taken from here :: @trixstahr
“Did I hear so– GAH!” Esmeralda jumped, whirling around with her left hand instinctively stretched out in caution to prepare a spell. She blinks and lowers her hand down, her heart pounding furiously in her chest.
“Wait… You’re–” She caught herself, lowering the volume of her voice. “Hold on, why is a government criminal here in a college campus at 2 am?” She frowns, still cautious in case she might get attacked. Why is she not worried? In fact, she’s more worried about the teachers finding out she’s sneaking around. Maybe if the guy got in to some trouble she’ll use the excuse of being in the middle of the action.
“You’re not going to tell on the teachers, are you?”
This had been a university where he studied once. The effects that the remarkable site had upon his clouded mind had been astonishing. The moment he stepped foot within the infrastructure, he was practically pummeled by a memory that had made him crashed down on the tiled floors, his fingers raking against the polished wood as pale eyes squeezed themselves shut tight until he nearly saw white, hot stars behind them.
[DECEMBER 8TH, 1941]
“...Yesterday, December 7th, 1941, a date which will live in infamy, [the] United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the empire of Japan.” It was the first time within the school year that their class fell deathly silent, FDR’s voice now an omen of calamity as it cracked through the radio. The only sound evident within the classroom was a charcoal stick plundering down onto concrete floors, crumbling as each student found themselves tense upon their horses. “ I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December 7th, 1941, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese empire.” His eyes immediately flickered towards the frail blond (the main he had fought earlier with, just smaller) that sat besides him, his forearm still pressed against the drawing pad despite time being up. We need to fight, the lithe boy had mouthed despite the fact that his features rang with trepidation. And for some reason, as James found himself gazing in the boy’s cerulean hues, a devastating sensation of dread filled within him.
Immediately after being summoning back from his memory, James had fished out his notebook and pen before scribbling down the newfound recallment at an anxiously fast pace. He noted every detail: from the lighting of the room down to the deep rumble that had been evident within Roosevelt’s voice, to the blond man’s petrified gaze down to the professor who had crumbled to the floor in shock just seconds later. Once done, the brunet had lifted himself from the floor and decided to embark further within the building, desperate if he could attempt to remember anything else. That’s how he ran into her.
“I won’t do anything,” he had murmured, his voice a soft disturbance in the atmosphere as his flesh had remained clasped at the harness of his bag, “’M just....looking.” James had eyed the petite girl, surprised that she hadn’t ran off considering the amount of news that had recently featured him. “I studied here once.”
Of all the things that could happen to her by simply confronting him, why was she more worried about catching the attention of her professor and not the fact that HYDRA’s specially trained assassin literally stood just a foot away from her? The look on his features was enough to give away his puzzlement, his lips pressed into a fine line before he decided to trek further down the deserted hall.