Chapter 29

Ft. Drum Military Reservation
New York State

October 2011

But finding a group identity couldn't spare individual pain. "Reid." Hotch called to him.

They were still helping sort the details that afternoon. Technically Spencer knew he was a victim, Tally was a victim, they should want to run from this place and these people and never look back. But somehow these people were family now, he couldn't just abandon them. He had to help see them safe. "What's going on?" Hotch had been working on trying to interview the actual Unsubs here, a difficult task given the thicket of lawyers in the way. Something big must have come up for him to come out here.

"Garcia was able to track down Monica and Berjur Jensen. They were living in Tórshavn, Denmark."

"That was Berjur's hometown. I remember hearing that they moved back there after Tally's case went cold." He remembered the anger he felt at them giving up, but he was fifteen and could do nothing. "You wouldn't have come all the way out here to tell me that."

Hotch handed him the file he was carrying. "Traffic incident, twelve years ago. It was ruled suspicious, but they were never able to come up with anything." He sighed. "I'm very sorry."

"Damnit!" Spencer opened the file and read over it quickly. Yes, it was exactly as Hotch said, about six months after they left the US. He'd processed the bitterness of their rejection years ago, but it still hurt. And now he had to tell...

"Professor, what is it?" Tally asked. She came and peeked at the paperwork, which turned into taking it from him and reading it.

"I am so sorry sweetheart." This had to hurt, to lose them after all this time.

"I'm...not." She didn't sound like she was broken up about it at all. "I...don't know these people. I mean, I did. I'm sure I did once."

"But they're your family." Hotch said

"We're not animals, Agent Hotchner. Your family are the people who love you, not the people in your bloodline. I'm sure if I would have stayed with them I'd be upset now, but I lost them and gained a new family a long time ago. I mean, Professor here probably knew these people a lot better than I ever did. I'm sorry he lost them."

"So you don't believe you have a family?"

"This is my family." She nodded to the knot of people over by one of the tables. "Housekeeper took me to her space as one of her own my first night on the island. She was there every time I got sick or had a nightmare or had a fit over what happened to me. Foreman was there for me every time I needed a father, for every hurt. I don't know how many times he got between me and JD. Pie and I grew up as sisters, we shared a bed and every secret for years now. Player is my brother-in-law, Tart is my niece, this is my family. I love them and they love me." But she didn't give them back the file, not yet. "Excuse me." She went and rejoined the others.

Hotch looked over at Spencer. "Are you okay?"

"I don't know." Spencer admitted. "I guess I thought I'd bring her home, be the hero, and we'd all be the family I remembered. But that's not going to happen. I should have known that."

"It was likely something you needed to get through. As far as heroic welcomes from family, wait until Garcia and Henry get a hold of you."

"This is very true."

"Hey!" Foreman called out. "Son-in-law! Get over here!" He motioned for Spencer to join them. "You too!" He indicated Hotch.

Family are the people you, the people who love you. The two agents looked at each other, shrugged, and went to extend the family.

In a few days the Colony was supposed to head to their new home, to help setting up the structures and settling in before bad weather could sneak up on them. But Spencer had to do one thing first. "Here." He said, handing out safety goggles to the assembled group.

"What are you doing?" Housekeeper asked.

"This." Tally said. "Excuse me." She joined the group, her arms filled with small pumpkins.

"This again." Foreman shook his head and chuckled. "Okay little girl, squish a pumpkin, get the tantrum over with."

"You know, I haven't had a tantrum over this in ten years."

"Yes, but they were so memorable."

"Put this on." Spencer had long, heavy gloves and thick, rubber aprons for him and Tally to wear. He loaded her, the pumpkins and a large, metal canister into a cherry picker and used it to get them a few feet off the ground. "Okay, start with this one." He handed her a pumpkin.

Tally took it and tossed it over the side. It landed on one of the tarps he had spread out with a wet sound, caved in and the seeds started oozing out. "Every year." Housekeeper shook her head.

"Hold on." Spencer said. He opened the canister and what looked like steam started billowing out. He took one of the pumpkins and dropped it in, using tongs to hold it carefully by the stem. After a few minutes he pulled it out and handed it to Tally. It was smoking. "Over the other side."

"All right." She gave it a gentle toss and dropped it on the other tarp.

It shattered.

The pumpkin landed with a solid crunch and broke apart into hundreds of fine shards that shot out in all directions. Just like it was made of glass.

"Yes!" Tally broke into a huge grin. "It broke! I told you pumpkins break! I told you!"

Nearly everyone's jaw had dropped when they saw it. "How did you do that?" Housekeeper said.

"She did say something about a magician..." Pie replied.

"Magic. I don't think so. There's a trick to it." Foreman stepped closer and retrieved a piece. "It's frozen! He froze it solid!"

"Liquid nitrogen is actually a supercooled gas. It boils at negative 320 degrees Fahrenheit." Spencer said. "It instantly freezes anything it comes in contact with. Here, do another one." He handed Tally another pumpkin which she shattered with great glee.

"And you do this for Halloween every year?" Housekeeper said. "Where you two are from?"

"Yep. It's traditional." Spencer dunked another pumpkin in the tank.

"What's Halloween?" One of the kids asked.

"It's a holiday. Maybe we'll celebrate this year. Get some candy at least."

"What's candy?"

"Oh, we are so sending you candy." Rossi said.

Tally laughed and shattered another pumpkin.

The next day it was time for the Colony to leave for their new home.

But there was one problem. The new home was in Canada. For most of the colonists this wasn't a problem, they were technically or literally stateless, their paperwork erased or never created in the first place, and so were traveling under other legal permissions. But Tally's birth certificate had been found, she was a US citizen, born in California. But she didn't have her passport. There was one on the way, but even expedited it would take three weeks. For now she couldn't cross the border. "I'm going to miss you." Tally said, looking at her family with tears in her eyes.

"We're going to miss you too, kiddo." Housekeeper said, pulling her in for a hug. "It's not for long though. You'll be able to come see us before the snow gets high."

"And we'll see each other through the TV thing." Foreman reminded her. "It's not like we're being traded away. You better take care of her though." He said to Spencer.

"Of course I will." Spencer replied.

There were hugs all around, her students, her friends, and especially her family. The last and longest reserved for her parents, before they boarded the busses. And there was lots of waving as they pulled away.

When the last bus disappeared from sight Tally turned in Spencer's eyes and cried. "Don't let go." She said.

He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight as his family pulled in around them. "I'll never let go."