A/N: This one-shot is set after the episode 'Realignment' in Season 9.
South was pissed. She couldn't remember the last time her short temper had flared to this extent. Stealth...why did her stealth matter when the mission was a success? That was no reason to knock her stature down on the board. Her twin was now her superior. She had always resented the fact that she and North always ended up together, but now a small part of her wished they could be equal. She prided herself in her abilities, felt a sense of satisfaction whenever she recalled her journey to the top rankings. Events like this demoralized her in a way nothing else could. Her pride was one of her greatest downfalls.
South left the office of the director after their briefing. Anything that ventured near the hand that wasn't holding her helmet was punched as an attempt to vent some of the steam that was building up in the freelancer's body. She scoffed at the notion of North being moved ahead. He was always such a kiss-ass, always sticking to the mission parameters as if they were the religion by which he lived. She had developed her own tactics over the years and loved the independent feeling that came with it. In a world that thrived off of the order that a superior gave you, individuality was a rare thing to have. Her brother's cautiousness was one of the defining aspects that separated them. It made them different.
Carolina showing up hadn't made things much better. Her ego was as big as her name in the Number 1 position on the stat board. She didn't dislike the other woman and had been forced to place her life in Carolina's hands on more than one occasion. She was a capable soldier and the best of the freelancers. Still, it irked South to have her called in on a mission that was her responsibility. She was the director's clean-up girl he sends in when he feels the other agents can't handle themselves to his liking.
She was, for once, happy that it was the middle of the day when the long hallway ended at the locker room. All of the freelancers were either in training or on missions, so the small room was empty. South walked over to her assigned locker and opened it roughly, hearing it creak on its hinges. She stared down at her reflection in the visor of her helmet-tousled blonde hair and wild pale eyes. She sighed, her temper got the better of her at times. In truth, her brother and she had been battling for a spot higher than the other for years now. It was always a game between the two of them, seemingly light-hearted, but when it came down to it, they were both competitive spirits who hated defeat. She had been over North for at least three months now. Rightfully, it was his turn to take over the higher spot. South just wished that the change in position could have happened another way...not on a mission as important as this one. Many things depended on the enemy's ignorance to their plot. South's commotion could have ruined that tactical advantage.
South carefully stripped free of her armor, wiping all of it clean before placing it in the holder in her locker. Even in the haze of anger she didn't forget about equipment maintenance. After returning from a mission and being briefed, a freelancer was allowed the rest of the day off duty. This was a privilege that she intended to invoke as soon as possible.
She took a shower, changed into 'normal' clothes, and slowly closed her locker. She felt little anger now, only disappointment in her abilities as a freelancer. She should have done better-anticipated that she would get caught. South began to see why her brother was always so cautious; you never know when you could be put into a situation where something as simple as a motion tracker was the difference between success and failure. She leant her head against the cool metal locker, running over the details of the mission over and over in her head. Agent South Dakota never made the same mistake twice.
South was startled from her thoughts as a knock came at the door of the locker room. She frowned, nobody knocked before entering a locker room unless it was someone of the opposite gender. Rolling her eyes, immediately knowing who it was, South called permission to enter. What he was doing near the woman's locker room shouldn't have concerned her; she wasn't interested in what he had to say.
Sure enough, her brother entered the room, carefully glancing around to make sure they were the only two before closing the door behind him. He had also changed into casual clothes, though his blonde hair was still a mess from the helmet that usually encased his head.
"Hey, South, punch any holes in the wall?" His airy tone sparked the edges of the anger that had been fading away. He shouldn't take her defeat so lightly.
"What do you want?" South bluntly asked.
North shook his head slightly at his twin, "Simply put, I lost an argument with Carolina regarding who was going to talk you out of this hissy fit. Apparently, since we're twins, we always have to be the ones to talk to each other." There was an edge to his voice that South recognized. Neither of them liked being basically considered the same person as the other, though North didn't care about the fact as much as she did. He was a more considerate person than she was.
"I don't need you to by my psycho therapist, North. I'm just...disappointed. It'll pass. Always does."
"Yeah, that's what I figured. The director is picky; he likes things to go a certain way. You didn't follow his specifications."
"Thanks for reminding me." South muttered under her breath, just loud enough for North to hear.
North rolled his eyes, "I'm trying to be reasonable. He wanted stealth, you were loud. It's as simple as that. You're skills are still the same, your execution of the mission objective was fine-except for the noise you made."
South nodded, "Yeah, I know, but-"
"-but you're mad I'm ahead of you now." Her twin interjected. When she didn't answer, North smiled and lightly punched her in the arm, "You were ahead of me for longer than I have ever been ahead of you. It's my turn, sis. I promise, I'll keep the spot warm for when you come back."
South grinned evilly at her brother, her anger now focused into determination, "So now we have to see how long it takes me to get my place back."
North laughed and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, squeezing lightly, "Knowing you, you'll do everything in your power to make sure I don't get a long reign."
"You know me well."