Kate was pounding on the door to his closet...she still had the Nebula 9 costume on but had removed the garish mask she had thought he would find funny and had obviously freaked him out instead.

"Come on Castle! I took off the Creaver mask...and I said I was sorry!"

So soon after his shock from seeing Alexis prancing about in the skimpy Habikura outfit with her college friends and his mild freakout over the Thorian blaster, she realized she may have gone just a little bit too far.

Sometimes she forgot how much of a teenage girl he could be when he wasn't the nine year old with a sugar rush.

"You promise." Came the small timid voice from the closet

"I promise" Kate replied.

She was feeling just a little bit guilty about the whole thing now. She had only wanted to get even with him for spending the last two days making fun of one of her favorite shows when she was younger, but in the process had seriously messed with his fantasy of seeing her in the outfit.

After what had happened with Jerry Tyson she really should have been more sensitive about his feelings.

When she heard the lock snap open on the walk-in closet she tentatively walked up and tugged the door open to be met with a "Moses Brothers Self-Defense Engine Frontier Model B" shoved in her face.

"I reckon that two can play at this game, young miss." Castle said as he stepped out of the closet in full Captain Malcolm Reynolds regalia.

Kate began to step back from the closet door as Castle advanced on her.

"I aim to misbehave." he said with his little boy half grin and a sexual glint in his eye.

Kate shrieked with mock fear and ran away giggling as Rick chased her through the entire loft

He caught up with her once in the kitchen, trapped her between his arms and planted a long slow searing kiss to her lips, as his hands slid a little ways up the outside of her hips sheathed in the short, tight skirt.

She spun away and ran again, heading for the bedroom, and once again the game was afoot.

They traded a few rounds of "Pew! Pew! Pew!" back and forth from opposite sides of the room. He with his replica sidearm and she with hers before they made it to the bedroom where this whole mess had started. That is where the cosplay ended and the real fun began as items of clothing began to slide to the floor...

….

Two hours later

Rick and Kate lay tangled in the sheets of his bed after possibly the longest, most sensual round of lovemaking they had had since they first played around with her handcuffs. (minus the tiger of course) they were both sweaty and sated and were still breathing hard.

"We have so got to do that more often." Rick exclaimed breathlessly

"Yeah, you have no idea." Kate replied breathlessly, she had forgotten how much fun play could be.

"Next time without the mask?" Castle said quietly with a mildly repressed shiver.

Kate understood the subtext almost immediately. The Creaver mask really had freaked him out, but he loved her enough to let that go and have some fun with it rather than try to make her feel guilty. He really was the perfect guy for her, and she still felt a little bad for scaring him.

"I promise."

A slow grin began to sneak its way onto Castle's face as he ran his hand seductively along her bottom.

"Ready for round two?" he asked

"Beam me up." Kate replied as they disappeared back under the covers.