Summary: Wheeler takes Linka on a Halloween adventure. Even though I hate Halloween, I can't seem to stop myself from writing Wheeler and Linka stories about it! I guess letting Wheeler and Linka have fun while I'm stressing about work makes it better!

Disclaimer: I don't own Wheeler and Linka (or any other character from Captain Planet), nor am I getting paid to write this...although I did have the idea while I was at work and planned the plot while day dreaming while I worked...so technically, I was getting paid!

Happy Haunting

Part 1

"What is wrong Wheeler?" Linka asks as she notes that Wheeler is sitting at the kitchen table, picking at the food on the plate before him. "Are you sick?"

"No, Ma-Ti is."

"What? Is it serious?"

"I don't know. I don't think so. Just a cold or something," he says.

"Bozhe moy, the way you were acting, it was as if you just found out he only has months to live!" she jokes.

"Nah, nothing that serious. I guess I'm just being selfish…we had plans to go somewhere, and now we can't."

"Oh, I did not know you two were dating," she teases, trying to lighten his mood.

"Ha ha Babe, real funny."

"I am sorry Wheeler. Obviously you were really looking forward to this. SO what were your plans if I may ask?"

"What do you know about Halloween?"

"The actual meaning or the candy and costumes part?" She asks.

"I thought the candy and costumes WAS the actual meaning…whatever…so you get the basics…the traditional stuff?"

"Da."

"Well, I was telling Ma-Ti about the stuff that my friends and I used to do and he sounded interested…thought it sounded fun. So I thought it'd be cool for him to get to experience it. When I was younger, there was this thing called 'Fear Fest' that I always wanted to go to, but could never get tickets. I finally got them but now I guess I won't be going. It's not gonna be any fun going alone."

"Did you ask anyone else? Kwame perhaps?"

"He's not interested. I don't really think it's Gi's cup of tea…and you…well…you're too…serious for this sort of thing."

She quirks her eyebrow at him.

"And what sort of thing would that be?"

"Umm, you know…fun stuff."

"I like having fun Yankee!"

"Oh! Yeah! I didn't mean it like that…I just meant that your idea of fun and mine were different…like, you wouldn't be amused by the same things that I am…that's all I meant…not that you didn't know how to have fun."

"I am not so sure I believe you! You think I am boring!"

"No! No, not at all…I'm just sayin'…our ideas of fun differ. What you find enjoyable, I don't…and what I find entertaining, you find it to be…stupid."

"I do not think that the things you enjoy are stupid…do you think the things I enjoy are stupid?" She asks.

"No, I think they're boring."

"I KNEW IT!" She says as she playfully slaps his arm.

"Noooooo, I said I thought the things you enjoyed were boring…not that YOU were boring."

"Ooooh, I see," she says with a smile.

He smiles back at her and says.

"As long as we're clear."

A moment of silence passes before Linka finally says,

"So are you going to ask me if I want to go to this thing or not?"

"Are you serious? You want to go?"

"Do you not want to go?"

"Yeah! Of course I do! But I don't want you to feel like you have to go out of pity…or to prove a point."

"The point being that I DO know how to have fun?" She asks pointedly.

"Yeah," he says sheepishly as he blushes. "Don't you even want to know what goes on at Fear Fest? It's not just something you go to for a few hours. It lasts a few days," he explains.

"Do you not think that you can tolerate me for a few days?"

"No, it's not that…I just didn't know if you'd want to tolerate me," he admits.

"After all these years, I have built up a tolerance to you Yankee!"

"Yeah, I've noticed," he leers.

"If your bad pick up lines are the scariest thing I will have to put up with, I think I can handle Fear Fest!"

"I don't know Babe…the first day is a scary movie marathon, several different theaters playing all sorts of scary classics: Psycho, Halloween, all the Friday the 13th movies, all the Nightmare on Elm Street movies…Then there's some newer ones like all the Saw movies…and some un-scary, "scary" movies like Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer, know what I mean?"

"I have never seen those last ones."

"You're not missing anything, trust me."

"So what else besides the movies?"

"Well, the sleeping arrangements are going to be the scariest part I think…it's haunted."

"What's haunted? A hotel?"

"Not exactly. It's an old abandoned psychiatric facility. It used to be a prison for the insane. And now there are no creature comforts…no beds, no electricity…just like camping…only haunted."

"Just because it is an old, run down building does not make it haunted Wheeler!"

"True…but all the paranormal activity that has been documented there does…it's all in the pamphlet if you wanna read it. It's in my room."

"I do not believe in ghosts, Yankee."

"Good, then you won't be scared…but I do…so don't be surprised if you wake up in the middle of the night and I'm huddled next to you for protection."

"Da, sure, use a fear of make believe ghosts as an excuse to cuddle."

"I didn't say 'cuddle,' I said 'huddle'…there's a difference."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, I can't explain it though…it'd be easier if I showed you," he says with a wink.

"I guess I will find out when you are scared and huddled next to me."

"Still haven't scared you out of going?" He asks.

"You mean the potential to wake up and see you cowered next to me…or the potential to see ghosts?"

"Aww Babe, you're gonna hurt my feelings!"

"I am not scared Yankee…I am intrigued. Anything else I should know about?"

"The second day is a costume party…they have to be scary though. I'm going to go as a Vampire."

"I do not have time to get a costume," she says.

"So make one…we can go as a couple…uh, I didn't mean…not like that…I meant…a themed pair…ahh, duo."

"You think I should be a vampire as well?"

"I was thinking more like you could be my vampire's victim. I got this really cool make up kit and it came with these movie FX things…they adhere to your skin to look like bite marks. And there's this gel blood that goes on them, and it has a dripping affect…I think that'd look real cool."

"What should I wear?" She asks.

"You can probably find something in your closet…or maybe it'll be a nice excuse for you to go shopping. Get a black dress, something…dressy, elegant, but…uhh sexy…for lack of a better word."

"I uhh, think I may have something that would work."

"Really?!" He says, shocked and intrigued. "Any particular reason?"

"It was an impulse buy…a 'just in case' dress. Just in case we had to go somewhere where formal wear or an evening dress was necessary."

"W-we?" He asks hopefully.

"Da, you know how we went to Senora Salvador's dedication ceremony a few years ago for that pollution reducing train system?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I cannot wear the same thing all the time if we have other similar functions to go to, so I got a few more dresses."

"Oh."

Wheeler was a little disappointed that the we she was talking about wasn't him and her but the entire group.

"So when is this thing?" She asks.

"Uh, tomorrow morning."

"So soon? I must get ready then!"

"I can't believe you really want to go."

"Well, it seems important to you and it sounds fun…so if you do not mind letting me tag along instead of Ma-Ti…"

"No, that's not it at all! I was looking forward to this before…now I'm REALLY looking forward to it."

"Me too," Linka says as she leaves the kitchen, thinking about how nice it will be to get to spend some time alone with Wheeler. He seems to be a different person when he's not putting on a show for the others. And she knows she's a different person when they're not around as well. This weekend away is definitely going to be one to remember.

To Be Continued…