Today was the day. THAT day. The day Graves gathered all the Shadows together, no questions asked, got a huge BBQ started, and had everyone watch fireworks in honor of the 4th of July. It didn’t really matter that not all of his soldiers were American. They were made honorary Americans for that single day.

It was practically mandatory to celebrate the holiday. He planned for it early in the year. So, naturally, he was running around like a chicken with its head cut off, making sure everything was ready to go. It would all pay off in the end, after all.

“This is a very serious matter. I will not allow anything go wrong. Understand? That is an order.” Graves pointed a sweeping finger to the present Shadows assigned to help him this year. The group rotated annually, to ensure fairness and get everyone into the spirit.

And this time, you were the one tasked with making sure things went smoothly.