A/N: I've never carved a pumpkin. I was probably 20/21 years old when I saw pumpkins (in real life) in its entirety. They weren't orange and pretty like in the cartoons or movies, they were a sort of greenish muddy brown thing. Suffice to say I was very disappointed. But, I really wanted to write this fic, and the Internet has been a great help, so hopefully I don't muck this up too badly. Once again, thanks Trish for the beta!

This chapter is in Beckett's POV. Happy Halloween y'all! Enjoy :)

Disclaimer: not mine.

Chapter 2

"Okay, my mom was right. I'm not sure pumpkin carving is worth the mess. This is disgusting!" Beckett says as the next batch of pumpkin seeds and strings plops into the large bowl in the middle of the table with a sickening squish.

Across from her, Alexis chuckles as she continues sketching her design onto her pumpkin. She had already emptied her pumpkin a while ago.

Castle peers into Beckett's pumpkin to check her progress. "C'mon, Beckett, put some elbow grease into it. You're almost all done!"

Beckett rolls her eyes but continues scraping at the insides of her pumpkin. "Tell me again why I'm doing all the hard work if we're sharing this pumpkin?"

"Simple," Castle tells her. "You're the novice and I'm the master. You need all the practice you can get. Look at how fast Alexis is – that's years of practice under my tutelage you know. I am the Master of Halloween," he says with a flourish, throwing his arms wide as though he has a crowd of subjects to rule over.

Beckett deposits another small spoonful of gunk into the bowl. "I've half a mind not to let you carve into my pumpkin. Admit it, you're enjoying bossing me around for a change aren't you?"

Castle pouts adorably at her. "But we agreed to save my pumpkin for your soup, so you've gotta let me carve into your pumpkin!"

Beckett narrows her eyes at him but remains silent and Castle breaks into a smile. "Hey Beckett? One more thing. You missed a spot." He just couldn't resist it could he?

She flicks the last small spoonful of pumpkin innards towards him.

Castle and Beckett spend the next twenty minutes or so bickering about what design should be carved into their pumpkin. In the end, they agree to split the pumpkin. Beckett would carve her design onto her half of the pumpkin and Castle would have the other half. They move their pumpkin onto the kitchen island so they can both have easy access.

It doesn't take Beckett long to sketch out her pattern. It was a simple, standard scary jack-o-lantern face. Castle wouldn't let her see his chosen design until it's completed so she wanders over to check out how Alexis is doing.

Alexis has already fully carved out a bunny. "It's Easter meets Halloween," the teen explains, showing Beckett the patterned eggs she's sketched out around her pumpkin. Beckett studies Alexis for a bit, noting which tools she use and how she carves out the designs based on her sketches.

"Hey Beckett, why don't you watch Alexis for a bit. I'll carve out the larger pieces of my design and then you can come over and carve yours, then we'll work on the smaller details at the same time without cutting off each others' fingers?"

Beckett shrugs and pulls out a chair to settle in next to Alexis. "Whatever you say, O' Master of Halloween."

She catches Castle smirking as he tilts his head to inspect his design. Looking at the wicked gleam in his eyes, she does not have a good feeling about this.

It was inevitable, really. She should have known better. She should have checked on his design before he began carving and committing to it. Castle, still blissfully oblivious to the fact that Beckett has made her way over, is happily humming a little tune as he carves and hollows out his design.

Beckett grabs his ear, tight. "Castle that better not be who I think it is."

Castle drops his tools in a clatter. "Ow, apples, apples! Beckett you're about to yank off my ear, seriously!"

Beckett lets go of his ear as Alexis heads over to check out the commotion.

"Dad? Is that…" Alexis trails off, too timid to finish that sentence in the wake of Beckett's wrath.

"It's Nikki. Holding a pumpkin. Strategically."

"Castle, it looks like you gave me- her –Nikki, double-D boobs."

Castle giggles. Beckett knows she isn't far off base. She shoots him a glare. "What? I have no idea what you're talking about."

Beckett grabs a knife off the table. He backs away and tries to use Alexis as a body shield.

"Dad! What the hell. You can't hide behind me," Alexis protests, trying to get out of the way, giggling as she twists free.

Beckett levels her knife at him. "Castle, you better get carving. Fix. That."

"You know, if you ever get tired of being a detective, you've got a real knack with knives. Stabbing and cutting and carving and all that," Castle makes animated hand gestures to accompany his words.

Kate suppresses a smile. Sometimes he really is just a small boy trapped in a grown man's body.

"You'd make a really good butcher. A butcher murderess who lets her true self show on Halloween by carving up little kids. That would be so cool!" he continues.

Kate rolls her eyes. He just never knew when to stop talking. Castle steps closer and hovers by her shoulder, watching every incision she makes into the pumpkin. His warm breath tickles the few loose strands of hair by her ear as she picks up his cologne scent. Musky with just a hint of spice, she was startled to realize that he smelled wonderful against the backdrop of pumpkin smell in the air.

"Castle, you're about to become the butcher murderess' first victim if you don't stop hovering. I need space to work! And how many times do I have to tell you the staring is creepy?"

Beckett can feel a warm flush making its way up her neck. It is because of his staring and hovering. Nothing at all to do with the man's proximity and presence invading her senses. Nothing to do with that in the slightest.

Chastised, Castle's demeanor becomes reserved and he starts moving away. Feeling guilty – she hadn't meant to sound so sharp – Kate tells him, "Why don't you pick up the other knife and start working on the rest of your carving? I'm done with the large knife anyway. We won't cut off each other's fingers, right?"

Castle grins, hurrying across the table so they now stood opposite each other. "I promise to try my best at keeping all your fingers attached. If you end up cutting one of mine off, you'll never get me to help you with paperwork ever again."

"Ever again? Castle you've never helped me with paperwork ever," Kate retorts, picking up a small carving knife.

Castle mirrors her, picking up his knife too. He shoots her a cheeky grin. "Never say never, detective. I just might help you with paperwork some day."

"Some day," she echoes wryly with a shake of her head. "Sure. Let's get to work."

Carving a pumpkin with Castle turns out to be a far more intimate activity than Kate had ever expected. For one, their fingers keep brushing against one another before they finally settle into an easy rhythm of working alongside together. It seems the give-and-take of their partnership also translated to other aspects as well.

She can feel his heated gaze on her more than a few times, and she's even caught him smiling dopily or staring off into the distance with a vacant look in his eyes. They'd catch each other's eyes occasionally, and Kate would huff and sort of roll her eyes at him, before flicking down to look at the pumpkin between them, hoping he'd get her point and focus on the task at hand.

Eventually he concentrates enough to be completely engrossed in his work, and Beckett would sneak glances at him through the eyehole of her jack-o-lantern. He's almost adorable, in a boyish way. She half expects him to exclaim "Look!" the way teenage boys did when they'd do something in order to impress girls. Not that Castle's trying to impress her. He's different around his daughter. Still playful, but in a less obnoxious way.

By the time Castle and Beckett were done with their pumpkin, Alexis has disappeared. There's already a tea light in her pumpkin with another lit tea light next to it, alongside a note.

Gone up to shower. I didn't want to interrupt because you two looked so serious. The other tea light's for your pumpkin. I'll come down for movies when I'm done. –Alexis

Castle reaches for the tea light as Beckett warns, "Be careful, it might be-"

"Ow!"

"-hot," she finishes, a little too slow.

Castle drops the tea light and the wax sloshes over, extinguishing the flame and spilling onto the table. Castle shakes his hand vigorously as he continues chanting, "Ow, ow, ow!"

"Castle, are you okay?" she asks, concern causing her brows to furrow.

"You gonna kiss it better?" He asks, not quite successfully masking his pained voice.

Beckett starts, reaching for his hand. She teases him, "No, but I can take a look to see if you're just being a big baby."

Castle waves her off. "If you're not going to kiss it better there's no point. Blow out the other candle, will you? I'll go grab the battery-operated tea lights. It's safer as well if we're going to leave the pumpkins lying about while we watch movies. I'll be back in a second."

She lifts the lid off Alexis' pumpkin and blows that candle out. While waiting for it to cool a little, she begins cleaning up the mess on the table.

Castle returns shortly and places the plastic tea lights into their pumpkin. "There," says Castle, as he hands Kate their finished jack-o-lantern. "Just set it out in the hall."

She cradles their pumpkin and makes her way to the door as Castle places the other tea light into Alexis' pumpkin and follows after her.

As Kate arranges the pumpkins so that the most presentable sides are showing, she can't help but notice Castle discreetly touching his fingers and glancing at them surreptitiously.

She straightens up from her position by the pumpkins and Castle immediately drops his hand, trying to hide it behind him.

"Let me see," she says, holding her hand out.

"What?"

"Your hand," she clarifies. "Let me take a look."

"It's…"

She arches an eyebrow towards him. Castle tapers off, grudgingly giving his hand over to her, the palm facing up.

Kate sucks in a breath. His thumb and index finger were an angry red with blisters forming. She gingerly touches the skin around the red area and it quickly turns white upon the slightest pressure. Castle winces but doesn't pull away.

He must be putting a brave front for her because she knows it must hurt terribly.

"I tried running it under cool water," he explains, trying to pull his hand back.

Kate tightens her grip around his wrist, all of a sudden not willing to let go of the warm weight of his hand cradled in hers. Not just yet.

"We should run it over cool water again. Have you got Neosporin? Come on, I'll help you dress it. Can't have a writer with injured fingers."

They make their way back into the loft and through Castle's study. Kate didn't have much time to study his bedroom, following him into the bathroom instead. Everywhere – the study, bedroom and bathroom – smells of him.

Kate can't help but release a small yelp when she spots the humongous Boba Fett in her periphery. Blushing, she tries to take shallow breaths through her mouth and stay focussed on the task ahead. Castle shows her his medicine cabinet as he lets the cool water run over his fingers once more.

"Jeez Castle, how do you even shower with him in the bathroom?"

Castle waggles his eyebrows at her. "I don't have a problem with nudity, remember?"

Kate feels her cheeks heat up as she recalls his police file. "Sit," she orders, gesturing towards his large tub. She perches on the rim as Castle settles beside her.

She gently pats his hand dry, marveling at how tender his hands are. She shouldn't be surprised at how silky soft they felt – he did take a lot of care over his looks. Kate runs her fingers lightly over his fingertips, feeling a shiver race through his body. Soft and sensitive – that combination could bring a great deal of pl-

"Uh Beckett?" Castle's gruff voice interrupts her wayward thoughts. She startles and begins uncapping his tube of Neosporin as she wills her hands to steady. She has no idea what had come over her.

She works silently for a while, gently applying the medication as she reads his body language for any telltale signs of discomfort.

"Castle, I… I want to thank you," she says in a low, thick voice, steadfastly remaining focused on his hand instead of his face. "These past few days, everything you've done for me and everything you do for me, you're a good partner and… and a great friend. I never expected to have so much fun today." She swallows, trying to ease the lump she can feel in her throat; trying to tamp down the sudden surge of emotions threatening to overwhelm her.

"Even the part where I burn myself?" he asks quietly, bringing in just the right amount of levity.

Kate chuckles. "Even the part where you burn yourself. Because otherwise I wouldn't get the chance to kiss it better."

And before she can think twice, Kate drops a quick kiss to his finger. "There. All better," she says, finally lifting her head to look him in the face.

She watches as wonder and glee wash over his features. Finally Castle stops smiling long enough to tell her, "C'mon Beckett, we've got movies waiting on us."

Fin.

Prompt: "There," said Castle, as he handed Kate their finished jack-o-lantern. "Just set it out in the hall."

A/N: I would love to hear your thoughts :) Oh and if you like Halloween-related family fluff fics, do check out my other story, Brains!