#chb2022

Just click the link attached to the Castle Halloween Bash master list you wish to view.

Castle Halloween Bash 2014

Castle Halloween Bash 2015

Castle Halloween Bash 2016

Castle Halloween Bash 2017

Castle Halloween Bash 2018

Castle Halloween Bash 2019

Castle Halloween Bash 2020

Castle Halloween Bash 2021

Castle Halloween Bash 2022

Castle Halloween Bash 2023

Castle Halloween Bash 2024

Post Series

They’re giddy and she’s trying to calm them so they don’t give the game away.

“Ssh, okay?” She whispers. “I’ll open the door and then you surprise. Ready?”

Three heads nod at her. She turns to the door, gestures to them to keep their laughter in and then she’s throwing the door open and Lily, Reece and Jake are rushing in dressed in their ghost costumes and shouting “boo!” at their unsuspecting father who was just pulling his socks on.

He laughs, only jumping a little but enough to make the Castle horde happy.

She watches as they tackle him to the bed, them all laughing and ribbing their father.

“We gots you!” she hears the boys teasing.

“Yeah, you and your mother are a dangerous combination,” he tells them, looking at his wife smirking in the doorway. 

Season Six

He really doesn’t know what he was expecting, he’d heard stories, but the reality was far different. He was perched on a stool, sipping on a cup of coffee and waiting for his daughter to be ready. He’s taking in the decorations, watching his future son-in-law as he straightens the kitchen.

“Help yourself Jim,” he gestures to the candy. “Kate told me you like candy corn. Picked some up for you.”

Jim appreciates it. Appreciates the care the man in front of him shows every time they get together. If he were a more suspicious man he’d think he was trying to win Jim Beckett over but after all the stories he’s heard from his daughter, he knows that Richard Castle genuinely enjoys doing things for other people.

“I used to have to hide this from Katie,” Jim chuckles, reaching for a piece. “Her mother never liked it, but Katie and I would eat it and watch movies. One Halloween she ate so much she got sick though, never touched the stuff again. I still have to hide the milk duds.”

Castle laughed. “I tried to buy her her own box but she still eats mine too.”

Jim smiles. “Thanks for inviting me for a movie night.”

Castle comes round to sit next to him. “Kate says you enjoy them. Did Johanna? I’m sorry, is that okay to ask?”

“It’s fine,” Jim nods. “She didn’t mind them. Didn’t appreciate me showing them to Katie but once she was too old for trick-or-treating and too young for parties, it was a fun way to do the holiday. My father, he was an amateur magician. So Halloween was big for us. He’d put on a show for the local kids and Katie, she’d be glued. There was no one in the world like her Grandpa. She loved him. He’d teach her a little trick to show off and she’d surprise Johanna and I when we took her trick-or-treating.” Castle pictures that little pint sized version of his love. Knows she’s great at slight-of-hand, had always wondered how she’d learned it. She’s heard her talk about her grandfather but hearing Jim, seeing how much love he holds for his daughter and that place his own father held in her life makes him grateful for the insight.

“Thank you for sharing that. She only ever teases me about being a troublemaker. Think she likes to make me fear for Alexis discovering a wild side.”

Jim chuckles. “Oh, I can and will tell you those stories one day but we’ve only got a few hours tonight.”

“You know I can hear you two ganging up on me, right?” Kate calls as she heads into the kitchen, changed out of the suit she’d worn for work. “Grandpa was the king of Halloween though. Gave you a run for your money, Castle.”

Jim looked on as she swipes Castle’s drink, sips from it and the amusement on her face when he huffs and playfully tries to take it back.

“Psycho tonight Dad?” She checks with Jim. 

CHB '22 #35: Trick Indeed

Post Series

She hears the vigorous banging on her door and she's in motion, recognising the sound. She's been ready all day for this, opening the door without haste and grinning at the sight that greeted her.

"Gram! Trick or treat!"

"Oh, look at you my darlings."

She grins at her son and daughter-in-law, dressed splendidly as Morticia and Gomez Addams, her boy always looking dashing in a suit and Kate looking absolutely stunning in a black ball gown.

She kneels down for her grandkids who scramble to be the first to hug her and she takes in their costumes.

"You, my dear Lily make a wonderful Wednesday," Martha tells her beaming Grandaughter.

She turns to her boys, her little mischief makers who are already prodding at the candy bowl by her door. "Richard, you're going to have to remind me, I thought there was one son."

"Jake is Pugsly, Reece wanted to match his old man so he's Pubert, they added him in the movies, works out for us," Castle explained.

She smirked at Reece. His face painted moustache was already all over his face but he looked happy enough. "My dashing grandsons. Okay, you three can take two pieces each for your bags."

She looked up at her son. "Same goes for you Richard."

She winks at Kate, the two sharing a grin.

"Come in, come in, tell me about your evening," Martha ushers them in, links arms with Kate as the kids pile into the living room towards the toys Martha keeps for them and listens as they tell her sugar-induced stories of all the places they'd been on their walk to see their Gram while she fixes coffee for their parents who look like they need it.

"One of the houses asked the kids for a trick," Kate whispers to her as they sit in the kitchen watching the kids play. "Lily informed the lady at the door that her brothers were the trick."

"Oh?"

"Lily what did you tell that lady about your brothers?" Kate called out.

She watched her son hide his face and braced herself.

"My brothers are the trick. Mommy wanted one baby but Daddy did a magic trick and now I have two brothers."

Kate looked at Martha's look of shock. "Well."

"That woman didn't know what to say," Kate covered her face, shaking her head. "Precocious daughter of Richard Castle, yeah I got myself a handful, didn't I Martha?"

Season 7

The door locked behind her, plunging her into darkness. 

Rattling the handle, throwing her shoulder against the door, kicking it out of anger did nothing to budge it. 

Tentatively she felt along the wall, hoping to find a light switch, ever cautious of what she might brush against in the unknown room.

Triumph swelled in her chest when she felt the object of her desire, flicking it on and illuminating the space around her.

A lab of some sort. A medical facility maybe? The smell of copper, of blood, of death reached her nose now the panic had eased and she could see the broken glass, the blood stained shards. Well, she’d found her crime scene that much was certain. 

She reached for her phone in her pocket, hoping there were bars for her to call in her location, get back up. 

He reached for his drink, dislodging her from her position curled up next to him. He’s sipping slowly, drawing out the moment and she blinks up at him, waiting for the next part.

“You can’t just stop there,” she complained. “What happens to Nikki? Where’s Rook? He’s gotta be on the other side of the door, right? He was right behind her!”

He laughs at her outburst. 

“Calm down, I’ll finish the story,” he assures her, reaching for his cocoa again. “I’m just gonna refill our drinks.”

“Sit Castle,” she points at the spot he’s sitting in and throws a glare his way. “You promised me a Halloween story. Nikki found a lab at the back of the store?”

The door opens…

Kate gets comfortable again, laying her head back down, ready to hear what happens to their alter egos.

Post Series

They’re hunkered down at the coffee table, heads bent together and he can see the look of concentration on his daughters face. Smiles because it matches the one on her mother’s face. He’s not sure what they’re working on but he’s sitting back in his chair, content to watch them. The way Kate encourages Lily, guides her through whatever she’s drawing, hovers ever so slightly when the scissors come into play and the way they laugh and cheer over their activities. 

Curiosity gets the better of him and he decides to move to the doorway, not wanting to break the spell of their mother-daughter time but wanting to see better.

He catches Kate eyes, sees the joy in them, the grin that’s reserved for her children and her children alone; the joy that they give her spilling out.

“Show Daddy,” she nudges Lily and his daughter is eagerly holding up their arts and crafts. He can see it now. They’re making ghosts.  “Mommy’s gonna help me hang these above my bed,” Lily tells him. “We found a ghost story in that shop on the market and we made these out of it.”

He can see now, the second hand copy of a Stephen King novel they both have read and he’s amused. Knows by the look on her face she did it for him. 

“We’re gonna make you one for your office too,” Lily beams.

Post Series

“Hey pumpkin,” he calls as he crosses over to her, sits on the log beside her. “Hiding out? Lily said you were out here.”

Alexis smiles at him. “Something like that. Actually, I kind of wanted some time alone with you.”

Castle grins, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her into his side, the same way he has always done since she was a little girl. “Well, you got me.” And she sinks into it, the feeling of home, of safety her Dad always gives her, no matter how old she gets.

“Everything okay?” 

She nods, leans her head against his shoulder but doesn’t leave his bear hug. “Just thinking.”

“Anything I can help with?”

“One thing.” 

He waits. Knows sometimes it takes Alexis a moment to gather the words. But he’s her go-to-guy, will always be and he braces for it.

“Think you can find another witches costume for next year. Though it’s going to have to be a lot smaller.”

He pulls back, looks at her as the question starts to register.

“You...”

Alexis grins. “You’re gonna be a Grandpa”

He’s speechless and she’s grinning. Because she so very rarely sees him like this. The look of absolute amazement.

“My pumpkins gonna have a pumpkin?”

She’s laughing. “Something like that.”

“We have to dress them as a pumpkin, you were one your first Halloween. I still have the costume.”

He’s wrapping her tight, holding her. His little girl. Not so little. It went so fast. And now he’s...

“I’m so proud of you Alexis. So very proud of the person you’ve become. I love you. I’m... congratulations. Are you happy? Are you... everything’s okay right?”

Alexis is wiping tears, smiles when he reaches up to help. “I think Kate’s on to me. That stomach bug the other week?”

“Morning sickness,” he realises and feels like he should have noticed too. 

“Can you get Kate down here? I want to tell her too before I tell Lily and the twins.”

“In a minute,” Castle nods and pulls her into his arms again. “Congratulations.”

CHB ‘22 #2: Red Bloom

Season 4

She's not sure how she allowed him to talk her into this. They'd had their Halloween night. Watched movies, eaten junk food and she'd come through unscathed and feeling happy to have been in his company.

Too happy, she thinks. Cause he'd offered to walk her down to a cab when they'd bumped into a neighbour throwing a party and they'd both been invited in. She'd smiled at him, said they should at least have a drink.

And a drink had turned into a dance. And she was loving it. Close to him, able to blame the busy room for their close proximity and indulge for just a few minutes.

"Come on, let me walk you down now," he whispers and they make their excuses.

Heading for the door, Castle collides with a zombie but laughs it off. "Woah, cool costume - the blood looks totally real."

But all she sees is red bloom across his chest.

He's hurt. Castle's down. Castle's down. Blares through her mind and he turns to her just in time to see it. To see her freeze. To see her reach for her chest. Looks down and sees the red on his own. Knows instantly she's back there. In the cemetery.

He's pulling her from the party, into the quiet of the hall.

"Kate," he calls, grateful when her eyes look at him, even if they remain fearful.

"The blood, Castle." She gasps. "It's... your hurt."

"It's just costume makeup," he gently grips her arms. "See, I'm here. I'm fine. Kate, breathe for me, okay? I'm right here."

"It's real," her fingers tremble as she reaches out to him. "You can't leave me."

He can't think of any other way to prove her wrong then to unbutton his shirt, hold her shaking hand to it. "See, nothing. I'm fine."

She swallows, fingers caressing slightly and he watches the moment the fog clears and she realises where she is. The moment she snaps her hand back and clears her throat.

"Sorry," she whispers. "I... I just... I think I really need to get some sleep."

"Beckett, you've... you've been through a lot lately," he assures her. "We've had a great night and you managed to almost get my shirt off. Ignore a little blip. Let's get you into a cab."