"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results." - Albert Einstein 

CHAPTER 14

THIRD PERSON POV

*unedited*

recap:

The Blackbourne team watches with wide eyes as Sparrow ignores their protests and probing hands, ducking under them, to get to her brother, "Yes I'm dramatic, I just punched steel plates like thirty times in a row, and they were full punches!"

"Oh I forgot about those, do you know how heavy they are?" Sparrow asks, ignoring Spencer's pleading look as he motions towards his ripped and bleeding knuckles, and instead of slipping her dress up and over her head, again to everyone's protest.

"I was wondering which method y'all would go with this time, fake blood and body armor is a classic, but it worked like a charm," JJ snides, coming around the corner to the mayhem of the Blackbourne team freaking out and the Reid twins chilling against the back of the ambulance, Spencer pouting and Sparrow undoing her armor.

"This is normal?!" North bellows, a blood vessel pulsing in his forehead as he watches the twins, who simply smirk and wink. 

currently:

"We should get a DNA test done," Sparrow mumbles, watching the two men who were dutifully ignoring each other. Though still tossing each other hostile looks. 

Spencer hums, his arms tightening around her as he watched the group of nearly twenty people around them. 

They were back at the Academy hospital, this time due to a slight problem between the teams. That problem being Hotchner and Owen's fight causing the unsub to recognize them, put a gun to the twins, and force them to pretty much go rouge temporarily because out of all their backup, Sang and the ones off-scene were the only ones able to come in and save the day. 

Needless to say, someone was in trouble. And for the first time, it wasn't just the twins about to be scolded. 

Owen himself was currently seething with anger. He had absolutely no idea what it was about Mr. Hotchner that got under his skin, but whatever it was causing it, drove him mad. 

For the first time in his adult life, he might actually be facing the possibility of punishment by the Academy, something that has absolutely never happened before. Sure, when the boys did something he took a little slap on the wrist, but for him to nearly cost the lives of two somewhat innocents, two team-members because he couldn't hold his tongue. 

Similarly, Hotch was in the same state of mind. He had never been so angry at someone for absolutely no reason. He had dealt with the worst situations a leader could be put in, from two members being kidnapped and brutally raped, to members being shot, to members being held in hostage situations, and he had never broken protocol, except for those few times he did it to save said members lives. And yet, in a single incident, he almost lost two. 

Though both the team leads were internally freaking out, you wouldn't be able to tell it if it wasn't for the slight downward tilt of Owen's normally firmly set lips, and the slight V between Hotch's eyes. 

While Sang would normally be over comforting her men during a time like this, she was currently ignoring three of her nine men, three of them not being all the way in her bad graces, and three of them not in her bad graces at all. 

But even if she wasn't pissed at any of them, she would have still stayed next to the twins. Out of everyone, they were the ones who had been screwed over the most tonight. 

Spencer, while she was pissed at him, had the saddest look in his eyes, and all of his knuckles had been busted, three requiring stitches. He hadn't let go of Sparrow since she took off her armor. 

And Sparrow, well her wrist was broken, she looked like she was on the verge of mentally receding into her mind, and she was covered in bruises. Something that only the three of them knew, as Sang had been the one paying the most attention when she was changing, Spencer knew where each bruise was, and Sparrow could already feel them setting in the rest of the way. 

Sang couldn't understand why, despite them being at a hospital, neither one of the twins acknowledged or mentioned anything about the bruising, but seeing as it wasn't her body or her twin, she kept her mouth closed as well. 

"So," Gabriel said, interrupting the harmonious silence, and ignoring the angry look Sang shot him, "Are we going to acknowledge the fucking huge ass elephant in the room?" 

"No, Mr. Coleman..." Owen starts, only for Sang to interrupt him. 

"If you ever want to put that apparently huge dick anywhere near me again, you're going to correct what you're saying, Owen." 

"Darling, I," Owen pauses, takes in a deep breath, and then continues, "No, Gabriel, we are not going to be addressing anything." 

Spencer scoffs, causing everyone to look towards both him and Sparrow, who both had their brows raised in humor and disbelief at the entire situation. 

"Is there something that you would like to say, Reid?" Hotch asks, knowing that all either one of the twins needed was the opportunity for them to voice their opinion and it would be taken. 

"Actually, yes," Sparrow starts, tilting her head to the side as she watches the two leaders of the separate teams, "You are both utterly fucked." 

"Indeed, Strauss is currently being flown here, and on top of that Pops had to call an emergency council meeting." Spencer adds, resting his head on top of Sparrows. 

"Meaning, that for the first time historically speaking, both the Federal Government and the Academy are going to be teaming up on a punishment," Sparrow frowns, her eyes flashing as sadness fills her tone, "Which is a really bad thing."

"You two buffoons', who happen to be leading two separate elite teams of criminal investigators, nearly cost the lives of two team members, blew the entire mission, and on top of all of that, the whole reason this entire situation arose is because you two decided that you wanted to have a literal dick measuring contest." 

Sparrow sighs, shaking her head, "They are most likely going to remove both teams from the case, as in neither team will be allowed any information or be allowed to participate in the apprehension or investigation of any more scene or suspects." 

"But, we're all the only ones that can do anything with it." Sang says, looking from the twins to Owen with a shocked face. 

"It doesn't matter if we can do anything with it, or solve it. This won't be the last case that will ever pop up. And it would be better if their two best teams didn't all end up tragically dead because two people couldn't handle working with each other." 

"They'll most likely assign the Toma Team to run ops," Sparrow mumbles, her breathing deepening as she starts fidgeting, an almost hazy look in her eyes.

"And the BAU will be relocated for a different case until we can settle down and work without a hostile environment between members." Spencer adds, running his left hand through his hair. 

Sparrow shakes her head, "Or they will reassign the Team Liaison for the Blackbourne Team, and the Team Lead for the BAU." 

"There is also the probability of them assigning us all with a group training exercise." 

"Or a total reconstructive movement to combine both teams in a way that would ensure there are no issues amongst members." 

"Which is highly unlikely due to the Blackbournes being involved in a poly-team dynamic, that would open the doorway for a lot of problems." 

"But it could als..." 

Sparrow is cut off by Dr. Roberts walking in the room, the door banging against the wall as he did, making nearly everyone in the room jump. Though Sparrow's last little cognitive awareness slipped away with the sudden loud bang. 

The easiest way for the twins to deal with traumatic experiences was to fight through the problem logically, and then ignore their correlating emotions afterwards until they were out of the traumatic event. 

Normally, afterwards, if they weren't able to curl up in bed together and cry, they had other coping mechanisms. Including tuning everything out around them and focusing on the comparison for solving a particular problem as it arises. 

When this happens, reality itself generally slips away from the two, until it is just them talking back and forth, finishing each others sentences and forming one coherent hypothesis of potential solutions for the problem. In a way it's like they're sharing a single brain, a ridiculously overpowered brain. 

Unfortunately, being jarred out of this state of mind is not something that equals anything good. Especially when it is being used as a coping mechanism. 

While the day's events were not that traumatic for them, it built upon years of trauma, and it triggered far worse traumatic events to be recalled. Or in the worst situation it triggered flashbacks to far worse traumatic events, amplified by the most recent events. 

Sparrow tensed up, all her muscles coiling in an instant, her face going completely slack. Spencer didn't waste a second detaching himself from his sister, his own pulse quickening as he fought the onslaught of memories that attacked his brain. A fight the Sparrow didn't even have the opportunity to put up. 

Dr. Roberts didn't notice the change, as he had crossed and stood before Owen and Hotch in mere seconds, an angry glint in his eyes as he started scolding the two of them. 

However, Sean, Sang, North, Luke, and Morgan immediately noticed how the twins had gone silent, both their eyes glazed over, both starting to shake, both having tears slip down their faces.

The stood in a large circular like room, one wall covered in glass paned windows showcasing the view of Charleston, in the distance the view of the Ocean could be seen. 

Sparrow and Spencer where positioned farthest away from everyone, the closets one being Sang who stood ten feet away from them. And the farthest being Dr. Roberts, Owen and Hotch. 

The room was getting increasingly louder as different members began piping up and interrupting Dr. Roberts, trying to defend both men from what had happened. Even though it had been wrong, they had been wrong, the punishment was one that should be handled as a family, not as a team. 

Sean, North, and Luke pick their way around their team members, trying not to draw too much attention, though that didn't work and JJ, Victor, and Kota all caught sight of the events conspiring. 

Spencer had his arms wrapped around himself, his face paler than a sheet of paper, and Sparrow was sitting in the floor with her arms around her knees, in an upward fetal position. 

In the span of less than thirty seconds, the flashback was over, and they were both on the move. 

Sparrow looking around wildly, disoriented, her eyes watering as a near sob rate. Sang moved forward, going to comfort her, but with one look at Spencer, she was up and bolting out the still wide open door. 

All eight of the members that had noticed the situation let out a shout, immediately halting Dr. Roberts from now yelling and scolding everyone still on the other side of the room. 

Spencer lets out a sob of his own, collapsing to the floor and scooting back as far as he could from everyone else, curling into the fetal position against the wall. 

"Shit, fuck!" Gabriel yells, standing up and going towards the group already in the area, though Nathan's hand on his shoulder and head shake immediately freezes him. 

North quickly looks around the room, evaluating the situation, "Sean, you and Sang are going to stay here with Spencer. Sparrow didn't run off until she saw him, so I'm going to assume that whatever happened in the flashback had to do with him. Luke, you and I are going to go find Sparrow." 

"You do know there is more than you four, right?" Prentiss asks, tilting her head to the side in almost a mocking manner. 

"Yeah, but only a couple of us didn't have our heads up our asses and were paying enough attention to notice something was off. I'd invite Morgan, cause he acted concerned for the twins crying and freaking out silently, but he's probably going to be needed for this fucking shit-show. So y'all figure all this bull-shit out, and we'll figure the twins out." 

Without waiting for a dismissal, North struts out the open door, motioning for Luke to follow him, and then slamming it closed behind them both. 

"So, do you know where we are going?" Luke asks, raising his eyebrows at his brother, who shrugs in response. 

"Sparrow takes me as the type to either hang out in the food court when she's sad, go visit old people when she's sad, or go see babies when she is sad." 

"Doesn't Sang like that to? The babies I mean." 

"Yeah, and you like the food court."

"Oh! And Owen likes the old people!" 

"Only because he's an old man himself." 

"Why do you think him and Hotch have the issue they do? The competition? The hate? What do you think about what happened, what went down?" Luke asks, swinging his arms next to him as they walk towards the Labor and Delivery section of the hospital. 

North sighs, never actually used to his brothers chattiness, "Honestly, I think it could have been a lot worse. Sure, our plan was good, but it included using Sang as bait, not just Sparrow and Spencer. And I hate to say it, but those two were prepared for things to go south. Could you imagine Sang, or any of us, being put in that position and then things going as bad as they did as fast. None of us would have even thought about turning the situation around like Spencer did, and none of us would have hit Sang to make sure she get's out alive."

"And the plan included Jade kidnapping Sang and us being able to track her down." 

"Exactly. We only had one tracker on her. What would have happened had it fallen off? She'd be dead, and we'd be to blame. Had Hotch and Owen not had a whatever their fucking issue is argument, then it probably would have gone a lot worse. We were anticipating some kind of injuries, and we were anticipating something going wrong. But at least it was in the capable hands of someone better prepared then us." 

"Do you think that's what Owen and Hotchner's issue is? They're better prepared?" 

"No, and yes. I think they are too much alike, and they don't know why they are so similar. Something about them both reminds the other of something bad, and it's a trigger. I think Owen is upset the BAU has more experience and are better at mass serial killers. And I think Hotch is upset that our team is a family, not just a team." 

"I also think it has to do with us being interested in the twins." Luke adds, making North glance over at him.

"How so?" 

"Well, if you think about it, it's the twins that really make the BAU live up to it's high prestige. I mean, sure, historically speaking they were smart and really good at their jobs, and all the other members on the team are geniuses somehow, but the twins are the ones that make it so much more. And they are tied to both the Academy and the FBI. They could decide at any moment to leave the BAU and permanently join us, and no one could do anything about it. In fact, it'd probably be recommended just because the trauma and PTSD. And I think that terrifies Hotch. Because they are like family to him." 

The brothers stop outside the glass doors of the nursery, instant relief filling them at the sight of Sparrow. Instant relief along with a new emotion they had never felt before, even with Sang, at the sight of her cradling a newborn to her chest and rocking it back and forth. 

She glances up, the small smile on her face dimming slightly at the sight of them, before she holds up a finger and starts moving around. 

Gently laying it back down in the nursery bed, she presses a soft kiss to the newborn boys head, and moves towards the locked door. Which she had accidently hacked in order to open it and get in. 

"Evening boys." She said gently, a complete contradiction to how she normally acts, as she shuts the door behind her and moves to stand beside them, watching the babies through the glass this time. 

"How are you feeling?" 

"What the fuck happened?"

A small smile tilts up her lips, as she cocks her head to the side and glances at them out the corner of her eye, "Has anyone ever told you two that you are honest to God the complete opposites of each other?" 

"Yes they have," Luke says with a goofy smile. 

"Stop deflecting and answer the damn question." North snaps, putting his hands on his hips and turning towards her slightly. 

Rolling her eyes at the brute she glances down at the babies, "My dad and Spencer's dad are two completely different men. In fact, Spencer is biologically two weeks older than me, even though we were born during the same gestational period." 

"Your mom cheated?" 

"Nah, this was before she lost her damn mind. They were both in the Academy, my dad was Dr. Roberts biological son, and Spencer's was his best friend and chosen brother." 

"Didn't his son die like twenty years ago?" 

Sparrow nods, biting her lip gently before continuing, "Yeah, he went MIA on a mission. Leaving my mom with both of us and Spencer's dad, we were only one at the time. They packed us up and moved us from Charleston to Vegas, where Spencer's dad would go bat shit crazy slowly over the next five years, before dropping off the face of the earth as well."

"That's... dramatic..." Luke trails off, trying to figure out where this is going. Though North already knows what it's leading up to. 

"I reminded my mom too much of my dad. The hitting and name-calling started when I was around three or four. Spencer was there to stop most of it, but we didn't really know it was wrong until later in life. She blamed my dad for being stuck with two kids and an insane, then missing husband. Always claimed that had he not died her life would have been perfect. That soon got translated to had I not been born her husband wouldn't have to put up with another man's kid." 

Sparrow smiles almost bitterly as a tear streaks down her cheek, "That was before the Paranoid Schizophrenia set in, I was six when that started. One day she would be nice, treating us like a mom should, and the next she would be off the wall insane. She once broke four bones on my left side and gave me a skull fracture, she threw me down the stairs, because she thought I was a demon that was sent to take the soul of her only child. Even in a subconscious state she never recognized me as her kid."

"Earlier, when Spencer had to attack me in order for us both to get out alive. It wasn't the first time. Though this time ended a lot better than the last."

"That's what the flashback was about, the last time," North states, looking at her fully now, though she was focused on the babies, "What happened?" 

At some point, Luke had moved to her other side, throwing his arm around her shoulder and leaning against her as he listened and stared at the newborns