This is Prompt No. 56-Marriage

Mitchie's fingers twisted around her white dress, forgetting Caitlyn's instructions about not touching her dress at all. She barely remembered not to bunch her skirt into her hands as they curled into fists. "Come on, come on!" she hissed, wishing that Caitlyn would hurry up and give her the signal. All she wanted to do was to get this part over with.

As if to answer her impatient murmurings, Caitlyn, her lithe frame twisting through the small opening between the door and the doorframe, whispered, "Are you ready?"

Mitchie couldn't help but glare at her friend. "Do I look ready?"

Caitlyn smirked. "Yup." She laughed lightly after that. "In all honesty, you look like you're about ready to turn and bolt, but Shane looks just the same. Once you get in there and see each other, you'll both be just fine."

"How do you know all these things?" Mitchie asked. Her face looked less pinched and less frightened. "Oh why can't he walk me down the aisle," she moaned. "Why do we even have to have an aisle?"

Caitlyn grinned at the bemoaning and the questions. "Because I'm a married woman. I've been through this before," she said, answering Mitchie's first question. "Because it's not traditional," she went on, answering Mitchie's second question. "Because it's traditional," she added, answering Mitchie's third question. "You wanted to have a traditional wedding, didn't you?"

"Yes," Mitchie admitted grudgingly. "Why oh why do I have to be so stupid?" she muttered, glancing toward the bland ceiling of the base.

Caitlyn rolled her eyes, pulling her fashionable blue dress around her ankles and facing toward the door. "Ready?" she asked, ignoring Mitchie's worries. She knew from experience that those fears would be abolished as soon as the young bride stepped through the door right in front of her.

Caitlyn pushed open the door and lightly swept into the room, leading the way for the bride. She nodded to the rows upon rows of chairs in the conference room, thanking each and every one of the imaginary guests for being there today. Mitchie couldn't help but smile as she watched her friend make everything as normal as possible. She began to follow her friend, and her eyes swept up to look at the front of the tiny conference room.

She hadn't expected the sight of Shane in his borrowed suit to be so arresting. Her breath caught in her throat as she gazed at him, his suit matching the color of his hair exactly. When he saw her in her white, train-less dress, his mouth dropped open for a moment, and then a smile graced his face, so wide that Mitchie was forced to smile as well.

Nate stood behind him and when he saw Shane relax, he relaxed as well and mouthed, "Finally." His face twisted comically as he mouthed it and Mitchie felt the rest of her anxiety fade away.

Her smile grew wider as she strode down the makeshift aisle, each step bringing her closer and closer to the young man she loved. She reached him easily, stretching out her fingers, waiting for his hand to close around hers. He returned her smile as he grasped her hand and they faced the general.

Though there were only six people in the room, Mitchie felt just like she was at a traditional wedding. Nate and Jason were Shane's best men, and Caitlyn struggled with her tough façade as she tried not to cry through part of the service. The general performed the ceremony with dignity that Mitchie admired, and soon, she and Shane were legally married.

The UUS had set out a small banquet, like a family dinner, for the six members of the wedding party. Shane and Mitchie sat next to each other, discreetly holding each other's hand under the table. Nate and Jason sat across from them with Caitlyn next to them and the general across from them, next to Mitchie. Though Mitchie knew that he had noticed the hand holding going on next to him, he didn't comment; he just smiled.

The dinner was rather blurry for Mitchie. She remembered having a wonderful time with all her family, since that was what they were, but it was Shane that had her completely distracted. Throughout the whole dinner, he used his thumb to rub lazy circles across the smooth skin on the back of her hand, completely distracting her as to what she was doing, or even what she was eating. And he knew it. The smug little smirk on his face showed that he knew exactly what he was doing to her.

The dinner had to come to an end sometime, though they tried to drag it out as long as possible. Shane and Mitchie excused themselves, knowing that no one was allowed to leave the table before them, due to tradition. They said their goodnights, both of them trying very hard not to blush, and then they left.

"It was lovely," Shane said conversationally as they strolled through the tunnels, ignoring the small, sneaking glances from the others in the tunnels.

Mitchie sighed, but it was a sigh of happiness, of contentment. "It was, even though I couldn't tell you what I ate. Someone was distracting me" she teased. She snuck a glance at her husband, reveling silently at the way the word 'husband' sounded in her mind, and smiled. He was hers, if even for a couple of weeks.

Shane turned down an unfamiliar hall and started to continue walking, but Mitchie pulled him up short. "Is something wrong?" he asked concernedly, no doubt wondering if she was getting cold feet already.

She glanced around, but not as though she as looking for a way to bolt, so Shane felt better about that. "This isn't the right tunnel," she stated acutely.

Shane grinned, having forgotten his good news. "Yes it is," he assured her. "Did you really think that you and I could squeeze into your little bed?" He grinned as he watched her blush. "The general had an old storage room that he let Nate and Jason clear out for us. They spent the time before the wedding making it a little more like home. They moved all our clothes and things into the room while Caitlyn was helping you get dressed."

"Oh," Mitchie replied flatly, surprised rather than upset. "So this is the way there?" she guessed.

"Sort of," Shane replied. "I want you to meet someone before we settle down for the night." He winked at Mitchie and her heart responded by stuttering over itself.

"Okay," she conceded, trying not to look stupid. She let him lead her down the winding tunnel, once again marveling that such a force was so big and the Confederates never knew it. In the beginning, she had wondered why the war was still going on with such a force again the south, but then she had realized that despite all the intelligence on the Union side, nothing went perfectly like it was planned.

Her reverie was interrupted by Shane saying, "We're here."

She stopped suddenly as he spoke, embarrassed that she had been thinking war strategies on her wedding day. She sighed mentally, for no matter what the occasion, war seemed to be a large part of her life now. War changed the way a person looked at life, that was for sure. "Sorry," she whispered as she almost ran into Shane.

He shook his head. "No damage, I don't think." He poked dramatically at his ribs, "checking" for internal damage.

Mitchie laughed and poked him sharply in the ribs. "There will be," she promised, though the threat held no validity, and they both knew it.

He laughed again and held the door open for her, and all Mitchie could see as she stepped inside was the small sign on the door that read, "Scientist."

A/N: Chapter 50! We're halfway there! Please let me know what you think! (And I'd love your nominations!) ;)