In The Company of Your Shadows || Phillip Graves x OFC

5 - Your Wish is My Command

Commander Phillip Graves,

Also known by his call-sign Shadow 0-1, was the esteemed founder and CEO of Shadow Company. A man of many talents, he was a charismatic and beloved leader, admired and respected by all who served under him... including me, the woman who had loved him for years.

As I stood there, face to face with the man I had believed to be dead for over three months, my mind struggled to process what I was seeing. It felt like everything around me was crashing down, leaving me speechless and disoriented.

"What..." I barely manage to utter, my voice barely audible amidst the whirlwind of emotions and disbelief swirling inside me.

I couldn't tear my eyes away from him-his smirk, the familiar bullet scar tracing his cheek, every detail of his appearance screamed that he was real.

Taking a step back, I leaned against the desk behind me, desperately trying to anchor myself amidst the chaos of my thoughts.

"This isn't real."

I whispered to myself, as if repeating it would make it true. "You're not real," I insisted, clinging to the hope that I hadn't succumbed to some delusion, grappling with the notion that I might have descended into madness, conjuring up the image of a dead man. A ghost.

But he remained silent, his expression hidden behind his sunglasses, his gaze steady upon me, his smirk seemingly unfazed by my turmoil, hinting an unspoken understanding.

My heart pounded in my chest, the sound echoing loudly in my ears and drowning out all other sounds as I struggled to reconcile the impossible reality that's unfolding before me.

I was teetering on the brink of believing that I had indeed lost grip on my sanity. Perhaps the month I spent in the woods had finally broke me.

"You look like you've seen a ghost," he remarked, breaking the tense silence between us. I couldn't tear my gaze away from him, trying desperately to regain my composure. "You miss me?" His tone carried a hint of amusement.

As if he found my reaction entertaining.

"Graves..."

My voice faltered, barely audible as I struggled to process the surreal situation unfolding before me.

"You're... alive?" The words escaped my lips in a breathless whisper, disbelief evident in every syllable.

"I didn't feel like dyin' yet," he replied casually, closing the distance between us. As he approached, he reached out and removed the mask I wore, his fingers tracing a delicate path along my jawline, stopping just short of brushing against my red lips.

A sharp intake of breath escaped me at the sensation of his touch, confirming the reality of his presence. He was indeed alive, standing before me in the flesh.

"But... how?" I began to question, but he silenced me with a gentle gesture.

"Hush now, don't you fret that pretty little head 'bout it," he interjected softly, his words laced with reassurance. "It doesn't matter how I'm alive. What matters is that I am."

I leaned into his touch, his fingers gentle against my skin, his thumb tracing a soothing path along my cheek.

Behind the cover of his sunglasses, he looked at her with a longing gaze, as if he regarded the woman in front of him as a precious treasure to be handled delicately, with fear of causing harm.

"So, did you miss me?" he asked, that familiar smirk playing on his lips.

Still reeling from shock, I struggled to form a coherent response before managing to utter a single word,