A/N — Happy Halloween all! This story is new. The next two are re-posts since I figured it would be easier to find them if I put all my Halloween stories into one place. xoxo — kals

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Name: Costumes

Universe: set loosely in the What Might Have Been universe. Tom and Sasha have a young son (Jake). Danny and Kara have five children (Frankie, Mark, Steven, Anna and Everett). Mike and Christine have their two older daughters, as well as two younger sons (Whitney, Shaylyn, Kaito and Logan). Tex and Andrea have a son Liam. Eric and Courtney have multiple children, the oldest being Tricia. Carlton has a daughter Mariah.

Date: sometime in the future

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Four Weeks Before Halloween

"Dad, we need to talk to you."

Looking up from the stack of mail that he was sorting, Danny watched with narrowing eyes as all five of his children walked into the kitchen, twelve-year-old Mark holding five-year-old Rhett's hand. Danny set the mail down on the table, arms crossing. "What did you do?"

Frankie rolled his eyes. "Why do you always assume that we're in trouble?"

"Yeah," Mark chimed in. "We do lots of good things too."

"Really?" Danny asked. "All five of you together? Name one."

After a long pause involving shoe shifting and meaningful looks, eight-year-old Anna spoke up, looking remarkably like Kara as she pursed her lips. "We helped Uncle Tom and Aunt Sasha clean out the attic last week."

"Fine, you did one good deed this year," Danny replied, deciding that it would be petty to point out that their help mostly involved hanging out with Jake going through Sam's old videogames. "Now, what did you want to talk about?"

Frankie took a deep breath, then blurted. "We don't want to do a family themed Halloween costume this year."

Danny held himself perfectly still, his children gazing at him with a combination of wariness and determination. He knew this day was coming. Frankie was fourteen, after all, and hitting the age when kids stopped wanting to dress up. Really, Danny was lucky that he got in as many years as he did. And just because they weren't dressing up as a family, he could still help them with their costumes.

He kept his expression stoic. "Okay."

Stevie frowned. "Just okay?"

"Yes." This time Danny smiled, already imagining the trip to the Halloween store for supplies. "Okay. What are you planning to dress up as?"

"I'm going to be a dog!" Rhett yelled, before Frankie jumped in.

"You'll have to wait and see," Frankie announced. "We want it to be a surprise."

xxxxx

Three weeks before Halloween

Danny was on the couch flipping through pictures when Kara sat down beside him. She set one cup of coffee on the coffee table, cradling the other one between her hands. "What do you have there?"

"Halloween pictures," Danny replied, holding them out to her.

Kara took the small stack, smile growing as she flipped through them. "Oh look, Frankie's first Halloween. He was President Oliver and the team was his bodyguards."

"That year was pretty good," Danny admitted. "But not as good as Mark's first Halloween. We went as Ninja turtles, remember?"

Kara chuckled. "I couldn't possibly forget, given how hot those costumes were. What did we do for Stevie's first Halloween? Was that Addams Family? Or Star Wars?"

"Where the Wild Things Are," Danny reminded her.

Eyes widening, Kara located the correct picture. "I can't believe that I forgot. I loved that year almost as much as when we did the Wizard of Oz for Anna."

"And Sesame Street for Rhett," Danny reminisced. "That might have been my best year ever. Mark was perfect as Oscar the Grouch."

Kara looked up, her smile fading, stretching out a hand and resting it on his bicep. "Are you really okay with the kids doing their own thing this year? I know that you love doing family costumes."

"I do, well, I did." Danny paused, eyes skimming through eleven years of family costumes. "But they're growing up, Kara. If they want to branch out and do their own thing, I understand."

"Does that mean you aren't interested in a couple costume?" Kara asked, eyes widening innocently. "Because I saw outfits for the Pink Ladies and the T-Birds that looked comfortable."

Why had he never thought about a couple costume?

Probably, Danny admitted to himself, because he and Kara never really did the pre-kid relationship thing. Their one childless Halloween was spent on Serrana Bank, dehydrated beyond belief and barely talking to each other. Pushing aside unpleasant memories, Danny dumped the photographs he had been examining onto the table, lifting up his mug as he thought. "Grease? We can do much better than that, Kara. We could go as a pair of sneakers or chips and guac. Give me a few days and I'm sure that I can come up with something that will win the costume contest."

Kara sat back, twisting her legs underneath her as she sipped her coffee. "You always do."

Focusing on his wife — rather than costume ideas — for a second, Danny leaned forward to give her a gentle kiss. "I'm glad you haven't abandoned me too."

"Never."

xxxxx

Two weeks before Halloween

"None of the kids have told you what they are dressing up as?" Kara asked, looking around the table. Despite seeing each other regularly at work, Danny enjoyed their standing dinners with whichever members of the crew were available.

Tex laughed. "Nope. They've been as sneaky as a shadow in Texas at noon."

Everyone stopped, staring at him, before Andrea shook her head. "In other words, no, Liam has not told us a single thing about his costume. I, however, don't care. He's old enough to know what is appropriate and if he elects not to follow the rules, he also understands the consequences."

"Easy for her to say," Danny muttered, and Kara kicked him under the table. The fact that Andrea and Tex managed to produce a little rule-follower was still a head scratcher.

"I agree with Andrea," Mike said, reaching for the mozzarella sticks. "If they're up to no good, we'll find out soon enough. No need to rain on their fun beforehand."

"He says that now," Christine teased, "but when Logan shows up in his underwear and cape to play Captain Underpants, you'll probably hear it all the way down the block."

"Trisha told us that they have a theme," Courtney said, nibbling on her bottom lip. "But she didn't tell us what it was."

"I'm sure it's nothing bad," Erik rushed to assure his wife. "Not like, you know, underwear."

Danny wondered how it was possible that Erik was still naive enough to imagine the worst Halloween costume his daughter might wear involved underwear. Before he could give Erik a run-down on actually problematic costumes — those involving false teeth that didn't come off, paint used as makeup, fake blood that stained everything it touched, and pretend weapons that were real enough to result in emergency room trips — Sasha began tapping her fingers on the table.

She looked at Danny. "It sounds like all the kids are involved. That's what? Your five, Mike's two, Tricia, Liam, and Jake. That's ten. Oh, is Mariah part of the plan?" At Carlton's nod, Sasha continued. "What kind of group costume is good for eleven kids?"

Despite having researched and pulled off award winning group costumes for the past fourteen years, Danny couldn't think of one that required ten people off-hand. Finally, he offered, "A box of crayons?"

Carlton couldn't let the opportunity pass. "You mean ten crayons and one crayon-eater?"

Danny's eyes narrowed. "Swabbie."

"Jarhead," Carlton shot back.

Sasha gave a sharp whistle. "Back on topic, I'm going to guess a group of Minions."

"Oh, that would be adorable!" Courtney gushed.

Catching Kara's eye, Danny rolled his eyes. As if something as generic as Minions would ever win the costume contest. He had definitely taught Frankie better than that.

xxxxx

One week before Halloween

"Hi Dad, hi Mom," Frankie called as Danny and Kara walked into the house.

Surprised that their oldest was still awake given that it was well after midnight and he had soccer at eight am the next morning, Danny walked into the living room. Frankie was sprawled across the couch, television remote in hand. Danny raised an eyebrow. "Waiting up for us?"

Frankie laughed, the sound deeper than Danny recalled, another reminder that their oldest child was growing up. "I wanted to know if you won."

Tossing her hat at Frankie, Kara emerged from the kitchen and dropped down into a chair to pull off her cowboy boots. "Of course, we won. Your father said that everyone loves Toy Story, and he was right."

Wiggling his eyebrows, Danny pulled the trophy out of his Woody-size pocket. "Did you ever doubt me?"

Frankie shot Danny a sly grin. "Not for a minute."

xxxxx

Halloween

"What do you think they're dressed as?" Kara asked, slipping her hand through Danny's arm as they strolled around the school Halloween Bash. Privately, Danny had to give credit to PTA Mom. The woman might be the bane of his existence, but she knew how to plan an event. Too bad that he saw the sign-up after all the good options were taken. Kara, of course, got away with bringing napkins.

"Beats me," Danny replied. He checked his watch. "Two minutes until the Halloween parade. And you know that it will be on time."

"Woman is worse than a drill sergeant," Mike spoke from behind them, voice dry.

Christine elbowed him. "Being organized is a good thing."

"Green's just sore because he got stuck with clean-up duty," Tex interjected, as he and Andrea joined their small group.

Andrea rolled her eyes at Kara. "So did you, Tex."

"I'm still voting for crayons..." Carlton began, only to stop as the lights in the school auditorium dimmed and a spotlight shone on the entrance. "Holy shit, is that Jake?"

Normally Ravit would have read Carlton the riot act over his language but, apparently, even she was stunned to silence by the sight before them. Jake Chandler was strutting down the parade route, dressed in Navy blue, wearing a large nametag across his chest with the words "Captain Thomas Chandler." Walking on either side of him were Kaito and Logan, their nametags identifying them as XO Michael Slattery and Master Chief Russel Jeter. Just behind, sporting a large "Vulture Team" sign, were Frankie, Mark, Steve and Liam, BDUs labeled as Green, Burk, Miller and Nolan. Frankie had Rhett by the hand, dressed as a puppy and swinging a sign that Danny knew must say Halsey. Finally came Mariah, Anna and Trisha, designated as Sasha Cooper, Kara Green, and Andrea Garnett.

The entire group was silent as their children passed. Finally, Tom spoke. "I don't know whether to be honored or horrified that we've become Halloween costumes."

"You may not be sure," Sasha replied dryly, "but based on the cheering, I'm going to say that was a hit."

Kara leaned towards Danny. "How much do you want to bet that they win for Best Group Costume?"

Laughing, Danny looped an arm around her waist. "I didn't doubt Frankie for a second."