Constantine rose. Midnite. He called psychically as he opened the hidden door and stepped back into the main club. There were more patrons now then when he'd first arrived. None of them really acknowledged the presence of John Constantine, but all knew he was there.

He crossed back over to the stairwell, waiting at the bottom. He felt her psychic vibrations and his heart skipped a beat. What was happening to him? Was he actually excited to see her, to go through with this?

"Get a grip." He muttered to himself. But his heart kept beating fast. He looked up then and found her slowly descending the stairs. "It's ok. Midnite knows you're coming."

"Remember I got the card last time as well. Was he expecting me then?" her hand slipped into his as she reached his side. John blinked a bit. She was holding his hand.

"Uh… I don't know. Ask him maybe." He shook the sensation off and started back across to the office with Elizabeth in tow.

"Ask him?" John just smiled at her. Then he realized there was no talking, no chatting, nothing but the music playing. He looked around quickly.

All the demons were staring at them. The few humans in the place were just as confused as Constantine but nothing and no one said a word. They knew who she was and more then a few toothy grins greeted them.

"John?" Elizabeth whispered. She moved slightly behind him, gripping the stuffing out of his hand.

"Come on." He squeezed back reassuringly and finished the long walk to Midnite's office. The door swung open for them and Constantine pulled her in after him.

"Only you could silence a crowd, John." Midnite grinned, his teeth so very white. "You must be the virgin."

"Is that how you introduce me to all your friends?" Elizabeth elbowed his side.

"Midnite, Elizabeth. Elizabeth, this is Midnite." John looked around the office. "What is he doing here?" he pointed at the bishop.

Midnite finished kissing the back of Elizabeth's hand in greeting. "Owes me a favor. Besides, you want a marriage in the eyes of your God."

"I thought you were going to perform the ceremony!"

"I never said that. I agreed to help you for the sake of your bride." Midnite shrugged. "Take it or leave it, Constantine." John snarled a bit under his breath then psychically scanned the bishop. He was human, thankfully, and knew when to keep his mouth shut.

"All right. All right. Can we start?" The bishop moved over in front of Midnite's desk, the Bible in hand. John glanced at it. The proper Bible, not the Hell Bible. He took a deep breath, tried to shake the shivers away.

"Are you sure about this, John?" Elizabeth was looking at him. He saw the fear on her face, plain as day.

"I don't go back on my word." He turned his gaze to the bishop, digging in his pocket. "Give him the ring." She watched him for few seconds before pulling the ring from her coat pocket.

It was a simple gold band, just like hers. Constantine watched her place it on the open pages of the Bible beside the other ring. Midnite moved behind them and raised his hands.

"Oh please." John sighed. Midnite ignored him, his lips moving in incantation and prayers. Elizabeth watched him. The room was silent until Midnite finished.

"Thank you." Elizabeth said to him. Midnite smiled and tipped his head to her.

"You'll thank me later, John."

"Not fucking likely."

"Are we ready to begin?" the bishop asked. "Please, come forward and face each other." He began the invocation and opening prayer, standard Catholic dogma. John let his mind wander a bit. "Does anyone object to this union?"

Constantine shot Midnite a glare. "Don't even." Midnite just smirked. John nodded at the bishop. "Continue on, padre."

"The union into which you are about to enter is the closest into which human beings can come. Your paths will be parallel, your responsibilities will increase, but your joy will be multiplied if you are sincere and earnest with one another." The priest continued. We know jack shit about each other, but it doesn't matter. John thought. Who knows if we'll even last a week after this is all over.

"John Constantine, will you take Elizabeth Alder, here present, for your lawful wife according to the rite of our Holy Mother, the Catholic Church?"

Constantine looked directly at her, into those crystal eyes. "I will." The priest nodded.

"Elizabeth Alder, will you take John Constantine, here present, for your lawful husband according to the rite of our Holy Mother, the Catholic Church?"

Their eye contact had not broken, seemed almost visible between them. "I will." The priest nodded again. "Please join hands. John, do you take this woman to be your wedded wife, to love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, and forsaking all others, keep you only unto her, for so long as you both shall live?"

This was heavy stuff. Constantine felt her hands in his. Soft and warm. She was really beautiful, even though she was wearing jeans and an old black shirt that barred a bit of her midriff. The red lighting in Midnite's office made her hair fiery and dazzled his eyes. Strike that, she was fucking hot. "I do." Again he felt the words escape his lips before his brain caught up.

Constantine heard the priest repeat the same question to Elizabeth. He realized that yes they did not know anything about the other, nothing more then what was volunteered in the past 48 hours, and that was okay. Sure, he was giving her opportunities for a lot of firsts she'd never had, but she was giving him his own opportunities. Someone who didn't really know him; wasn't coming in with a whole ton of preconceived notions about him. So she'd read about him on the Internet. Half that stuff wasn't true anyway. She didn't seem to fear him, and she hadn't flinched at his touch. Maybe there was something to her. Maybe this wasn't just a necessary path. Perhaps God was really dumping his soul mate into his arms.

"I do." Elizabeth's answer jarred him back to the present. Her gaze was still on his face. He tried to smile at her, to reassure. A tear spilled from the corner of her eye.

"Hey, none of that." He murmured, reaching up and softly smoothing it away with his thumb. She smiled, and they exchanged a soft laugh. The priest finished blessing the rings.

"Place this ring on Elizabeth's finger and repeat these words."

Constantine took up her left hand and slid the consecrated band onto her finger. He repeated the priest's words. "With this ring I thee wed, and pledge thee my troth." Elizabeth took up the ring for John and slid it onto his left hand.

"With this ring I thee wed, and pledge thee my troth." The words came harder for her. This was serious business to her and she saw it more as what it should be then an escape plan. Marriage was for life to her. John took it to heart and vowed to himself to do his best not to fuck it up on purpose. He couldn't imagine hurting her, but his track record spoke volumes.

Somewhere inside a voice whispered, Perhaps a fourth chance. Maybe, just maybe.

The priest raised his hand above the couple and prayed. "Be appeased, O Lord, by our humble prayers, and in Your kindness assist this institution of marriage which You have ordained for the propagation of the human race; so that this union made here, joined by Your authority, may be preserved by Your help. Through the same our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, Who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end. Amen."

John wondered if Midnite had told the bishop anything about this marriage. Probably not, but the mention of propagation of the human race hit him funny and he had to bite the inside of his cheek. He'd just gotten married so he could get laid. And save a girl from a horrible fate, not to mention probably save the world again… though this time by default. Still…

"You may now kiss your bride." The priest nodded to John. Constantine stared at him. This showed how many weddings he'd attended.

"Oh, yeah." He turned back towards Elizabeth. She was watching him, still holding his hands. He cracked his shields enough and found she was worried, that maybe he really didn't take this as seriously as she did.

So he kissed her. In a possessive way. He knew he'd caught her off-guard and ran with it, trying to ignite the fire inside her. It worked. Then she was kissing him, her arms sliding around his neck. Constantine groaned softly, his own passion aroused. Damn. If she could do this just with kissing…

"Save it for the hotel room." Midnite whispered in his ear. John blinked and broke away from Elizabeth. He found his hands around her waist, squeezing tightly. She was blinking, her lips lush and wet in the red lighting.

"Um, yeah. Uh. Thank you, Father." Constantine quickly shook the priest's hand then turned to Midnite. "I guess I won't get my bachelor's party after all."

"I don't think you'll be needing one." Midnite was appreciatively eyeing John's bride. "The sexual energy pent up in her alone…"

"I'll deliver the Jughead glass next Tuesday. Along with the coins." John held out his hand. Midnite looked at him for a long second then took the offering. "Thanks." John knew Midnite would catch all the meaning in that one word.

"You owe me." Midnite reminded him. He turned and ushered the priest out the back door, then took up the brief case he'd had brought in before the wedding. "A small wedding gift for each of you."

"Midnite, you old softy." John grinned wryly. What was Midnite up to?

Midnite thumbed the locks and clicked them open. The top of the case rose slowly. In the built-ins were two boxes, one much smaller then the other. Midnite removed the larger and turned towards Elizabeth.

Opening the box he revealed two large bracelets. "These were carved from boar tusk and are sacred, protecting the wearer. They are blessed by the gods and guardians." He took one up in his hand; the bracelet was massive. It must have been carved from a single tusk. "Your arm." Elizabeth looked at John, who remained passive. Midnite didn't dispense with gifts freely and it wasn't his place to tell her not to take them. He didn't believe Midnite would harm his wife. (That was going to take some getting used to saying!) Elizabeth held out her arm.

Midnite slid the bracelet over her hand and clear to the middle of her upper arm. He repeated with the second bracelet. The ivory was old, yellowed with age, and John could make out a few images carved into it, but most were unknown to him. The symbols were darkened by what he figured was blood and ashes.

Amazingly, Elizabeth didn't seem to be afraid of Midnite. Maybe because she just didn't know how powerful he was, John figured. He envied her ignorance a bit.

Midnite placed both hands on the bracelets and spoke a few arcane words harshly. John saw Elizabeth flinch a tiny bit as the bracelets shrunk and dug into her flesh.

"What the…" John extended a feeler our and tested the bracelets. They were definitely magic stuff; to work they had to be joined to the wearer. They weren't hurting her, but it would be uncomfortable at first. Elizabeth touched them timidly, getting used to it.

"Now for you. Sorry it isn't whiskey." Midnite retrieved the smaller box and opened it. Inside on a tiny silk cushion was a tiny charm. Carved of the same tusks of the boar bracelets Elizabeth wore. Midnite picked it up by the leather cord it hung on.

It was small, no bigger then a marble. Incredibly, the carving detail was one of a kind, creating openwork to show it was not a solid ball. Scrollwork and flower designs covered it.

"A bit girlish for me, don't you think?" Constantine eyed it.

"I have a deep feeling this will come in handy for you, Constantine. Don't use it unless you have to. It will only work once." Midnite looked directly into John's eyes and his voice finished his instructions mentally: Whispered words of incantations and chants, images of symbols and sigils. Constantine paid close attention, but couldn't help but wonder why Midnite was doing this.

"I will repeat, only if it is your last resort." John bowed his head as Midnite placed the fetish around his neck.

"Gotcha." John felt it in his fingers. The ivory seemed to pulse a bit, then felt normal. Midnite looked right in his eye again then turned to Elizabeth.

"It was very lovely to meet such a beautiful woman. How you ever ended up with one like Constantine… take care of him." He kissed the back of her hand once more. Turned to John. "You taken up too much of my time again."

"We were just leaving." John took Elizabeth by the arm, got a handful of bracelet. "See you later, Midnite." John looked over his shoulder, but Midnite had already left via another door.