Author's Note: This one's for Lorin! It's set post "Bloody Ghost, Part 4"

Chris Larabee stopped and critically checked his appearance in the full length mirror.

Hair… Fine.

Jacket… Okay.

Shirt… Fine.

Tie… Damn, crooked again. He adjusted it once more, the seventh time in less than six minutes.

Cummerbund… Good.

Pants… Still okay.

Shoes… Polished; no scuffs.

He was ready. So, why couldn't they just get started?

He checked the clock… Ten minutes left? He glowered at Buck, who was leaning back against the door to his changing room, making sure Larabee didn't bolt early.

Who the hell came up with that stupid superstition anyway? It wasn't like he and Vin hadn't been living together for months now, and they'd known each other for nearly two. He already knew what the man looked like – every fucking inch of him!

But there was Buck anyway, blocking the only exit, determined to keep him here until just the right moment. Larabee sighed heavily. If he pummeled the ladies' man he'd have to adjust everything again.

"Come on, stud, there's only nine more minutes to go," Wilmington said cheerily. "It'll be over before you know it."

Chris seriously considered shooting his oldest friend, but he'd left his gun out in the truck. (He just couldn't bring himself to carry it into the chapel.) But thank God the ceremony would take place outside. The chapel's tiny main room would have him gulping for air in no time, and Vin would probably be climbing the walls long before him.

Larabee huffed out a breath. He could feel the dampness on his palms and looked for something to wipe his hands on, settling on the flannel shirt he had worn up to the remote site. Buck had met him there with the tux – something Ezra had picked out.

And why the hell had he agreed to let the rest of them get involved in this? Not that the chapel didn't look nice – inside and out – it did. But that was beside the point.

He checked the clock again… Eight minutes left to go.

He wiped his hands again, then tossed the shirt back onto the straight-back chair and started to pace. Five steps from the mirror to Buck, five back to the mirror. He stopped and checked himself, adjusting his tie again.

"Chris, it looks fine. Stop fidgeting, would you? You're starting to make me nervous!"

"Then let's go," Chris said, trying to sound reasonable, but he knew it came out whiney and a little snippy.

"Nope," Buck replied, shaking his head. "How many times do I have to tell you? It's bad luck."

"To see the bride, before the wedding!" Chris bellowed. "Vin sure as hell isn't a bride, and this isn't a wedding!"

"Same idea," was Wilmington's calm, steadfast reply.

Larabee glowered at the man.

Buck grinned, the expression affectionate and understanding, which just made it worse as far as Chris was concerned. "Only seven more minutes. You can wait that long."

"It's not bad luck, Buck!"

"Yes, it is. Everybody knows that – even you."

Chris started pacing again. Up… back… up… back… up… He paused, checking himself in the mirror and straightening his tie.

"Damn it, Chris, would you leave that tie alone? You're gonna wear it right off."

Larabee spun around and pinned the ladies' man with a glare. "That's it, I've waited long enough, damn it. I'm gonna go see Vin." He stalked to the door, but Wilmington didn't move. "Buck," he growled.

"Five more minutes," Wilmington sing-songed.

The glare was ratcheted up a couple of notches, the muscles at Larabee's jaws twitching with frustration and barely-held-in-check mayhem.

"Damn, Chris, I swear you're jumpier this time than you were the last time. You'd think you'd get better with practice."

"I am not jumpy! I just want to go see Vin! He's probably ready to chew his way out of that room by now. He'll be a basket case by the time we get out there."

"Vin's doing just fine. If he wasn't, they would've called me."

"Called? They? Who the hell is in there with him?"

"Uh," the ladies' man hedged, then shrugged and said, "Nathan… and Josiah… and Ezra."

"Three? You have three of them watching him?"

Buck nodded and smiled indulgently. "Figured he'd be worse than you, but I'm startin' to reconsider that. You keep this up and I'll have to call JD in for backup."

"You don't need backup!" Larabee bellowed. "You don't need to keep me in here at all! We can go – now! We can— We can go outside and wait there. We don't have to stop by Vin's room. But I'm tellin' you, it's not bad luck! Besides, I've already seen him! All of him!"

"Your tie's crooked," Wilmington commented casually.

"What?"

"Your tie, it's crooked."

"Ah hell," Chris sighed, turning and walking back to the mirror. He checked his blasted tie.

It didn't look crooked to him.

Frowning, he peered at it harder, then reached up and straightened it. And heard Buck chuckle softly.

Larabee swung around and stormed back, stopping just inches away from the man. "I'm only going to say this once, Buck," he growled. "Either you move or—"

"Uh, Chris, before you get all wound up, you think we can pick this up a little later?" the ladies' man asked him. "We're gonna be late. Let's go, stud."

"What?" Larabee snapped, all of his momentarily-forgotten panic rushing back to the fore. "Go? Where?"

"It's time," Buck said, nodding at the clock. "We're already two minutes late!"

"What? Shit!" Chris snapped, reaching past Wilmington to grab the door knob and yank it open. "Come on!"

Buck grinned, but swiftly covered it up as he ran his hand over his mouth. He followed his longtime friend out of the groom's changing room and into the small chapel where the others were already waiting for them.

Vin Tanner, dressed in a matching suit and looking as good as he ever had, grinned. "Damn, Cowboy, thought y' might 'a got cold feet," he said, his usual raspy voice even scratchier than usual.

"Never happen," Chris assured him, shooting a glare at Buck.

"Y' ready?"

"As I'll ever be."

Then the two men both took deep breaths and, walking side by side, made their way through the small chapel, trailed by their five friends, all grinning like madmen.

As Chris and Vin stepped past the door and into the sunshine, soft music began to play – something Josiah had picked for the occasion. An instrumental piece, it was rich and full of emotion and, played softly as it was, it added just the right accent to the breath-taking scenery.

The chapel was located near nine thousand feet, pines and larkspur in abundance. In front of them the peaks of the Rocky Mountains jutted majestically, still snow-capped from late spring storms. But here at the Peace Chapel the ground was green, broken only by patches of the purple-blue flowers. And with azure skies overhead, broken by a few puffy white clouds, it was a perfect day.

Chris and Vin led the way past a few of their closest friends, people they considered family – Nettie and Casey, Mary and Billy, Orin and Evie Travis, and Inez. And each of the "guests" smiled widely as the pair passed by, looking excited and nervous at the same time.

In short order the two men were standing in front of Timothy Maddison, a priest from an Episcopal Church in Purgatory where Josiah had been helping out. Over time each of the ATF agents had gotten involved in one activity or another at the church. And, when the time finally came, it had felt right to ask Tim to preside.

Tim Maddison was in his early forties, with dark-brown hair, hazel eyes that were always filled with openness. He was a little on the short side at five-foot-eight, but as a dedicated runner, he had an athletic look that the single ladies at the church found appealing. He also had an infectious laugh and an easy smile that could set almost anyone at ease.

It was, however, having little effect on the two men who came to an abrupt halt in front of him, both looking as nervous as a pair of petty thieves who had found themselves in a cop bar.

Tim smiled and whispered softly, "Relax, guys, this is the easy part."

"Says you," Vin muttered back. "Y' ever had t' wear a monkey suit like this?"

Chris' eyes rounded slightly. "You look great," he said softly.

Tanner looked at his lover and grinned, his cheeks going a rosy pink at the same time. "Y' think so?"

Larabee nodded.

Vin's chest puffed out a little and he hiked his eyebrows once, clearly deciding that he might just have to invest in one of the dreaded things.

Tim cleared his throat and said so everyone could hear, "Friends, we gather here today to acknowledge a relationship which already exists. We have all been witness to it. We have all gloried in the truth of the love shared by these two men.

"Living as we do in a society that fails to celebrate the loving relationships shared between couples of the same gender, we come together and call this a commitment ceremony and not a wedding. But I tell you, the sacrament of marriage, so long as it is entered into by loving couples who strive to live Godly lives, is pleasing unto God. I have to believe this."

Tim's focus shifted and he smiled at Chris and Vin, then lifted his eyes and said, "Lord, your servants, Chris and Vin, come before you today, along with their family and friends, to have their relationship sanctified by Your spiritual benediction. They ask that their love abide in Your grace all the days of their lives, and unto Your glorious life everlasting.

"Forasmuch as You are merciful and loving, and did create all of humankind in Your likeness, and did decree that we enter into loving relationships, we ask our blessing on this wedding of two lives. You, who deemed it meet and right that your children, Chris and Vin, be united, bound one unto the other by faith and love. We ask that You bless this couple, and grant them peace and love and oneness of mind. Cleanse their hearts of sin, and vouchsafe unto them to love one another in the face of fear, hatred and rejection. Keep them forever in the palm of Your loving hand, all the days of their lives.

"For, standing here before You, and before us, Your earthly witnesses, we see two souls, bound together by love, joined into one life, one love, guided always by Your hand." He looked first to Chris, saying, "Christopher Larabee, do you take unto you this man, to love, honor and cherish, through all of life's joys and travails, so long as you both shall live, and unto life everlasting?"

"Yes, I do."

Tim smiled and looked to Vin, saying, "And do you, Vin Tanner, take unto you this man, to love, honor and cherish, through all of life's joys and travails, so long as you both shall live, and unto life everlasting?"

"I do," Vin rasped thickly.

Tim turned his attention back to the guests, seeing the honest joy in their expressions. Then he looked again to Heaven and said, "O merciful God, we ask You to ever remind us that the married state, whether recognized by the institutions of man or not, are holy, and that we must keep it so. Grant Chris and Vin, Your grace that they may continue in love and faithfulness. Increase in them the spirit of mutual understanding and trust so that no quarrel or strife may come between them. Grant them all of Your blessings, so that they may stand before all, and in Your sight, as an ideal family – loving, supportive, and filled with Your spirit."

And looking back at the two men, he said, "I only wish that I could pronounce you married spouses, but that is what you are. One day soon, I hope. But the commitment you have already made to each other, a marriage if there ever was one, has now been made manifest before your friends and your family. God has always known what's in your hearts. So, why don't you seal the deal with a kiss and we'll all cheer you on."

Chris and Vin both blushed slightly, but they moved together, embracing tenderly, their lips meeting in a loving kiss that lingered slightly longer than either of them had intended. Cheers and applause erupted around them and they both pulled back, misty-eyed and grinning.

"God bless you," Tim said softly, "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."

"Thanks, Tim," Vin said, his voice still thick with emotion.

Chris nodded.

"When we can do this officially, I hope you'll do it again, in the church."

"Think we will," Vin said, shooting Chris a look. "He dresses up kind 'a nice."

Larabee snorted. "You should talk, Tanner."

As they turned to face the others, they were met by a rain of birdseed. Then the newly-blessed couple was off to change, the rest to the picnic area where a barbeque was ready to be started.

Inez and Buck took over the cooking chores. JD and Casey headed off for a walk in the trees. Mary kept Billy from asking Chris too many questions and the rest settled down on the benches to help with the meal, and to chat. Tim wandered around, helping where he could, then settled down next to Josiah, the two men falling into a theological discussion that sounded like they were speaking Greek to anyone who happened to overhear them – and in some instances, they were.

Wearing jeans and flannel shirts again, Chris and Vin settled next to each other at the head of one of the picnic tables, exchanging glances.

Chris fished into his pocket and pulled out a small box, which he handed to Vin. "Thought maybe we ought to go all the way," he said softly.

Tanner opened the lid. Inside were two thick silver bands, mountain landscapes expertly etched into the metal of both. "Chris," he breathed, "they're beautiful."

"Yours is the one on the left."

Tanner pulled the band out, and Chris took it, sliding it onto Vin's left ring finger. Then the sharpshooter pulled out the other one and slipped it onto Chris' finger, saying, "I love y', Cowboy."

"I love you, too," Chris replied, knowing that those words didn't come easily to either of them, but they both knew it was the truth, and that, in the end, was all that really mattered.

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