A/N: Another one I wrote a while back. I wanted to play a little with the relationships between Jessie, Buzz, and Woody during the time between TS2 and TS3. Hope you enjoy this! If you do (read it, I mean), please leave a review :)
Buzz came to consciousness in the toy box, the interior dimly lit by the green glow from his spacesuit. He heard voices and knew to whom they belonged. Even though the voices were muffled by the walls of the box, he could hear the anger. He climbed up, gingerly opening the lid. Jessie and Woody were in the middle of the room, deeply mired in an argument. The other toys had crowded in to the far corner, trying their best to ignore what had filled the room.
"Andy's not forgetting about us, Jessie!"
"Oh yeah? How d'ya know? He never plays with us anymore! This is just how it starts, Woody! Why can't you see that?" she threw her arms up in frustration.
"Because it's Andy and it won't happen that way! He's not going to abandon us!"
Jessie let out a growl of exasperation, "What do you know about it? You've always had a kid. First Andy's Dad, now Andy… you're just too chicken to face facts."
Woody's brown eyes narrowed, "You callin' me a coward?"
"If the boot fits," she sneered. "You don't care who gets tossed aside or thrown out or given away, because it's never you!"
Buzz flinched as he watched Woody's face blanch. It had been a little over two years since Bo Peep had been sold at a yard sale and the short passage of time had done little to heal the wound in Woody's heart.
"You know what, Jess, if you're so sure he's gonna forget about you, than why don't you just go? He won't miss you, and you know something? I'm not sure I will either!"
"Fine!"
"Fine!"
Buzz watched Woody stalk back to the other toys with a curt, "What are you lookin' at?". He looked back to Jessie in time to see her storm out of the bedroom. He slipped out of the toy box and hurried into the hallway, keeping out of the cowboy's sight. He knew Woody would be looking for him so he could rant about Jessie, but Buzz found himself feeling less sympathetic and more irritated with Woody. He knew all about Emily, he knew about Jessie's fears of abandonment; how could he say those things to her? Over the past few years since she became Andy's, he found himself being very protective of her, especially the more he learned about her past. He was concerned that she really would take Woody at his word and leave, and he didn't want that to happen. He only hoped his instinct concerning her location was right.
He breathed a sigh of relief as it was. She was tucked in the corner between the wall and the dresser in Mrs. Davis' room, sitting with her knees drawn up to her chest. If anyone had come to the door, or even a few steps in to the room, she would have gone unnoticed. She had mentioned this spot in passing, probably not thinking he was even paying attention.
She looked up as he edged around the corner of the dresser, "What do you want? If Woody thinks he's gonna get me to apologize-"
"I'm not here for Woody," he cut her sentence short. "I'm here for you. I heard you yelling and saw you leave. What's wrong?"
"Nothin'," she turned her face away from him. "I'm fine."
"I don't think you are." His insistence surprised him, and judging from the look on Jessie's face, it caught her off guard as well. He cleared his throat quickly, not wanting to lose his nerve the way he always seemed to with her. "Tell me what the problem is. Please."
"Oh, it's Woody. He refuses to see what's right in front of his face! It's just… it's just Emily all over again, Buzz, I know it."
He sat down in front of her, "What do you mean?"
"Andy. You've noticed it, haven't you? He doesn't want to play with us anymore; he'd rather be out with his friends or playing sports. He's forgettin' us." Distress filled her green eyes, "One day you're her favorite toy, and then you're pushed out of sight, under the bed, left to gather dust, all alone." Her hands reached up and began pulling restlessly at her red braid.
"Okay, stop. Take a deep breath," Buzz commanded gently. "I agree, Andy is growing up. But this won't be like the last time."
"How d'ya know?"
He smiled softly, "Because this time you aren't alone. You have a family now, Jessie; Bullseye, and the Potato Heads, and Rex, and Slinky. You also-uh-you also have me," he blushed, and quickly added, "and you have Woody. Now listen," he said firmly as she huffed, "We don't know what will happen; it might be like Emily, it may be totally different. Whatever comes our way, we are family and we'll be there for each other." He surprised himself again by reaching over and gently touching the toe of her boot. "Everything changes, Jessie; toys know that better than anyone. But all of the love we share with our child, all of the good memories that get built up for the time we're with them… I believe they far out-weigh the bad. I guess I'm just an optimist that way."
"I have such a hard time thinkin' like that. I love Andy, and I know you're right about things changin', but… it just hurt so bad when Emily grew up."
"I didn't say it wouldn't hurt, or that it would be easy. I don't know what it's like, losing someone you love. But you and Woody both do; you with Emily, him with Bo."
Jessie inhaled sharply, her eyes widening. "I didn't think about Bo," she said softly, her voice tinged with regret. "I said such a mean thing, too."
"You both said hurtful things." He stood, "I'm going back to Andy's room, as long as you promise you're not going to leave."
The cowgirl shook her head, "I'm not. I'll come back with ya; I'm real sorry about what I said to Woody and I want to tell him so." She rose to her feet and brushed off her jeans. "Buzz? Thanks." She favored him with a smile.
He felt the familiar fluttering sensation in his stomach that, more often than not lately, occurred whenever she smiled at or fixed her bright green eyes on him. He swallowed, "Yo-you're welcome."
As they walked back in to Andy's room, Jessie heard Woody call her name. Buzz made his way to the bed post, but kept a watch on the situation in case he needed to intervene. She straightened her shoulders as he walked over to her, "Yeah, Cowboy?"
He shuffled his foot against the floor, "I just…well, I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I don't think you're right, about Andy, but I didn't need to yell at you. I said some things I regret, especially since I know how rough this must be. And I didn't mean it, that I wouldn't miss you."
Her face relaxed into a wide smile, "Apology accepted. And I'm sorry, too. I shouldn't have said what I did, about you not caring. I wasn't thinkin' about Bo, and… it was wrong of me. We square?"
"Yeah, we're square," he smiled back. "Come on, I'll let you beat me at a game of 'Go Fish'. Buzz, you in?"
He grinned with relief. No matter what might change, some things never would. He joined them, "Make it 'Gin Rummy' and you've got a deal."
Jessie laughed and slapped both of them affectionately, if not a bit exuberantly, on the back, "You're on."