AN: Hey, guys! New story! I'm aware that it's August but I had this insanely cool dream last night about a Halloween party and I couldn't resist writing this. For the sake of this story, Josh doesn't exist. And the finale hasn't happened yet… God, I have no idea where it's meant to fit but I had to write it, so hopefully you'll all forgive me!

IBYL
xo

It was October 31st, and for the first time in a long time, the entirety of Beckett's crew at the 12th had the night off. The new captain had decided to award them the much-coveted Halloween weekend off, mostly because they deserved it but partly to test Karpowski's ability – which Detective Kate Beckett was more than okay with, especially since it meant having the single worst weekend to be a homicide cop off.

When the captain made the little announcement, however, one Richard Castle was in the room… and upon hearing the news of their weekend off, insisted on all of them showing up to his infamous Halloween blow-out. Beckett sighed to herself as Esposito and Ryan enthusiastically accepted the invitation, before Castle turned to her.

"What do you say, Beckett?" He asked. When he saw her hesitation, he continued. "I swear you'll have fun, it's not really as big as everyone seems to think. You may end up having more fun than you thought. Please, pretty please? I'll beg if I have to." He pouted so dramatically that Beckett couldn't help but laugh.

"Alright, I'll go. But if it sucks, I'm leaving."

"Deal." He said with a chuckle. "Remember, costumes are mandatory. Make it something sexy for bonus points." He grinned, and Beckett smiled before leaning in close to his ear.

"Really, Ricky? I thought I'd already earned some bonus points, just for agreeing to show up." She whispered sultrily, and Castle choked a little before nodding dumbly, making Beckett's smile widen immeasurably. "You're still SO easy, Castle." She said, before standing up from her chair and heading for the break room, pondering her costume choices. When she returned, Castle was still slack-jawed which made her laugh uncontrollably, capturing his attention.

"I've been thinking about costumes. We should match." He declared with great enthusiasm, but Beckett shook her head.

"No. Once again, my costume will be a surprise."

"I love surprises!" He declared, and she grinned to herself.

"Oh yes, Castle, you'll love this surprise." She thought with a smile.

XXX

The rest of the day and week passed without event, and soon enough it was Saturday, and time for Castle's party. Castle had refrained from trying to guess what her costume was, surprising her immensely. She spent most of her day doing chores that usually didn't get done thanks to her hectic work schedule. The party was starting at 8, and Lanie was coming around at about 6 to help her get ready. Beckett grabbed a quick nap in the afternoon, and soon enough she heard Lanie banging at her door.

"Coming!" She called, before stumbling to the door and wrenching it open. "Hey, Lanie." She smiled, as the M.E. bustled past her.

"Hey, girl. What are we this year?"

"Well, since I've taken it upon myself to torture Castle this year, I'm going as Wonder Woman." Kate grinned, and Lanie laughed.

"You're evil. Any idea what he is going as?" She asked, and Kate pondered.

"Nope. Never asked." She shrugged, and Lanie smiled.

"With the way the universe likes to screw with you and Castle, 10 bucks says he'll be opening the door in a Superman get-up." She said, and Kate grinned.

"I know. That's part of the fun. You going to help me out?"

"For sure. Let's do it."

XXX

Two hours later, and Wonder Woman and Catwoman had arrived at the door to Castle's loft. Lanie nodded at Kate quickly before knocking on the door. The door flung open and they were greeted by Alexis, dressed up as Wednesday from the Addams Family.

"Hey, you made it!" She smiled. "You both look great! Esposito is here already, Lanie – he's been bragging about how he beat you."
"Thanks, kiddo, I'll put an end to that. You look good too." Lanie smiled, before wandering off to find her man, who was apparently dressed as Rambo. Alexis smiled at the look of determination on Lanie's face before turning back to Kate.

"My dad's going to flip when he sees you." She said, and Kate blushed a little.

"Thanks, hun. Want to lead me to him? I have no idea what he's wearing." She said, and Alexis nodded before grabbing her hand.

"You'll like it, I'm sure." Alexis said with a conspiratorial smile. Beckett raised her eyebrows but kept her mouth shut – at least, until she spotted Castle across the room, when her jaw dropped open.

Lanie was right. He was Superman. And he looked DAMN good in tight polyester, much to her surprise. She cocked an eyebrow at Alexis who just smiled, before pushing Kate towards her dad with a little grin. Kate smiled before sidling coolly up to Castle.

"Hey, Castle." She said, and was pleased to note that he looked dumbstruck when he saw her outfit. He coughed slightly before smiling.

"Hey Beckett. You look fantastic." He said genuinely, and she blushed a little.

"You're not so bad yourself. I'm loving the spandex." She said with a grin, and he laughed before flexing his muscles a little, making her giggle.

"I already knew you were Wonder Woman, Kate, but it's nice to see the outfit all the same." Her blush heightened immeasurably at the sincerity in his voice, and she smiled but decided to change the subject a little.

"I owe Lanie 10 bucks, but you're paying half." She said and he cocked an eyebrow in question.

"Okay. Why?" He asked, and she laughed.

"She bet that you'd be Superman. She won."

"How could she possibly have known that?" He asked, stunned.

"Something about the universe trying to screw with us." She said, waving a hand at him before gesturing to her own outfit. "Higher powers wanting us to match."

"Fate. Magic. Double Rainbows." He murmured with a smile, and she laughed.

"Yeah. Double rainbows." She smiled back, and his heart thudded in his chest.

"So, Wonder Woman, can I escort you to the bar and tempt you into a drink?" He grinned.

"Why, Superman, I thought you'd never ask!" She said with a flourish, and they both laughed.

XXX

A few hours later, Lanie's debt had been squared and the party was in full swing. Beckett, otherwise known as Wonder Woman, had been doing her fair share of mingling – however, she soon figured out that Castle really didn't like being away from her for long, and he was doing most of his entertaining at her side, much to her delight – not that she'd ever tell him that. They'd danced together once, and shared a couple of drinks, but both were still rather sober. Castle wanted to keep his wits about him, and Beckett never really drank all that much. By 11pm, everyone had been greeted and had separated into the little groups that inevitably happened at a party. Beckett was perched on a couch next to Lanie, who was cuddled in tight to Esposito. Ryan and Jenny, dressed up as a cute hippie couple, were in an armchair together. They chatted mindlessly for a while, before Beckett was interrupted.

"Wonder Woman, may I have this dance?" He said with a bow, and Kate giggled despite herself, before taking his proffered hand. He led them to the dance-floor and pulled her into his arms as a slow song started playing.

"So debonair, Superman. Anyone would think you were trying to sweep me off my feet." She said, and he wiggled his eyebrows at her.

"Do I have to try, or have I already succeeded?" He asked in a whisper that had her heart pounding in her chest.

"How about we return to this discussion later, in private?" She said quietly, and she felt him nod softly.

"As long as I still get to dance with you." He said, and she laughed softly.

"Well then, I guess we're dancing the night away." She smiled, and he spun her around, before pulling her back into his warm embrace.

"I can't say that I imagined that, after the undercover dances, our first dance away from work would be dressed as Superman and Wonder Woman."
"I'm almost concerned that you thought about it." She said quietly, and he pulled back to look at her carefully.

"I've thought about many different things in relation to you, Katherine Beckett." He said earnestly, and Kate felt a grin split her face.

"Maybe later, you can tell me about them." She smiled, as the song ended in the background. She kissed his cheek lightly. "Save the next dance for me?"

"Always." He whispered, as she sashayed towards the bathroom with a wide grin on her face.

XXX

In the bathroom, Beckett couldn't stop smiling. She cleaned up quickly before heading back into the lounge room, scanning the crowd for Superman. She found him over by the bar, ordering a drink and chatting to Ryan. When she got there, she listened to the tail-end of the conversation and smiled despite herself. Ryan and Jenny were leaving, and Esposito and Lanie were going to hitch a ride… which meant it was nearly 'later'. The butterflies in her stomach went into overdrive at the thought, and she wandered into the conversation. Ryan smiled at her.

"We're out, Beckett. Catch you Monday." He said, before clapping Castle on the shoulder and smiling.

"See you Monday." Beckett smiled. "Say bye to Jenny for me, would you?"

"Sure thing." He said, just as his partner-in-crime walked over.

"We're off too." Esposito said with a nod.

"Alright, Espo, see you Monday." She said, and Castle smiled.

"Ditto." Castle murmured, as he watched the boys and their ladies walked away, before turning to Kate. "Can I cash in my dance chip again?"

"I thought you'd never ask." She grinned, and they wandered towards the now rather empty dance-floor. A few people waved their goodbyes, but got no acknowledgement from Castle as he lost himself with Kate.

XXX

"Ahem." Alexis said, laughing, and Castle finally looked away from Kate. She'd changed into regular clothes again.

"Hey, pumpkin. What's up?" He said, still holding Kate's hand captive.

"Since everyone has left and your party managed to finish without your knowledge, I'm heading over to Paige's for the rest of the night. The girls are all there." She qualified, and Rick smiled.

"Alright kiddo, message me when you get there so I know you're safe…"

"And let you know when I'm on my way home tomorrow. I always do, Dad." Alexis finished, before kissing his cheek. "Night guys."

The door clicked closed and Castle turned back to Beckett.

"Well, would you look at that? It's later." He said with a smile, and she blushed.

"Yeah, I guess it is, isn't it?" She said, trying to keep her voice calm, before looking directly at Castle, taking a deep breath. Just before she had a chance to speak, Castle pulled her close.

"Do you want me to tell you what I've thought about, or should I skip ahead to what I've always wanted to say to you?" He asked.

"Skip ahead, by all means." She said softly.

"I want to be with you." He said simply, and she smiled a little.

"Way to get straight to the point, Rick." He shook his head in disbelief at her, but pressed on anyway.

"I want to be with you. I think we could be great together, Kate. Look at us. We dressed to match without even trying." He said, twirling her quickly and making her giggle a little before she turned serious.

"I want to be with you too, Rick, but I'm so scared of all of the things that could go wrong. I can't lose you. You mean the world to me."

"I'm scared too, and I think that occasionally things will go wrong – but you and I, we're strong enough to fight them. If the last few years together aren't proof enough of our strength, I don't know what is." He said softly, before taking her hands and pulling her in close. She smiled at him, tears brimming in her eyes.

"Always." She whispered, and he beamed.

"Always." He replied quickly, before pulling her into him and kissing her softly. Kate moaned lightly at the contact, making Rick smile against her lips.

"Better than my dreams." He murmured softly, and she laughed.

"Did you really, truly think about it in such detail?" She said, and he nodded.

"Absolutely."

"I'm surprised that you admitted that so readily." She said, backing away from him slightly but leaving her hands around his neck. He tightened his grip on her waist.

"You can't be surprised by that, Kate. Really. You, of all people, are not naïve or blind." He smiled, and she tilted her head.

"I may not be naïve or blind, but I'm definitely ignorant when I want to be. I'm sorry, Rick. I know I've caused you some hell over these last few years." She looked so downtrodden and Rick softened, hugging her tight.

"Hey, it's okay. You're here now, we're best friends, we're so much better now. You're healthier, I'm the tiniest bit more mature. And you're worth the wait, Kate." She snorted at the mature comment, but paused at his last sentence. And with the sincerity in his voice and the look on his face in her mind's eye, she smiled, looking up at Rick.

"No more waiting." She whispered softly, and then his lips were on hers again.

And neither of them could help but wonder if they'd ever had a better night.

AN: I seriously feel like the queen of fluff right about now. Let me know if you agree/disagree? Thanks a billion, people :)