Darlene Hunter Cook collapsed on her couch and clutched her hair in both hands. Her husband was laid up with a sprained knee and would be unable to defend their home from the little monsters… um, answer the door for the trick-or-treaters tonight. She couldn't find anybody who could take Jeffy trick-or-treating. Everybody that she'd called, neighbors, co-workers, parents of Jeffy's friends had some excuse: they had family gatherings to go to, they were going out of town, the kids had the flu. None of them specifically mentioned Jeffy's birthday party fiasco. Some of them might not even be thinking about it. "Geez-louise, let yourself get merged with the wall one little time and suddenly you're off the A-list," muttered Darlene.

Jeffy was trying to be brave about it, but he was visibly upset, and Darlene couldn't blame him. He'd worked on his costume for months! And there was no way it would fit next year, not at the rate he was growing!

She slammed her fist down on the arm of the couch and spat out a few 25¢ words. One of the photographs on the end table fell over with a smack! Contritely, Darlene picked up the picture to see if it was damaged. It was her parent's wedding photo. Darlene ran her fingers over the glass and smile sadly. Even after all these years, she still missed her parents. "I really wish you were here, Mom," she said. "I could really use your help, or at least your advice," she said. "What am I going to do?"

The phone chose to answer her, causing her to leap from the couch like a startled cat. She snatched up the phone. "Hello?"

A familiar dry voice spoke warmly. "Hey, how's my favorite sister?"

Darlene had to laugh at Dwayne's standard greeting. "You're only sister is climbing the walls," she said. "How are you?"

"Surprisingly well," Dwayne said. "What's wrong on your end? Jeffy can't make up his mind what to wear for Halloween?"

"No, Jeffy made up his mind months ago. He spent all summer creating a Rusty the Boy Robot costume for Halloween. Looks pretty authentic, if you ask me."

Dwayne whistled. "Whoa, so what's wrong, then?"

"Jordan managed to sprain his knee yesterday. The doctor says to stay off of it as much as possible, which means somebody else has to hand out the goodies to the trick-or-treaters," Darlene sighed.

There was a pause on the other side. "So, what happens with Jeffy and his costume?" Dwayne asked, even though he had to have figured out the answer.

"I couldn't find anybody for him to go trick-or-treating with," Darlene sighed.

"This wouldn't happen to have anything to do with aliens showing up at his birthday party, would it?" Dwayne sounded upset. It wasn't his fault that Rusty had gate crashed Jeffy's party. And even that wouldn't have mattered if Rusty hadn't been followed by a couple of nasty aliens with a grudge.

Darlene sighed. "Dwayne, it's not your fault, and it's not Rusty's fault. So stop kicking yourself."

"I'll try," Dwayne said. "How 'bout I make it up to you by taking care of Jeffy on Halloween?"

"You don't have to… WHAT?" The offer was so unexpected that it took Darlene most of a sentence to realize what Dwayne had just proposed.

"I happen to have the day off," Dwayne said cheerfully. "I could go trick or treating with Jeffy." He felt a little smug about doing an end run around Thorton and the Pit Crew's plan to throw him together with Dr. Slate all night.

"You can? Really? What happens if there's an emergency?"

*Wait a minute, avoiding the plan to fix me up with Slate means NOT spending the evening with Slate!* Dwayne suddenly realized. What was he thinking? "Um," he said. "Wait, if I bring Jeffy here, he can go trick-or-treating with Rusty. Then, if there's an emergency, Dr. Slate, Rusty's creator, can look out for Jeffy while Rusty and Big Guy go out and save the world, or whatever." He really should let Thorton and his crew win this one. He didn't want to hurt their feelings!

"Oh? Are you sure Rusty is going trick-or-treating?" Darlene said.

Dwayne tried to sound hurt. "Don't you trust me?" he asked.

"I trust you with my life, my wallet and my only son," Darlene said sweetly. "But your answer sounded off the cuff to me, so maybe you'd better clear it with this Dr. Slate, first."

"Okay," Dwayne said. "But if that doesn't work, I'll tell you what. If I get an emergency call, I'll get Jeffy home before I go answer it."

"Fair enough," Darlene said. "Let me know before Jeffy gets home from school, will ya? That would make my life considerably easier."

"Can do," Dwayne promised. He hung up, then sighed. "And, once again, I turn to the ever inventive mind of Dr. Slate for a rescue," he said to himself. He didn't find the prospect at all displeasing, actually. He picked up the phone again and dialed another number.