Dark Fears

Summary: A blackout leaves the toys in darkness for evening and everyone is making the best of it. But Jessie's fears of the dark are making it one of the most difficult nights for her. At least Buzz is there to help make it a little easier.

Authors Note: Well, the idea for this story came because there just so happened to be a blackout awhile ago, sometime last summer. So I started this fic in an attempt to stay in one spot and try and stay cool. It was well over 100 degrees that day. O_o So then I got to thinking about what would happen if there was a blackout one night for the toy's and how would they react to it? This is just my imagination doing its job, so ENJOY!

Remember Reviews are like a virtual HUG! So PLEASE REVIEW!

Also, I haven't stopped working on "Made For You". I'm just busy with my editing at the moment that I only really had time to write this little oneshot. xD

But I promise to have the second chapter done soon!

The thunder and lightning clashed outside as the rain pounded even harder against the window of Andy's bedroom. The young boy was spending the night at a friend's house that evening and the toys had been enjoying the time that they were having to themselves. Everything was going smoothly without worry of anyone walking into the bedroom. Andy's Mom had long since put Molly to sleep and the few toys that the little girl owned had wandered into Andy's room when she had fallen fast asleep.

It had been raining for most of the day and it was just a little sprinkle every now and then. Though as night wore on the rain started to come in longer settings and eventually when the moon was full in the sky the rain came down hard and it didn't look like it would let up any time that evening. The toys were all doing different things to pass the time and to keep the rainy day from making them gloomy; it seemed that whenever it rained hardly anyone felt like doing anything.

This evening things seemed to be different though. The toys were easily enjoying themselves and a warm content feeling seemed to be making its way around the room. Rex and Ham were playing a video game together and each were taking turns when the character that they were playing died. Mr. and Mrs. Potatohead were trying to enjoy some time to themselves but that always seemed impossible with the three little green aliens always following them around. Mrs. Potatohead had immediately taken to the little aliens and always referred to them as her kids. She loved them just like any mother would love their child and even though Mr. Potatohead seemed to dislike them half the time, if anyone where to look a bit closer they could see that he cared for them like a father would as well. Slinky had sated earlier on in the evening that he would be holding a game of Monopoly and anyone could come and play with him or even watch as the others played. Those games always seemed to be break out into a heated battle and who had what houses and where; it was rather comical when you watched from the sidelines.

While most of the toys went to go and watch the game Woody had used the opportunity to allow himself some quite time with Bo Peep. They had vanished off somewhere quite and it wasn't likely that anyone would seem the two of them for awhile. This left Woody's friend Buzz Lightyear to figure out what he would do with his spare time. He had wandered up to the TV and watched Hamm and Rex play their game for awhile shouting out pointers and if there happened to be an enemy that neither of them had seen. This was fun for awhile but Buzz soon got bored and began to wander around the room seeing what else was going on.

The Monopoly game had gotten quite a crowd and it seemed like everyone was either playing the game or watching on the sidelines. It was such a thick crowd that Buzz could hardly make out who was playing and for that matter who was even close to winning. He could make out the heated voices of Slinky, Mr. Potatohead, and he was pretty sure he heard the army sergeant yelling something. At the very least he knew who three of the players were.

Buzz stood on the sidelines surveying the crowd looking to see if he could find a certain red haired cowgirl. He eventually was able to spot Bullseye and made his way over to the horse certain that he would be able to find Jessie not too far from her horse. As Buzz got closer he could see that Jessie was nowhere to be seen next to Bullseye or even anywhere around him. Buzz tapped the horse and Bullseye looked at him with a big grin. "Hey Bullseye, do you know where Jessie is?" Buzz asked having to talk in the horse's ear in order to be heard among the crowd.

The horse nodded up towards the desk that was situated under the window and sure enough Buzz saw that Jessie was sitting by herself looking out the window. For a moment Buzz wondered what she would be doing all by herself and not doing anything with anyone else in the room. Though he then saw this as the perfect opportunity to be able to spend some time alone with Jessie. Patting Bullseye on the head in thanks Buzz then made his way towards the desk.

As the rain pounded down against the window Jessie quietly looked out at the rain lost in her own thoughts. She didn't even notice the Space Ranger come up the desk until she felt his presence right behind her. Jessie turned around and smiled at Buzz, "Howdy there!"

Buzz smiled down at her and took a seat on the window seal with his back to the rainy day, "What are you doing up here all by yourself Jess?"

Jessie just smiled, "Nothing really, I felt like just having a little peace and quiet and it's fun to watch the rain sometimes."

Buzz suddenly felt like he was intruding on Jessie's personal time. Maybe she didn't want to be bothered right now. He shifted to get up from his spot on the window seal, "I'm sorry Jessie, if my being here is bothering you I can go."

"Oh No!", Jessie reached up to touch Buzz's arm, "I don't mind you being here Buzz."

The Space Ranger stopped getting up from his spot and felt his heart skip a beat when Jessie had placed her hand on his arm. She wanted him to stay. Just that thought alone was able to make this rainy evening all the more better. Buzz simply smiled and took a better seat next to Jessie and followed her gaze out the window.

They both just sat there together in a comfortable silence enjoying each other's company. A few times Buzz wondered what was going on in the cowgirls mind. Was she thinking about him? Was she perhaps daydreaming different scenarios similar to the dreams he had of her? Or perhaps he was letting his imagination run wild and was reading too far into the simple gesture of Jessie wanting him to stay with her.

A loud crash of thunder sounded making Jessie jump and a second later the entire room was covered in pitch black darkness. There were a few sounds of panic from the toys that had been on the ground, but everyone knew better than to simply yell and scream about the black out. If they did that Andy's mom would be sure to run in and find the toys actually moving around.

Buzz quickly stood up from his spot and was ready to find Woody in order to help his friend keep the other toys calm and go through the routine they had in place for whenever a balck out occured. He was about about to move when he felt his hand being pulled back in a tight grip. Buzz looked down to see that Jessie had both of her hands firmly locked on Buzz's. Her eyes where shut tight as her grip tightened. It was as if Buzz hand was the only thing keeping her safe and conected with reality.

It only took the Space Ranger a quick second to remember what Jessie's past and suddenly her fear was understandable. After years of being locked in storage he was surprised that Jessie just hadn't gone mad. At this moment none of the other toys mattered. No one else needed his help and Woody was sure to be able to handle the situation all on his own. At this moment, the only thing that matered to Buzz was to keep Jessie safe and to remind her that she wasn't alone. The she was no longer in the darkness and she never would be again.

Buzz sat down next to Jessie and placed his other hand over hers. "Jessie, it's alright."

Jessie didn't reply, she was trembling now and hadn't even bohered to notice that Buzz had sat down next to her. She may not have even realized that she was hanging onto his hand.

"Jessie." Buzz tried again, "Open your eyes. Trust me."

Jessie could hear his voice and she wanted to trust him. She knew that she could trust him. If there was any other toy in this world that she could trust it would always be Buzz. She knew that he would protect her, knew that it was quite possible that Buzz might have a little crush on her, which would explain why he was always so caring and protective of her. If Jessie even looked deep down inside herself, she would admit the same thing. That over the time she had spent at Andy's she had become attached to the space toy in more ways than she would care to admit. Right now though, she would have to belive in the trust. Belive that Buzz would never lie to her and for once put her faith in someone else.

Very slowly she opened her eyes and the first thing she noticed was that things were not as dark as they should have been. That instead of pitch black darkness there was something more. As she opened her eyes fully she saw what it was that brought light to this dark room.

The plastic on Buzz's chest plate was glowing a calming green. Even though she knew that this light was very faint and perhaps none of the other toys in the room could see it from all the way up on the desk but to her it was everything. She suddenly found herself no longer afraid. All her fears of the darkness and of her time in storage vanished.

Jessie looked up into the Space Rangers eyes and smiled at him. She wasn't sure how to express in words how greatful she was. Buzz just smiled back down at her and removed his hands from Jessie's now that she had realxed her grip.

The Cowgirl suddenly realized that she had grabbed hold of him when the lights had gone out and quickly tried to stammer out some sort of apology, "Buzz! I'm so sorry...I just...I...I wasn't."

Buzz smiled and silenced her with a finger to her lips, "Don't worry about it Jessie. You needed me more than any one. I'm glad that I was able to help you."

Jessie smiled and then without thinking rested her head on Buzz's shoulder. At first the Space Ranger was flustered and wasn't quite sure what it was that he should do. Though after seeing how calm and relaxed her face looked he simply wrapped his arms around her waist and held her in a protective embrace, daring anyone to try and break the loving peace that had come over them.

Down on the floor of the room Woody had managed to gather the all of the other toys around and passed around a few flash lights so long as everyone was careful not to shine them towards the door of the room. Bo Peep came up next to her Cowboy with a concerned look, "Woody I haven't been able to find Jessie any where. I'm worried about her in this darkness."

Woody smiled and took Bo's hand in his, "I wouldn't worry about her Bo. I'm pretty sure a certain Space Ranger is taking very good care of her."

Woody led Bo to the other side of the room, away from Andy's desk where he had seen a faint green glow and was sure that there was a Spave ranger up there taking care of his Cowgirl.

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