"...Been awhile." (andcrossbones)
That voice. Phil froze in place by the SVU. Immediately withdrawing inward. He doesn’t have to think before he’s opening the door to the car. Not bringing himself to step inside. The doctors at base, they’ve been talking with him. About his ‘obsession’. That was the word they used over and over whenever Brock came up. They told him that it wasn’t him. Everything was a conditioned response. Phil already lived on the edge of a knife. Every little thing he did wrong was the thing that’d send SHIELD over the edge. The thing that’d get him down in the cells again. Would get him back into TAHITI. Would end with a bullet in his brain, and he’s terrified that that option is the most appealing. His handler wasn’t back from the store, and he was supposed to remain here. He shouldn’t have been left alone, but they’ve been attempting to gauge his flight risk. James did what he can where he could. Sometimes it just didn’t feel like enough. Phil shuddered, shivered in absolute fear as he turned to see the man he knew damn well was there.
“…A long while…”
