Time was tricky, since they constantly jumped around, so Lila and Rose judged how the years passed by the tiny fine lines that gradually, sneakily etched themselves onto their faces, and how many corrections they made for the Commission.
But the Handler was apparently keeping track of the passing years for her daughters. One day, she messaged them to inform them that their 30th birthday was approaching, and wouldn't they come and visit her to celebrate?
Lila and Rose wrapped up their mission— Which is to say, Lila stopped pretending to be in love with their target and shot him in the head— and then they made the journey to the Commission.
The door to the Handler's office was closed, but the women could hear a man's voice coming from the other side of it. "—after five years of service, if I understand correctly?"
"Precisely," the Handler's melodious voice responded. She was apparently in the middle of a meeting, but this didn't stop Lila from pushing open the door and strolling in. Rose followed.
Sitting in Rose's usual chair was a white-haired man in a smart suit, with his back facing Lila and Rose.
The Handler sat on the other side of the desk. Her face was serene, but Rose noticed how tense the Handler had become, how rigid her posture suddenly was. "...Oh, girls! Come in... I was just wrapping up a meeting." To the man sitting across from her, she said, "I'm afraid that I have lunch plans, but you and I will be in touch, I'm sure..."
"Yes," the man said shortly, rising to his feet— He was very short, Rose observed. He barely glanced at Rose and Lila as he passed them on his way out, but Rose couldn't help noticing his extraordinary green eyes. They reminded her of someone, and for a moment, she felt rather sad.
But then the old man left, and the feeling passed. Rose joined Lila and the Handler at the desk.
The Handler pushed aside some papers to make room for sandwiches that Carla had apparently brought in. She was looking more relaxed now. "Sorry to delay our lunch, darlings. I was explaining things to a new recruit."
"What, was he too dense to understand the orientation film?" Lila asked.
"No, no. There were merely aspects of his contract that needed to be..." The Handler abruptly changed the subject. "Isn't this exciting? Your last day in your 20's!"
"Birthdays aren't that exciting at this point, Mum," Lila said blandly.
"You two are aging nicely, I must congratulate you both. Such young, glowing faces!" the Handler continued, as though she hadn't heard Lila. "But more importantly, you've accomplished so much in this past year alone, not to mention in the last decade. You two are truly putting every other unit here to shame."
Rose couldn't help but feel flattered. After spending the early years of her life being told that she could never be good enough, it was still so embarrassingly important to her to get validation. (Thanks a lot, Reginald.)
But, over the next few months, Rose and Lila found that there was another assassin at the Commission who was giving them a run for their money. Whenever they visited headquarters, there were always whispers of a new recruit who looked elderly and unassuming, but was lethal. So good that he only worked alone.
On one occasion, Rose and Lila had a few hours to themselves, and Rose convinced Lila to visit the Commission with her, though, for some reason, Lila wasn't wanting to go, which was a first.
"We're in Paris. Can't we go eat a croissant, or a soufflé , or something?"
"No. I don't want to listen to your awful French any longer than necessary. Let's go."
Upon arrival, Rose decided to take a case manager's offer to join her for lunch, though Lila looked pained.
"Really, what's gotten into you today?" Rose wanted to know.
Lila didn't answer.
But the case manager, Dot, didn't pick up on Lila's bad mood. She was immensely tickled that they were lunching with her and babbled incessantly about today's menu as they walked to the cafeteria until Rose interrupted her.
"Have you heard anything about that new recruit? The old guy?"
"Oh, yes!" Dot's eyes glinted at the prospect of a gossip session. "Everyone says he's the most dangerous assassin in time. And he's only been here three months! Isn't that something?"
"That's one way to put it," Lila said through gritted teeth. (That's what's up with her, Rose thought. She's tired of hearing about the new guy.)
Dot, also sensing danger, quickly added, "Of course, you two are extremely impressive, too! I mean, that job you two did in Bogor was astounding!"
Lila looked a bit less murderous, now, but Rose could tell that she still deeply loathed whoever this man was that was stealing her glory.
"What is this new recruit called anyway?" Rose asked.
"Hey, look, they're serving hamburgers," Lila said in a falsely cheerful voice. They had reached the cafeteria.
Dot directed the women towards the line for food. "The new recruit? He goes by Five."
Rose felt like someone had dumped a bucket of ice water all over her. "Did you say Five?"
"Yes," Dot said, bewildered at Rose's strong reaction. "...Are you okay, sweetheart?"
"I have to go," Rose gasped. She turned around and fled the cafeteria. She sprinted down the marble hallway, she had almost reached the main foyer—
Footsteps pounded after her. "Rose, stop," came Lila's frantic voice.
But Rose ran on, undaunted, and panted, "The new recruit, he's my—"
"He's your brother, I know." Lila jogged alongside Rose. "Mum told me."
Rose stopped in her tracks. Her throat felt strangely constricted, but she managed to squeeze out, "What? You knew?"
Lila stood there, looking miserable. "She didn't want to recruit him at all, but Carmichael made her. He has so much potential. Mum was going to tell us today that we were to start working full time, so that you wouldn't come 'round here anymore, so that you'd be cut off from the gossip..."
Rose opened her mouth, but words had abandoned her.
According to the Handler, Five died as a 13 year old. Rose had accepted his death years ago, but, not only had he apparently survived his childhood, he was here. He had been the man in the Handler's office, months ago, on her birthday. Heck, their birthday.
Rose had spent over 15 years resigned to the fact that she'd never see anyone from her old life again. Sometimes, she thought she had accepted it, but the current turmoil inside of her proved otherwise.
If her mind had been any clearer, she would have screamed at Lila for her dishonesty, for sabotaging her life. But she could only think of one thing right now. Distractedly, she babbled, "Got to go find him… Got to see him." Unsteadily, she took a few steps forward, but Lila grabbed her arm.
"No, Rose, Mum doesn't want you to talk to him," she insisted.
For a second, this caught Rose off guard. If the Handler doesn't want me to…
But then her thoughts cleared as annoyance and anger flooded through her. She felt more present than she had in years, in fact. Very loudly and clearly, so that Lila would understand, she said, "I have not seen my brother in years, and I am going to change that."
"You see him, and you're going to want to see the rest of them," Lila argued. "He's not even here right now, he's carrying out an assignment—"
"Then let's go and find him," Rose said resolutely. She'd been kidding herself all these years— Rose had never had any freedom here. She was just a small cog in a big machine, turning and turning as needed.
But this— This was the first genuine decision she was making. It was as if a fire had been lit inside of her. The warmth made her feel bold. "I have to do this, Lila, or else it'll kill me. Just this once, I have to ignore orders."
"Ignore orders?" Lila sounded confused, as though this was a foreign and unsettling concept to her. But then understanding dawned on her. "Oh my God… It broke."
Rose became more impatient than ever. "What broke?"
Lila glanced distrustfully at the various passing employees. "Can't tell you here. C'mon." She led a skeptical Rose into an empty classroom that was usually used to train new recruits and dropped heavily onto one of the desks. For a full minute, she stared at her red high-tops, not saying anything.
Rose stared at her expectantly. "...Well?" I don't have time for this.
Still keeping her eyes on her shoes, Lila made a terrible confession: "When you first came here, Mum had me Rumor you to be loyal to her, so that you'd stay here."
Tears leaked out of Rose's eyes as the shock registered. She had never been so horrified. "I trusted you… I thought of you as a sister."
"We are," Lila insisted. She looked up and met Rose's watery gaze. "I never rumored our relationship, I swear."
"Well, how am I supposed to believe that? After finding out that every other feeling I've had all this time wasn't actually mine?" Rose's heart had been tainted for years, but now, as she cried, the poison was washed out. Rose was now drowning in her own misery, but she took somber satisfaction in that they were her own pure, unfiltered emotions.
But Lila had never had much patience for raw anguish. "You know, you're not innocent, yourself," she said scathingly.
"You have no right—" Rose started to say. But then it occurred to her that Lila was, unfortunately, correct. How many people had Rose Rumored over the years?
It had all been nothing more than a job for her, but how many lives had Rose ruined? How many times had she hypnotized someone into submission and forced information out of them? The ones who survived— Were they able to live with themselves afterwards, not understanding why they'd given in? Rose had never anticipated the shame that came with finding out that she'd been duped.
I'm never doing it again. The thought surfaced unexpectedly, but Rose wholeheartedly supported it.