It was a toy. She hadn't been touched by a toy in...years. And never so gently, so lovingly. Wait...was the toy crying?
She opened her eyes, finding herself staring at a strange toy indeed. His unfamiliarity scared her, and she surprised him by slapped his hands away. "Get off of me!" she snarled, in a caustic voice that sounded nothing like his beloved Jessie. "What's your problem?"
"Don't...don't you remember me?" he asked.
"Why should I remember you? We've never met."
He withdrew a little, quirking an eyebrow. "Is there a switch on you I don't know about?" he asked, and suddenly he was rolling her over.
"Hey, hey! Stop! What are you doing? Leave me alone, freak!"
He released her, picking up her legs and examining the bottoms. They were worn and the paint was peeling. And he noticed something else.
"Sorry, sorry...Wrong Jessie."
"Give me my legs back," she demanded, and he dumped them on the ground beside her.
"What happened to you?"
"None of your business!"
Buzz looked back at the idle car. "I can't very well leave you here."
"You very well can," she growled.
A car door slammed, and Buzz walked a few steps forward, peering past the foliage. A guy was standing at the truck that had passed by, staring into the empty bed. "Where's the box?"
"What?" another guy asked.
"The box with the old doll; where is it?"
Buzz turned to look at the hatless Jessie, who looked warily back at him.
"Uhh..."
"I thought I told you to secure it!"
The men got into the truck and it soon left the parking lot, pulling out into the street. It vanished into the foggy night.
Buzz walked back to Jessie. "There's got to be a way to get you out of here."
"I'm not going anywhere with you."
Buzz looked at the waiting car across the parking lot. "Alright, suit yourself," he suddenly said, and he briskly turned away from her and began to leave. He went slowly, hoping she would call back to him, but she remained silent. He crossed the parking lot and returned to the car feeling as if he was leaving Andy's Jessie behind.
He stopped beside the car, staring up at the handle. "Blast. I really should've thought this through."
He circled the car, pulling himself up onto the hood and scrabbling over the windshield. He had just pulled himself onto the top of the car when a van swerved around the corner and came to a screeching halt. The driver stared at him.
He grimaced, but walked to the sun roof and pulled it open, dropping into the car. "Uh, troops, we have two dilemmas."
Just then the back door opened and Andy placed Stinky Pete onto the backseat.
"Okay," Buzz said, "Now, three."
"You again!" Slink croaked.
"Hey, better him than Lotso," Mr. Potato Head said.
"It's been a long time! I don't know if I can go back that far!" Rex complained.
Words were lost as the toys began speaking all at once. It was the sight of Andy's fresh-faced, hat-wearing Jessie that ceased the conversation. Buzz rushed to greet her shortly before Woody was also placed on the seat.
"Sorry about all this," Andy said. "Tell you what..." He stopped speaking as he realized the woman was peering past him.
"Are they alive?" she asked breathlessly.
Everyone hesitated.
"You can't tell anyone," Andy told her.
"O-o-okay." Looking greatly disturbed, she turned and walked away, still peering at the toys.
Andy sighed and looked back at the toys. "I'll take you back to my place and talk to Daniel."
"Yeah, why not," Mr. Potato Head said, watching the woman peer at him one last time.
Andy moved to close the door.
"So what are the other two dilemmas?" Mrs. Potato Head asked.
Buzz felt Jessie's soft presence hovering beside him, and he put a hand on her waist and pulled her close. "That woman was one of them."
"So what else?" Jessie inquired.
Buzz looked at her as Andy got into the driver's seat. "There's another Jessie in the bushes. But, hey - " He put a hand on his beloved. "For your own peace of mind, you probably don't want to look."
She stared at him. "Is it bad?"
"Yeah. Very."
"I'll go," Woody volunteered, and then paused to look at Andy. "If that's okay."
"Yeah, go ahead."
Woody straggled out the window and ran awkwardly across the parking lot.
Hatless Jessie sat up as she heard boots crunching the dead, dry leaves. "I thought I told you to leave me alo - " The word died in her mouth as she stared at the familiar Woody doll. It wasn't hers, she knew. He was in excellent condition, given his age. But it brought back all the memories; and though she was unable to shed a tear, she felt her lower lip tremble at the sight of him.
Then another Jessie, her own reflection before she was damaged, materialized behind Woody; and the two cowgirls gaped at one another. Moving stiffly, Jessie passed Woody and dropped to her knees beside hatless Jessie. Each doll stared at her own face, and hatless Jessie's horrified eyes went from one cow doll to the other.
"What...what happened to you?" Jessie gasped.
Hatless Jessie was too shocked to say anything. Her eyes swung back to Woody and the functional portion of her face contorted. Finally she found her voice. "Help me."
"Okay. Okay, I'm here. Hang on." Woody knelt, wrapping his arms around her. She held him tight, putting her cheek against his shoulder as he lifted her torso. "Jessie, grab her legs."
"I've got them, Woody."
The pair slowly made their way across the wet pavement. Seeing them coming, Andy got out of the car and opened the back door. "Here," he said, and collected hatless Jessie and her legs. He put her in first, and the toys stared at her.
"Oh, you poor darling," Mrs. Potato Head said, taking her hand. "You're safe now."
Buzz nodded once in agreement.
Andy put Jessie and Woody on the seat and stared down at the two Jessies before closing the door. Exhausted and very, very sad, hatless Jessie let her head fall against the back of the seat. It made her look too broken for Buzz to bear, and he had to avert his eyes.
Hatless Jessie stared at Woody during the whole drive. Her functional eye was just as unblinking as her left, and had her mouth not moved, he would have believed she had lost the will to live; thus turning her inanimate - into nothing more than a simple, normal doll, without feelings or the ability to hear and talk. But she spoke, reassuring him she was still there: "Why does your human know about us?"
Not knowing what else to say, Woody said, "Because...you were meant to be found tonight."
"Um, I'm curious," Rex suddenly said, "Can you see out of your bad eye?"
Because her left eye couldn't respond to her commands, she had to turn her head to look at him. "I didn't exactly damage a nerve, now did I?"
Rex looked at Mr. Potato Head. "That sounded like a yes."
"It was," Buzz answered.
Hatless Jessie tried to rearrange herself, but without legs, with her insides coming out, it was pretty difficult. She slumped against the back of the seat in resignation.
"The damage is only on the outside," she lied softly.