In The Beginning
Students were making their way into the half empty classroom as the clock on the wall slowly approached 8 am. A teenager of slender built with light brown hair sat by himself in one of the front row seats and pulled out a folder from the leather bag standing next to his chair. As he opened the folder, his eyes fell onto the first item listed on the schedule at the top of the papers.
Monday morning, 8:10 am. Advanced nano-mechanics and convection heat transfer.
It was the first course of his mechanical engineering studies here at the Institute of Science and Technology at S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy and Leopold Fitz was eager for classes to begin. He had been working towards this day for the past ten years now and today – at only seventeen – he was finally on his way to becoming a S.H.I.E.L.D. scientist. The elite of the elite.
The young man turned halfway in his seat at this point to get a proper look at the rest of the room and the other students as they filed into the seats around him. All of them were at least a couple of years older than him – slower.
He could hear his father's voice in his ears as he watched the competition he would have to face in the oncoming years.
Top of your class, that's not going to be a problem, right, Leopold?
The faintest of smiles tugged at the corner of the young man's mouth as he leaned back in his seat and let his eyes rest on the empty blackboard at the front of the room. He had already lost interest in his follow cadets.
No, it won't be. The thought was reassuring, although hardly surprising. He was a Fitz; excellence was what had always been expected of him and what he had become used to delivering. His first doctorate at sixteen had hardly been a challenge and neither had the aptitude test for the Academy been. He knew, of course, that the other students here were highly intelligent as well – or else they would not have been accepted by S.H.I.E.L.D. in the first place – but it was not as if they could pose a threat to him. They were slow, ordinary, weak. He was certain he would have left them behind in no time.
Minutes passed by and the room continued to fill, but the seat right next to him was still empty. Not that Leopold paid it any mind. He could certainly go without some overexcited new cadet sitting next to him who might decide to become attached to him. He was here to learn and to focus on his future career in S.H.I.E.L.D.; he had no interest in making friends.
"Excuse me, is this seat taken?"
The gentle female voice took him by surprise and Leopold's head snapped up in an instant.
Dark brown locks framing a face that could have been sculptured by an Italian renaissance artist; fair and flawless skin accentuating a pair of green eyes shining with determination; a slim figure with legs that seemed to go on forever.
Leopold had to swallow for a moment to get rid of the lump in his throat as he took in this vision of absolute perfection that had taken the form of a young female S.H.I.E.L.D. cadet.
"No, of course not. It's all yours," he replied and stood up from his own chair as the young woman sat down in the one next to him.
Respect, Leopold, and manners. They're what separate real men from the bottom feeders of this world.
There was a faint sparkle in her eyes and a smile tugging at her lips in reply to his formal behaviour. When he was seated again as well, she extended her hand to him. "Hello! My name is Ophelia."
"Leopold," he replied without missing a beat as he took her hand in his. "Leopold Fitz." Her grip was firm and she did not break eye contact for even a second as they shook hands.
"It's nice to meet you, Leopold."
The sound of her voice was soothing, like the touch of velvet against his skin. He loved the way his name fell from those soft lips and he could not wait to hear her say it again. Wanted to make her say it again.
"Likewise. So, I assume you've made your first degree in engineering?" he wondered, suddenly wanting to know everything there was to know about the young woman.
"The first and the second," Ophelia replied, her expression brightening as Leopold let out a soft whistle, impressed. "Mechanical and electrical, respectively. You know," she continued and leaned forward a little, her eyes never leaving Leopold's, "engineering, science, that's always come natural to me. You could say it was a gift I was born with. And yet, I feel that here at S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy, there is so much more for me to learn. So much I don't understand yet." Her face was practically glowing with fascination at this point and Leopold could not help but be drawn to it.
"Well, if you would ever like to work with a study partner, I'd be happy to help." He had never had a study partner in his entire life, had never wanted nor needed one, but for Ophelia he was willing – eager – to make an exception.
"Sure, why not? I think I can see us getting along very well." She reached out to him once more, this time resting her hand on his forearm. He could feel the warmth of her skin through the material of his sleeve and his breath hitched ever so slightly as the tip of her fingers grazed over the back of his hand.
"Yeah, I'm sure we will make a great team." Not 'would make a great team', no, this was something he was absolutely certain about. Just minutes ago he had been thinking about how he wasn't looking for any friends here at the academy, and in a way that decision remained the same. When he looked at Ophelia, he didn't see someone he wanted to call a friend. He wanted her to be his partner, in every possible meaning of the word.
Always be careful about your choice in women, son. The wrong ones will turn into distractions, if you let them. But the right one, the right one will not distract you from your goals, she will help you get right where you need to be.
Ophelia pulled back her hand from his arm as the teacher entered the room, but she gave him another smile before she turned to the front of the class, her expression soft and full of promise.
"I'm already looking forward to it."
The End