Chapter 27

Candlewood Suites
Watertown NY
Outside Ft. Drum Military Reservation

October 2011

The next morning Spencer left Tally snuggled in their little mock schoolhouse, savoring all those books, while he went and had his beard off. It took exactly that much time for things to start falling apart. "What?" He asked, shocked, when he returned to the hotel and met with the team.

"There are maps listing Grindstone Island to both the US and Canada, as well as to neither side of the border." Hotch replied. "Rocheson's lawyers are arguing that it was outside all international boundaries, and so neither side has jurisdiction."

"He was keeping slaves!" Morgan said.

"Which is illegal under a number of international treaties. He's arguing that he and his people never signed those treaties. In addition he's arguing that all of the slaves there entered into slavery willingly based on their religious beliefs."

"I do not believe this!" Morgan said.

"What about the people?" Emily asked.

"He and the other co-owners are allowing them to return under what they called the terms of their contacts."

"In other words as slaves. Are they going?"

"Most of them are, yes."

"Why?!"

"Fear." Spencer replied. "They have nothing out here and know nothing of the world off the island. In addition the Masters have been telling stories of the horrors of the outside world to them for decades. They've been brainwashed to believe that if they try to live off the island they'll be forced to live naked in the streets and starve as bands of roving thugs rape all the women and children and most of the men. Yes, they really tell them that." He nodded to their shocked faces. "The Masters make them believe that living the way they do is a vastly kinder, gentler option, given to them out of their Christian duty. Losing all their personal possessions must have brought those fears back. Now that they've destroyed the Night Barns that must look like a better option than violent homelessness."

"The lawyers are going to be untangling this for decades." Hotch said. "In the meantime it looks like that Island is going to return to status quo for most of the farms."

"Most of the farms?" Rossi asked.

"The people from Parson Farm and a handful from other farms have chosen not to return." Hotch said. Spencer sagged from relief. "They've collectively applied for refugee status. We don't have any way of dealing with this situation but the Canadian government has opened its doors. They're going to set them up with some land and help them with the transition."

"Thank god." Rossi replied. "I wonder why that group in particular decided that way."

"Two reasons." Spencer said. "One, Housekeeper and Foreman came to the Island as teenagers. They remember enough of the outside world to be able to steer their people through the transition. Two, Parson insisted all his people be literate. An 8th grade education might not be ideal, but it would be enough to counterbalance the fear of the unknown. But I can't believe the Masters are getting away with this."

"They might not. You, Seaver and Tally were kidnapped on US soil. We can start there." Hotch looked up as a junior agent brought him a legal looking note and nodded to two men in suits who followed them in. "Rocheson's lawyers are demanding the return of all confiscated material goods immediately."

"So we can't keep any evidence." Emily said. "Does he really think that would work?"

"Until we settle jurisdiction, yes."

"How much physical evidence do we have?" Morgan asked.

"Very little, it's all witness testimony. We don't have anything we can argue we need to keep."

But Spencer's mind was whirling. "No, this isn't about evidence." He said. "This is about harassment. He bought or owned everything they had on that island, including personal items. He's trying to make it harder for them to leave."

"Will it work?" Rossi asked.

"Not if I know Foreman and Housekeeper. They'll get everyone through it." But another thought came to him. "When do they want things returned?" Spencer asked

"Immediately," Hotch replied. "They're collecting now. This says they have reason to believe we're keeping some items here, these two have come to collect them." He nodded to the two in suits.

"We're not!" Emily said.

"Yes we are." Spencer replied. "Excuse me." He went back to his room.

"I don't know that Seaver is going to be any help." Rossi said. "They were talking about transferring her to Children's Hospital in Philly as soon as she's stable. They have the best NICU on this side of the country."

"She's that bad?" Morgan asked.

"She's still at the hard to tell stage."

Spencer came out carrying a duffel bag. He all but threw it at the men waiting. "That's all of it." He snapped, "Unless you have an itemized list."

"Reid." Hotch said quietly. Spencer disengaged, turning to take his temper over to the windows.

"I got it." Morgan said quietly. He followed Spencer to the other side of the room. "What is this?"

"They humiliated her Morgan." Spencer replied. "They stripped her down and shamed her and now they've taken everything she thought of as hers. I'm not going to go to court with Rocheson over who owns her underwear but she was raised in a very modest culture and at the moment she's wearing one of my shirts as a dress. It's a deliberate ploy to humiliate those women and shame the men for not being able to do anything about it and it's working."

"I know." Okay, so Spencer had reason to be pissed. "They'll figure it out at the shelter, maybe JJ has something she can borrow."

"JJ's a foot taller than she is Morgan. Some of her students were taller than she is, she wears children's sizes. Now she can be humiliated out here or go back and be the respected schoolteacher again. That's his game, that's what he wants, and I cannot see how to fight it."

"You're too close to this."

"I am way too close to this."

"Okay, there's a Wal-mart over there. Write down her measurements, make a list, I'll go find her something."

After Spencer sent Morgan off he went back to their room, their little schoolhouse. "I'm sorry." He said for the umpteenth time.

Willow had found his cardigan, was huddled in it, her legs under the covers, her hair a thick ribbon of fire over her shoulder, her nose in a book. "It's not your fault, Spencer." She replied. "He's trying to humiliate us, to get us to crawl back. It's not going to work."

Brave words. But he could see that her eyes were unfocused, not really looking at the page. He dropped on the bed with her. "But..."

"But...I don't want to be treated like a child. Among our people I'm the Teacher. People respect that and my size doesn't matter. But JD and his men just saw me as small and helpless, something they wanted to...use." Her voice was so quiet when she said that. "How did the people back home see me? What are the people out there going to see?" She was quiet a long moment. "What if that's what I am? What if the only thing that's kept me safe all these years has been the way Housekeeper and Foreman and the others see me? And without that, what happens now? What am I now? Who am I now?"

Spencer thought about this. "On the island that very well might have been the case." After all, something had kept the one person old enough to appeal to someone not a pedophile but small enough to be no risk whatsoever safe from predation. "Out there most people are reasonably good and won't want to hurt you. They'll respect you as a person, not just because of your education or your job. Not that those don't help but there's usually a baseline of respect. On the other hand..." He sighed. "...some people are going to mistake you for a child. It wouldn't surprise me if it happened. But I'm reminded of a Shakespeare quote, from A Midsummer Night's Dream, act 3, scene 2, Helena talking about Hermia –

Oh, when she's angry, she is keen and shrewd!
She was a vixen when she went to school.
And though she be but little, she is fierce.

Willow grinned at him. "Fierce, huh?"

"I remember you and I've heard some of the stories. I don't think anyone will mistake you for a child. As for whom else you are, who do you want to be?"

"A teacher. A student. Your wife still, if you'll have me."

"There and here, I meant it."

She took a deep breath. "Well, that's a place to start. I think I'm going to braid my hair."

She said it like it was a big decision. "Um, okay?" He said.

She started raking her fingers through it. "First Peter, chapter 3, verse three, from the bible they use."

"Whose appareling let it not be that outward, with braided hair, and gold put about, or in putting on of apparel." Spencer quoted. "They wouldn't let you braid your hair?"

"No. Pie got switched for trying it once."

"Pie?"

"My sister. She makes the most amazing crust. Anyway, if they tried it I'd snap the switch over my knee now. I always wondered how this would look. And how you do it." She frowned at the mirror across the room.

Spencer grinned. "See, fierce. Here," he pulled over her tablet and opened her browser, looking for how to braid and then dug some rubber bands out of his bag. "Have fun. I'll be back." He left her to it and went to find Hotch. "Do you know what they're doing about marriages on the island?"

"Recognizing them for now, if the people involved want them to be recognized. The thought is that denying them will perpetuate the abuse. Long term people will have to get licenses at least." Hotch looked up at him. "What are your plans?"

"I was going to take Tally out to renew our vows in Vegas or LA, depending on what her family said, but now... We're married. That's it." It was his turn to be fierce.

And Hotch understood. "All right."

Just then Morgan came back. "It was this or stretch pants that said 'flirt' over the ass." He said, handing Spencer a bag. "They didn't have a single skirt in her size. This is why I'm still practicing for kids."

"Boys are easier." Hotch nodded.

"We need to go buy one more thing." Spencer said.

When they left the hotel again sometime later Tally was trying to get used to jeans and a thermal t-shirt. She was still wearing that too large cardigan. And she'd braided her hair into a single plait running down her back, with curls to frame her face. She looked little, Spencer thought, but she looked fierce. And while he couldn't make her an official teacher or an official anything else, he could do one thing.

The gold band on her finger was a perfect fit.