And it's the end! Thanks to my wonderful betas, Nancy and Carol, for all their work on this story. Extra special thanks for their help with the vows here, and for helping me iron out a plot detail.
And thanks to everyone on the boards for reading and giving feedback! I hope you enjoy this last chapter.
PART TWENTY-FIVE
*~Jay~*
I drummed my fingers in the countertop as the clerk painfully clicked through the computer.
“What were the names again?” he asked.
“Jonathan Kent and Kaylie Stewart,” I reminded him tersely. I glanced at my watch. I was supposed to be at the church already. But to be fair, it wasn’t this guy’s fault that I was running behind. And it wasn’t mine, either. When Kaylie asked me to go pick up the marriage license, though, I didn’t dare tell her that maybe she should have done it earlier this week.
“We don’t have any record here for those names,” the man announced.
My fingers stilled abruptly. “What?”
“They’re not coming up on the computer. Are you sure you have the names right?”
“Yeah, I’m sure,” I snapped. “Look, you’re making a mistake. They came in and applied for this *weeks* ago. It’s got to be there somewhere.”
“I don’t see… Oh, wait. Here’s something!”
“Thank God!”
“They came in with all the appropriate paperwork, everything was filled out properly. But then…”
“Yeah?” I asked with trepidation.
“The application was frozen,” the clerk replied.
“Why would it be frozen?” I demanded dangerously.
“It can happen for a number of reasons,” he informed me. “If someone is still married to someone else, for example. Or if there’s any conflicting information between the form and what the computer says. But this is a really strange case,” he continued. “Normally, the system will tell me the reason behind the application being rejected, but here it just appears to stop. No reason given or anything. I’d say it wasn’t us, but there’s no sign at all of any outside agency interfering.”
His words made my neck prickle with familiarity.
“You know what, it’s probably a good thing it didn’t go through,” I announced. “Just between you and me, I hate the guy she’s going to marry.”
The clerk looked up with wide eyes, successfully distracted from his task.
“Maybe there’s some kind of sister-saving agency that did this for me, eh?” I winked at the guy. “Kaylie needs to find a guy who isn’t afraid to take charge every now and then. Nothing like this sensitive crap her fiancé keeps pulling. You know what I mean, right?”
“Uh…” If his eyes had been any wider, they would’ve popped out of their sockets.
I resisted the urge to laugh, and instead kept in character. “Well, thank God for computer glitches, anyway. Now, don’t you worry about this one more minute, okay? I’ll take care of everything with the ex-bride to be.”
With that, I strode out of the office, head held high and an obnoxious grin on my face. That quickly faded, though, as soon as I shut the door of my car.
That whole ‘computer glitch’ had reeked of the NIA, and I was all too glad to keep the clerk from poking into it any further. By why on earth was Kaylie’s marriage license frozen by the agency? And most important of all, what was I going to tell Kaylie?
* * *
***
It was our second week stuck in that dingy apartment. In comparison to the excitement of our first assignment, this one was the epitome of monotony. Babysitting surveillance equipment wasn’t exactly how I had imagined spending my time in the NIA.
I entered the apartment balancing take-out cartons in one hand. The smell of moldy carpet greeted me, along with the soft murmur of the TV. Thank God for that thing otherwise we would have died of boredom.
“Brought Thai,” I told Kaylie, dumping a carton in front of her.
“Thanks,” she replied absently.
“Anything happen?”
“What do you think?” she asked bitterly.
I fiddled with the computer, and checked the history. Just like Kaylie had said, nothing had happened. I was really getting tired of this whole mission.
“Hey, Jay! Come take a look at this!”
I turned to face the TV. Kaylie was watching some news program, which was showing footage from another Superman rescue. I could see Superman and Supernova in the picture, but was that also…?
“Is there a new one?” I asked in disbelief.
“Yep. And it’s a girl,” Kaylie replied smugly.
“Nice,” I approved. The camera zoomed in on a close-up of her face.
“Stop drooling,” Kaylie reprimanded.
“I wasn’t doing anything!” I defended.
“Sure.” She prodded the food I brought, and took a tentative taste. “Ugh, this is cold,” she declared. “And it has too much… Well, I don’t know. Too much of some kind of seasoning. You know, I bet *they* can get the best food on the planet.” She jabbed at the screen, making clear who she was talking about.
“Kaylie, they’re superheroes. They don’t need to eat,” I told her.
“Doesn’t mean they don’t like to,” she shrugged. Even though she complained about the food, she still ate with gusto. “Wouldn’t you like to if you could fly all over the world to get the best stuff?”
“I guess,” I conceded.
“If I ever met one of them, I would ask them that,” Kaylie declared.
“You’d ask them where to get good takeout?” I asked in disbelief.
“Sure,” she shrugged. “What would you ask?”
“I don’t know,” I replied.
“Oh, c’mon! Take that new superhero woman there. If could ask her any question in the world, what would it be?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know,” I said again. “But who knows? Maybe if I met her, the right question would come to me.
***
* * *
*~Ellie~*
“That doesn’t even make sense,” I whispered to Jay, trying to keep out of earshot of Kaylie, who was on the other side of the thin door. Of course, she seemed too distressed to even bother paying attention to us. I had come late into the scene, and Jay was explaining it all to me.
“Well, that’s the NIA for you,” he shrugged. “Hyper-security conscious to the point where it kills you. Or stops your wedding.”
“But I thought Kaylie used her pseudonym for college and her job applications. Why would a marriage license application set off internal alarms that those didn’t?”
“Well, those other ones technically do,” he replied. “But the NIA knew about those in advance, so they freed up Kaylie’s information accordingly. But Kaylie’s data wasn’t unfrozen for this application, so the process was automatically shut down by the NIA computer.”
“So Kaylie was supposed to tell the NIA that she was sending in the application?” I winced. This would be even harder for her if she realized it was her fault.
“No, she did that,” Jay told me. “It was the NIA that got it wrong, apparently.”
“I don’t care if you fixed it now!” Kaylie shouted from the next room. “That’s not going to help me get married *today*, now is it?”
Jay and I both winced. Things had to be pretty bad if Kaylie was yelling at her superior in the NIA. The calm voice of Jon interjected, and their conversation receded back to gentle murmurs.
“The application process has recently changed,” Jay continued. “You remember how they’re requiring blood tests and everything now? Well, Agent Porter wasn’t aware how much those changes would affect Kaylie, and other agents like her.”
“So there’s no way Kaylie and Jon can get married today,” I summarized, my heart sinking. After all of their hard work to put this together, I could understand Kaylie’s feelings.
“Not with New Troy’s waiting period,” Jay shook his head.
At that comment, I heard footsteps come from down the hall. Mr. Stewart stepped out around the corner, and came up to us.
“Are they still meeting with Agent Porter?” he asked us.
“Yeah,” Jay replied. “Kaylie and Jon are in there, and I think Clark is too. Lois is out making sure everything else is running smoothly.”
Although her efforts might be wasted, I added silently. It looked like the wedding may never take place.
Mr. Stewart sighed. “If only I had known… Anyway, I could possibly push the office to run the license through today, but that would reveal Kaylie’s connection to the NIA, and we can’t afford to do that.”
“They came close enough to suspecting something this morning,” Jay told his father. “I just hope I gave them enough of a show to keep them from poking into it any more.”
“If you gave the show, Jason, I’m sure they were sufficiently distracted,” Mr. Stewart commented absently, still thinking about the problem at hand. Funnily enough, it came very close to almost sounding like a complement within the context. “I do have one more idea,” he mused. “As a last resort, if anything…” Then his head snapped up. “I’ll need you two to keep everyone occupied until I can talk it over with Kaylie and Jon. The ceremony is supposed to start soon, and people will be getting anxious.”
Jay and I exchanged glances. What exactly was his plan? And did we want to leave him with Jon and Kaylie during such an emotional time?
But my dad was with them, and I knew he would be good at handling any tension Mr. Stewart stirred up. And Mr. Stewart was right. The ceremony was going to start late, even by wedding standards.
Jay appeared to be reading my mind. “Okay,” he said. “We’ll go keep the masses entertained.”
* * *
“How exactly are we supposed to keep these people entertained?” I asked Jay desperately. We were standing by the altar in front of a very agitated group of people, in the positions we had practiced the night before. The minister stood between us, blissfully unaware of the discontent before us. I guess there can be a benefit to hearing aids after all.
There was no sign of Mr. Stewart, or Jon and Kaylie. I had seen Mom about to come in to sit down, but then Dad came out and beckoned her over to the room where they were talking. Agent Porter had come out, though, and was sitting on the bride’s side of the pews.
“How about I borrow Porter’s gun and give everyone a display of my marksmanship while you catch all the bullets?” Jay suggested.
“Ha ha,” I laughed dryly. “Not a chance. Besides, I doubt Agent Porter would bring a gun to a wedding.”
“Well, maybe not the really dangerous one,” Jay amended.
“Excuse me,” the minister interrupted. “Do you have any idea how much longer the wedding will be delayed?”
In unison, we both turned to look at him. He backed off a little from our united glare.
“It’s just that… I would like to go home at the end of this, and we’ve already been delayed over fifteen-”
“I’m sure it’ll be any minute now,” I told the man desperately. “There’s just some last minute…” I glanced over at the crowd again. People were really starting to get restless. I turned to Jay desperately.
“You’re right, Ellie, we have to do something,” he nodded. He strode over to where a microphone had been set up, and stepped in front of it. “Excuse me everyone,” he spoke into the mic. The crowd fell silent. “I would like to thank you all for coming this afternoon,” he continued. “I know your support means a lot to my sister and my soon to be brother-in-law. Now, I know it’s tradition for the Best Man to give a speech at the wedding reception, but seeing how the ceremony has been held up due to a slight difficulty…”
I waited expectantly. I had to admire his guts in speaking like this in front of everyone with no clear plan. I certainly wouldn’t be able to do it. Of course, I guess being in the NIA meant he would be able to think stuff up like this right away.
“But you know, I’m sure you’ll hear enough from me later on,” Jay continued. “For now, I would like to invite Ellie up to the microphone as I’m *sure* she’ll want to say a few words.”
I was going to kill him.
He grinned irritatingly back at me as I took the two steps it took to get over to him.
“Thank you, Jay,” I spoke, trying not to flinch at the sound of my amplified voice. “I just wanted to say… That, um…” That my boyfriend was going to die. A slow, painful death. “I would like to say…” Thankfully, a movement at the back of the church caught my eye. Mom and Dad were there, nodding at me that things were okay, and I could see Mr. Stewart as well. They had solved it! “I just wanted to say that it looks like we’ll be starting now,” I told everyone.
Before I had a chance to speak any more, the music cued up, so Jay and I went back to take our places. “That was not funny,” I whispered ferociously in his ear. “Aren’t you supposed to be good at that kind of thing after being in the NIA?”
“One of the tricks of the trade,” he replied smugly. “If you can’t think of anything, defer the responsibility to someone else.”
“Gee, thanks.”
We arranged ourselves as before, and I finally turned to look attentively to see Kaylie coming down the aisle.
But she wasn’t there.
Come to think of it, where was Jon?
The only person coming down the aisle was Mr. Stewart in the same strong, even stride he always used. He was halfway down the aisle before the music stopped, and the congregation began to sit uncertainly.
Mr. Stewart came up to the same microphone we had used before, and cleared his throat to get attention.
“Thank you,” he spoke once everyone had calmed down. “For those of you who don’t know, my name is Rodney Stewart, and I am the father of the bride. I’m sorry to say, but due to a clerical mix-up at the registry office, Jon and Kaylie’s marriage license application did not get processed correctly. Although the mistake has been cleared up, the mandatory waiting period makes a wedding today in New Troy impossible.”
The crowd broke out into a surge of murmurs, each person discussing the latest turn of events with their neighbor.
“Ahem!” Mr. Stewart called, gaining their attention again. “I said a wedding in *New Troy* would be impossible. As you know, there are other places in the world that are more… lenient about such things. I’ve arranged for the happy couple to take a trip to Jamaica so they can be married as planned. Although they are unable to say goodbye in person, they do have a message for us all.” Mr. Stewart nodded at the sound guy in the back, and an image came up on the projection screen. It was Jon and Kaylie, sitting together in the back of their wedding limo, no doubt on their way to the airport. As the video played, Mr. Stewart stepped away from the mic, and sat down at his reserved seat.
“Hi everyone,” Kaylie spoke. “We’re sorry we can’t be there for the ceremony. We did want to get married in front of all of you, but it seems that the fates have conspired against us.”
Although they looked sad that they weren’t going to be here, they also look more relaxed about the wedding than they had ever been.
“But even though we’ll be gone, the reception is already paid for,” Jon spoke up.
“So we invite you to celebrate anyway,” Kaylie said.
“They look happy,” I whispered to Jay.
“Yeah,” he agreed.
“Of course, Jon’s not going to be too happy he has to fly in a plane,” I said wickedly. “But I do feel kind of bad, though. A lot of people here came a long way to see a wedding.”
“Not a lot from my family, but plenty from yours,” Jay agreed.
“I hope all my Riverview students have a safe summer,” Kaylie was saying.
I glanced over at the row of grinning teenagers. They looked happy for their teacher too, and even a bit entertained at her crazy antics.
“Hey, Jay! Check out the second girl from the end in the fourth row,” I pointed out.
“That’s Chris!” He exclaimed softly. “She looks so much more peaceful now, doesn’t she?”
Chris looked over at our gaze, and waved happily at Jay. Jay gave a small wave back.
“She does,” I agreed.
“And Jay, this is just an idea,” Jon spoke from the screen. “But if you want to give everyone out there another reason to celebrate, how about you move up a certain event you had planned for later tonight?”
Jay smiled, and nodded minutely.
“What’s he talking about, Jay?” I asked.
“On that note, we need to get going,” Kaylie said. “We’re going to be at the airport soon, and we need to hustle.”
“Goodbye, everyone!” Jon called, and the video cut out.
“Jay, what was he talking about?” I demanded.
“He was talking about this,” Jay said, stepping over to the mic once again. He pulled it out of the stand and walked back towards me. “If I can just get everyone’s attention again,” he spoke. Obediently, everyone hushed.
“Ellie, when I first met you, I thought you were the most annoying person on the planet,” he said. “But it only took a few days for me realize what a truly wonderful and amazing person you are.”
I was frozen in place. My ears roared. This sounded almost like…
“And now,” Jay continued, “I can’t imagine ever having a life apart from you. A few months ago, I don’t think I would’ve been able to keep living if it wasn’t for you. You were my strength, that whole time, and for all the times I’ve known you. And there is nothing I want more than to be with you for the rest of my life.”
He sank down onto one knee. A gasp swelled up from the crowd. I pressed my hand to my mouth to choke back my exclamation.
“So, Ellie, I’m asking you humbly and honestly: Will you marry me?”
I couldn’t speak. I had tears pouring down my face, and the noise of everyone else seemed to dull around me and Jay’s pounding heart flooded my senses.
“I didn’t get you a ring,” he whispered. “Because I figured you’d want to pick out your own.”
“You bet I do,” I finally blurted through the tears. “You’d probably pick out one of those cheap plastic ones with the fake hunk of Kryptonite as the center.”
“Well, I can’t help it if you have better taste than I do,” he shrugged. “So, uh… I think everyone here’s waiting for an answer.”
“Give me the mic,” I commanded, getting control of myself. The congregation hushed once again as I lifted it to my lips. Really, they were getting a quality show today. “Jay, when I first met you, I thought you were the most arrogant and obnoxious man on the planet,” I told him, echoing his opener. “But in only a few days, I realized you were actually the most sensitive and loving man on the planet instead. You’ve made me feel special in a way no one else has ever done. And because of you, I’m not afraid to be strong. I’m not afraid to be myself.”
I reached over and clasped Jay’s hand in mine.
“So, yes, Jay,” I spoke softly. “I will marry you.”
His face broke into the hugest grin I had even seen. “I promise I’ll always keep chocolate in the house for you,” he told me, standing up and taking my other hand in his.
“Well, in that case, I promise to always make you chicken soup when you’re sick,”
I replied.
“Then I guess I’ll be able to put up with the charcoal your toaster produces.”
“How about I just promise to do all the cooking at your place?” I offered.
“I’ve got no complaints,” Jay grinned. “Tell you what: I’ll also promise to always try to keep my eyes open when I sneeze. Just in case I manage break the habit.”
“Well, if you’re going to do that, then I guess I can promise to run all my future experiments by you first,” I told him.
“Really?”
“Well, most of them,” I backtracked. “But I do promise to refer to James Bond only when absolutely necessary.”
He let out a bark of laughter. “Ellie, I promise to love you, no matter what outfit you’re wearing,” he told me, more seriously this time.
“And I promise to love you no matter what you’re doing for a living,” I replied.
“Ahem,” came a voice between us, interrupting the flow of our speech.
We turned to face the elderly minister standing between us.
“I don’t want to interrupt,” he told us. “But you are aware that this isn’t a legal ceremony, right? As I’m sure you know after today’s events, you need a legal marriage license. There’s a waiting period for that. And the laws have recently changed. Did you know you need a blood test now?”
“Yeah, we know that,” Jay rolled his eyes. “And we know that this isn’t legal. Can’t you recognize a romantic gesture when you see one? Trust me, we’ll be back here no later than…” he deferred to me.
“A month?” I suggested. The last thing I wanted to do was drag it out like Jon and Kaylie had.
“A month,” Jay agreed. “Now, if you’ll be so kind, could you say the magic words, please?”
“Uh… Yes… I could…” The minister flipped through his book frantically.
“We want the kiss,” I prodded him.
“Oh! Right. You may kiss the Bri-… uh… the Maid of Honor.”
“Bet you that’s the first time you heard that at a wedding,” Jay told me.
“Just kiss me already, would you?” I rolled my eyes.
And he did just that.
