A/N: I love Team Machine and family AUs, so this happened.

The Announcement

"By the way, I've booked us a family holiday. We leave tomorrow."

Reese paused, trying to comprehend what Finch had just said. Had he misheard? He must have.

"What?"

Finch gave him that look that always made him feel especially stupid. Normally that look was reserved for whenever John tried to ask him about computers and coding.

"I said I've booked us a holiday. It's in a nice small seaside town called Courtown. We leave tomorrow morning and we stay for a week."

"Just you and me?" Reese asked hopefully. He wouldn't mind that. College had kept him busy recently, and he hadn't had much time this summer to bond with Finch.

"Of course not. I'm not leaving Sameen and Bear here unsupervised. The house would burn down within two days."

Reese tried to imagine leaving his ten-year old foster sister behind. Alone. In the house. With his grenades.

He could see Finch's point.

"Fine. But Root stays behind, right?"

Finch's mouth curled with distaste, and Reese knew he wouldn't like Finch's answer.

"Unfortunately, I feel it would be unwise to leave Miss Groves here unsupervised as well. For a girl of eleven she has proven quite proficient at breaking and entering into our house whenever she pleases. I feel like leaving her behind would offend her, despite the fact that she is not legally under my care."

Reese still remembered the day Root had shown up at their house, claiming to be a big fan of Finch's work and waving forged adoption papers (Reese still had no idea how she could fake Finch's signature so convincingly) at them. They had closed the door on her and told her to go home, and a week later they opened the front door and found her sitting at their kitchen table tapping away at one of Finch's laptops.

Six failed attempts to contact Root's parents and send her away, and Finch had given up, allowing her to stay with them. At first Reese was worried that Finch would get arrested for kidnapping, but when no one showed up to demand their child back, he'd reluctantly accepted that Root was here to stay.

But taking her with them on vacation? That was a step too far.

"I'm not going." he said. Finch gave him a disappointed look. "I'm not! Not with both of them! Shaw will stab Root within a day of having to share a car with her, and I don't want to have to help her hide the body."

"Don't be so dramatic." Finch said, rolling his eyes. "If you really can't stand the idea of it being the four of us, why don't you invite your friends?"

That offer made Reese pause.

"You mean Carter and Lionel? They can come with us?"

"If you can convince them, then yes they can come. They are the ones that are most aware of how… unique your family situation is."

"If by that you mean that meeting you, Shaw and Root somehow didn't scare them off then yes, they are the best candidates for this trip." Reese considered Finch's proposal. "Fine, I'll talk to them, and if they say yes I'll go too."

"I'm sure they'll be delighted to get a break from the city."

Convincing the Friends

"Hell no!" Carter said. "You think I want to spend a week alone with your crazy-ass family?"

"Carter-"

"Look, I get it. I love them, but Shaw and Root can be a handful. Right now, that's your problem! I've just done my first year of college; this is supposed to be my downtime!"

"We're going on vacation. It'll be relaxing." Reese tried.

Carter gave him a look that clearly said she wasn't buying his bullshit.

"Please Carter." She remained impassive. "Joss, please!"

She cracked. Just a little, but Reese saw it.

"If I get Lionel to go, will you come?"

She sighed, glared at him, and then she shrugged.

"Fine."

Reese smiled.

Fusco snorted.

"A week alone with you, Glasses, the brat and Cuckoo Clock? Sounds like a real good time."

"Carter's going too." Reese said. "Plus, Finch will pay for everything. You can probably spend the week relaxing and getting some sun, and if things get intense just ignore us and play with Bear."

Fusco huffed and seemed to think it over. He turned and eyed Reese suspiciously.

"You sure Carter said she was going?"

Reese nodded.

"I spoke to her before coming here. She's on board."

"Alright then, I guess I'm coming too." Fusco muttered reluctantly. "Now get out of here, I have work to finish."

Reese left the building, a smirk on his face. He had a phone call to make to Carter.

The Journey There

Eleven a.m. the next morning, they all piled into Finch's minivan. John cast a longing look at the garage, where he knew the Porsche would spend all week gathering dust. God he wished this could be like the old trips, back when he was still Finch's ward and it was just the two of them. He'd asked Finch if they could ride in two separate cars, but Finch and frowned and insisted that riding together was all part of the bonding experience. Reese just wanted to get through the bonding experience with all his limbs attached.

Fusco had called shotgun the second he'd arrived, leaving John, Root and Carter in the middle and Shaw and Bear in the back with the rest of the bags. Shaw seemed content surrounded by luggage, probably because she got to talk to Bear and pet him through the dog cage.

The middle row was not as pleasant. Root sat in the center, tapping away on her phone with a serene smile on her face. Carter and Reese both sat next to her, warily watching the girl type. Reese wondered if Root could feel the tension radiating off him. Of course she did, he realized. That was probably why she was so happy.

He looked up and his eyes met Carter's. He gave her a weak smile and she rolled her eyes.

His next smile was genuine. Thank God she was here. He didn't want to think of what the journey would have been like if it had been him, Root and Shaw all sitting together. He kept a close eye on Root for the first hour of the journey, but he also managed to relax and chat with both Carter and Fusco. After the first hour of driving Finch and Fusco swapped places and Reese relaxed a little, knowing that Finch could also keep an eye on Root now.

After about two hours of driving Reese felt something kicking the back of his seat.

"I'm bored." Shaw announced from the back. "Are we there yet?"

"No, but we will be in an hour."

Shaw sighed at that, and kicked Reese's seat again. He considered pushing the seat backwards and trying to squash her, but it was too early in the trip to be considering violence. He'd save that for when they arrived.

Ten minutes later and Shaw spoke up again. There was a tinge of panic in her voice.

"Finch, stop the car. I think Bear's getting carsick."

Fusco pulled off the highway, but it was too late. The stench hit Reese's nose and he opened the door to let some fresh air in. He felt small hands tugging at his seat as Shaw climbed over him and out of the car, kicking him in the face as she went. Something bumped against his seat and he realized that Shaw had let Bear out of his cage.

Finch stepped out of the car and walked around to the back, his limp more pronounced after hours cramped in the car. He opened the hatch and pulled Bear's cage out, grimacing at the smell. Bear leaped out, prancing around the car excitedly.

"He thinks we're here." Carter laughed.

"I wish he was right." Reese muttered.

They used wet-wipes and kitchen roll to clean the cage, and they took turns spraying the car with deodorant. Even after they got Bear settled in, the car still smelled of sick dog.

They drove the rest of the way with the windows down. Shaw complained viciously about the smell and tried to get everyone to swap with her. Reese seriously considered jumping into the back and strangling her, but every time he decided that he'd had enough, Finch or Carter would shoot him a look and he'd slump back into his seat.

Just as he had decided that he'd be okay with being the family disappointment if it would get Shaw to stop kicking his damn seat. The car stopped.

"We're here." Finch said. The Thank goodness went unspoken, but they all felt it.

Sorting out who got what room was surprisingly simple. Finch had booked five rooms, which meant they all got their own room apart from Root and Shaw, who had to share a room with twin beds. Reese braced himself for Shaw to kick up a fuss, but she simply rolled her eyes, clearly too tired from the journey to argue. Root, on the other hand, looked ecstatic. Thankfully, she didn't say anything about it to Shaw, who carried both her and Root's luggage up to the room, grumbling as she went.

Reese enjoyed the look on the doorman's face as this tiny child stomped into his hotel, carrying bags that were twice her size and looked just as heavy as she was. Root followed, flashing the doorman a cheery smile. The rest of them carried their luggage inside like normal people.

The room was decent, and as John dumped his bags on the bed he allowed himself a second to hope that this holiday wouldn't be a complete disaster.

A loud crash from the next room made him close his eyes and throw himself onto the bed.

Finch could deal with that.