AN: HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!

Patrick had gotten the whole family, minus Dyani, into his caravan to go to the store. It was quite the feat considering the disputes he'd had to break up just to get them that far. Braeden and Tahlia had fought over who had to ride in the cramped back seat. Braeden lost this fight and inexplicably complained the whole ride down. It was one of many issues. The older children piled into the old beaten up truck. Dyani was in the driver's seat before the rest were even out the door. Dyani was always the one to drive. If she wasn't around Wesley was the second choice because Connor hadn't gotten his license yet and being Reagan's passenger was terrifying. The others piled in soon after the Caravan had left: Reagan calling shotgun, Connor with his coffee in a traveler mug, and Wesley all smiles with his list. Enyeto had hopped into the truck bed right before they left but no one kicked him out. He let his tongue hang out in the wind as the truck snaked through the forest and into town. They had to park some distance from the store. It was two days before Halloween so small costume stores that made their annual appearance every Halloween like this one were expected to be this packed. They found their family in the costume section where Tahlia and Adsila were arguing over which one of them would get to be Harley Quinn and which would be Poison Ivy. Braeden had already picked out a Scream costume for himself and was now threatening Luca with a plastic butcher knife. Chenoa was laughing at Patrick who was wearing an awful stick on mustache over in the couple's costumes section. Dyani began to skim the racks. While letting her fingers glide over the various fabrics she stopped in the middle of a distracting theme. She couldn't pull her eyes from the fairy themed costumes with their green and blue wings and skirts made of leaves. She felt something tug in her. It was a familiar feeling brought on by reminiscing. She almost smiled when she thought of how funny these costumes would have been to wear only a few years ago…

"Ani!" Reagan called her name and waved her to the other aisle.

Dyani left the fairy costumes and went to where her parabati was standing, "Yeah?"
"I found the perfect costume for us!" She beamed as she shoved the costume toward Dyani.

"What's this?" Dyani took the costume and searched for the tag. Upon finding it she laughed, "This is ridiculous. 'Heist Hottie Gangster', really?"

"Then I can be the cop hot on your trail!" Reagan held up her costume. Dyani gave her an uneasy look and she begged, "C'mon! Just try it on. You'll look super good in it!"

Dyani emerged from the change room in her costume before Reagan did. She looked in the mirror and shrugged. As silly as the costume was Reagan was right, it did look good on her. The long and absurdly high waisted pants made her already long legs look even longer and even she had to admit that her butt did look kind of cute. The matching striped hat and white blouse gave her an immediate confidence boost. She made a few faces into the mirror and tipped her hat like the gangsters in the old black and white movies always did.

"Looking dangerous." Wesley commented from the doorway of one of the other change rooms. Dyani blushed. How long had he been watching her? She smiled and turned to him. He was leaning on the doorframe wearing a classic blue police officer costume. It made his arms look amazing. They always did but maybe it was just the whole 'man in uniform' thing that made them look even better. "Reagan got you into the whole group costume thing too?" He asked, gesturing to his outfit.

"I guess so." Dyani shrugged with a smile.

Reagan burst out of her change room wearing a short blue dress that barely resembled that of a cop's uniform and as soon as she laid eyes on Dyani let out a squeal, "You look so hot!" She turned to Wesley, "Look at her butt! I told you she'd look hot, right?"

"She's hot." He said casually and laughed at Dyani horrified expression.

"What about Connor?" Dyani rushed to move the focus off herself, "Is he a part of this too?"
"Yes! Obviously!" Reagan turned to knock on her brother's change room door, "Hurry up!"

"I'm just having some trouble with the last part." He shot back.

"Just come out. I'll help you with whatever it is." Wesley offered.

The door slowly opened and Connor strolled out awkwardly in a pinstripe suit that matched Dyani's pants. Wesley smiled and approached him.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"I can't get this on." Connor held out a tie and looked away.

"You've never put on a tie?" He seemed shocked to learn this.

"We don't really wear a lot of ties up here."

"Don't worry. I've got it." Wesley took the tie and looped it around Connor's neck. Connor sucked in a sudden breath at the softness of Wesley's hands as he tightened the tie. Wesley met his eyes and lingered there for a quick moment with his hands placed gently on the lapel of Connor's shirt before Connor pulled away and Wesley stepped back and said, "That looks really good." He cleared his throat and averted his eyes quickly.

With costumes picked out, the four returned to Chenoa and the rest of the family. Tahlia had ended up with Harley Quinn and Adsila had gotten Poison Ivy. Patrick was concerned at how busty it made his young daughter at first, but Chenoa had reassured him that it was okay. When Luca had seen that Wesley was being a police officer he also wanted to be a police officer. Patrick quickly switched out the Spiderman costume for a police one. Next, they looked through the decorations. They settled on fairly simple decorations like spooky signs and fake spider webs. Dyani told her mom that herself, Reagan, Connor and Wesley would be meeting the rest of them later for dinner at the house. She said it was no worry and added a bottle of red wine to their list. They left their costumes in the truck where Enyeto lay sound asleep and took a ten-minute walk to Uncle Rick's Pub and Brewery: the pub was a few streets off the town's main plaza with a small parking lot. The building was long with only two stories. The first story is the pub and accompanying brewery and the second housed a small set of hostel-like rooms. Uncle Rick was always looking out for his customers. He made sure his customers either got a cab home or stayed in a bed until they were able to drive home. They'd had their fair share of nights spent on the second story.

Upon entering the pub they were greeted by a cheery wave from Uncle Rick behind the bar. The four approached him and sat on the stools across from him.
"What can I getcha?" He asked. His wide smile was partially covered by his bushy graying mustache. As long as Wesley was on record as the one buying the alcohol he allowed the other three to drink. Being part of the downworld made him more relaxed when it came to mundane laws, especially for others from his world. Uncle Rick was Lucy's father and an honorary uncle to any downworlder in the surrounding area. He wasn't a werewolf himself. It was only Lucy who was attacked while they were on vacation in Minnesota. She was only twelve years old at the time. Rick had learned how to raise her the way she was and never once loved her any less for it.

"We need it to go." Dyani told him politely.

"Got somewhere to go?"

"It's for tomorrow night." Reagan told him with a smile.

"Halloween, eh? You coming here?" He asked.

"No. We're having a little shindig at home after we take the kids trick or treating."
"The kids?" He bellowed with a laugh, "Last time I checked you were still kids!"

"I'll be eighteen in two weeks!" She protested.

"That's still a child to an old man like me!"

Reagan rolled her eyes but continued to smile.

"Alright, what do you need?" He targeted Wesley with the question.

"Bottle of red for Chenoa," He shrugged, "And a couple of classic Uncle Ricks for the rest of us."

"You should try the extra-strong Uncle Rick."

"Extra strong?" Wesley turned to Connor with his eyebrow raised in challenge.

"Burns real good going down. Even worse coming back up."

"Oh." Wesley shrugged and passed him his debit card, "Sure throw one of those in there."

"Bring the kids round here for trick or treating why don't you." Rick rung the up the card and handed it back along with four bottles, one for each of them to carry.

"Bring them here on Halloween?" Wesley scoffed, "No way. You know how it is here on Halloween better than anyone else."

"You kids were coming round here at their age."
"Don't mention that." Reagan gestured to Dyani, "Some of us don't want that being brought up."

Rick flashed her a wink. Wesley thanked him and they walked back to the car.

They were home just in time for Chenoa to snag them for setting the table. Wesley poured her some wine and she told he didn't have to help. He told her that was sweet but he'd help anyway. Reagan shouted for the other kids and they all came barreling down the stairs for lasagna. The dinner conversation was filled with excited talk of Halloween. Luca told everyone that he was going to get the most candy. No one believed that he'd be able to stay out later than nine o'clock but no one argued with him. Tahlia was most excited to try out her costume makeup and Braeden bet Adsila that he would be able to get more candy by the end of the night. Their father scolded them for making bets again. Near the end of dinner, the clean up crew was to be determined. Patrick liked to choose the children who were to do dishes based on how well they'd been in training recently. Adsila and Tahlia had to do the dishes.

It was around nine o'clock and the whole family had found their way to the living room where Patrick, Reagan, and Connor were watching hockey as intensely as ever. Braeden lay on his back in the middle of the room playing on his DS. Adisla was looking over Tahlia's shoulder at her iPad where she was searching up makeup ideas for the next day. She kept pointing to almost every picture and saying, "I could totally do that" and "it's not even hard". In Tahlia's lap sat an old fluffy orange tabby cat. Ruffles was purring loudly. That cat hated everyone but Tahlia. Ruffles didn't just not hate her; the damn thing adored her. Dyani lay on the couch with her eyes closed and listened to the game and the others shouting over it. Whenever anyone one scored, whether it was their team's goal or not, the room exploded with noise. Wesley looked up from his poetry book to see Luca dozing off on Chenoa's shoulder while she was working on her knitting.

"Someone looks a little tired." He got up and picked up the smaller boy, "I think it's time for you to go to bed, Luca."

"Can we learn about the dragon in the castle?" Luca asked Wesley with a yawn.

"Yeah." Wesley nodded at Chenoa who gave him a silent prayer, "What colour is the dragon?"

"Red!" Luca shouted.

"Duh! The best dragons are red!" Wesley was heard saying as he left the room carrying the boy. Their voices faded as they found their way upstairs to Luca's room. Bless Wesley, Dyani thought; he was such a good help around the institute. She knew her mother's appreciation could never be expressed fully in words. Whether it was breaking up fights or dealing with rowdy children; Wesley did a wonderful job handling it. He truly was a great asset to the institute.

Reagan woke up earlier than she'd expected to. It must have been the all the noise downstairs. She walked downstairs and entered the kitchen expecting to find it empty but instead she found most of the family. A plastic sheet was spread out over the kitchen table where Patrick and Wesley were helping the children carve pumpkins. Chenoa was mixing some ingredients in a bowl. Reagan wasn't sure what she was making but it smelt amazing.

"What are you making?" She asked as she swung by the fridge to grab a yogurt.

"Candy apples." Chenoa beamed in response.

"Wow! Let me try it." Reagan attempted to stick her finger into the bowl but Chenoa swatted her hand away.
"No!" She rolled her eyes, "Patience is key. There's more than enough for you tonight."

"Patience is a virtue I do not have."

"Neither is caution!" Wesley quipped from the kitchen.

"Be quiet shi-" Reagan stopped herself and Wesley raised an eyebrow at her close slip up. Luca quickly pulled him away to get him to carve part of his design.

"Have you seen Dyani yet this morning?" Reagan asked as she opened the yogurt and began to eat it without a spoon. She found that the cups were easier and much quicker to eat without a spoon. Plus, there were fewer dishes so everyone won.

Chenoa shook her head, "Haven't seen her yet. It's odd she's usually down here by now."

"Thanks." Reagan threw out the now finished the yogurt before darting back upstairs to check if Dyani was still in her room.

She didn't bother to open the door. She never did.

"Hey!" Reagan announced as she walked into the room.

"Yes?" Dyani showed no reaction to her sudden loud outburst. It was a common occurrence. She was lying on her bed with her feet propped on top of Enyeto who was sleeping at the bottom of the bed. She had her camera in her hands.

"Instagram-worthy?" She gestured to the dog at her parabati's feet.

She snapped a quick picture and the dog stirred slightly, "Totally." She continued to scroll through the photo viewer on her camera.

"Are you getting it ready for today?"

"Yeah. I've got to delete some of the stupid shit on here."

Reagan moved so she could peer over Dyani's shoulder to see the pictures, "You better not delete any that I look hot in."

"I would never do that." Dyani teased, "It doesn't happen often. We need the photographic evidence."

"Hey!" Reagan shoved her shoulder gently with a laugh before looking at the picture on the screen, "Ew. Definitely, delete that."

"But this is one of the good ones."

"You suck." She snatched the camera from her hands and deleted it herself before scrolling through a couple more. "Holy shit!" She laughed, "Look at Wesley's face!"

"I know." Dyani smiled, "This was when we first took him to Uncle Rick's." She leaned over to look at the picture of Wesley. It was just under a year old. He had an empty shot glass in his hand and a sour expression scrunched on his face.

"Oh man, he was not ready!" Reagan laughed.

"Is anyone ever really ready for Uncle Rick's Brew?"

Reagan smiled at her and quickly flipped through the rest of the pictures from that night. There were pictures of the four of them with some of the werewolves. They were wearing birthday hats, the kind that was a bright blue cone upon your head, in a few of them. Reagan remembered it was a birthday. A werewolf named Spencer's birthday to be exact. Spencer was their age and she was one of Reagan's best friends outside of the institute. Reagan watched as the photos changed from the dimly lit pub to the bright dock with the lake stretched out behind it.

"Hey, this one is my favourtite!" She beamed as she passed the camera to Dyani.

"I agree." Dyani smiled down at the picture of the two of them on the dock last summer. Reagan was on Dyani's back. She was mid-laugh. Her face caught in an open-mouthed expression of joy. She'd been very happy that day. She remembered laughing and smiling at the others as they took the boat out and went cliff jumping. She remembered making smores over a campfire when the sun had set and the stars came out. Connor had pushed Reagan into the lake fully clothed so she ended up borrowing Wesley sweater. She smiled at the memories as she remembered going to bed exhausted and sleeping in well past ten the next day.

The two parabtis spent the rest of that morning reminiscing: Dyani cracking jokes and imitating Reagan's stupid faces in the pictures while Reagan protested those imitations. They went as far back as nine years ago when they were only eight years old. They didn't know then as they dreamed of runes and adventure that they'd do both those very things together. Eight-year-old Reagan and Dyani did not know that they were going to be parabati; but looking at the pictures it didn't look like there was any other option.

When Connor made his way to the kitchen well past noon Wesley and the kids were still carving the pumpkins.

"Coffee's in the pot." Wesley informed him without looking at him. It was astonishing how Wesley always had the coffee ready just as Connor made it downstairs. Connor sometimes wondered if Wesley spied on him. Of course, the reality was that Wesley just knew him well enough to know his habits.

"Hey Connor, are you going to make a jack o' lantern?" Adsila asked.

"Nah." He shook his head and poured himself his usual large cup of coffee.

"It's because he's too weak to cut through the pumpkin." Tahlia quipped.

Connor brought a hand to his heart in a dramatic gesture, "How could you say such a thing? I am an expert at pumpkin carving, right Wes?"

"Mmm, I don't know." He hesitated and chuckled at the last time he's seen Connor attempt to carve a pumpkin. It was last Halloween and they were at Uncle Rick's. Also, Connor was very drunk. "I think you need to prove it." He challenged.

"Yeah! Prove it!" Tahlia smirked.

"I can't believe you think I can't carve a pumpkin." Connor placed his coffee on the counter and grabbed a knife off the table. "Give me a pumpkin. I'll show you how it's done."

"Take the top off this one." Adsila pushed a large pumpkin towards him, "And take all the guts out."

"Let's take it one step at a time." Wesley teased.

"Ha." Connor stuck out his tongue at the other boy who merely laughed at it. He then began to saw through the top of the pumpkin. It wasn't hard but the lid of his pumpkin did not end up very round. He held it up with all the guts and seeds still hanging from it with a look of pleased triumph.

"Now the guts."

He pulled the guts from the lid and held them close to Tahlia, "Would these look good in your hair? I think so!"

"Ew!" She yelped in response and pushed his hands away from her, "Don't be gross!"

"Yeah, Connor," Wesley remarked with a hint of Tahlia's valley girl accent, "Stop being so gross."

"You're gross." He responded with an even more overplayed accent.

"No, you're grosser!" Wesley shot back.

"Lies!"

He crossed his arms as a smirk fell onto his lips, "I'm not the one holding pumpkin guts."

Connor ripped the guts free from the pumpkin lid and threw them towards Wesley. Being caught off guard they landed on his shoulder. His mouth dropped open in disbelief before he grabbed some of his own and threw them at Connor. Connor was able to duck sending the guts over his shoulder and onto the kitchen floor. Both of the boys leaped to their feet: Connor digging inside the pumpkin for more ammunition and Wesley spinning into the middle of the kitchen with the guts from his shoulder now in his fist. Connor readied himself across the kitchen from him and met his eyes as if to say game on. Wesley charged towards him first and tossed the guts into his face. Connor wiped them off and chased him in a circle until Wesley, not watching his feet, slipped on the guts that had previously been tossed to the floor and went spiraling to the ground. Connor wasn't able to stop himself in time and tripped on Wesley's legs and he too fell to the ground. As soon as he caught his breath he began to laugh. Wesley joined him. Both of them lay on their backs with the orange pumpkin remains on the floor surrounding him.

"You got it in my hair!" Connor managed to say between laughs, "How'd you get it in my hair!"

"Good shot?" Wesley erupted into a fit of laughter.

"Boys?" Chenoa looked questionably onto the scene of the two boys laying on the floor in a mess laughing. She's only been gone an hour. Connor red-faced and Wesley with dimples in full rise shot up into a sitting position immediately at her voice. "What's going on?"

"I'm so sorry." Wesley held back his smile as he rushed to apologize.
"I don't care." She shook her head and let out a sigh, "As long as you clean it up and give me the seeds there's no harm done." She smiled and shook her head after looking at them again. "And go shower." She said before moving on into the next room.

"You're an idiot." Connor whispered with a smile.

Wesley flashed him a grin and responded, "So are you."

Reagan and Dyani met up with Connor and Wesley on their way downstairs. Upon seeing them both covered in pumpkin they stopped and looked quizzically at them.

"You have a pumpkin seed in your hair?" Dyani pointed out as she stopped Connor to pluck it from his hair.

"I know." He smiled sheepishly as he took it from her hand.

"How?"

"Leave it to Connor to get pumpkin in his hair." Reagan rolled her eyes.

"It's all in the spirit of Halloween!" He winked at Wesley who just smiled and shook his head slightly.

"Dyani dear!" Chenoa was heard shouting from the kitchen.
"Yes, mom?" Dyani asked as her and Reagan rounded the corner into the kitchen.

"Oh, and Reagan, perfect." She waved her towards the jack o' lanterns. "Please take those to the porch for me."

"No problem Mrs. Ravenshade." She took the first pumpkin and walked it down the hallway towards the front door.

"Dyani help me hang this." Chenoa pulled a chair up for her to stand on. She tossed the other end of the hanging letters to her daughter who caught them with ease.

"Let's get spooky?" Dyani read aloud with a short laugh as they stretched the lettering out to its full length.

"I thought it was cute." Her mother smiled gently as she hung her side up over the fridge. Dyani smiled back and secured the other end over the stove.

When six o'clock rolled around everyone began to get into their costumes. Some took longer than others. The males needed no longer than five minutes (except for Connor who still wasn't able to tie his tie on his own), but the females took time varying from half an hour, for Chenoa, to an hour and a half, for Tahlia and Adsila. Reagan and Dyani took somewhere in between this time. After an hour was up they were both dressed and ready to go. Dyani was still scoffing at the costume Reagan had gotten her to wear despite Reagan being baffled at how good it looked on her. They all waited together in the front hall for Tahlia and Adsila. When the two girls arrived it was a shock to everyone. Tahlia's makeup and hair abilities were known to be good, but her skills still surprised every time she was able to show them off. Patrick almost had a heart attack when he saw his daughters with blue and red hair and orange hair. Tahlia had calmed him down by explaining that it was only a spray can dye and would last no longer than a week at best. Chenoa thought they looked adorable, even though that was not what Tahlia was going for, and praised the coloured hair. They all took many photos in the front hall before all piling into the truck, the older teenagers in the bed and the younger kids in the seats, and heading down to town to trick or treat.

Trick or treating went surprisingly smoothly for a bunch of Shadowhunters who'd never done it before. Tahlia and Braeden raced across lawns to be the first one to knock on doors, Adsila met another Harley Quinn and ended up spending the night with her, and Dyani spent most of her time with Chenoa and Patrick who held casual conversation with other parents hanging back on the sidewalks as their children ran from house to house. Reagan met up with Spencer who was babysitting her neighbor's two children. Spencer liked the costume. She told Reagan she was going to dress up as a werewolf but then decided it was a little too much; instead, she was Little Red Riding Hood. The irony she loved so much was still there but it was more subtle (or tasteful according to Lucy). Connor bounced between his sister and Wesley throughout the night. He ended up spending more time with Spencer and Reagan because Wesley was busy with Luca all night. He would go up to porches hand in hand with him and mothers would marvel at how precious their matching costumes were. Wesley had to explain to a few that Luca was not his son but his "younger brother". This only made them happier. It wasn't only mothers that loved him that night. Multiple groups of teenage girls giggled and flirted with the handsome older brother who was kind enough to dress up and go out trick or treating with his adorable brother. If Wesley wanted to it would have been more than easy to get lucky that night, but every time he was invited to a party or someone's house he politely declined. The night wound down around ten o'clock when Luca was asleep on Wesley's shoulder and even Braeden was tuckered out from holding his heavy bag of candy. Dyani knew that Adsila owed him money because just from looking at the bulging bag she could tell that he'd gotten more loot.

By the time the family arrived home Luca was fast asleep. Wesley brought him upstairs and expertly put him in bed without waking him. By the time he got back downstairs the kids all dumped their candy onto the living room floor. Tahlia, Adsila, and Braeden had their piles sorted into chips, lollipops, chocolate, and candies. They were counting them now.

"345!" Adsila shouted in triumph.

"350!" Braeden stood up with a shout. "Eat it!"

"Braeden!" Chenoa scolded him but he trudged on.

"You owe me half your candy!"

"That's not fair!" Adsila whined.

"Addy, you've got to stop making bets you cannot win." Tahlia rolled her eyes as she yawned and undid the pigtails in her hair.

"Mom he can't do this!" Adsila turned for her mother's support.

"Leave your candy with me." She instructed, "We will deal with this in the morning."

"Mom!" They both protested at once.

"No. I don't want to hear it." She began to shuffle all three of them up the stairs and to their rooms.

"Let's get the real spirits of Halloween up in here." Connor appeared from the kitchen at the sound of the children's feet against the roof. He was holding a six-pack of Uncle Rick's brew. He tossed one toward Patrick who caught it with a chuckle that gave way to his laughter lines and said:

"I agree."

"Hit me up brotha!" Reagan held out her hand as if she was to catch a baseball in a mitt and not a glass bottle in her bare hand. Connor threw it in a spiral like a baseball. She caught the bottle with a hard slap against her hand. She opened the bottle easily and took a long swig. Connor then threw a bottle towards Dyani and Wesley before he took popped the top of his and began to drink heartily. Dyani placed hers on the coffee table without touching it and sat down on the couch. She let herself sink into it gracefully. She felt Wesley's body sink into the spot beside her and she could smell the fumes from his open bottle. It was oddly spicy smelling and it made her gag. That was Uncle Rick's specialty after all. She didn't find the same appeal as the others did in attempting to down the strongest beers. Just the thought made her feel sick.

"One day of mundane life and you're already pooped?" Wesley teased lightly as he drank a little more, "I could've given you a stamina rune or two out there."
"That would be a little out of the ordinary for the mundanes." She replied turning to face him. He was still in his costume, they all were, and the blue brought out the red in his flushed face.

He laughed at this, "A drink now would let you sleep past twelve for once."
"I don't think I need it honestly." She sighed, letting a small tired appear on her lips.

"Hey, you two stop the flirting and come join us!" Reagan yelled at them from across the room.

Dyani hide her face and scoffed, "Flirting? Give me a break!"

Wesley laughed as he got up from the couch and made his way to where the twins stood. "Why don't we brave those ones with the extra kick?" He offered up.

"Hell yeah!" Reagan started to distribute the three bottles.

"On the count of three?" Wesley unscrewed the top of his bottle. The other two followed and waited for his count. "Three." He looked at Reagan with a smirk. "Two." His gaze shifted to Dyani who held the camera up to capture their faces. "One." He met Connor's eyes with a playful tension. They all downed as much of the bottle as they could in one drink. Their faces twisted into varying expressions of disgust and surprise.

"Wow." Connor coughed, "He wasn't lying."

"Dyani try it." Reagan's face slowly untwisted from a scowl.
"I'd rather not." She responded.

Chenoa joined them in the kitchen where Patrick had already poured her a glass of red wine.
"Momma's going to have herself a good night." She winked as she took up the glass. But just as she raised the glass to her lips the home phone began to ring. She put the glass down with a grunt and reached for the phone while complaining about the awful timing. She put the phone to her ear and her expression immediately changed. Everyone noticed it as soon as it happened. Her smile shifted to the concerned look a mother wore so well. She nodded and quickly told them that they'd send someone right away. Her hand firmly placed the phone down before she spoke, "There's been a murder."