Trick or Treat, Pt 9.

By Jill Weber

Big Guy and Rusty characters owned by Sony and Darkhorse and are used without permission or intent to make a profit.

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Dedicated to the patient ones: prtygirl83, MadArtiste, Margaret , the immortal and Ozma

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Jeffy was thrilled. Jeffy bounced and chattered all the way to Quark Tower. "Wow! This is gweat, Uncle Dwayne! Do you think that Wusty will like my costume? What are you weawing?" (If Jeffy noticed that Dwayne was dressed in a flight suit, he gave no sign.)

Dwayne never got a word in edgewise through his nephew's excited chatter. When they arrived, the only thing that restrained Jeffy from running ahead of the slow moving adult was the fact that he didn't know where he was going. When the elevator stopped, Jeffy bolted down the hall, and, following Hunter's guiding voice, charged into Dr. Slate's office, generating enough kinetic energy to light a baseball stadium.

When Hunter arrived at a slightly more dignified pace (but only dignified as compared to Jeffy's pace) he preformed the introductions. "Jeffy, this is Dr. Slate, Rusty's creator," Dwayne said gravely. "Doc, this is my nephew, Jeffy Cook."

"Hi, ma'm, pleased to meet you!" Jeffy said enthusiastically, offering his hand.

"Pleased to meet you, too," Slate smiled and shook his hand.

Pleasantries over with, Jeffy got down to business. "Where's Wusty?" He looked around the room as if expected Rusty to materialize from the woodwork.

Slate straightened up with a slight worried frown creasing her brow. "I was wondering the same thing myself," she confessed. She raised an eyebrow at Hunter.

Dwayne shrugged. "I haven't gotten a call," he said. "On the other hand, they may have cut me out of the loop for tonight."

Slate's other eyebrow went up, but the only answer to her unspoken question was another shrug. Dwayne didn't want to get into how he thought Gen. Thorton and the Pit Crew were trying to pair them off. He could think of more embarrassing topics, but not many.

Before Slate could pursue that topic, Rusty came bursting into the lab. "Hi, is Jeffy here… Oh, hi, Jeffy!"

The boy and the boy robot had a joyful and noisy reunion.

"You'd think they hadn't seen each other in years," Dwayne said with a rueful smile. It wasn't that he was jealous… okay, he was jealous. He didn't get that many chances to spend time with his nephew and it hurt a little to be overshadowed by Rusty.

"Poor Rusty doesn't get that many chances to interact with real children," Slate said regretfully.

Before Hunter could come up with a response to that, the boy robot turned his attention to them. "I've got my costume all ready!" Rusty blurted. "What are you wearing?" Then he saw Slate and Hunter's Ghostbuster outfits and fell over laughing.

Hunter and Slate exchanged hurt looks. "I thought you'd like these," Slate said.

"I do! Honest!" Rusty bubbled, leaping to his feet. "Wait'll I show you my costume. Dr. Lester helped me make it. It's the coolest costume ever!"

"No, MY costume is the coolest costume ever!" Jeffy proclaimed. "Wait'll you see it!"

They split up into two teams of one adult assistant per hyperactive kid. When the costumes were in place, they all stood back to admire the results.

One look at Rusty's ghost costume explained the hilarity over their Ghostbuster Costumes.

"It looks like we planned this!" Rusty crowed. "This is the coolest costume ever!" The pumpkin ghost floated gracefully across the room towards the adults.

"No, THIS is the coolest costume eveh!" blurted Jeffy.

Rusty turned around as was dumbstruck. Jeffy had on the same style red shorts, white t-shirt, red tennis shoes and red gloves that Rusty habitually wore. Crowning the costume was an aluminum foil 'wig' shaped and painted to resemble Rusty's aerodynamic cranium.

"Whoa!" Rusty said, flattery dripping from his tones. "Did you make that yourself?"

Jeffy nodded solemnly, and carefully. "Mom helped me with the hat," he added. "An' she bought the clothes, but I designed it!"

"That is an impressive costume," Dr. Slate said with genuine admiration. "Are you going to be a costume designer when you grow up?"

Jeffy shook his head, again keeping the limitations of his headgear in mind. "No, ma'm," he said. "I'm going to be a mechanic, just like Uncle Dwayne!" The look of pure hero-worship that he gave Hunter squashed the green-eyed monster of jealousy flat.

"Cool!" Rusty exclaimed. "Maybe you could be my chief mechanic when you grow up!"

"Awwight!" Jeffy said. He leaped up while Rusty drifted down to give a high five.

"Come on! We don't want to miss the opening!" Rusty said. "They're starting off with the haunted house through the labs!"

The two boys raced out of the lab towards the elevators. The two adults exchanged bemused looks.

"At one point," Hunter confessed. "I actually thought that babysitting Jeffy would be easier than defending the planet from alien invaders."

"I'm glad you're man enough to admit your mistake, Lieutenant," Slate said gravely as they followed the boys at something that was very nearly, but not quite, a dignified pace.