, handing over all three. He laid them down.

"So your uncle and aunt raised you."

"Yep. Though, really, we weren't blood-related. They were my best friend's parents. So, to me, they were basically my aunt and uncle. Any eights?"