Author's Note: Whew! Well that took so much longer than planned! I hope you enjoyed the ride! There are various rites out there depending on religion and denomination and preference. I'm using the one I'm most familiar with from the Catholic Church – not the full service mind you. That would take a bit.

#1 – I Thee Wed

Darcy knew she should have paid more attention to the readings and the homily, but emotion bubbled and rolled through her, burning away any chance of that. She could feel the eyes focused on her, could hear each sniffle and sigh from various places in the church, but she could not manage to take in one word the priest said. Her eyes remained trained on him through sheer force of will; she kept wanting to sneak a look at Phil, but if she turned away she knew she would never be able to turn back.

Focusing on containing her tears probably did not help.

So she was a sucker for weddings – even her own.

Sue her.

Finally, finally, Father Mike finished and stepped down from the pulpit. He moved down in front of the altar, his smile widening as he looked from Phil to Darcy. "Phillip, Darcy, please join me." They rose to their feet and came to stand in front of him. Darcy felt Jane and Skye following her even as Clint and Steve moved to stand beside Phil. Her fingers trembled. The ribbons of her bouquet fluttered with the motion and Phil met her eyes. He gave her the smallest of smiles. Something settled inside her, bringing her smile up to full wattage as she beamed back at him.

The previous evening flashed through her mind.

"You're certain you are alright?" Phil asked her, his voice low and his hand steady at the small of her back. "I'm sorry I couldn't get there faster."

"I'm fine," she promised him. "Fantastic even. And you were supposed to be at a party enjoying yourself. I know Clint and Steve put a lot of effort into it." He lifted a skeptical brow. "What?" she demanded, her eyes going wide. "They did!"

"We were only having a couple of drinks at a small bar," he pointed out.

"True," Darcy allowed, "but then again – you should have seen what Tony wanted to do." He went a little pale and she nodded. "Exactly. Do you know how much effort the guys had to put into keeping Tony from going off the rails?"

"Remind me to recommend them both for a raise." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "I can only imagine what Stark…no, no, never mind. I don't want to imagine."

"Besides, my family totally had it covered." Her lips quirked. "Gave them a good story to add to the family lore."

"Hammer shouldn't have gotten that close."

"No one else will," she assured him. "Tasha can't be more than five steps away and Bucky's nearby as well. They've been trading off." She wrinkled her nose. "And I think Tasha's recruited half a dozen of my female family members to stay in the hotel with us." One finger tapped against her lips before she lifted a brow. "Also – I think my grandmother wants to wrap up all three of our spies and steal them for a few weeks to feed them."

"I feel somewhat certain they could handle themselves."

She gave him her own skeptical look. "You do remember Grandma Lewis, right?"

"I didn't say they could escape," he pointed out. "Just that they could handle the situation."

"Right." Pause. "We better keep them separated."

"Excellent idea."

She brought herself back to the present when the priest began to speak once more.

"My dear friends," Father Mike continued, "you have come together in this church so that the Lord may seal and strengthen your love in the presence of the Church's minister and this community." His gaze moved between them. "And so, in the presence of the Church, I ask you to state your intentions. Phillip and Darcy, have you come here freely and without reservation to give yourselves to each other in marriage?"

"I have." Phil's voice, quiet but steady, carried through the silent sanctuary.

Darcy's reply came out stronger, but just as firm. "I have."

"Will you love and honor each other as man and wife for the rest of your lives?" The priest's voice went through the service with a warm and obvious love for his work. "Will you accept children lovingly from God?"

"I will." Their answers almost blended together. Jane stepped forward, her eyes bright with happy tears, to take Darcy's bouquet. Those joyous eyes brought up another memory from the previous evening, this one filled with laughter.

Jane all but tackled her as she walked into the hotel room. "Are you okay? I can't believe that jackass picked this week of all weeks to escape and abduct someone! What an idiot! Didn't he realize your family was in town?"

"Jane, Jane, Jane," Darcy laughed. "I'm good! The family got to perform some thrilling heroics and Natasha gets to lock me up for the rest of the night…everybody wins!"

"Darcy…." Jane rolled her eyes.

"Really, boss lady, I'm fine." Her eyes began to glow with a wicked gleam. "And as for Hammer…well, let's just say he didn't bother to do his homework. Apparently he only made plans for the Avengers."

"His IQ must be lower than Stark thinks," the petite scientist scoffed.

"He's a smug, superior bastard who needs someone to knock some sense into him," Darcy corrected. "I vote we have Brigid do it."

Jane lifted her hands to cover her mouth as she collapsed into a nearby chair, almost doubled over in laughter. "You're so bad!"

"Should I ask?" Natasha inquired as she stepped into the room. Her eyes focused on the giggling scientist. Skye followed her through the door.

"I said someone needed to knock some sense into Hammer and I though Brigid should do it."

Skye clapped, crowing with her own amusement. "Oh, my God! I want to see that! Seconded!" She dragged out her phone and began swiping the screen. "We could post it online and be viral in minutes!"

"Brigid?" the redheaded spy prompted.

"Here!" Skye offered her the phone and Darcy managed to catch a glimpse of the family photo. "Brigid's the tiny one in the front. She's all of four foot, eleven, tops."

Darcy and Jane spoke in unison. "Four foot, eleven and a half."

"Right, right," Skye nodded, a mock note of solemnity in her face. "We mustn't forget the half." She tilted her head as she turned back to Natasha. "The half is very important."

"And you tall people can just hush," Darcy scolded, with Jane nodding beside her. "When you've spent your entire life wearing ridiculous heels just to be able to look people in the eyes, then you can make comments, but I don't want to hear any height comments from someone who's halfway on the way to six feet tall."

Skye waited a beat before nodding at Natasha and repeating. "The half is very important."

"Of course," Natasha nodded back. "I shall make careful note of that."

Really, how lucky could one woman be in her friends…her family…the love of her life?

"Since it is your intention to enter into marriage, join your right hands, and declare your consent." Father Mike turned to Phil. "Do you, Phillip, take Darcy for your lawful wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?"

"I do."

"Do you, Darcy, take Phillip for your lawful husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?"

Darcy's smile grew tremulous. "I do." One tear spilled over her lashes to track down her cheek. Phil reached up with his free hand to smooth it away and she could almost hear the melting cooing the women of her family managed to restrain. Someone better have caught that on camera or her mother was going to be ticked off.

"You have declared your consent," Father Mike beamed. "May the Lord in his goodness strengthen your consent and fill you both with his blessings. What God has joined, men must not divide." He consecrated the rings with a short blessing and then stepped back to allow them the moment of exchange.

Phil picked up her ring and slipped it on her finger. "Darcy, take this ring as a sign of my love and fidelity."

Joy tightened her throat as she felt his fingers tremble. He gave no sign, but she felt that surge of emotion coming from him and it made her words a little more choked than they might have been. "Phil, take this ring as a sign of my love and fidelity." The ring slid into place as their eyes met once more.

The priest stepped forward to give them their first blessing as a married couple. Then his smile broadened into a grin. "And now the part that gets the applause," he informed them. "Phil, you may kiss your bride." Phil leaned down to brush his lips across hers.

And the family erupted.

Darcy giggled and they pulled back to exchange amused looks. Phil leaned his forehead against hers for a moment. "Hello, Mrs. Coulson," he said, his voice too low to be overheard in the noise.

"You know," she began as a mischievous sparkle began to gleam in her eyes, "there's a 'Pride and Prejudice' quote in there, but I might have to give you a pass on this one." A smile, a real smile crossed his lips and she could hear several clicking sounds. "Photographic evidence, Mr. Coulson, whatever shall we do?" She just managed to keep her voice low.

Before Phil could reply they heard Tony. "Okay, with that photo, I'll forgive them for that pale imitation of a kiss."

"Remind me to shoot him on the way out?" she whispered.

Phil flicked an eyebrow as he straightened. "Tempting."

"Not in my church, if you please," Father Mike instructed, giving them both a boyish kind of grin. "That kind of cleaning bill is hard to explain." Then he lifted his hands. When the noise level dropped, he raised his voice to proclaim. "My friends, may I introduce our happy couple?"

"Phillip and Darcy Coulson."

Ending Author's Note: In regards to the official parts of the ceremony - Excerpts from the English translation of Rite of Marriage are copyright © 1969, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved.