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You weren’t sure how you always managed to get paired with Graves during training. Honestly, you were starting to think that someone had it out for you. Not that Graves wasn’t a perfectly good partner, but he was also maddeningly handsome and it was just a little bit distracting. The ease with which he did everything chafed you ever so slightly, too. You couldn’t understand how he was so fucking perfect all the time.
Today, they’d actually sent the two of you out on the streets. You guessed that they had to field test you some time, and you two were far enough along that you could be trusted not to burn down the city or anything.
It was all going fine (well, aside from the intestinal distress you were sure to encounter after the suspicious meats Graves had bought you for lunch somewhere along your patrol), until you got separated. You’d wandered down an alley that Graves hadn’t, and suddenly you found yourself growing nervous. It wasn’t so much that you didn’t think you could handle anything that might transpire. You knew you could kick the ass of anyone that even looked at you funny, with or without magic. No, it was more like an odd sense of separation anxiety. The disappearance of your partner left you with an uneasy knot in the pit of your stomach and the distinct sense that something terrible was about to happen. This was short lived, however, because the feeling of dread had barely settled over you before you felt a sharp blow to the back of your head and everything went black.
You woke up in a hospital bed, panic washing over you as you reached for your wand and didn’t find it at your side. You looked over and saw Graves slumped over your mattress, apparently asleep, and breathed a sigh of relief. If Graves was here, you must be safe. You reached over and touched his surprisingly mussed hair, the concussion you probably had making you bold. He startled awake, but offered you a small smile.
“You’re awake.”
You nodded. “Looks that way. How long was I out?”
He pulled out his pocket watch and scrutinized it for a moment.
“Just a few hours, it seems. You had me worried.”
Your eyebrows shot up at that. Nothing worried Graves. Ever.
“Did I? I didn’t think you had it in you.”
When he frowned, there was a bit of hurt in his eyes that you’d never seen before.
“You could have died.”
At that, you took in his disheveled appearance. He must have rescued you while you were unconscious.
“I expect it’s thanks to you that I didn’t.”
He nodded. “I turned around for just a second, and you were gone. I didn’t think anything of it until I found your wand. I- er- may have gone a little overboard when I found the men who took you. Madame President even gave me a stern talking to.” He smiled slightly at his own joke, though he looked a little guilty. “I never should have let you out of my sight,” he added, sobering suddenly. You waved a dismissive hand. He didn’t need to blame himself for your mistake.
“It was my own fault. I shouldn’t have wandered off.”
He grimaced. “If anything ever happened to you, I-“ He cut off, running a hand through is hair. “Just don’t ever scare me like that again.”
Your eyes widened a little at the implications of what he’d said. You weren’t sure you’d ever seen Graves show this much emotion before. You reached over and caught his hand with yours, giving it a squeeze. He looked at you, dark eyes brimming with unshed tears, and your heart clenched at the sight. It had never occurred to you that he might have feelings for you, but now it was clear that he did.
“Knock it off, alright? I’m fine.” You smiled at him and brought his hand to your mouth, brushing your lips across his knuckles. “Next time, I promise I’ll be stuck to you like glue.”