It was time to change tactics. I turned to Captain Kelly. “Should we make this more interesting, since Taylor and Taylor have decided to go rogue?”
Captain Kelly’s frustrated expression turned into a more wicked smile. “If they’re changing the rules, you’re right. Ground team, attack Jordan.”
“Really?” Colin asked. He had a hand on his training gun, which wasn’t much more vicious than a small pellet gun. In his hands, though, it was potentially dangerous if he wanted to put some fire behind his aim.
“If Taylor and Taylor want to act like this, let’s give them a challenge,” I told Holt. He shrugged and took aim at Jessie. Jones was nearly at her feet now. He snatched at her ankle, and Jessie let out a startled cry. Don’t expect to go wild by working with your twin and not have your team try to call you out, kid.
“Swing over,” Jordan blurted. Colin fired a shot straight into his back, and Jordan let out a pained wail, although it was mostly for dramatics. “I’ve been shot, Jessie. Show some initiative.”
“I’m trying,” Jessie shouted, her voice a touch frantic as she tried to swing over to another rock and shake Jones off her. Jordan took something out of his pocket, a small red bouncy ball. He pelted Jones with it, specifically his fingers on a rock. Jones let out an annoyed hiss and ripped his hand away. Holt shot a pellet bullet right into Jessie as she successfully moved over with all the energy of a panicked monkey.
“Taylor and Taylor, you have two options,” I yelled out to the twins. “Continue getting assailed by your teammates, who are rightly calling you out, or agree to forfeit.”
“Never,” Jessie grunted. They continued to climb despite the harassment, nearing the top.
Jessie and Jordan placed both their hands on the lever and cried out in glee as they tugged it down. A buzzer sounded.
“We should’ve gone for their heads. Might have knocked some sense into them,” Captain Kelly said to me with a wink. “I’m sure you’ll get them under control soon.”
"Successful round," a robotic voice rang out. I pressed a hand to my forehead, feeling a wave of anger and despair rising up in me. How soon could they demote someone back to a lieutenant, if she kicked her own family's butts in front of a crowd of spectators?
Jessie and Jordan easily made their way down the wall. They were determined to fight, and face the consequences, together. My fist tightened annoyingly at my side. Captain Kelly shot me a sympathetic look and then subtly gestured behind her with a tilt of her head.
Hindley didn’t look happy from her spot, but I noted a touch of amusement in her face. To be fair, most Bureau drills were as boring as watching paint dry.
"Pull them out and talk to them. This drill is not supposed to go like this," my supervisor called out.
My face burned from the frustration of it all. Technically, everything had worked out in the end, but the twins had acted wildly. Why were they being like this? And then, a softer voice inside me reminded me that I was once just like them. I swallowed my pride and nodded. The teams took a break. Captain Kelly talked to the others while I gestured the twins to the side.
Jessie grinned at me. "We technically played by the rules. You never said we both couldn't win. It seemed like you and Captain Kelly had fun ordering attacks on us, too.”
They're going to give me a stroke. I stared down both of them. When we were younger, they always talked about my "angry face" as being the scariest thing. Even now, it had a quelling effect on them. Roxy the older sister was fun until she wasn’t, and I wasn't feeling particularly fun today.
"I need both of you to straighten up right now. This isn't a game," I warned.
Jordan's eyebrows shot up. "But it is a game. And even if it was real life and that was an actual monster, we'd be dead if we didn't work together. What's wrong with working together, when it makes us better?"
I opened my mouth. Kane's face flashed through my mind. He was the only one who could really fight with me in my particular grappling style. My throat tightened with grief that I quickly stuffed down. The twins exchanged mutinous looks. They knew they’d messed up, but their bad attitude was still there underneath the surface.
"You may not always have one another out there," I told them. I was still trying to calculate how many weeks of drudge work it would take for them to get this through their heads. "What if you’re working with one of the other team members, and they can’t trust you because you pull crap like this? Your games are hurting the integrity of the team. I know these things seem dumb now, but they'll pay off later. Your commander told me when you graduated that you were a handful. They knew I could handle you. Don't disappoint me."
Jordan snorted. "Oh, lighten up. You have a stick up your butt.” Someone in the crowd snickered. It might’ve been Evans. “We aced the physical portion."
Jessie elbowed him. “Come on, she’s right. We knew exactly what we were doing.” She was always the first one to own up to things. I relaxed a little. “Although I think that’s the most fun anyone has had in a drill in years.”
“Fine,” Jordan grumbled and shot me a tiny apologetic frown. “Sorry, Captain. We did win, though.”
"And yet you seem incapable of not shaking things up," Hindley said behind them with a haughty look. Her burning, determined eyes landed on the twins, and all three of us stiffened under her stare. "I’m impressed with how you turned the tides against them, Captain Taylor. Captain Kelly will take over the rest of the exercise. You three… let's go to my office.
