Title: Weak at the Knees

Author: Robin

Disclaimer: They are not mine and I derive no monetary reward. I'm just playing.

A/N: Babe Halloween fluff. I wrote this last year for Halloween and never posted it over here, so if you've never read it before, enjoy! Happy Halloween!

Rating: PG-13

"Babe, you can't be serious." His eyes met mine in the full length mirror.

I stared at him, unblinking, and told him in a no-nonsense tone that I'd learned from him, "You are going to wear it and you are going to like it." I smiled at the end to take the sting out of the words.

He looked back at the costume he was wearing, eyeing it with disgust.

"But, it's a skirt."

"Yes, it is a skirt. But it's a very manly skirt," I said as I surveyed the Roman centurion outfit he was wearing. It consisted of a gold molded plastic breastplate that showcased his sculpted arms on top of a skirt of wide gold slats over a black cotton underskirt. I thought it was an appropriate costume for my modern-day warrior. Plus, I was going as Cleopatra, so it couldn't be more perfect.

"Do I have to?" he asked with a little whine. I stepped behind him, wrapping my arms around his waist and laying my head against his back. I chuckled. He sounded like a petulant child. If only the lowlifes on Stark Street could hear the man in black now.

"The deal was, I win the bet and you go to Connie's party in the costume of my choosing. And I won, fair and square." I slid around in front of him, standing in the circle of his arms. "So now you gotta pay up." I pressed a kiss to his neck.

He hung his head and said, "I can't believe I lost that bet."

My smile widened. It had been like taking candy from a baby. He'd bet me that I couldn't go a week without sweets. Little did he know, I could substitute sex for donuts... and since we'd been living together we could hardly go 24 hours without sex. The week I was off sugar, we barely made it 8 hours.

He had thought I'd cave in the first day and had his Merry Men following me around day and night to make sure I didn't cheat. After two days, he'd started trying to tempt me by bringing Tasty Pastry bags full of donuts and cannoli into the apartment each morning, having Ella make dessert each night and dragging me to my parents house for dinner twice. What was worse, he'd started to eat it in front of me, sullying his temple when he got desperate toward the end of the week. Good thing he had great metabolism or he'd be sporting love handles with his armor.

But, in the end I'd been strong and I was proud of myself. And by God, I was gonna collect on this bet.

"You're not gonna welch on me, are you? Come on, you're not afraid?"

He raised a supercilious eyebrow. "I'm not afraid." How dare I even suggest such a thing.

"So what's the problem?"

After several long moments, he finally answered me. "It's my knees," he said quietly, not meeting my eyes.

Huh? I blinked and just gave him my confused look.

"Babe, I don't know if you've noticed, but my knees are kinda... knobby."

Now I gave him my, 'you're crazy' look and backed away from him to look down at his legs.

I cocked my head to the side. Well, now that he mentioned it, they were a little knobby.

He caught my thought and said, "I told you." He turned away from the mirror, putting some distance between us.

Wow. Ranger... self-conscious. I never expected to see the day. I guess even he needed reassurance every so often.

I walked over to him, wrapped my hands around his biceps and pressed a kiss to his shoulder. "When I first met you, I thought you were larger than life, more Roman god than mere mortal. And I was attracted to the superhero. But in the end... I fell in love with the man."

He turned around and took me in his arms, pressing a kiss to my forehead then dipping lower to catch my lips with his. My pulse raced and I felt a familiar warmth spreading through me and if he hadn't been holding me I would have melted into a puddle on the floor. I could feel Ranger's sword pressing against me, and it wasn't the little plastic one that came with the costume.

When we finally parted, I tenderly ran my fingers over his face. "You don't have to be flawless to be perfect to me."

He brushed his thumb across my lower lip. "I love you so much," he breathed.

"And, you don't have to wear the costume if you don't want to. We don't even have to go."

"No, Babe, a bet's a bet. And I know you want to go. My dignity is a small sacrifice," he heaved an exaggerated sigh. Then smiled when I poked his arm.

"Leave the guilt trips to my mother," I said with another poke. "Besides, I think you look hot. And you know the other great thing about you in a skirt?"

He just raised an eyebrow in question.

I gave him my best attempt at the wolf grin and put a hand on his handsome, if slightly knobby knee and slowly slid my fingers up his thigh.

"Easy access."