AN: Thanks for all the follows, favorites, and reviews for this story. I really appreciate them!

Disclaimer: I don't own Castle.

After coming up again with nothing the next day, despite all of the team's efforts, Castle and Kate camp out at the edge of the graveyard starting in the evening.

Castle, being Castle, brings along what he considers 'necessities'. These items apparently include a ridiculous number of snacks and a blanket.

"What do you need a blanket for?" she questions as they sit near Chloe's grave.

"The temperature is supposed to drop tonight and us humans can feel it," he goads as she rolls her eyes.

"I can feel cold," she objects, knowing it's not the same. She doesn't freeze her butt off during the winter like normal people, but she still gets chilly. Perks of being a mermaid.

She reaches into his bag of goodies, shoving a few gummy bears in her mouth.

"So, do you have a favorite Halloween?" he questions.

She thinks. "When I was seven, my parents and I dressed up together. I pestered them to be the Addams family with me as Wednesday and them as Morticia and Gomez."

He laughs. "I have a hard time picturing your dad as Gomez," he admits.

A small snicker escapes her lips as she recalls the costume. "He wore a hairpiece. I think Mom convinced him to do it."

This time, Castle guffaws. "I'll remember to mention that when he's at the party tomorrow."

She playfully elbows him before taking a handful of chocolate covered malt balls.

They sit in comfortable silence for a while, the sun setting and giving way to moonlight. The street lights begin to give off their luminescent glow, but the duo's area of the graveyard is still fairly dark.

"What do you think will happen?" she inquires.

His shoulders lift. "Don't know really, but guess we'll just have to wait and see."

After sitting for a while longer, a breeze starts to come, bringing the rustling of trees.

"I think we should go," Kate insists. "There's nothing here."

"Aww, come on, Beckett." He flashes her a smile. "Don't tell me you're spoked."

"I'm not. I just see there's nothing out here to warrant us to stay any longer."

Just as the words leave her mouth, the sound of twig snapping nearby reaches her ears.

"You hear that?" Castle glances around, wary.

"It's most likely an animal," she reasons.

However, she can hear the crunching of leaves, as if someone is slowly walking towards them. She freezes, her body becoming alert.

"Is it just me or did it suddenly get really cold?" Castle murmurs, wrapping the blanket around him tighter.

Putting a finger to her lips, she places her other hand near her holster as the sounds grow louder.

A figure approaches them, a mysterious, unearthly glow surrounds the stranger. As the person comes closer, the couple's jaws drop when they realize who it is.

"Chloe?" Kate chokes out, unsure if she's seeing things correctly.

"You're supposed to be dead," Castle squeaks as the girl stops in front of them.

Giving them a sad smile, she answers,

"I am."

After a moment of Rick stuttering and Kate shaking her, Rick recovers himself.

"So, you're a ghost!" he chirps, excitement vibrating off of him.

"She can't be," Beckett states, but there's an undercurrent of uncertainty in her voice.

The girls laugh, shrugging. "Oh, but I am. And besides, apparently I'm not the only supernatural one here." She raises an eyebrow at his partner, causing him to snicker.

"Yeah, well, gotta keep up that skepticism," Kate jokes, smirking. "So, since you're…not currently living, could you tell us what happened the other night?"

Chloe rolls her eyes. "You can say I'm dead, I don't mind." She waves a hand, her breeze causing some leaves to flutter nearby. "And yeah, I can." A soft sigh escapes her as she shifts from one foot to another. "I know my mom didn't exactly take my death as expected, at least that's what it seemed." Pursing her lips, she glances in the direction of her grave. "It took her until the other night to visit my site since the burial."

"Was she always so detached?" Rick quizzes. It's doesn't seem that way from Chloe's discussion.

"No, just when I started taking drugs. I don't blame her though." Scowling, the young woman shakes her head. "But yeah, I'm a little angry at her for not showing since the funeral."

"So, what happened the other night?" Beckett prods.

"She visited my grave, saying how sorry she was that hadn't been here. Apparently, some argument she had with Nick changed her mind. It was nice." The spirit traces her fingers on the cold granite of her headstone. "She brought my locket, which she gave me on my sixteenth birthday. Mom said she thought it would be better with me and that she planned on having it permanently attached to the grave at some point."

The young woman's voice cracks, and Rick's surprised when tears stream down her face.

"I was so happy, thrilled she decided to visit," the ghost murmurs. "I appeared to her and she…didn't take it well."

"She had a heart attack," Rick assumes. Damn, what a way to go.

"Yeah, she had a full on freak out and I couldn't do anything to save her," Chloe mutters bitterly. "I just keep screwing up, even when I'm dead!"

"You couldn't have done anything to prevent it," Beckett murmurs in attempt to placate the now restless spirit.

"But now, she's not alive and Nick is alone!" the ghost sobs, covering her face with her hands. "I'm such a mess up!"

Another breeze follows her statement, and this time, Beckett and Rick recognize the figure.

"Angelica!" they exclaim as the women approaches the trio.

"Mom?" Chloe breathes.

"You're not a screw up, Dear," the older woman states. "It was just a very inopportune moment."

The younger entity snorts. "What about Nick?"

"Oh he's strong, you know. But I don't know what this will do to him."

The couple, who has been standing silently, finally finds words. Well, Rick does, of course.

"I'm torn between melancholy and joy," he murmurs, earning an elbow from Beckett. "What? It's bittersweet. A family partially reunited, but leaving someone behind."

"We're sorry to cause your team trouble, Detective," Angelica apologizes.

"It's, erm, fine," the detective mumbles. "We'll just chalk it up to heart attack, which it was, just going to leave out the paranormal part."

"Thank you," Angelica grumbles. "Come on, Chloe, time to go watch your brother."

"Even in death she's bossy," the young woman grumbles. "Anyway, thank you for not running away. Oh, and Happy Halloween." She winks as both entities slowly disappear, the cold going with them.

"Well, that was unexpected," Beckett announces.

"Well, it is us," Rick chortles, kissing her forehead.

"True," she hums. "So, let's go tell the guys the case is closed."

The author nods. "And buy the snacks for our party and a costume for you." He glances at her as she smiles, shaking her head.

"I already have an idea for a costume, and no, you can't see it."

He pouts, but the playful look in her eyes tells him she has a plan, a devious one at that.

And he'll enjoy every bit of it.

The next night, the snacks are laid out, the decorations up, and the guests are arriving. Rick greets each person with a jovial handshake. It's a small party, just close friends and family. However, there's one person missing.

"Where's Beckett?" Ryan inquires, voicing the author's own question, stuffing a hand into the lab coat he's wearing.

"She's changing into her costume," Rick explains, serving his friend some punch, which is dyed orange to give it a festive look.

"Didn't think she'd be into the whole costume thing," Esposito remarks, fixing the cuff on his cut up plaid shirt.

"She wanted to do it this year. However, there was much eye rolling and grumbling," he jokes, taking a sip of his beverage, careful not to spill it on his ruffled shirt.

"That's Beckett for ya," Lanie replies with her scarlet lips. "What is her costume?"

The author grumps. "She wouldn't tell me." Narrowing his eyes, he glances at the display of candy apples, trying to distract himself.

"Doesn't look like you'll have to wonder any longer," Espo chokes out, eyes wide.

Rick turns, immediately noticing his partner in the entryway. The sight of her makes him swallow, his mouth gape, and his tongue hang out. To say she's beautiful is an understatement. More like ethereal, mythical. His lips twitch at the word choice.

She glides to them, a long, dark purple piece of cloth that looks suspiciously close to her tail encasing her legs, ending at her feet, giving the illusion it's only a tail. He's pretty sure he can see Jim Beckett raising his eyebrows in amusement.

"Wow, Beckett," Esposito whistles. "Looking good."

"Not like she ever stops," Rick shoots back, wrapping an arm around her torso, which dons a slightly more modest version of her mermaid brassiere. He wonders if some of the modesty is for her father's sake. He can only imagine his own reaction if Alexis dressed in something like this, or something skimpier. Thankfully, his daughter had settled for a pirate this year.

"I take it you approve?" she teases, bumping a knee against his leg.

"Most definitely," he murmurs.

"You guys got a thing for mermaids or something?" Ryan asks.

"Just an inside joke is all," Beckett hums.

Rick hears disapproving huffs from Esposito and Lanie, neither clearly not liking being outside the circle.

"Anyway, now the party can really start!" Rick exclaims, eager to show off his girlfriend. His extraordinary, beautiful girlfriend.

They walk around, chatting with Castle's friends. Quite a few of them raise a skeptical eyebrow at Beckett, but she takes it in stride, showcasing her wit and candor with each conversation. She even appears to be getting into the Halloween spirit as the night goes on.

"She's a keeper, Ricky," one of his author friends comments.

"Hopefully she'll keep me," he jokes.

"I'll try," she jabs as they wander away.

They approach Jim, who's currently conversing with one of Beckett's coworkers, Hastings.

"Interesting costume, Katie," he greets with knowing eyes. Hastings gives her own nod of approval.

"Yeah, just decided to do something new for a change."

"Well, it's certainly you." He snickers, the couple joining him in his laughter.

They catch up, telling Jim about their latest case while he discusses work. This isn't the first time Rick's met the elder Beckett. They had lunch once in order to meet each other for the first time and they had hit it off. However, Rick notices a certain undercurrent of melancholy about the man and his heart clenches at the thought of how much his wife's death left him feeling forever empty, eternally unsatisfied.

The conversation ends with an invitation to lunch and the couple agrees to meet again soon.

As they walk away, as if to answer his unspoken question, Beckett murmurs, "They're all like that. The ones who lose their soulmates. They're never fully happy again." It stills thrills him how much into they're into the other's head.

"Well, good thing you're stuck with me," he teases, rubbing her arm.

"I don't know about good," she snarks, but when he glances at her, her gaze shows only love.

"I'll remind you how good later," he rumbles, lips ghosting the shell of her ear, a preview of what's to come once they're alone. "But for now, let's finish seeing everyone."

"I think I'll be doing the reminding," she hums.

He grins, chuckling as they go to the next round of friends, her body fitting comfortably next to his, as if she belongs there.

He never wants to let her go.

The party winds down two hours later, and the guests begin to saunter home, sated and happy, leaving the hosts to clean up, which isn't much since everyone ate everything that was served.

The couple bids Alexis and Martha goodnight, entering their bedroom. They may only be dating a few months, but Rick considers the domicile theirs and hopes for Kate to be a much more permanent fixture in the loft at some point.

"I love that costume," he says for probably tenth time that night; regardless, it's true.

"Want me to keep it for some roleplay?" she tosses out as they get ready for bed, her brushing her teeth at the sink.

"Why need a costume when I have the real thing?"

An adorable snort escapes her as she goes into the closet, him turning down the bed.

"Well, you can't really touch everything when it's real," she reminds him.

"Just because I lack the ability to caress your human butt doesn't mean I can't do the same to your fish one." Besides, both versions are quite nice, and he's more than happy to touch her either way.

He expects another snide remark, but is instead met with silence.

"Kate?" he calls out.

She reappears in her pajamas, her lips, which are shut tight, clearly hold something inside, with one hand behind her back.

"What have you got there?"

Instead of answering, she slides into bed, pulling him to her with her free hand, giving him a slow, languid kiss. As her tongue slips inside his mouth, he feels the warmth of her lips and a…popping sensation? One that tastes like cherries, to be precise. It's literally explosive.

He pulls back, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion.

She produces her hidden hand, holding up a familiar package.

"Pop Rocks?" he practically squeals in excitement.

"Mmm hmmm," she answers, pouring a handful into her palm. He takes some, popping it into his mouth, reveling in the tingling sensation the candy provides. He's about to reach for more, but she pushes his hand away, eyes dancing.

Her gaze turns mischievous, lips curling into a playful smile.

"Happy Halloween, babe," she says, before popping some more candy into her mouth. She goes in for another kiss, making it sure it lasts longer than the first. Their tongues touch, the taste and smell of cherries filling his senses.

Happy Halloween, indeed!

AN: Happy Halloween, everyone!