Tempus Agency

Jason jumped out of the cupboard he had just hid himself in. He recognised the voice and he knew it had come from the stairwell behind them. ”Lucy, You go after her!” Jason points towards the hotel room and the window the women had jumped out off.
He knew Lucy well enough to know he did not have to wait for her answer. By all means, if they were both able to do their jobs now, they’d meet each other back at HQ.

He darted out of the hallway and sprinted into the stairwell. There were only 2 ways out of the building, either the lobby, or the emergency exit. Instinctive he chose the emergency exit, not thinking she’d want to risk the lobby in case more people were waiting for her there.
As he got out, he looked around to see if the girl was in sight.

He didn’t see her, but he saw a towel with some ice spread over the ground. It must have fallen, but from the direction Jason could see in which direction she was going. He jogged forward, not fast, but he needed to make sure he wasn’t running past her hiding in one of the many alleyways. The light wasn’t the best, instead of the neon lights he was used to for NY, the moonlight had to do for now.

He saw groups of man laughing and watching after something that had come past them. Yet another danger in the times, men, even more now than they were now. He sped up his pace, hoping to get to her before anyone else did. He saw the grand entrance of the Grand Central Terminal coming up. He guessed, as it was a common sight for the girl, it would be something she would go to for shelter.

It was lighter in the hall than it was outside, even though there were not as many lights as there would be 100 years later. The temperature wasn’t much better though, Jason was cold, and he was wearing a leather jacket. On the outside it looked like it fit right in these times, but Tempus had altered it with thermal elements, and it was probably warmer than any jacket you could get in these times. He looked though the building and saw her, finally, sitting on one of the benches. Unlike modern times, the benches were still made of wood, and not yet the marble that decorated the rest of the building.

The dress she wore was still the same as the one she had worn during her performance. Jason’s mind was cast back again to how irresponsible she had used time travel. She must have no idea what she was doing.
She was rocking back on forth on the bench, chicken skin all over her arms betrayed how cold she was. He walked closer to her, slowly, not wanting to alarm her. However, she did not seem to pay him any attention. He took off his coat and held it out in front of her. ”You must be freezing, here.”



Lucy jumped forward. She only needed half a word from Jason to know the plan. Plus, the bitch had a smirk on her face that Lucy liked to wipe off. She did not lose sight of the women for one instant. She jumped down the steps faster than any training she had ever done. She was barely using the steps, just jumping from 1 platform to the next.
The last 3 metres she jumped down all the way to the ground, hoping to gain some distance on the women.
The women was fast, it almost looked as she was barely touching the ground. Like floating while making running movements. She realised the sound wasn’t there either, no tapping, no scuffling, just dead silence apart from Lucy’s own footsteps. Something wasn’t right.
Lucy turned the corner just 2 seconds after the woman, but was stopped dead in her tracks. She could have only lost sight of her for a second, but she was gone. No trace of the woman, and none that she had ever been there.

It took a few seconds for her to get it. A… mirage? She had just made a horrible mistake. She found it hard to believe how easily she had been mislead. She turned around and started running back. She had no idea where Jason went, so she had to go back to the hotel. She would have to find some clue to see if Jason was in trouble, and if the ladies were now going after him together.
Back at the hotel Lucy went back in the same way. She ran towards the ladder of the fire escape, jumped high towards the wall and pushed herself off with her left foot against the wall. With the tips of her fingers she was able to grab the lowest ledge and she puller herself up from there.
Running up the stairs she neared the same window she had jumped out of earlier.



Jason sat down on the bench next to her. Not so close and overbearing, but distant, trying to make her feel safe. As he sat down he crossed his legs and spread his arms over the backrest, trying to look confident and relaxed.
”So, you have to help me a bit here…. After a close encounter with someone who seems to be chasing you, namely moi, you go back into history the very next chance you get?
I don’t know exactly how you do it, but I am smart enough to know you involve magic in your process. It’s a rare talent, I’ll give you that… to be honest I never met anyone else like you. But your talent doesn’t stop you from realising history is dangerous, and changing history is even worse. 
I can tell you hundreds of stories of how time travel can go wrong. But…I need to know if I am wasting my time here. Your friend… I have an idea what she would say, but you need to decide for yourself if you are open for the truth.” he looked over at her, hoping she would at least stay and engage in conversation. If she wouldn’t cooperate, she’d be forcing his hand, so he prayed silently she would take the bait.

Years: 1927
Location: Harlem, NYC, NY
Time: Evening
When Amelie’s eyes locked with the eyes of the figure standing in front of her fear washed over the young woman’s face for a few brief seconds before the utter cold caused her expression to morph into one of accepting defeat….albeit somewhat defiantly.
”I’m fine” she muttered, before leaning back and looking away. However a frigid breeze would make her begrudgingly reconsider and take the leather jacket being held out in front of her.

As her pursuer sat down on the bench beside her Amelie would slip into his over-sized jacket and wrap it around her chest - her back facing him while leaning away as he began to talk.

”So, you have to help me a bit here…. After a close encounter with someone who seems to be chasing you, namely moi, you go back into history the very next chance you get?
I don’t know exactly how you do it, but I am smart enough to know you involve magic in your process. It’s a rare talent, I’ll give you that… to be honest I never met anyone else like you. But your talent doesn’t stop you from realizing history is dangerous, and changing history is even worse. 
I can tell you hundreds of stories of how time travel can go wrong. But…I need to know if I am wasting my time here. Your friend… I have an idea what she would say, but you need to decide for yourself if you are open for the truth.”

Amelie rolled her eyes to herself before turning slightly so that she was now facing forward on the bench, the man next to her now within her peripheral vision.

”Decide for myself if I’m open to the truth..” she’d repeat in a whisper before chuckling to herself. ”Is this where you ask me to trust you , come back to your place, and let you teach me everything I could ever want to know, and find this truth you speak of?”
Amelie let a cocky smirk make it’s way onto her face, but it quickly melted away into a soft smile followed by a light giggle.

”You know, I’m not a fool. I know it’s dangerous to mess with the past, change the way things occurred decades before you were born, in ways that might effect people who hold the fate of major world events in their hand. ”
Amelie sighed before looking over directly at the man whose name she still didn’t know.
”But I-” Before she could finish her thought she’d spot a very faint barely noticeable scar on his forehead from the wound she had seemingly healed that day in the New Jersey alleyway.
”Oh my god, it really did heal completely!” she’d say excitedly, while unconsciously leaning into him as she lifted up his hair a bit to get a better look.”That’s amazing.”

It would take Amelie several seconds to realize she had pressed herself up against a stranger and had her hand in his hair an on his forehead.
”Oh, I-I’m sorry.” she’d stutter, before pulling her arm back and once again creating space between them on the bench.

The momentary silence between them was awkward but also comforting to the usually introverted brunette. In such a situation she would typically have Irealia who would take the lead, so not having such a buffer was emotionally taxing - causing her to enjoy the silence, however brief it was.

”Like I said, “ Amelie finally spoke up again, having forced herself to continue her thought from moments ago with her arms crossed over her chest as she stared forward, making sure to keep her voice low. ”I’m no idiot, I picked the time and place I did hoping to change the historic record ever-so-lightly. Sure, something could have gone wrong, but I needed….we needed….to lure you out, and it worked. So, before you tell me whatever truth you think I need to know…” Amelie would pause a second and turn back towards him, with her lips slightly curled into a small yet genuine smile. ”….why don’t you start with your name, hmm?”

*I will pickup with Irealia in my next post. <3

Jason waited for a few seconds, doing a silent prayer she would engage in the conversation. He quickly looked over and saw she had taken the jacket and covered herself. Only downside being that he was now freezing off his shapely behind on the cold bench he was sitting on.

He listened to her, he listened to her tone, almost mocking him. He had expected the hostility, in fact it would be strange if she reacted more positively to what he had said. But it had been meant as an ice breaker, and it seemed to have worked. ”I’m not asking you to trust me, just to…” Before he could continue she kept going, not yet interested in the answer he would give.
Unexpectedly her hand was on his face, lifting his hair from his forehead. He was taken aback, he could see different scenarios play in his head all the time, but this wasn’t one of them. He felt his face would show how flustered he was, but hoped she might blame it on the cold weather.

He stumbled: ”It- - it healed straight away. I think there was a light…” She suddenly realised what she was doing and after a quick and small apology she moved backwards, away from him. The sudden moment had caused the chill in the air to be uplifted for a second, but it came back with a vengeance, chilling him to the bone. It seems as she is spreading the warmth…could it be…? He didn’t start talking, but instead waited her out. She had more on her chest than what she had said so far and he wanted to hear it all.

Of all the questions she might be having she was asking one of the simplest and he smiled. ”My name is Jason Joseph Rockler, born August 12th in 1992.” He paused, wondering how he could convince her he wasn’t making any of this up.
”I would suggest you look it up on Google when you get back to our timeline, but I’ll let you know now that you won’t find anything. My information has been somewhat erased from any government database. But I assure you, it is the name my parents gave me.”

He waited, not to let her speak, but to think of what to say next. ”Let me skip past the comment about luring me out in the open.” He looked straight at her with a small smirk on his face. ”And let me skip all the company bull shit about saving history.” He was thinking how to explain what he wanted to say. He had given the regular speech time and time again. Sometimes they listened, sometimes it fell on deaf ears, but it had always been the same, like Miranda Rights for time travellers.

”I appreciate you did your homework. It might be hard to believe, but most Travellers don’t. The problem is that history is inaccurate. It is entirely and utterly subjective, and that’s when something has just happened. You let years and years pass and what we see as history is more miss-shapen than Quasimodo’s ugly brother. Look at your performance, nice pipes by the way, do you think the women experienced it in the same way as the men, the barkeepers in the same way as the people they are serving? Reading a story, or doing research hundred years later is nothing. And please tell me you have not looked it up on Wikipedia…” Jason laughed.

Jason didn’t look at her. His head faced downward, looking into his own hands, swinging them wildly as he tried to make her understand. ”History is so full of lies and propaganda, you can’t believe a word of it.” He went silent for a bit, not sure if what he said was coming through. When he started talking again, he sounded more defeated, a hint of despair in his tone. ”This is not truth, these are not feelings… this is logic. We are human, we fight, we lie, we cheat, we argue and we are mean. And we are and do all of that since we started walking on 2 legs, and probably before.”
He didn’t know if he was waiting for a response. He didn’t know if he was just saying it, or saying it to her. Ignorance is bliss. he thought.

He did not know if she could see it, but he felt old all of a sudden. Older than he was by far. The illusions he had when he started with the Time Keepers had been idealistic. But age or experience had deluded his optimism. He knew Lucy would tell him he could only save one at a time, not the whole world at once.

He took a bet, a plunge, hoping it would not backfire on him. “I am not here to take you back with me. I am here to slow you down and make you think, at least I think I am. More than anything else...", he swallowed hoping the words came out right, "More than anything else, I don’t want you to go back with her. I realise she is your friend, but you must sense it. She is not like you, not in her intentions anyway.” He rubbed the side of his ribcage, the same side as where the woman had kicked him, back in the 60s.
”Her first instinct was to hurt me… your first instinct was to heal me. he rubbed his hand over his forehead, finally looking at her again. ”You’re not just ‘look-how-different-2-besties-can-be’ kinda different. You have a sense of adventure, but she has a plan.”

He hoped he had given her some reason to believe him. Hoped that she would see that something was not right. He thought back to his dream. The dream where this girl was radiating light so bright and so powerful she was not in control. And he remembered the woman in his dream, trying to stop him from saving her.

Years: 1927
Location: Harlem, NYC, NY, and Manhattan, NYC, NY.
Time: Evening
”My name is Jason Joseph Rockler, born August 12th in 1992.” Amelie stared at the man she now knew as Jason, trying to decipher if he was being honest or not as he talked.
”I would suggest you look it up on Google when you get back to our timeline, but I’ll let you know now that you won’t find anything. My information has been somewhat erased from any government database. But I assure you, it is the name my parents gave me.”
She’d narrow her eyes and lean in towards Jason a bit before relaxing her expression and sighing.
”All your information has been wiped off the internet? Who are you supposed to be, James Bond?” Amelie joked softly to herself out loud, before he began to speak once more.
”Let me skip past the comment about luring me out in the open, and let me skip all the company bull shit about saving history.” the small smirk on his face coupled with the casually honest way he spoke caused Amelie to grow more comfortable in his presence.
”And please tell me you have not looked it up on Wikipedia…”
The two would laugh at the same time before Amelie caught herself and bit down on her lip to make herself stop.
She’d clench his jacket around herself tighter as she continued listening to him, her mind open to what he had to say until the topic of Irealia came up. She went to interrupt him to defend her friend’s previous actions towards to him, however as he fell silent again her mind flashed back to what Irealia had said earlier: ”Remember where we came from”
”The store!” she whispered to herself, but Jason spoke up again - pulling her attention away.
”Her first instinct was to hurt me… your first instinct was to heal me. You’re not just ‘look-how-different-2-besties-can-be’ kinda different. You have a sense of adventure, but she has a plan.”

Amelie’s grip on the jacket loosened and it would slide off her shoulder’s a bit as she held her head low.
”Yeah, she has a plan…but it’s not what you think.” she’d whisper in a tone so low it was barely audible.
”She is not a bad person, no matter what you think. She felt cornered, I mean you literally cornered us in an alleyway, so she lashed out - that’s all.”

Their conversation would be interrupted by a terminal worker holding out a piece of paper.
”Our apologies, we have just gotten word over the radio that some of the trains will be delayed, here is the updated schedule right here.”
”That’s quite alright, thank you sir.” Amelie responded, as she went to take the paper from the worker’s hand, but before she could grab it the salt and pepper haired man would pull it back and then put it more directly in front of Jason’s face. ”Best to let your husband here take this ma’m, here you are sir.”
A deep frown furrowed Amelie’s brows as a cross look made it’s way onto her face, however she quickly remembered the time she was in, relaxed, and sighed and she leaned back into the bench.

After the man was far enough away Amelie would again speak up, poking fun at his assumption of their marital status.
”So - husband, I appreciate the warning but there really isn’t anything to fear from her, and apparently there isn’t as much to fear about you as she thinks….the irony.”
Amelie smiled at Jason before standing up - once again clenching the jacket tightly with her left hand before reaching down with her right hand to grab Jason by the wrist.
”Come on, follow me.” she’d say, though she gave him little choice as she pulled him behind her.

A train had just pulled into the station and the limited staff on duty were too busy directing the few passengers headed down to the train to notice the two of them going in the opposite direction.
”There has to be a bathroom or office around here!” Amelie complained to herself, before eventually spotting a door with “Custodian” written on it. She’d look both ways to make sure no one was coming before opening the door, pulling Jason in behind her, and then shutting the door behind them.

”No no no, what did I just step on!” Amelie complained in the dark, before finding and pulling the string that turned on the incandescent light bulb above them.
Once she could see inside the small room she’d notice how close she was to Jason and instantly stumble backwards into a shelving rack.
”Ouchie” she complained as she rubbed the back of her head, distracted.

Silence lingered for a brief moment before Amelie finally broke the quietness. ”Sorry for dragging you around but…I can’t stay here.”
She’d close her eyes and effortlessly enter her heightened state of being, causing the lower half of both arms to glow as brightly as her now white eyes, which she’d open and stare directly at Jason with.
”You said you’re not here to force me to go with you, so let me leave and don’t try to follow me.”

While maintaining her eye contact with Jason Amelie would reach her hand behind her and open a gateway.
”How about…we meet in our own time, you know - by choice, versus you hunting me down.”
She’d snicker a bit before offering up a time and place. ”Tomorrow, Noon, Prospect Park in Brooklyn….at the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ arch.”
Suddenly embarrassed by her own suggestion Amelie would look away slightly, hoping the brightness of her glowing white eyes would hide her flushed cheeks.
”It can be just between us, I won’t tell my friend if you don’t tell yours, deal?”
Amelie would hold out her arm and smile as she flashed Jason a thumbs-up, lingering in the room long enough for a brief response before she’d step into the gateway and quickly close it behind her.





It was all she could do to stand as she made her way out of the gateway carrying two coats and a pair of purses.
Irelia would sigh as she fell back into a nearby wall inside the dark cold store they had arrived in hours ago. Here clone was draining her energy rapidly, and after only a few minutes of leading the woman at their hotel door on quite the chase, Irealia would feel her clone fade.

Several minutes would pass and Irealia’s already limited energy was draining even more due to the cold, causing her to slowly slip into a light sleep. ”Come on Amelie, hurry up….I hope….they didn’t catch you.”





As Amelie stepped out of the gateway and into the dark store she’d sigh, quickly closing the gateway while remaining in her heightened state.
”Made it back all in one-” the young woman would suddenly stop talking when she noticed Irealia apparently unconscious on the floor up against a wall. ”Irealia!” she’d call out as she ran over to her friend.
A few taps to the cheek was all it took to wake an exhausted Irealia up.”Oh look, you made it.” she’d mumble, before attempting to stand.
”No no, don’t stand yet. Tell me what happened? Did someone attack you? Did the woman catch up to you? Oh no, did she-” Irealia would quiet Amelie by putting a hand over her mouth.
”Relax, I’m just drained…help me up.”

Amelie would pick up both their bags and her own long coat with one arm, and help Irealia up with the other.
Still in her heightened state she’d create a portal via the same tear they had arrived in hours earlier. She made sure Irealia was propped up against the wall securely before digging Lux out of her friend’s coat pocket.

After smoothing the edges of the portal Amelie would grip both it and her friend tightly. ”Ready?”
Irealia nodded, and the two would slowly make their way inside the portal.



As soon as the two appeared back in Amelie’s room the portals closed behind them and Irealia would flop down on Amelie’s bed.”I’m so fucking exhausted…that clone…and that chase….they completely drained me.” she’d complain groggily. ”Here, let me help you out of that.”

Amelie would help her best friend get out her heavy jacket and finger wave wig, but before she could unzip her dress Irealia would turn over. ”Tell me, what did he say to you?”
Shrugging her shoulders softly Amelie would slide out of the leather jacket she was still wearing and throw it on a nearby chair, a child-like expression of being caught painted onto her face. ”W-what do you mean? I totally out ran him!”
Irealia sighed. ”Sure, okay. Nice jacket by the way, did you happen to stop by a department store in the dead of night and buy a leather jacket multiple sizes too big for you after you out ran him? Hmm?”

The room remained silent for a couple minutes as Amelie struggled to unzip her dress. Irealia would finally tell her to come over and let her do it.
”Thank you.” she’d say, before slipping out of her dress and throwing it on the same chair the jacket was on. Irealia paid her words no mind and repeated her previous question. ”And don’t lie again, that jacket obviously isn’t yours.”

”I was cold, so he gave it to me…you know, he’s not that bad.” Irealia repeated her question for a third time, pushing herself up on the bed a bit as she stared Amelie down.
”He just lectured me about the risks, you know, of time traveling and messing with the past.”
Amelie would unhook her bra and make her way into her bathroom where she’d begin running the water for a bath.
”He also doesn’t trust you, and I’m gonna go out on a limb and take a wild guess that it’s because you kind of went hyper aggressive on him in Jersey.”

She’d make her way back into her room and throw her bra on the chair that was holding everything else she had worn only minutes ago. ”Well I don’t trust him either, creepy stalker.” Irealia lamented, before falling back on the bed. ”So he let you go? He didn’t try to like….do any funny stuff to you?”
Amelie’s cheeks grew red. ”F-funny stuff? No, no no no, he just talked….t-that’s all. And he uh, let me go.”
”Oh yeah? Then why are you stuttering? And why are you blushing?”
Irealia was half amused at her friend’s reaction, but also incredibly worried about this conversation she had missed.
”Look Ms. Married, I’m not used to the opposite sex! I don’t do the whole talking to guys thing, I’m easily embarrassed, leave me alone!”
Amelie pouted as she crossed her arms over her bare chest, her cheeks even redder than before. Irealia couldn’t help but laugh.
”Ok okay, fine. But I want details when you’re done washing up, so try to compose yourself by then”

A flustered Amelie would grab her phone, quickly make her way into the bathroom, and then slam the door behind her - not out of anger, but out of pure embarrassment.
She’d then slip out of her underwear and turn the water off - Irealia’s laughs still audible from inside the large bathroom.
”She can be such a pain!” she’d complain as she slid into the bathwater. ”But I’d laugh at me too if I was her, I’m so lame…”
Amelie would sigh, and as she remembered the meet-up she had with Jason tomorrow she’d sink down into the water, trying to hide her expression of embarrassment even though there was no one in the room with her.
”I’m a mess.” she thought to herself, before she finally began to wash up.


Ten minutes or so later Amelie would walk out of the bathroom with one towel wrapped around her hair, and another wrapped around her small frame. Irealia, still in her dress, was fast asleep on the bed, causing Amelie to pull a over-sized t-shirt out of her dresser and then turn the light off before she made her way down the stairs to the loft’s first floor.

She’d make sure her hair and body were dry before throwing the towels onto the floor, slipping into her t-shirt, and then laying down on the couch.
It was nearly 3am, and she knew she’d want to wake up by at least 10am to have enough time to get rid of Irealia and then get ready.
”I hope I’m not making a mistake. I really hope I’m not walking into a trap…” she whispered to herself as she closed her eyes and began to drift off to sleep. ”…I hope my trust in you isn’t misplaced…Mr. Bond.”

Lucy pulled herself up on the ladder, even with the dress she was able to do it easily. She ran up the fire escape, being quite tired by the time she appeared at the window she had earlier jumped out off. The room was empty and the door to the hallway was still open. She closed it herself after having a quick look down the hallway. She needed to check the room, and closing the door would stop any maids coming into the room.

She checked the small room, finding nothing more than a bed with untucked sheets, indicating they had at least sat on the bed. Not that it is very surprising… She checked the bathroom and found it similarly empty. Still catching her breath after 15 minutes she sat down on the bed herself. If they left any clues, it wasn’t in this hotel. She had no reason or will to check anywhere else. In fact, she knew she had to go back to her time and reconvene with Jason there. It could wait though. The room was warm, the bed was nice and all was paid for by the rogue time travellers. Lucy laid back and readied herself for a short nap before going back to meet Jason.

---

Jason anxiously waited for a reply. He just went for an all out defamation of character on her friend. He hoped he had emphasised enough that it wasn’t her he had an issue with.
color=red]”She is not a bad person, no matter what you think. She felt cornered, I mean you literally cornered us in an alleyway, so she lashed out - that’s all.”[/color]
Jason was ready to reply, wanting to point out his rib cage had appreciated the small ‘lash out’ of her friend. Before he could, a man came closer.
”Best to let your husband here take this ma’m, here you are sir.”
As the man said it, Jason accepted the paper from his hand. He thanked the man and softly commented to ‘his wife’ next to him. ”Another one of the wonderful things of history.”

He looked at the paper without really reading it. A bunch of letters staring back at him when his mind was somewhere else. ”…there isn’t so much to fear about you as she thinks…. the irony.”
Jason thought over her words. This girl was alleviating everything. Her friend, him…. and her own capabilities. He was not going to install fear in her from anyone, thinking it was not the right tone to continue in. But before he even could have responded she smiled, stood up and grabbed his wrist, indicating to follow her. I mist be doing something right, he thought to himself, 20 or so minutes ago she was running from me, and now she is pulling me with.

When he heard she was looking for a bathroom or an office he got nervous. Wait up, she is not going to…no, no…she can’t mean that Jason’s face had a confused look on it.
Even though he was confused and hesitant, there wasn’t a moment hesitation to get into the custodian cupboard with her. She stepped into it with confidence, maybe thinking it was bigger than it actually was. Jason knew roughly the size as he stepped into it, stopping as soon as he could close the door, knowing he didn’t step into a Narnia like space.

Even with the knowledge of the small size, he was surprised to see how close they stood together when she turned on the light right above them. He must have looked confused and maybe a bit scared as she stumbled back immediately. ”Ouchie”
Not exactly knowing why, he apologised to her. ”Sorry for that, I..uhh..I think I saw a rat over there.”

The uncomfortable silence lasted. The last time he had a silence like this was at his school dance and he was working up the courage to kiss her. This time, he was not working up that courage, but suppressing the feeling. When she finally spoke, he should have been less surprised. Before he could recover however, he saw her light up again. Practicing magic right in front of his eyes.
Her arms were glowing. It was brighter than he remembered from the alleyway some days ago, but he had been groggy when seeing it then. She opened her eyes to look at him. Her brown eyes didn’t turn white exactly, but the color of her eyes was drowned out by the light that was coming out of them. He had to blink rapidly as if he was looking at the sun.
”You said you’re not here to force me to go with you, so let me leave and don’t try to follow me.”
He still had no idea where she thought she was going. They were still in a custodian closet, a very bright one, but still a closet.
He had to follow her again…, eventually. It was his work and the little talk they had didn’t change that. But he didn’t say it, afraid she would take it the wrong way.

”Tomorrow, Noon, Prospect Park in Brooklyn….at the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ arch.”
He barely remembered the date, it normally not being an important part of his daily life. By this time her eyes were so bright, it seemed her whole body was glowing. He had lost his speech over what was happening. His mouth was dry and not working with him, so all he could muster in his impressed state was to raise his arm like hers. A thumbs-up back giving the only indication he agreed with her proposal.

As he looks at her eyes he sees her slowly disappear, like a portal closing behind her. He didn’t even think of checking out the background of what she disappeared into. He could not tear away his eyes from the white glow of hers. With the girl no longer in the tiny storage space, the tiny light was once again the only source of light in the cupboard.
Jason did not exactly know how much longer he stayed in the room, just thinking about what he saw and the conversation they had. He only became aware of his surroundings again when the door behind him opened and a custodian probably got the surprise of his life. In his surprise the big man still had enough sense about him to grab Jason by the collar, dragged him out and pushing him out of the way. ”Get out of here, you drunk!”

Jason profusely apologised, already happy the guy wouldn’t call the cops on him. With no destination in his mind he just walked out of Grand Central, thinking about this encounter. He knew better not to go back to the hotel. It was too late for Lucy to still be here. He already knew it was best to meet her back in the present, hoping she’d have some more luck than he did. He wasn’t sure what he was going to tell her, doubting if he should tell her the truth.
He wasn’t planning on taking her with to Brooklyn, wanting to respect the girls wishes. But he had to tell her something. Lucy was usually very by the books, sometimes she would go passed those books out of curiosity. But those times didn’t happy very often, and probably never if Jason wasn’t involved.

---

Ready to return he walked into an alleyway, pressed his left thumb under his right arm, and appeared back into the transport chamber back in his own time in HQ. Feeling exhausted he made a bee-line for his room, not noticing much of the people around him or passing him. In his room he walked to the phone first, dialling Lucy’s number. He could see she hadn’t called him yet, but she might be resting. When the phone was not answered he thought she’d not yet arrived back. But he didn’t know if this was good or bad news.
He changed into some comfortable clothes, not even sure what he was going to tell her. As he put his clothes in a bag to return to the ‘Changing room’, his phone rang. He picked it up, not looking at the screen to see who it was. ”Lucy?”

”Sorry Jason, she got away…I..I don’t even think I was chasing her…more like an image of her.” He expressed how he was just happy to see her back safely. He went on to lie to her, saying how he chased the girl, but had lost her at one point or another. He didn’t feel good telling her lies, but he needed to think about what he wanted to do next. He had to meet the girl the next day, he had to convince her to stop. His mind told him not to bring her in to Tempus. Her friend.., yes, as soon as possible, but not the girl herself. He had thought about this since he left the Custodian cupboard. He couldn’t imagine her spending her days in the Dungeon, together with the old man he had seen before his trip.
He knew Lucy and he knew her only goal in catching these magic users was to get them into Tempus, and then trust them to the system. The same system Jason always had his hesitations about. Lucy outranked him, so she might know thinks he didn’t, but he didn’t think she would change his views of the organisation he had been in for most of his life.

”Get some sleep, I’ll do the same. I already send a message to Tracking to let us know if they pick up another signature. We’ll discuss where to go from there when we get the next ping.”
Hanging up the phone he placed an order for some food, while resting his head. When he woke up early the next day he found a plate of cold food on his table, obviously having slept to them bringing it to his room. He ate it cold instead, his hungry body still enjoying it immensely. I’ll probably get a hot dog when I am in New York again.
Towards the afternoon hour he left his room, walking to a department he did not visit very frequently. It was quiet, with just a single attendant being present. This area was used for real time travel, or as the department was called, ’Teleportation’. It was usually used for people going for meetings abroad or for agents to go on vacation or a night out. Jason had used it quite frequently, but he hadn’t been here in over 2 years.
The attendant was not familiar to him, and did not ask him to sign in or anything. He simply picked one of the smaller chambers, very similar to the time travelling ones, and he appeared in Brooklyn a few seconds later.

He was a bit early and made his way slowly to the Arch. He had his leather coat on, his collar high up in his neck. It wasn’t cold, but he was told to always stay aware of cameras. Easy enough in most parts of history, but nowadays not the easiest task. He bought the hot dog he had been looking forward to from the morning. He ate it as he sat on one of the benches looking at the Arch. He was facing the statues on the front, looking at the horses and the detail that was applied to them. His guard was down, trusting she was not planning any tricks.
He had not received any notice from Tracking that the pair had travelled again, so he hoped to see her again in the next 10 minutes, not sure what he was going to say.

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.”