Note From The Author—I heart Halloween. It's my favorite, so I'm going to try and do a Halloween story for each of my categories. We'll see how it pans out but here is the CSI: NY version; a little piece of established Stella and Flack fluff. Enjoy
Disclaimer—I don't own the characters mentioned herein
"Uh uh, no way in hell. You two can just turn around and walk away." Flack demonstrated the motion to Danny and Hawkes with his hand. "Now."
Hawkes shook his head, still holding out the garment bag with a mischievous glint in his eye. "A bet's a bet man, and you lost."
"Yeah, come on Flack, you're not going to back out on us now are you?"
"You bet your ass I am," he told Danny.
Danny shot Hawkes a look and a smile. "You know, it'd be a shame if Stella just happened to find out about that stripper that ended up on your lap when we took Adam out for his birthday."
Flack crossed his arms and leaned back to look at his two friends. "You mean the one the two of you paid to end up in my lap; the one who was there for a total of five seconds before I gave her a twenty to make her go far far away?"
"Is that how it went down?" Hawkes asked innocently. "I certainly don't remember it that way."
"You know it's funny, me either," Danny said with a smirk.
He shook his head, knowing there was officially no way out. "Fine," he conceded, extending his hand. The look on Hawkes face when he handed over the bag was just a little too gleeful, and Flack made sure nobody was looking before he flipped them both off.
Danny only gave a friendly wave as he and Hawked headed out. "See you tonight super hero."
It took Flack a good twenty minutes that night to get into the stupid costume, and when he did he felt even more ridiculous than he thought he would have. But no matter how asinine he felt, Stella was waiting for him at Hawkes' Halloween party, and he didn't have any choice other than to head out; but as he looked down at his costume then out the window at the busy streets he decided the least he could do for himself was sprint to the car.
When Jen Angell looked up and saw Flack walk through Hawkes' door she thought she was hallucinating. Then she took a second look and split into a grin when she realized that Detective Don Flack Jr. had indeed just walked into the party dressed from head to toe in red and blue spandex.
It was too good to pass up, and Angell made her way to the front door to rib him. "Hey Superman," she said with a grin.
Flack frowned at her, looking relatively normal in her Vargas pin up girl costume. "Please, just keep your mouth shut Jen."
His surly attitude did absolutely nothing to dissuade her. "You lose a bet or something?" The frown deepened and she found she couldn't hold back a laugh. "Oh my God you did, didn't you?"
Before he could reply Adam made his way over to them, handing Angell a drink as he juggled with the prop ax that went with his lumberjack getup. Then he turned and saw Flack and tried his best not to smile. "Hey Flack," he managed.
"Hey. You two here together?" he asked, though he already knew the answer.
"Yeah," she told him, her look daring him to comment further. "We are."
Flack didn't have any jokes to make about it. "Whatever works for the two of you; just watch out for the brothers," he advised.
Adam nodded. "Yeah, will do; you know Flack, that's a really great costume. Very … stretchy," he said, a laugh making his voice crack mid-way through the sentence.
"Say another word Ross and I swear to God I will shoot you."
"Where would you have put your gun?" Angell cracked.
He simply pointed across the apartment. "Go."
Angell and Adam did as they were asked, laughing all the way. It wasn't until he heard her voice that Flack realized Stella had witnessed the entire scene. "Well," she said, clearing her throat. "That is some costume."
He turned to find her grinning at him and looking downright gorgeous, done up like Cleopatra. Without hesitation he pulled her into his arms and kissed her slowly and thoroughly. When he pulled back from her he leaned his forehead against hers with a sigh. "As beautiful as you are, and as wonderful as that was, it still didn't help me forget what I'm wearing."
Stella couldn't help but laugh at that, and she brought her mouth to his again briefly. "What bet did you lose?"
"Hold on." Don pulled her closer and guided them into the small group of people in the apartment who were dancing. As they began to sway he finally explained what had landed him in about a mile of spandex. "Danny told Hawkes and me a while ago that Adam was interested in Jen. I bet that he wouldn't get it together before the party tonight; Danny bet that he would, and Hawkes bet that he already had. Lindsay told Hawkes yesterday that Adam and Jen have been together for over a month."
"So technically Danny and Hawkes both won…"
"And I ended up in a Superman costume," he said, clearly resigned to the fact that he was stuck with it for the duration of the night.
She smiled up at him. "It really isn't that bad, you know; you make an awfully good Superman. Right coloring, the right eyes, and you look excellent in spandex."
Flack laughed. "It was a bitch to get into, it took me over twenty minutes, and the conditions of the bet say I can't leave until every member of the team has seen me. I haven't talked to anyone but you, Ross and Angell."
"Pity," she commented, rising up on her toes to whisper in his ear. "Because you look really, really good in spandex."
"Stell, keep talking like that and we're both going to be really embarrassed here," he said a bit desperately.
Stella pulled out of his arms, and when she did he saw the wicked grin on her face. "Well then, I suggest you go find everybody you need to see. When you do, come and find me."
"And when I do?" he asked.
She looked up at him with mischief sparkling in her eyes. "We'll head home and find out how fast I can get you out of that bitch of a costume."
Before he could pick his jaw up off the floor she had crossed the room to talk to Angell, and he began to scan the room for the others. He found Hawkes and Danny across the room, the pair of them dressed like a twenties gangster and fifties greaser respectively, and he started to make his way over to them.
When he passed Stella he stopped to kiss her briefly, and when she whispered 'hurry up, super hero' against his mouth he couldn't suppress a grin. "I love Halloween."