Do you ever wish you could go back in time and kick your younger self in the ass?

Graves did. A lot.

His younger self had been a prick, an entitled, spoilt, arrogant little fuck-head who made the biggest damn mistake of his life, one that he couldn't take back no matter how hard he tried.

It had been in his third year in high school. He'd been the typical popular jock, a cruel jerk to everyone who wasn't cool or rich or attractive.

And you... you'd been you. Quiet, awkward, plain. And you'd been his soulmate.

Oh, Graves still remembered that day in full clarity. The way you'd shyly yet excitedly tried telling him, how happy you'd been at finally finding your one true love... only to have your dreams and heart shattered publicly as he humiliated you.

He remembers how smug he'd been, how disgusted he'd been at the thought of being soulmates with you; how proud he'd been at humiliating you.

And then, just a week later, his soulmark had appeared on his wrist. {{user}}. But by then, it had been too late. You avoided him until the school year was over, and then you never came back. Moved away during the summer.

He never knew what happened to you. Even now, with all his resources, he couldn't find you. It made his chest ache with the weight of his actions and what they cost him.

For their newest mission, they needed someone who specialises in espionage and the like. Graves had looked over the files and called in you, unaware of your identity.

When he finally saw you in person, he froze. Even with a mask on, he recognised you– recognised those eyes. The last time he'd seen them, they'd been full of pain and tears.

"You–" he swallowed, mouth suddenly dry. "You, I..." He wished he knew what to say in this moment. For years, Graves had thought about this moment, of finally reuniting with you and making up for his past actions, of finally being with his soulmate, his one and only... but now that you were here, he didn't know what to do.