Thank you for the reviews daxy and Wolfsong98 (FanFiction)

Thank you for the review tbsavafob6 (LiveJournal)

I do not own or claim to own CSI: Miami characters. This is fanmade and I make absolutely no profit off of this. I do this for my own amusement.

***

Chapter Four: The Guests Arrive

Rick pulled his red Mercury Milan into the driveway of his lover's Coral Gables home. He only had enough time after work to drop off his briefcase and pick up the two paper bags he packed for Horatio's. One held his costume and clothes for the next day; the other had several homemade pumpkin pies. Few people knew it outside of Horatio and his family, but he was one hell of a baker. The pies sat buckled into the passenger's seat. He wanted to make sure that all those hours of work wouldn't go to waste if he had to break suddenly.

He smiled warmly as he saw Horatio spot him from the living room and rush to the door. Horatio rarely showed such enthusiasm over anything. It makes Rick blush every time he realizes just how much he must mean to the lieutenant.

"Need help?" Horatio asked as he stepped out of the house.

"Not really," Rick shrugged as he snapped off his seatbelt, "But it would be really sweet of you if you could get the bag from the back seat".

"This the food?" the redhead asked as he pulled open the door.

"No, those are my clothes".

"How come you never let me carry the food?"

"Because if one of us happens to drop it, I would much rather it be me".

Horatio smirked as he watched Rick pick up his bag and close the door with a swing of his hip. Rick had always taken his cooking very personally, he is wont to vent in the kitchen.

"Do you need help though?" the brunette asked as Horatio let him in.

"A little," Horatio timidly admitted, "If you don't mind cleaning up as I fix the sound system".

"I don't mind. This place looks pretty clean already. When should I get dressed?"

"In about 20 minutes. I don't expect my team for another hour yet".

Rick nodded as he put the pies onto the table along with the snacks. He saw that several types of alcohol were in the refrigerator along with several fruit juices. A mixer was sitting out on the counter. Horatio was being very generous. Aside from the occasional glass of wine, Horatio barely drank at all. This amount of alcohol must have cost him quite a bit.

Rick poured himself a shot of rum, cleaning the glass before he left. A quick drink to build his courage, but that would be all. If he wanted to remain a secret from the team, he would have to keep his wits about him.

***

Horatio led Rick up to the bedroom, bag in hand. The redhead's costume was laid out on the bed, waiting for him. Rick closed the door and the two immediately began stripping out of their suits.

Their eyes wandered as scraps of clothing fell to the floor. Soon they stood before each other, each wearing nothing but a g-string. They blushed as each examined the other's body.

"Well," Horatio shrugged, somewhat showing off the white strip of fabric he was wearing, "If I wore anything more, you could see the boxer or brief line. You saw how fitting those pants are. What's your excuse?"

"I knew you'd like it," Rick smirked as his eyes continued to examine Horatio's bulge.

"Don't you wear boxers anymore?"

"I noticed how much you liked what I wore for you last Monday"

Rick strode on up to his lover and pulled him into his arms. He locked his lips onto the redhead's neck as his hands groped as the sweet exposed flesh of his well formed ass. Horatio moaned softly, hardly having the courage to return the favor.

"Rick, stop," Horatio muttered as he felt his lover's lips and teeth nip their way up his neck to his earlobe.

"Why?" Rick asked, bumping their arousals together.

Horatio was unable to suppress a full body shiver as Rick worked him over, but he knew that he still had to draw the line. He grabbed Rick by the shoulders and gave him a good shove, making the brunette stumble onto the bed. The brunette smirked as he brushed the blankets aside and beckoned Horatio to join him. He was met with the lieutenant's stern eyes and a definite shake of his head.

"Later, Rick, I promise," Horatio sighed as he looked into Rick's pleading eyes, "But right now we need to remain presentable. Can you imagine if… oh… Calleigh were to drop by early. She wouldn't take this too well, believe me".

Rick pouted playfully as Horatio pulled him off the bed. He quickly stole a kiss from the redhead before he went over to his bag for his costume.

Horatio smiled lovingly at Stetler, watching him pull on his clothes. He had never before imagined that Rick could be so young at heart. In the labs he always seemed like such a hard ass; in hindsight, it should have been pretty obvious to Horatio that Rick enjoyed just letting loose. In fact, getting into a relationship with Rick has been nothing but beneficial for Horatio. Not only did IAB always seem to end up cutting him some slack, but he had learned how to laugh again; the latter, of course, being far more important.

Rick smiled to himself as he zipped up the high collar on his tunic. He could feel when Horatio had his eyes on him. There were still moments when Rick could hardly believe that he was going steady with a man he had once seen as a rival. He couldn't help but wonder what life would be like if they had been like this from the start. All the years he had spend loathing Horatio felt nothing more than worthless. He would have been happier if those times had never happened.

Rick turned to face his lover, who was timidly holding up the corset he had to slip into for his costume. The brunette smirked as he took the undergarment from the redhead's long, pale fingers. He wrapped the boned fabric around Horatio's middle and began lacing him up.

"Aah!" Horatio gasped softly as he felt his breaths begin to grow shallow.

"You're okay," Rick cooed lovingly, kissing the back of his neck, "just stand up straight and keep breathing. But don't hyperventilate or else you'll faint".

Horatio nodded obediently, trying to steady his breaths as he felt Rick tie off the last of the corset. Stetler lightly spun the redhead around a few times, examining the elegant curve of the lieutenant's figure.

"You're wearing this tonight," Rick said decisively.

"We'll see," Horatio smirked as he pulled on the rest of his clothes.

***

"Do you see any skin?" Rick asked, adjusting the black wig that came with the ensemble.

Horatio walked around the taller man a few times before decisively answering 'no'. The guests should be arriving at any minute and the two of them stood fully costumed in front of one of the downstairs mirrors.

"Quick playing with your teeth," Rick teased, watching Horatio toy around with the fangs Becca made for him. Horatio just smiled a toothy smile in response. "What movie are you planning?" Stetler asked, "I know you fixed the sound system for something".

"We're watching 'Silence of the Lambs' and 'Mirrors'".

Horatio sighed as he knew that behind the Guy Fawkes mask that Rick was nervously biting his lip. One of the strangest traits that he discovered about Rick was that he was incredibly jumpy. It didn't take much in a horror film to make him cower in his seat. Horatio frankly thought it was cute, but he also knew that it could put a bit of a damper on the evening.

"Don't worry," the redhead smiled, "You don't have to watch it. I laid out a chess board and a deck of cards over on the other end of the living room. I'm sure Ryan is too jumpy for it too".

"Speak of the devil".

Horatio turned to see Eric's car sitting in his driveway. Delko, Calleigh and Ryan climbed out and were lightly chatting as they adjusted their costumes.

"From this point on, no talking," Horatio ordered.

"I love you, H," Rick whispered quickly.

"I love you too, V," Horatio cooed as he pulled open the front door.

Eric, Calleigh, and Ryan stood in the doorway. Everyone took a moment to take everyone else in. Eric was dressed as Zorro, rapier and all. Calleigh came as princess Zelda, an exquisite costume right down to the ears. Ryan was dressed as a pirate captain; a stunning level of detail was in the gold trim of his overcoat. The three newcomers peered over Horatio's shoulder at Rick, who crossed his arms as he looked them over.

"Who's that?" Eric asked, knowing that there were only the two other men on the team.

Horatio shrugged playfully and gave them a knowing wink as he backed out of the doorway. The five of them stood there staring at each other until Ryan finally spoke to the concealed guest.

"Hi".

Rick took a lavish bow, smiling to himself as Eric mimicked him. He took Calleigh's hand in his, bringing her ring to the lips of the mask. She giggled like a school girl, pulling back her hand and clasping it. Noticing that Ryan too was wearing a ring, Rick repeated the action on him. Eric chuckled, now quite positive that whoever V was wasn't flirting with his girlfriend.

"Have we met?" Calleigh asked the stranger.

V simply shrugged in response, quite enjoying this game he got to play.

"Can't you speak?" Eric asked.

Rick shrugged again. Horatio grinned at his lover, walking over and putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't you worry about V, here," the redhead smiled, "He'll be fine. You guys just start eating; I'll order the pizza and put in the movie when Valera and Natalia join us".

The three of them exchanged glances before they stalked over to the table, Horatio following them. Rick stayed behind, he knew that he couldn't eat during the party because he couldn't take his mask off. Well… he couldn't eat much at any rate. He could sneak some of the Halloween candy into the bathroom and gorge himself in there.

Rick shook his head, trying to rattle the thoughts about food out of his mind. He didn't want his hunger to be a distraction and keep him from enjoying the party. He realized that once the pizza comes that he would have to snatch up several pieces and shove them in the refrigerator for later. He decided to distract himself with the mirror until the party got into full swing.

***

"I don't get it," Ryan muttered, "He's too thin to be Frank, and he's too tall to be Kyle".

"I stand by my opinion that he is Keith Blackwell," Calleigh shrugged.

"That is the most logical conclusion," Eric agreed.

"Yeah… but… I don't know… there's something about him…"

Ryan stood there puzzling as Horatio and the others went to answer the door. Natalia walked in, wearing a replica of Halle Berry's Catwoman suit. Valera was dressed as Xena, the armor looks a lot heavier up close.

"You two look so cute", Calleigh grinned as she approached them.

"And look at you," Natalia marveled, "all decked out. and might I say that you hair looks really great".

"Really? because this is a new shampoo and-"

Valera smirked and left the two other women to compliment each other as she made a bee-line to the food.

"I like you with dark hair," Ryan timidly told Valera, happy that he managed to say that without stuttering.

"It's a wig," she remarked, pulling the wrapper off of a KitKat.

"It still looks really nice," Ryan pressed on, "you should dye it back to its natural color".

Valera shrugged, "I don't know..."

"Darker hair brings out your eyes"

"Are you hitting on me?"

"What?! No," Ryan lied, his cheeks turning a bright red, "where did you get that idea?"

At that moment, Rick came out of the kitchen, and walked over to introduce his new persona to Natalia.

"Who's V?" Valera asked, following him with her eyes.

"We're not sure," Ryan answered, happy that Valera had such a short attention span.

"It's Keith Blackwell," Eric smirked at Ryan's curiosity as he filled his plate with chips.

"I still don't think it is," Ryan grumbled, "But damnit, I'm gonna figure this out if it's the last thing I do".