Stormy and Damien belong to Rhiannon Shaw. This is a dream that I had after reading her Line War series for the umpteenth time, talking on her list about what the wedding would be like.....
"There you are!" Stormy's mother exclaimed, fussing frantically as Stormy walked in. "Good heavens, child, you're late for your own wedding, and you're not even dressed! Where have you been - there's mud and blood and sweet Lord only knows what else is on your clothes, but it ain't coming out anytime soon! And your hair! And what on heaven's earth are you doing wearing your gun?"
Grinning foolishly, Stormy glanced at the watch on her wrist. "They'll wait for me, Mama. I'm the bride." Moving unhurriedly, she pulled off her holster and her clothes. "Besides, the groom's running late, too. Can't start without either of us."
"That man of yours," her mother muttered. "Something's not right with him, but damned if I can't figure out what it is. He's too, too..." Hands flaying uselessly as she gestured, Mrs. Storm tried to come up with a suitable description, settling finally on, "Perfect!"
"No," an amused female voice corrected, "I'd say it was the other way around, don't you think, Stormy?"
Stormy chuckled. "Of course, Aidan. Here, one of you come and help me." She struggled with putting on the white gown for a moment before her mother and Aidan helped her ease it on and zip it up. "Damn, this thing is heavy," Stormy muttered. "Glad this is just for show."
"So why were you late?" Aidan asked as she reached for a brush and untangled Stormy's hair. "You look like you've had an adventure."
Stormy giggled. "It's a long story." Her eyes slid over to her mother, who was now fussing with the veil, and Aidan understood that it was one that Stormy didn't want to tell her mother.
"Mrs. Storm, why don't you go let the priest know we'll be a few more minutes," Aidan suggested. It took a bit more coaxing, but soon the Sunday school classroom they were using as a dressing room was empty save for the bride and maid of honor.
Aidan looked at Stormy, who seemed highly amused. "All right, spill."
"Well, I've been working on a case for a while now, a skip trace deal, and last night after the rehearsal, I got a tip that the guy was a janitor at First Baptist. He panicked when we caught up to him - he was talking to one of the priests, and he felt Damian's presence, and apparently, no one had told him about Holy Ground, so we chased him a while around the grounds until he shoved us into the janitor closet along with the priest, locked the door, barricaded it and ran. It took us a couple of hours to get out, but since we were there and it didn't look like we were getting out in time, the priest offered to marry us."
Aidan stared at Stormy. "You didn't say yes, did you?"
"Yes, but since we didn't have the marriage license on us, it's not official." Stormy shrugged. "I'd have a hell of time explaining that one to Father Dowly, since he is a friend of the family and all and came out of retirement just to marry me and Damian."
"Are you sure about that?" Aidan asked, then stopped herself. In the end, it didn't matter, she reminded herself. "All right, since you're such a pro at this already, let's go get you married."
***
and here is where I woke up. ::mutters:: Posted Feb. 20, 2002 Raine Wynd