Hey all, AC here with part 3/9 of VTR. Are you enjoying it so far? I hope so. Anyway, thanks so much for reading & a special thanks to Dimonah Tralon, retropanda37, & ACasey; all I can say is expect the unexpected. ;) & now onto the story!

On the morning of the wedding, AJ was up before the sun, packing her duffel. She threw in clothes systematically, checked that her bathroom caddy was still well-stocked, then got down to the nitty-gritty of picking out which personal items to carry around the world with her. She threw in first her teddy bear (a gift from her Gran), then her PSP and Nintendo DS, and of course her laptop and camera. Four books and a twenty-five disk case full of DVDs later, AJ was halfway through forcibly zipping up the duffel when she grabbed the group picture on her dresser from a recent dinner at the Bartowski's and added it to the bag.

Bag packed, she left it by the door and ate her usual bowl of Special K and chocolate milk before taking a shower. Slipping into her horrendous pink bridesmaid dress and matching heels (she'd kill Honey Woodcomb next time she saw her), AJ found herself dragging. The truth of it was that for the first time in her life she didn't want to live out of a duffel. She just wanted things to stay the way they were.

Get a grip, AJ thought, you're living in a fantasy world. Haven't you learned anything? Nothing's the way it seems to be—Chuck, Beth, Sarah, Casey, all of them live and deal in secrets. Morgan's chosen a new life in Hawaii with Anna. This isn't home.

Taking a deep breath, AJ finished getting ready and, having promised Ellie she'd be at the church bright and early, made her way out the door. Not looking where she was going, she almost ran dead into—"Bryce?"

"AJ," he said, letting surprise cloud his face for only a moment before schooling his features. "Look, I'm sure you're really confused right now, but—"

"You're a spy."

His eyes narrowed. "Yeah. How did you know?"

AJ shrugged. "Long story, lucky guess, take your pick. What're you doing here anyway, if you're supposed to be dead?"

"Came to see…Chuck. Do you know if he's home?"

"Should be. Hey, Bryce?"

"Yeah?"

"You had a reason for getting Chuck kicked out of Stanford, didn't you?"

He smiled with the air of a con artist. "It was good seeing you again."

AJ nodded, and watched him approach the Morgan door before she climbed into her Jeep and drove off.

Fifteen minutes later, she pulled up in front of the church. Having gotten up so early, she'd expected to be the first one there, and was therefore surprised to find Sarah sitting in the back pew.

"Sarah? What are you doing?"

She jumped slightly, and AJ instinctively ducked, half fearing she'd be shot for startling the spy. "Oh, AJ. Hi."

AJ slid into the pew next to her. "Hi, are you okay? You seem…spacey."

"I'm fine."

After a moment, AJ said ever so casually, "I saw Bryce Larkin."

"What?"

Though mildly alarmed by Sarah's reaction, AJ plowed on. "He was at the apartments, looking for Chuck. I take it you know him then?"

Sarah took a deep, steadying breath. "He was my partner."

From her tone, AJ gathered they'd been partners in every sense of the word.

"Oh. So are you planning on being his partner again?"

She noticed how Sarah winced, sensing the underlying accusation, before nodding. "Those are our orders. We're leaving tomorrow."

"Does Chuck know?"

Sarah shook her head.

"You need to tell him, Sarah. For both of your sakes." I patted her hand softly and excused myself. Standing in the back of the church, watching us, was Mr. Bartowski. Together we walked out of the church and into the back hallway, towards the rooms where everyone would be getting ready for the wedding.

"Hello, Ava."

"Hello, sir. Does Ellie know you're here? I'd hate for her to think you disappeared again."

They shared a smile and he said, "I drove in with her and Charles. I still can't believe Eleanor's getting married today."

"Me either. Devon's a good man; I'm really happy for the both of them."

They walked on in silence, AJ fidgeting with her dress.

"I heard you graduated from MIT. I'm proud of you."

And just like that, AJ lost her cool. Tearing up, she hugged him and said, "I'm so glad you're not dead!"

He pulled back, confusion and concern written all over his face. "Wait, you know? You're not involved as well, are you?"

AJ shook her head. "I just found out while you were captured. Devon found out too. We don't know any details though, just that Chuck, Sarah, Beth, and Casey are spies and that you'd been taken prisoner."

"Good. Listen to me, Ava, you need to keep as far away from this spy business as you can, it's too dangerous."

"But what about Chuck then?"

"Charles is getting out. Rescuing me was his last mission. Promise me you'll stay away from all this spy business."

"Yes, of course I will. I promise."

He hugged her again, then motioned towards the closed door of the bride's changing room. "You better go then. Wouldn't want to spoil Ellie's big day by making you late."

"You're right."

Before she went in though, he grabbed her hand and added, "Just in case, remember that old computer I gave you, that first summer we met? Do you still have it?"

"Yeah."

"If you're ever in trouble, spy-related trouble that is, pull it out and look in the floppy drive."

He released AJ's arm, and without another word she entered Ellie's changing room.

Beth snarled, cursing Honey Woodcomb and the awful frilly thing called a dress as she tried to run (as fast as she could in three inch heels) to Ellie's changing room. If she wasn't careful, she'd rip her dress, not that she'd really be sad about the fact. Actually, she'd pay money for a tiger, a bear, something to shred it to bits. With her out of it first, of course. Reaching the door, she took a breath and smoothed the dress. At least she could pretend she wasn't late, stressed, and coming apart at the seams. She wished John were here, but he had already left for his mission. Okay, time to do this thing.

Planting a smile on her face and walking as gracefully as she could, she entered the changing room. Sarah and AJ had already arrived, both looking rather…pink. Upon seeing Ellie, the phony smile turned genuine. She hadn't changed into her dress yet, but you could tell she was excited; she glowed.

Giving each girl a hug, Beth clapped her hands together and faked an Italian accent.

"Okay, ladies, we gonna make 'e so beau'iful! Now who's r-ready for 'de magic?"

They all laughed.

Ever practical, Sarah took charge for a moment and said, "Why don't the rest of us help Ellie get into her dress and then we'll take it in turns getting our make-up done?"

There was a general nod of agreement. Carefully, AJ and Beth grabbed the dress off its hanger and with Sarah's help managed to get Ellie into it.

"Oh wow," Beth breathed.

Sarah started, "Ellie, you look—"

"Awesome," AJ finished.

The four of them cracked up. They were still trying to control themselves when one Honey Woodcomb burst in.

"Where is she! Oh, you just look stunning!"

The other girls backed out of the way as Honey oozed her way into the room. Beth mentally groaned (as she guessed the others did as well). God bless her, but Honey was a little too involved in the wedding. At least, that's what Beth thought, but nobody had asked her. So Beth was forced to put up with Motherzilla.

Looking around at the group of girls, she gave a slight nod. "Well, you girls look decent." Catching a glance at Beth's shoes (which were not pink to match the dress, but rather silver, because there was no way Beth would pay beaucoup dollars for custom made shoes she'd only wear once), Honey furrowed her brow.

"Well those are…interesting shoes."

Taking a breath, Beth remembered the words om always said: 'Kill 'em with kindness.'

"Well thank you, Mrs. Woodcomb. You're looking lovely today—have you and your husband found where you're sitting yet? I bet you're just dying to rest for a moment, you've been busy worrying that every detail is perfect, but you don't have to worry—we've got everything under control."

"Hardly. I mean, there's so much to do. Look at your hair, MJ—"

"AJ," AJ corrected her with a scowl. As much as she agreed Devon was Awesome, she failed to understand where he got it from. Certainly not from him mother. Than again, she had nothing in common with her parents. Hmmm, maybe the awesomeness skipped a generation…

"Yes, AJ. Anyway, your hair is a mess, and Sarah, you really should put on some makeup."

"I'm already wearing makeup—"

There was a knock on the door. The four girls sighed in relief when Honey went to get the door, and Ellie whispered, "I'm sorry about her."

"It's okay…but has she always been this…" Beth paused to search for the right word.

"—crazy?" supplied AJ.

Sarah tried, "Controlling?"

At both terms, Beth shook her head. "No…so psychotic and Motherzilla-esque?"

Ellie smiled. " 'fraid so. If I had it my way, I'd have a small wedding. On the beach, with close friends and family. But Honey wants this to be her son's perfect day. And it will be."

The smile on Ellie's face didn't quite reach her eyes, something the other girls noticed, but didn't say anything about. Not yet, anyway. Honey had walked back towards the group of girls.

"Your brother wants to see you, even though I told him it's bad luck—"

AJ and Beth simultaneous sidestepped Honey, with the former pulling the door open and the latter pulling Chuck in. He entered and stood next to the mirror, looking at Ellie with an incredulous look on his face.

"Look at you, your dreams are coming true."

Not wanting to intrude on their moment, Sarah, Beth, and AJ pulled away, taking Honey with them. "Why don't you let us escort you to your seat, Honey?" Sarah tried again. "Woody and Devon are probably wondering where you've gotten to."

"Oh, alright. But don't blame me if you all look awful in the wedding party pictures," she said as she followed Sarah out the door.

"Like we could actually look good in these dresses," AJ whispered to Beth, who tried not to laugh and failed miserably.

AC: Bryce, Papa B, & Honey Woodcomb; who's going to show up next? Look forward to an extra-long chapter next time, & please review! It makes us smile & motivates us to update faster!

LB: I second what AC's said, and, yeah, I think she's covered it. I do want to say danke schon, merci, gracias, and many other thanks for continuing to read, because it really does mean a lot to AC and myself. Look forward to another chapter soon! :)