It was the 31st of October. It was in the squad room.

And Tony was being annoying. More so than usual.

"You know what I think?" he asked, and Kate didn't even bother looking up.

"What?" she asked, "I don't really care, but maybe you'll give up, if I just give in."

"I know what your costume is."

She looked up, "Try me."

"Slutty police officer. Why don't you handcuff me, Kate?"

"Oh, you'd like that, wouldn't you?"

"I would. And what are you being?"

"Elementary my dear Watson," he smirked at her, but the smirk just made him look juvenile, not like Gibbs…..

Snap out of it Kate! She shook her head, trying to clear it, "Let me guess… you're being an annoying frat boy."

The smile faltered, and then returned, "No. I'm being James Bond."

"Lucky you."

"You know what Probie is being?"

"What?"

"Harry Potter."

"Really?" she asked, a little amused.

"Yeah."

"We'll let him, it's not like he's doing anything wrong."

"He's being a bigger geek than usual."

"Okay Bond. Whatever. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a case report to finish."

"It certainly was a weird one," Tony commented.

"Well gee, Tony, it's not every day that we come across a body with a pumpkin for a head."

"Obviously you've never heard of the headless horseman." Tony retorted.

"Do you know what Gibbs is being?"

"He-."

"I don't wear costumes," Gibbs said, walking past their desks, only to sit at his own.

"Of course you don't, sir," Tony said hurriedly, glaring at Kate, "Can I guess again?"

"You can guess all you want, but you'll never get it right," she replied sweetly.

"Slutty nurse!" he guessed, and a spluttering noise came from her left.

She and Tony both turned, alarmed, to see Gibbs setting his coffee down, a little red in the face.

"No one," he wheezed, "is being a slutty anything. That goes for you especially DiNozzo!"

It was Tony's turn to choke on his coffee, as Kate chuckled to herself. She finished her case report, and walked over to Gibbs, handing it over.

"Thank you, Agent Todd," he said, looking up, and she saw something in his eyes. But what? Not contempt surely?

Was the thought of her in a slutty costume that repulsive? "Will we be seeing you at Abby's party, Gibbs?"

"I said I'd go," he replied, "And no, before you ask, I already said, I don't do costumes."

"Well I guess I'll see you there, Gibbs," she said, and was he imagining things or did she look a little disappointed?

He shook off the thought, as Kate gathered her stuff up to go home, and change. At least- No, Gunny, you don't need images of her getting undressed. Put that out of your head right now.

He opened the case file to take his mind off Kate, but it was hard. Her perfume had clung to the page, and that alone was enough to distract him.

Tony stood up, "See you later, boss."

"DiNozzo."

Tony paused, and turned back to Gibbs, "yeah boss?"

"Do you know what Kate's being?"

"No, sir." Tony's sirs were becoming a little annoying, but he knew Tony either did it out of fear, or out of a deep desire to desperately annoy him.

XNCISX

He looked at himself in the mirror again. This was precisely why he didn't do costumes.

He looked old, and quite unattractive.

He was being Napoleon Solo, from the old show The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

He was wearing a tuxedo, and a bow tie that was rather itchy.

However, somehow, he had let Ducky and Abby talk him into wearing a costume.

Ducky was going as Illya Kuryakin which was an even bigger joke, since the resemblance was obvious.

Abby was going as Audrey Hepburn.

Tony was James Bond, McGee was Harry Potter, whoever the hell that was.

But Kate? A blank. He had no idea what Kate was being.

He just hoped she hadn't followed Tony's advice and was going as a slutty anything. He might have a heart attack- he really couldn't put that kind of strain on his heart.

He walked out of the head, and took the elevator down to Abby's lab. He braced himself, for what he would see.

As the doors open, he heard Abby yell, "Gibbs!"

And then an Audrey Hepburn clone jumped at him, screaming.

He laughed, "Abs! Calm down."

She looked at him mischievously, "You actually dressed up!"

"Of course he did. Jethro, you look excellent," Ducky said, grinning from the doorway in Kuryakin's signature black turtleneck.

"Thanks Duck, I'm uncomfortably as hell."

"Come on in, come on in!" Abby shouted, and dragged him the ten steps to the lab, where everyone was.

Abby had really outdone herself this year, and he was amazed to see in the dim light, the flickering candles lighting up pumpkin faces. Abby's skeleton was dressed in a witch's hat. There was food, and drinks, and he could have sworn there were bullet casings on the cupcakes.

He looked around the lab, seeking out his colleagues. No surprise, the director thankfully wasn't making an appearance. He had surprised them all last year by making an appearance, and Gibbs was thankful there would be no repeat performance. The director liked Abby, but didn't appreciate pumpkin carving shenanigans in the middle of a workweek.

McGee was dressed in a black robe, with circular glasses, a lightning bolt drawn onto his forehead. It didn't look too bad from Gibbs' perspective, but then, he had no idea who Harry Potter was anyway.

Ducky was talking to Tony, who for once, didn't look like a frat boy. He looked elegant in his tuxedo, and if Gibbs had to guess, he'd say Tony was Bond from the Connery era. Abby joined them a second later, dressed in an outfit he would have to guess belonged to Audrey Hepburn in Charade.

And then, his eye went to the agent next to Tony, and he found himself gaping uncontrollably. His brain refused to work in a sudden moment of surprise.

Kate? He thought.

Kate was a Marine. Dress blues and everything. Picking up a drink from the table, he made his way over.

"Hey Katie," he whispered in her ear.

She whipped around, before relaxing at the sight of him, "Gibbs."

"You look good for a…." as his eyes swept up and down, something exploded in the pit of his stomach, and his mouth went dry.

"A Gunnery Sergeant?" she asked, smirking a little. She'd learned that from him.

"Absolutely, Gunny…. You look… great," Had he said that out loud? Damn. His brain was too focused on just how good she looked in uniform.

And then his brain decided to make the leap to how great she'd look with that uniform on his bedroom floor. And with that, every blood cell in his body migrated to the Halloween party in his crotch.

She froze, staring at him for a second, "Was that a compliment?"

"Don't worry," he muttered, "Won't happen again…"

"Damn," she said, with a practiced smirk. She'd definitely learned that from him, "You look pretty smoking yourself, Solo." And then, she seemed to realize exactly what she said. She turned a light pink.

"Thanks Katie."

She narrowed her eyes at the nickname, but merely gestured to the decorations, "Abby throws a hell of a party."

"She certainly does," Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Abby staring at him, and gesturing something. –The hell? He wondered, but was distracted by Kate.

Always distracted by Kate, she had a presence that demanded he pay attention.

He realized how close they were standing, "The drinks are good," he offered feebly.

"Sorry there's no bourbon for you. Or a boat."

"You're hilarious."

"I try," she said back, and if her hair wasn't tightly wound, she'd probably be tossing it over her shoulder.

He found himself watching her lips again, like he did sometimes when they were in the squad room.

They were the only people left in the room, he realized, looking up. Where had Abby dragged the rest of her guests?

He looked down at her, grateful for the height difference, "What am I going to do with you Gunny?"

"I don't know, what do you normally do with Marines?"

"Put them in handcuffs or coffins," While the thought of putting Kate in a coffin was devastating, the idea of her in handcuffs… was a little more kinky and exciting. Make that a lot more exciting, if he was listening to his dick.

"Well you can handcuff me if you really want to?"

Oh God, this was a terrible idea. Kate was flirting with him. Okay, maybe there'd been tension between them, but nothing like this. Kate in handcuffs, Kate in handcuffs…. Okay this was a terrible idea, and rule twelve… Damn the rules.

"Sorry, I can't handcuff you, Gunny. My cuffs are in my desk upstairs."

She bit her lip, staring up at him, "What else do you do with Marines?"

"Well sometimes, if I really feel like it, I do this to them," he said, before reaching down, and capturing her lips in a surprising kiss. She slowly melted into him, grabbing the lapels of his suit jacket, and tugging him more insistently towards her.

It was as good as he'd suspected it would be.

He drew her closer, as she wound her hands around the back of his hand, running them through his hair. He nearly smiled. Of course, after all the teasing, she would like his hair.

When they surfaced for air, she whispered, "I think this is breaking the rules, Gibbs."

"Well, Gunny, if Marines didn't break the rules once in a while, I wouldn't be here."

"Wanna break the rules again, Gibbs?"

"Whatever you want, Gunny," and with that, he pulled her into another kiss.