Jason Joseph Rockler's Story

Years: 2020
Location: Lower Manhattan, NYC.
Time: Late Morning - Early Afternoon
”What an annoying little tune” Irealia complained as she groggily made her way down the stairs holding her jacket and purse, still wearing her dress from the night before.

It took her a brief moment to locate Amelie’s phone but once she did the exhausted red head picked it up, turn the alarm off, and then look down at her friend - who was fast asleep still.
”What’s the point of setting an alarm if you won’t wake up to it, silly.” she joked softly while looking at Amelie for a moment longer before falling back onto the nearby loveseat. Irealia pulled out her phone and scrolled through her address book briefly before holding the device up to her ear. Several seconds later, her husband would pick up on the other end.

”Hey sleepy, surprised you’re up. I know I know, I didn’t come back home last night but when we got back I passed out and I guess she didn’t wanna wake me up.”
Irealia went on to disclose everything that had happened in the NYC speakeasy last night and how she feared what Amelie had told the man that had been following them.

”Babe she’s still starry-eyed about all of this, I’m afraid she might tell him more than he needs to know, and put all of us in danger by…..” Irealia would stop talking as she noticed Amelie stirring on the couch.






Amelie’s eye’s shot open as the dream she was having was approaching it’s terrifying climax. It would take several seconds before she’d notice a voice in the room with her.
She’d stay still for a moment and listen to her friend talk before sighing to herself and sitting up.

”I’m gonna go now babe, see you soon!” Irealia said, before quickly hanging up and smiling towards her friend.
”You didn’t have to hang up on my accord, by all means - continue.” Amelie commented, as she ran her fingers through her hair.

The two women went back and forth only a few times with casual good morning pleasantries before Amelie noticed the clock on the wall and her eyes shot wide open.

”10:45? Oh no, I’m gonna be late…” Amelie let out, quickly adding onto her original statement to not make Irealia suspicious ”…grandma is gonna kill me! I’m sorry Irealia, but my grandma needs me to go into town to-” Irealia, not having any suspicions raised, would cut her friend off and stand up.

”Go, get ready girl. I need to get back to the hubby anyways, he wasn’t happy I didn’t come home last night. Talk soon, okay?” Amelie nodded, as her friend entered her heightened state and began to create a gateway. ”Of course.”


Amelie would wait until her friend was gone before running up the stairs and into her bedroom.

She’d quickly tie her hair up into a huge messy bun, slip out of her t-shirt and into a matching pair of undergarments, before slinging both her closet doors wide open. Knowing that she had gotten up nearly an hour later than she wanted to Amelie was more frustrated than anything by the sheer number of choices she had to pick from in her walk-in closet.
”Eeny meeny miny moe….” Amelie repeated a couple times, before finally settling on a green fitted long-sleeve v-neck blouse and high-waist jean miniskirt, and slipping into them.
It would take her a little while longer to finally settle on a pair of jean tie-up sandals that matched the color of her skirt.

”Okay okay now my hair, what am I going to do with all this hair!” she wondered aloud while walking into her bathroom. Once she was in front of her washroom mirror she’d pull her long thick hair out of the messy bun it was in and begin to brush it until settling on just straightening her hair out with the iron.
After she was done Amelie’s hair reached a few inches past the bottom of her back, and she’d make sure to grab a few hair-clips and scrunchies to throw in her purse before leaving her bathroom.

”This is okay right? Yeah…maybe not…maybe I should just wear a t-shirt.” Amelie debated in her head as she stared at herself fully dressed in her full length floor mirror.
Despite wanting to just slip a long t-shirt on and be emotionally comfortable Amelie pumped herself up enough to stay dressed as-is, and after finding a small leather Saint Laurent chained purse to stuff all her things into, she’d head out the front door - making sure to lock both deadbolts before heading out the building’s main exit.

Not even a minute later Amelie would find herself running back into the building up to her loft's door, up her stairs, and into her room. She'd grab Jason's jacket and sling it over her arm before once again heading out - locking up behind herself again.





Preferring to be safe than sorry, Amelie decided to make her way to the park the same way most New Yorkers do - by catching the bus and then walking the rest of the way on foot. By the time she spotted the arch it was five minutes past noon.

”Okay, I’m late, but not too late!” she whispered, before jogging over towards their meeting spot.
Amelie would walk underneath the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ arch and come to a stop at the sides of the structure, not wanting to get in anyone’s way.
She’d look around only briefly before spotting a familiar face and begin to slowly make her way over to the bench he was sitting on.

”Hey, Jason?” Amelie called out, relieved when he actually seemed to respond to the name he had given her the other night. The benign smile on Amelie’s face didn’t change the fact that her heart had dropped into her stomach. She was a ball of nerves, for many reasons, and would alternate between looking down and over her shoulder as she approached Jason - only looking forward once she was in front of him.

”Um, hey! So I’m um, sorry for being a little bit late, I apparently need to change my alarm tone!” Amelie joked, tucking her hair behind her ears as she laughed softly.

A few seconds would pass before she’d hold her hand out in front of Jason.
”Oh, it also occurred to me that I didn’t really introduce myself last time. I guess I didn’t trust you enough, but now, I guess it only makes sense to. I’m Amelie, it’s nice to meet you…Jason ”
She would wait for him to react to her offer of a handshake, all the while trying to hide her nerves behind a smile. Afterwards she’d point to the pathway behind her.
”Wanna walk and talk, you know, so you could maybe tell me more about how you stalk people for a living? We could always stop by the boathouse further into the park to rest if need be.” she'd giggle a bit before remembering the jacket she had slung over her arm - which she'd quickly hold out towards Jason. "I think this belongs to you! I almost kept it but decided I should probably give it back to ya."

Amelie wanted to smack herself in the forehead for what she thought was her bad jokes, but instead kept the smile on her face and waited for him to take the jacket before taking a step back so he could stand. "Ready when you are" she'd say, while holding her hand out towards the only pathway that led further into the park.

"His eyes are so blue! And his jawline is so chiseled! God, why couldn't a mediocre looking 60 year old with a dad bod being chasing us through time and space? she'd think to herself, before realizing she was staring at him and needed to look away.

”Hey, Jason?” He had still been staring at the statues and arch in front of him that he’d almost missed the girl that walked up to him. She seemed uneasy, nervous, not-shaking-like-a-leaf-nervous, but a healthy amount. He knew, because in some way he felt the same.
He trusted her quite a bit more than he should, and he was fully aware of it. There was just something about her that made him feel like he didn’t have to watch his back all the time. He was happy to finally see her alone. Before he had felt the time limit of her travelling partner hanging over their conversations like an axe waiting to cut them apart. Maybe both of them would find a way to drop their guard now.

”Um, hey! So I’m um, sorry for being a little bit late, I apparently need to change my alarm tone!.” He had a big grin on his face in return. It looked like she was glowing, even without the magic. Her energy was radiant and she stood out in the park with her outfit as well as her openness. He all of a sudden felt silly he was once again dressed in all black, like always. His leather jacker over a leather shirt, and a pair of black jeans. They could not look any less like each other.

”Oh my goodness, it’s you!” Jason said as he stood up. ”That must have been, what?… 90 years? Where has the time gone?”
He felt comfortable in New York, joking about this. There were so many absolute lunatics in this city, he did not stand out at all. He had been here many times, at different points in history, but he could not tell you the date or year that New York just went plain nuts.

As Jason stood up he reached for her stretched hand and shook it once, firmly, like his dad had thought him all those years ago. ”Nice to meet you, Amelie.” Her fluent French starts to make sense, he thought to himself.
He listened to her and stepped in the direction she had pointed out. He took the jacket back from her. ”Ah, thanks, I would have gotten a fine for not bringing it back, you know.” He joked, although he doubted if she would be able to catch on to that.

She seemed to be staring at him. He wasn’t sure what to think. I hope she can’t read minds. he quickly thought, doubting what he knew about magic users. They walked slowly further into the park, slower than most others, as they were being passed left, right and sometimes even centre.
”Where to begin…” he thought out loud. ”So I work for an organisation that looks after time travel, time travellers and history discrepancies. As I told you, any time travel, how insignificant it may seem, can have dire consequences.” It was the shortest recap he could give, but he knew she would have not forgotten their earlier conversations even one bit.
”All kidding aside, the consequences can be huge, not just for the person but for humanity as a whole. Now, people travel through time with different motives. Most, you might be happy to know, are travelling totally by accident. These people need saving…. Preferably by professionals.” he swallowed as he said it, since this story hit home pretty hard.
Clearing his throat, he continued: ”The second group are the scholars and the fascinated, probably the group you belong to.” he pointed at her as he said it, talking with his hands as much as with his mouth.

”Although these people have no bad intent, sooner or later something doesn’t go as they want it to go. History is rarely what we read in books, like I explained yesterday. At that point they need saving, although we by far prefer to reach them before this happens. Hence me ’stalking’ you. Jason used air quotes as he said it.

”The last group, is the most worrisome. These people are travelling in order to change history on purpose. Whether their intentions are good or not, usually does not matter for the consequences. Going back to kill baby Elvis might not be better or worse than killing baby Hitler.” They were reaching a small coffee stand deep in the park. The friendly girl at the stand made each of them a drink. Jason handed a cappuccino to Amelie as he paid the girl for the two coffees. He picked up his own coffee as well, and they continued their walk.

”Let me give you two examples of time travellers. A woman, mid 30’s, goes out for a walk. While she walks she turns a corner. That specific corner has an opening through time and space, something she did not know. With perfect timing and perfect precision, she stepped through the fabric of time, kind of like your portal actually.” He breathed heavily as he described the next part of her journey.
”The next thing she knows, she turns up on a filled town square, in Aragon, Spain, 1518. A woman dressed in 20th century clothes, appears out of nowhere in deeply religious, Spanish Inquisition times, Spain. In her confusion she is grabbed by militia and citizens combined and handed over to the church.” Jason paused, not ready to look the girl in the eyes. Wanting to warn her, but not to give himself away.
”Torture is described in many books, none of it would tell the story of how it is. Within hours of them starting the torture, she begged them for death. Begged them to stick the instruments they were using right through her heart.
A month later, the woman has no clue who she is anymore. She has more scars on her skin than actual skin. She does not know her own name, where she is from and what she did in her life in the previous 30 years. All she knows is pain.”
Jason looks up in the sky to check some random bird he is not at all interested in. ”Tempus agents got to her, way too late for it to matter.” They walked on, a bit of silence between them. He thought of the women. The difference between her before and after her time travel. Over the years he had realised that every minute she continued living, had been an extra minute of agony.

Years: 2020
Location: Prospect Park, NYC.
Time: Early Afternoon
Amelie laughed softly at Jason mentioning being fined, before following along beside him into the park.

”So I work for an organization that looks after time travel, time travelers and history discrepancies. As I told you, any time travel, how insignificant it may seem, can have dire consequences.” Amelie would unconsciously twirl the end of her hair as she listened closely to everything Jason was saying - only stopping, and biting the corner of her lip, when he pointed at her.

When the two approached the coffee stand Amelie ordered a French Vanilla Cappuccino, but before she could paid for it Jason would pay for not only his drink, but hers as well - causing Amelie to smile.
”Thanks” she’d say, before taking a sip and once again walking further into the park.

”Let me give you two examples of time travelers…” Jason began, causing Amelie’s eyebrows to perk up with interest. However, it didn’t take long for the look on her face to go from enthusiastic to dejected.
She listened intently as he spoke and the emotion in his tone and downcast expression forming on his face made her assume the story hit close to home for Jason. ”Tempus agents got to her, but way too late for it to matter.”


The two would walk in silence for a while until Amelie finally found the nerve to speak, albeit a bit nervously at first.
”I…I usually don’t like to assume things…but it seems as if that story was a bit personal for you…”
She’d take a sip of her drink before looking over and up towards Jason.
”…and I’m sorry. That must have been awful to experience, but I want you to know I’m not as reckless in regards to time traveling as you might think after that stunt I pulled in 1927”
Amelie sighed and held her head down for a moment in an attempt to hide her flushed cheeks behind her long hair as she remembered that night.
A gust of wind would promptly push her hair away from her face and she’d quickly use her free arm to prevent her hair from wildly flying all over the place.

”My mom…” she’d reluctantly begin, as the wind died down.
”…she died when I was only five. I essentially lost my father that night too, since my mother’s death led him to try and hide in a downward spiral of addiction. Even with the support of my grandparents and extended family, I felt alone. I ended up losing myself in my hobbies to fill the void - one being books, I absolutely love to read, and history is one of my favorite subjects.”

As the two made their way onto one of the park’s bridges Amelie would walk over to the railing and lean over it - looking out at the water. She’d wait for Jason to do the same before speaking up again.
”Even before I discovered my powers to say that I liked history would be an understatement. Did you know this park is over 150 years old? It’s original budget, all the way back in the 1860s, was 300,000 bucks. But it ended up costing nearly 10 million dollars! Fun fact.” Amelie smiled softly and then took a few more sips of her drink while taking in the view of Prospect Park Lake
”Seriously though, I have enough respect for history to not be completely reckless. Despite it still probably being ill advised, I did my research on that Speakeasy and picked a time where I knew my performance would be brief and the main historical event of record for the night - the feared drive-by - would still occur. I, nor my friend, would go back into any time period without research, nor do we have a careless attitude about changing major events in the past.”

Sadness began to express itself on Amelie’s face as she leaned down and rested her head on one of her arms while holding her cappuccino cup out over the water with the other.
”Do you know how many times I thought about what it would be like to go back and see my mother? Watch how she cared for me as a child, or even poke a hole in her tire to prevent her from getting in that car that night - saving her life and subsequently saving my father’s life as well….”
A gust of wind would once again blow over them, but Amelie would make no attempt to stop her hair from blowing in the wind this time.
”I’ve thought about it a lot, but I’ve never done it - nor would I. My grandma says I have my mom’s smile and artistic bent…but I take her word for it, I don’t go back and see for myself. I want you to know you can trust us, you can trust me, to not ever have a reckless god complex in relation to time travel or our powers. I don’t even fully understand my powers yet….”
Her voice would trail off quite a bit for the last sentence of her proclamation, making it only partially audible.


Amelie would look out over the water as she listened to Jason and the sounds of nature around them.
Silence would eventually occur between them again and stay around for a brief moment before Amelie’ s stomach grumbled and caused her to pout.
”I haven’t eaten anything in soooo long!” she’d complained dramatically, as if she hadn’t eaten for days.
”Oh, the boathouse! Unless there’s a wedding or some other special occasion, the restaurant there is open every day from Lunch and dinner!” Amelie would take one final sip of her Cappuccino before throwing the cup in a nearby trash can and playfully pulling on Jason’s sleeve.
”This way! It’s right over there” she’d say with a smile - pointing to the building on the other side of the lake, before bouncing her way over the bridge and towards the boathouse with Jason following closely behind her.


Once there she’d notice the patrons seated at the tables outside eating and would begin to bounce with excitement.
”Nice, it’s open!” she’d say aloud, waiting impatiently for Jason to catch up to her.
After several seconds he’d appear beside her and she’d grab his arm and begin to lead him inside, however before they reached the hostess she’d realize she was still holding onto his arm and quickly let go - apologizing for her eagerness.



It took only a few minutes for them to be seated outside and served their drinks and a menu.
”Foooood!” Amelie let out dramatically to herself, before instantly becoming embarrassed and holding the menu over her cheeks and she looked at Jason over the top of the Menu. ”Sorry, I’m just…hungry. I love food! Who doesn’t love food?”
After figuring out what she wanted to order Amelie would put the menu down and pull out her phone to take a picture of the boathouse and the lake. Once she was doing taking pictures she'd put the device down and look over towards Jason - a question for him suddenly popping into her head.
”So, does the woman I saw you with in 1927 know you’re here? Did you tell her about talking to me or that you were meeting me today?”
Before he could respond the waiter would come back to get their orders. Amelie would only speak up again once the waiter had left to go place their orders inside.
”As much as I didn’t like not telling her, I didn’t say anything about meeting you today to my friend. I knew she’d probably talk me out of it, but I wanted to come…I really wanted to talk to you again.”