The Commission | What is time?

[knife_bender]

Diego came to slowly, wincing from a headache caused by...well, whatever the hell Lila dosed him with.

Goddammit. He was so stupid.

He blinked a couple times, getting used to the light. He soon realized that he was in a pretty swanky office. Lila was to the left of him and in front of them behind a desk was...a very dramatically dressed lady.

Lila	"Diego Hargreeves." Lila was seated in the chair next to him, apparently having been waiting -- along with the fancy lady -- for him to come to. "Meet my mother." Her posture stayed exactly the same, but Lila's mouth lifted in a slight smile as she added, "Mother, this is Diego." Might as well go for broke, here. "My boyfriend." Sad news for that sparkly little blonde, but she'd get over it. And so would he, once he got a real look at where Lila'd brought him.
Diego	"What?" Just what to...everything. Literally everything that came out of her mouth just now. Possibly including his own name.
The Handler	"Are you kidding me?" The Handler asked Lila flatly, barely sparing Diego a glance.
Lila	"You said I could hire my own team," Lila pointed out, clearly proud of the loophole she'd identified.
The Handler	"Yes, but I didn't mean him, for god's sake," The Handler snapped. "If you don't see the problem with hiring you-know-who's brother, then you're not ready for that badge." Honestly. Of all the stupid ideas. They could get to Lila's awful taste in men -- in Hargreeves men in particular -- in a moment.
Diego	"Look, uh, I'm sorry, but I need to get going." Did he know where he was? No, but he'd figure it out.
Lila	"Shut up," Lila and her mother said in unison. Literally no one asked you, Diego. "I can't do this job if you don't trust my instincts," Lila continued plaintively.
The Handler	"Sweetheart," The Handler told Lila, sitting back in her chair, "your vagina needs glasses. He's not worth it." Trust her. Her own vagina had 20/20, thank you.
Lila	"Mum! Oh my god." That was basically the last thing Lila had wanted to hear, for several reasons, not the least of which being that she would rather never hear her mother say the word 'vagina' ever again. Moving on. "Look, this may shock you, but not everyone here... likes you."
The Handler	"Sounds ridiculous, but go on." That was even sillier than the idea that Diego was the most appealing of the Hargreeves men.
Lila	"You need fresh blood loyal to us and not the old regime," Lila continued, regaining some of her lost composure. She cocked her thumb at Diego. "I've seen Diego in the field -- he is so much better trained than most of the assholes here. Why waste that when we can use it?" She smiled earnestly -- maybe even genuinely? "He'll be my personal responsibility."
The Handler	The Handler looked over at Diego, positively radiating a lack of impress. "You know," she casually began, opening a case of cigarettes, "your brother Five and I...we have quite a...." A pause, a wink. "Colorful history." Did that mean sex? Did it mean double-crossing? Maybe both! Enjoy getting in on this weirdness, Diego!
Diego	...gross. For his own sanity, he was going to assume the history involved violence rather than sex. "My brother has beef with everybody, me included."
The Handler	"Let me ask you something," The Handler said, completely ignoring that Diego had spoken at all, and instead busying herself with lighting her cigarette. "When you're looking down the barrel of a gun, where do your loyalties lie -- with your family, or with your principles?"
Diego	"With me," Diego lied. "I don't belong to anybody. Especially Lila." At least that last part was true. Boyfriend, what the hell?
The Handler	Tsk, tsk, Lila. Looked like trouble in paradise, there. But that was actually better news for Diego -- and, really, for Lila, who was keeping her face carefully schooled -- than if he'd answered with some kind of preemptive loyalty. "That," The Handler decided, "I can work with. Run him through orientation, fill out his start paperwork." Lila started to smile, but was cut off at the pass. "But," The Handler continued, "if he ruffles even one feather, you will kill him yourself. Understood?" For the record: same exact rules would probably apply to Lila adopting a puppy.
Lila	"Thanks, Mum," Lila replied, actually letting that cheery smile bloom across her features. She'd known those would be the conditions when she'd brought him here. But she also figured that as long as Diego knew what was good for him, this didn't have to be a bad thing. And with that in mind, they bid her mother goodbye and headed out so she could get Diego to orientation. That hadn't actually been a joke or anything. "It's a really big place. Do not get lost."
Diego	"Or what?" Diego asked, turning his head to look at people going by. "You'll kill me?"
Lila	"Oh, you still mad about that?" Lila asked, rolling her eyes. "You big baby." Much like other people in Diego's life, Lila's means of expressing affection involved a lot of manipulation and the occasional drugging. It was her love language.
Diego	"No, I love being drugged and kidnapped and threatened with murder." He and Annie did it all of the time, sure.
Lila	As though he would not love it if Annie somehow kidnapped him. "Okay, well, let's just make sure you're the best agent possible," Lila said, thinking this was incredibly reasonable, "and then no one has to worry about who kills who, okay?"
Diego	"Wait, Lila," Diego said, stopping in his tracks. "I need to get out of here." He was positive that he had missed Five's ninety-minute window by now, but he knew Annie wouldn't leave without him so he had to get out of here and find her.
Lila	"Relax," she told him as reassuringly as she knew how, reaching over to pat his arm and hopefully get him moving the hell along again.
Diego	"No, I do not have time for that right now." Whatever the hell training involved, it sounded like it took a shitload of time he didn't have.
Lila	"We have all the time in the world," Lila told him airily, moving to continue down a hallway just as a female voice came over the intercom. "The timeline is your lifeline."
Diego	That was weird and creepy. "What is it that you people do here, exactly?"
Lila	"Oh, that's the best part," Lila told him as they strode through the hallway. "We protect the timeline. You know all that lone wolf superhero shit? Tiny taters compared to what you could do here." With her.
Diego	Diego held up a hand. "Hold on, tiny taters, so the Commission controls time?" "Like, everything in time?" No wonder they were always trying to kill Five.
Lila	"Or more like we maintain the correct timeline," Lila corrected, clearly proud of their work here. "But basically, yeah."
Diego	"How the shit do you do that?" Honestly, it would make his life a lot easier if he could do the time traveling thing too.
Lila	"Well, come on and I'll show you," Lila replied, stepping into a room and tossing a flirtatious smile over her shoulder. The room turned out to be a classroom, complete with desks and a rather vintage projector at the back. "Dropping off a new recruit," Lila told the instructor at the front, who welcomed Diego to orientation and thrust a booklet at Lila.
Diego	Whoa, this was, like, an actual classroom. He had never been in one of these. Everyone looked really bored. He lifted a hand. "Uh, how long is this going to take?" Which got a sharp reply of the instructor telling him to sit his ass down. So that was at least on par with his previous schooling.
Lila	Another gentle chime echoed over the speakers. "A better tomorrow comes from an orderly today." Lila leaned down over Diego's desk. "Uh, I really need this to work," she murmured in an undertone. "So don't screw it up." And then she just sort of awkwardly lingered before adding, "Okay, bye," and leaning down to give Diego a brief kiss on the lips. You know, like how you'd say goodbye to a boyfriend. He probably ought to just get on board with that, really.
Diego	Diego sort of sat there in shock for a moment because what the fuck. He didn't even notice the silly little film playing in front of him until there was a cartoon briefcase talking to him. He listened to Mr. Briefcase talk for a few minutes, perking up at the mention of the Infinite Switchboard, and how it monitors the entire timeline. Bingo. Diego ducked out of the classroom smoothly, wandering the hallways of the Commission, trying to act like he belonged. Then he saw a door with a pretty conspicuous sign that read, "Infinite Switchboard". He slipped through the (unlocked, stupid) door, and found himself in a room that looked exactly what it sounded like. Switchboards and old timey TVs. Diego took a seat at the controls, looking at the numerous switches in front of him. How hard could this be? He found out how hard it could be when he plugged a random switch into a hole and shocked the hell out of himself. "Goddammit!"
Herb	Well that was really loud. Herb entered the Infinite Switchboard room to find someone who really didn't belong there trying to sooth a shocked hand. He placed a hand on the guy's shoulder-- --and immediately found a knife at his neck. "Oh, please don't hurt me."
Diego	"Who the hell are you?" The only reason Diego hadn't incapacitated the guy yet was because he looked like he was about to cry.
Herb	"I'm Herb," he sputtered. "An analyst."
Diego	"I'm Diego," he replied. "I have a knife." Which should be on his business card, really.
Herb	"Y-yes I can see," Herb said. "It's very shiny." Soon he was released, shoulders slumping in relief. "Oh. Oh thank god." "It's an honor to meet you, Mr. Hargreeves."
Diego	That was unexpected. Diego lowered his knife even more. "You know me?"
Herb	"Everybody knows you. I mean, you're Number Two," Herb replied. "You're a legend."
Diego	...nobody had ever called him a legend before. That was kind of nice. "Really?" Was this some kind of a newbie prank?
Herb	"Mr. Hargreeves, you can't be here," Herb said, moving to encourage Diego out the door.
Diego	"Herb, is that any way to speak to a legend?" He could really get used to that. Diego turned back to the switches. "Do you know how to work this puppy?"
Herb	"I'm certified to operate the ISB, yes," Herb said proudly.
Diego	"Good. I need you to look up a date: November 22, 1963, the assassination of John F. Kennedy." Somewhere Five was twitching.
Herb	Herb shook his head quickly. "Unauthorized use of the Infinite Switchboard is in clear violation of company protocol 67D--"
Diego	"Don't be such a tight ass." Don't be a weenie, Herb!
Herb	"You don't understand," Herb said, lowering his voice. "There's been a coup d'etat."
Diego	Diego blinked. "What's that? Cadillac?"
Herb	Oh you sweet, dim, legend. "The Handler has taken over the Commission. The whole place has gone to heck in a handbasket, and people are disappearing," Herb said. "They will kill us both if they caught us here."
Diego	"Well you better get started before they come get us." He could always threaten you with a knife again, Herb.
Herb	Herb debated with himself for a moment before deciding that, whatever, helping Number Two would be a cool reason to be killed. "One quick look, then we gotta go.
Diego	Diego smiled. "My man." He started picking up wires again, somehow thinking Herb could just guide him into working this correctly.
Herb	Oh. Oh, no, that's not going to be good. "Okay...no why would you--no, bad. Don't hurt the timeline, that's a rule that I intend to follow." Eventually he (gently) nudged Diego to the side to do it himself. "This one connects to that one...okay. Here we go. Dallas, November 22, 1963."
Diego	One of the screens came to life and Diego could see a car driving down the streets of Dallas, in a video he had seen before. "This is it. This is right before the assassination."
Herb	"Assassination?" Sorry, when you worked all over time like he did, some things just slipped your mind. Kennedy dying was a drop in the bucket as far as he was concerned.
Diego	"Pay attention, the president is about to turn onto Dealey Plaza. One more turn into Elm and they're gonna start shooting." He had seen this a shitload of times before just from pop culture osmosis, he knew exactly what would happen. Except...it didn't. Instead before turning into the plaza, the building Kennedy was driving by had its windows blown out. "Whoa, what the hell is that?"
Herb	"That's the FBI building," Herb supplied. "Was...was that not supposed to happen?"
Diego	"No, it's not sup--he's driving away," Diego said, amazed. "They didn't kill him? Holy shit." Did this mean he would save Kennedy? This time shit was all over the place.
Herb	Herb frowned. "Oy, that's no bueno."
Diego	"It wasn't a gunshot," Diego realized. "It was an explosion we heard on the Frankel footage." The images of newspapers came on the screen, with headlines the likes of "US blames Soviets for Blast" and "US Attacking Cuba". "That's what Hazel was trying to tell us. This is what causes doomsday," he said. "Do you have another angle of the FBI building?"
Herb	Herb nodded, leaning in to turn a knob. "Watch this."
Diego	The screen changed, the angle giving Diego a better view of the FBI building. The windows blow out...then someone comes flying out of the wreckage. Oh, he knew that face. "Vanya. Vanya is the bomb. She will always be the bomb. " Diego slumped down into his chair. "I need to get back to Dallas. Now."
Herb	Herb nodded, all in on this now. "We need La Resistance." He led Diego out of the room and down the hallway, opening a small door that looked sort of like it led into a supply closet.
Diego	Diego entered the room, which was about the size of a supply closet, and saw...well, it looked like a bunch of nerds. Like Herb's D&D group or something. "You've gotta be kidding me."
Herb	"I know we don't look like much, but we are resourceful," Herb assured him. "We'll get you back to Dallas."

[NFI, NFB, OOC is appreciated. Taken from TUA 2x06 The Seven Stages and preplayed with defenderofdesmoines]