Four years later...

Buzz tried not to fume, sitting in the corner of this black hole of a bar. Sure, he could have chosen any of the higher end places, if there were any on this blasted planet. But no, he felt that this would be the kind of place the slime of the galaxy would frequent. And he had been right. Just about every single criminal that Star Command had arrested at one point or another had made an appearance. And he had only been here for an hour at most! To tell the truth, he was itching to grab as many as the scumbags as he possibly could…

But that's not why he was here…

No, Commander Nebula had sent him on a reconnaissance mission. A reconnaissance mission of all things! The Commander knew he didn't do well with just observing criminals being all…criminal-ly. It just wasn't his style. It also didn't help that he was sent here with virtually no protection of any kind. Nebula had allowed him to hold onto his back-up blaster, but that was it. No suit, no laser, and no back up to speak of. While he did have his pocket communicator for emergencies, it wasn't comforting. He could only do so much if he ended up getting into a fight, and he certainly couldn't call star command if he was dead.

At the same time, Buzz knew that Nebula would never have sent him here if the Commander had any doubt in Buzz's skills as a ranger. He was picked for this mission because he could handle it and, for the most part, could keep a cool head in the worst of situations. Which brings him back to his sad, little corner of this hole in the wall. Dressed in a dark hoodie, dark jeans, and old sneakers, the ranger knew that no one would bother him. He was trying to be a chameleon after all, best to blend in by looking like the locals of Trade World. If anyone so much as approached his location, he hunched his posture as much as possible and growled at them. So far, it had been working.

Buzz was careful to make notes of who came in, how long they stayed, and who they talked to. If Star Command was going to be more efficient at catching criminals, they were going to have to break down the webs of communication between them. At the moment, there wasn't anyone to make note of…though the guy sitting at the bar had been there for some time, nursing whatever concoction the bar tender was serving today. It was a large man, at least his own height if not taller. He was dressed in reds and blacks, with a long tattered cloak around his neck that draped over his back. The mustache looked a little odd on the man, but he wasn't one to judge on facial hair. Looked like your typical trouble maker, so Buzz decided to make a note on him, even if he'd never run across the guy before. The thing that bothered the ranger, however, was this guy didn't talk to anyone around him…just kept to himself and didn't seem to be there to deal. Most odd indeed. Perhaps he wasn't a local?

He was broken out of his thoughts and observations by the doors swinging open. The way that he had wedged himself into the corner was to best see the entire bar at once…this however left a blind spot that included the entrance to the…establishment. A small price to pay in order to keep tabs on everyone else in the bar.

The figure moved passed him briskly. Slender, from what Buzz could tell from the long jacket the person wore, probably female given the height…but it could be a young man as well. From what else he could see: brown boots that looked well worn in, dark pants from what he caught as the figure moved by. He looked down at his pocket scanner and it was reading a small handful of blasters and pistols – all legal. The only other striking thing about this new arrival was the large, wide brimmed, red hat. Wait a minute. I've seen that red hat before…The woman – Buzz decided by the way they were walking – continued to the bar and took a seat right next to the big guy. He couldn't see her face, since she was on the other side of the big guy, but he could just barely tell she was talking to someone. Probably the bar tender, given that he poured a glass of something and put it in front of her. If Buzz hadn't been so deep in thought, trying to remember where he had seen that hat before, he might not have missed the brief conversation between the woman and the big guy before the room erupted into chaos.

It seemed cliché to Buzz to say that the room was calm one second, and explosive the next, but it happened. The big guy made the first move, backing away from the bar and pulling out a blaster and firing it at the woman. Buzz got a good look at her face in that moment, and a name popped into his mind. Jane. For over a year that name had been emblazoned into his brain, and even now it made it presence known. Jane didn't waste any time in disarming the man, swiftly kicking the blaster out of his hand and then tackling him. The two rammed into the bar top, the big guy getting his back pinned there for a moment before pushing Jane off and away from him. "Blasted bounty hunter, you'll not take me back!" The big guy gave one of those stereotypical evil laughs, pulling out another blaster and shooting at Jane. She dove behind an upturned table – the place was practically deserted now; once the fight started people made themselves scarce – cursing as she went. Using the table as cover Jane returned fire at the big guy who had since decided to take cover behind the bar.

"Mitch! Ya best give up now! Ya ain't getting out of here free!" The bounty hunter called from behind the table. The blasting temporarily stopped. Mitch was either thinking of a way out or taking her seriously…best to assume the former.

During this time, Buzz hadn't moved an inch – he hadn't needed to. The weapons fire managed to miss him every single time, and it was obvious that neither party had noticed his presence. But this left the ranger in a dilemma. He could do one of two things. One: he could try and sneak out of the bar and radio for backup and hope that the two of them didn't end up killing each other before other rangers made it. Two: he could join the fight and maybe the two of them could take down this Mitch guy, he could then report to Star Command once everything had settled down...Eh, who was he kidding, he was getting into that fight.

Slipping from his chair into a crouch on the ground, he observed what was left of the bar. If he could sneak from table to table, he should be able to get close enough to the bar to get behind it, and get to Mitch. He was lucky; Jane kept Mitch talking enough that they were both distracted with the other and he made it one table closer. While he knew they were talking, or rather shouting back and forth at each other, Buzz wasn't paying too much attention to the conversation. Things would turn out better if he kept focused on his task. Well, he hoped they would anyway. One more table down…half a dozen to go. Great. This continued of for a handful more tables, and he was practically at the bar. So close

"Meep!" Buzz stopped what he was doing and dared to peek over the table he was currently behind. Jane was also peeking out from over a table, an absolutely impish look on her face. The blasting stopped again, and Mitch stood to his full height, deadly glare in his eyes.

"You insult me in my native tongue!" Mitch growled dangerously, tossing his empty blaster away and was inching his hand behind his back. "I dare you to do it again."

Jane's impish grin turned downright devilish. Don't. She can't possibly- "Meep." She did. Buzz could have smacked himself in the face for that, he should have seen it coming.

"That's it!" Mitch vaulted over the bar counter and landed heavily on the floor. The force jarred the turned over tables and his moved just enough that if Mitch looked down, he'd be able to see the ranger. Don't look. Don't look. Don't look. Buzz stayed stock still, even held his breath waiting for Mitch to make his move towards Jane and leave his hiding spot unnoticed.

Luck was not on his side that day.

Mitch looked down and the two men's eyes locked onto each other, staring each other down as the second ticked by slowly. Buzz blinked, hoping against hope that Mitch didn't actually see him there. Mitch's features twisted with rage and he lunged for the ranger, grabbing him by the throat. Craters! Mitch hauled him up and flung him in Jane's direction. Buzz slammed into the table that had been Jane's cover and kept going, taking the bounty hunter with him. "Two against one isn't really fair, now is it? And I'm supposed to be the evil one!" Mitch reached behind his back like he had before and this time pulled out a very large, two handed blaster.

"Mph! Get off me!" Jane cried, doing a rather good job of shoving the space ranger off of her. Buzz had landed sideways across her, essentially pinning her to the ground. Well, had been pinned. She was very good at maneuvering out of situations. "Get outta here, yer gonna get yerself killed!" Jane snarled at his face-down form. The bounty hunter then swiftly got to her feet in order to shoot at Mitch, but quickly ducked down behind the table again when an explosion wracked through the bar from behind them. Mitch cackled from the other side of the bar, charging up his weapon again.

"Like it, Hunter? I made it myself." With another evil laugh from Mitch he fired again, upturning tables to the two's right sending wood and other debris through the air.

"Damn it." Buzz heard Jane growl, making his way over to the woman now that he had finally righted himself. He crouch-crawled next to her and tapped her arm to get her attention. Jane whipped around and pointed her gun at Buzz's face and for a moment he thought he was a goner. But before she could fire, recognition flashed in her emerald eyes and she immediately lowered the firearm. "Jesus Christ Ranger! I nearly blew ya away!" She hissed at him, and he was never so grateful to be cursed at. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing." Buzz returned in a hushed tone. Another explosion temporarily silenced him, more wood and debris flying at them from the left this time. Buzz lifted an arm to shield his face and Jane did the same. He as getting really tired of this Mitch guy, his evil laughter was annoying.

Jane rolled her eyes, giving him an 'are you serious' look. "Isn't it obvious? I'm trying to take that guy down."

"Sure doing a great job of it so far." Buzz snarked.

"I don't see you doing any better!" Jane hissed, daring to peek around the edge of the table they were hiding behind. It was a mistake as Mitch fire again, and several pieces of flying wood caught the bounty hunter across the face, making her flinch back. That wasn't the worst of it, though. Buzz could clearly see a large piece of wood had embedded itself into Jane's upper arm. When she glanced at him and saw his obvious stare, she looked at what had caught his attention. How had she not noticed that? "Oh…" Jane blinked at it a moment before doing something Buzz would have never expected – Jane grabbed onto the piece of wood and pulled. With what appeared to be little resistance, the piece of wood dislodged from her arm. This wasn't a little splinter of a thing either, this was a piece of wood flooring. The bounty hunter broke her cover just long enough to chuck the piece of wood in villain's direction. "Hey Mitch!"

The two of them heard the connection of the piece of wood. "Ow, what is this? Wait…is that blood? That's disgusting! Ew, ew, ew, ew! Get it off get it off get it off-"

While Mitch was distracted, Jane turned her attention back to Buzz – who wasn't paying attention because he was too busy looking at the woman's smile. How can that possibly be distracting? "Do you have a blaster on you?" She asked, breaking the trance. Buzz nodded, pulling out his back up blaster. "Ok, on the count of three, you go that way, and I'll go this way, and we'll hit him from both sides. Sound good?" Seemed like a sound plan to him, and from what he could hear from Mitch, was still thoroughly distracted. He nodded his head again and waited for the signal. "Ready? …Three!" The two jumped up from behind the table and started firing at Mitch. Each got in several good hits, knocking out Mitch's main shield defenses and the man dropped to one knee. Buzz and Jane cautiously inched towards Mitch, Buzz kicking the large blaster away. He'll take that back to Star Command and hand it off to the LGM's.

Mitch's body was sparking and having spasms, but it didn't seem to deter the criminal. Mitch only laughed, looking up that the two, wide grin on his face. "You'll never win. You may have gotten me now, but I'll be out and about before you know it!" With the last of the suits strength, Mitch shot his hand out and grabbed onto Jane's leg, ripping it out from under her. The bounty hunter toppled backwards and landed roughly onto the splintered floor. Without thinking, Buzz looked back briefly to see if Jane as alright before kicking Mitch across the face, hard enough to knock the man out.

Buzz reached a hand down to help Jane stand up. He more pulled her up than anything else. "Are you alright?"

"Nothing I can't handle." The bounty hunter stepped away from Buzz and crouched down to Mitch. Hitting a button on the collar of his suit, the mechanical body opened and Mitch rolled out onto the floor. Buzz had to admit, he wasn't expecting that. Mitch was a small, white alien creature that might have been a little over two feet tall. Most of that height was his head. Jane picked the little creature up like a stuffed animal and handed him over to Buzz, who held him at arms length. Jane pressed another button and the suit collapsed into a tiny cube, which she picked up and stuck in a pocket.

That's when Buzz noticed. "You're bleeding."

"Then I'll rub some dirt on it later." She rolled her eyes and held her hands out to take Mitch back.

The ranger was taken aback. "I'm being serious. You should have that checked out, that was a large chunk of wood that was in your arm."

Jane just shrugged, "I'm used to it." Buzz was dumbstruck. How can someone be so used to getting impaled by debris that it becomes something not to worry about? The ranger was beyond concerned for this woman, didn't seem like she shared the sentiment.

"I insist. Come back with me to Star Command, and I'll have one of the techs look at it." He deflated a little when she sent him a hard look.

"The only way I'm going to your Star Command is if I'm unconscious or in a body bag." Buzz felt like he was slapped in the face. There was no reason to be so crass about it, a simple 'no thanks' would have been sufficient. He was going to give her a piece of his mind when she became distracted. Jane started looking around the area for something, and in the silence, Buzz could hear a very faint beep. What? Another moment passed and Jane must have found what she was looking for and snapped her head in his direction. She roughly shoved Mitch back into his hands, "Take him and get ta cover!"

"What? Why?" The ranger didn't understand what the rush was until Jane pulled some rubble away to reveal a small round device attached to the bar. There were little numbers counting down and making a soft beeping noise. Then it clicked as to why Jane was in such a rush. Oh, craters. Buzz could see they didn't have time. He watched as the little numbers counted closer to zero, and felt that if this was the last thing he did as a ranger, then his life was worth it. Buzz prepared himself for the blast, but someone else didn't think the same as he did. His mind tried to catch up with his body when he was roughly shoved towards his personal corner that he had been watching from most of the night. He rolled over just in time to see two tables being kicked in his direction, essentially blocking him in. The tables pushed him further towards the floor, giving him no choice but to bunker down before the explosion. When he tried to sit up to see where Jane had gone to, he saw that she wasn't standing next to the bomb anymore, but not behind any cover either. Buzz could see past her the number going from 3, to 2, and in the last moment, he looked to Jane, knowing there was no way to save her. He couldn't save her! She gave him a bright smile, squared her large hat on her head –

And rag dolled onto the floor.

The explosion went off a second later, the shockwave blowing out what windows were still standing. Then there was heat and the force pressing on his body. There was no way…how could she have survived? He couldn't save her. Didn't save her. After a few moments, Buzz chanced a look over his makeshift bunker. The bar was completely obliterated. The place was in disarray and ruins. Buzz thought it was lucky that the bomb only blasted, in an outward force, and didn't involve fire of any kind. So he didn't have to worry about putting out flames and smoke inhalation as well. At least that was a plus.

Taking a chance to stand up, though shakily, he climbed around the table barricade. Craters, it looked even worse after he stood up. Buzz held Mitch tightly to himself, more or a reassurance than to restrain him, since the small alien was still unconscious. Stumbling through the wreckage, he didn't expect to see a splotch of red fabric. The ranger's brows furrowed as he took a closer look. Wait, that looked like-

Jane.

Buzz dropped to his knees next to the jumble of debris and frantically started to clear away the rubble. He cleared enough away to reveal that Jane was still in one piece, though she wasn't moving. How? He shook his head, not the time. Buzz reached out tentatively and placed two fingers against Jane's throat, he felt his entire body relax some – she was still alive. The ranger fumble in his hoodie for his pocked communicator, flipping it open and sending a frequency to Star Command.

"Star Command, this is Buzz Lightyear. Do you read?" The line was nothing but static for a few seconds before Commander Nebula's face appeared.

"Damn it, Lightyear! You were supposed to be on a reconnaissance mission! What have I told you-"

Buzz didn't let the Commander continue, "Sir, I'm requesting a medical team and back up to my location asap."

That made the Commander pause. "What the hell have you gotten yourself into this time?" The older man grumbled.

The ranger thought it best to make it known that it wasn't him who needed the medical team. "I'm fine, Sir. I'll explain everything once I get back to Star Command."

"You bet your ass you will! Do you have any idea how much paperwork this is gonna cost me? I'll expect you to be there for every single paper signed, Lightyear."

Buzz cringed at the thought of the stacks of paperwork the two of them were going to go through. "Yes, Sir."

"Your medical team and back up should be there shortly. Nebula out." Buzz communicator went dead after that. He breathed a sigh of relief. At least the help that Jane needed was coming. Knowing that the medical team was going to arrive soon, Buzz made it his mission to clear every bit of rubble away from Jane's unconscious form. At least that would make it less messy for the medics when they got here.

Starting to feel the pull of exhaustion on his body, Buzz sat down next to Jane. He kept a firm hold on Mitch, though it seemed to the little alien was out cold and not in risk of waking up anytime soon. The ranger felt a little more than awkward holding an alien creature that could be misconstrued as a stuffed animal. Whatever…he'd hand the little menace off to the back up team that was supposed to be coming with the medical squad.

He just hoped he wasn't too late.


The trip back from Trade World went by quickly, Buzz being as lost in his thoughts as he was. Which was unfortunate in his case, because as soon as he stepped foot aboard the space station Nebula was laying into him. The ranger thought he hadn't had such a verbal beat down since he was a rookie. While the Commander wasn't the most fluffy of people, Buzz knew he was just doing his job and didn't hold it against the older man. Buzz liked to think that the Commander cared, and this is how he showed it. Then again, it was torturous having to go through all the paperwork with his superior officer. Character building, as it had once been explained to him. The ranger didn't complain when he helped fill out paperwork that wasn't even related to what happened…he figured that it couldn't hurt getting back on Nebula's good side. If he even had one.

Deciding to make himself scarce, and not wanting to give the Commander anything else to be furious over, Buzz headed for the science bay. He needed to talk to the LGM's anyway about this Mitch and his strange exosuit. The ranger had asked the medical team to retrieve the small cube from the pocket of Jane's duster, and he had only just received it. With any luck, Jane wouldn't mind…considering he wasn't the one who went through her things – that's the medical teams job anyway – there was no way for her to be upset with him. The logic was perfect…hopefully. Stepping into the bay, he was surrounded by the LGM's asking if he was alright and if he had anything shiny for them.

"Whoa! Hold on there guys." The little aliens quieted down immediately. "I'm fine, as you can see. I was forced to see a medical officer and they've cleared me. Just a few cuts and bruises. As for something shiny…" Buzz crouched down to be more on their level, holding out the cube for them. "Think you can figure out how this works? It's been confiscated from a bad guy."

"Ooooh." One of the aliens snatched the cube away and the group huddled around him to get a look at it. "Alien technology." Buzz tried hard not to roll his eyes at that one. The science bay became a flutter of activity, the LGM's scanning the cube and running it through various methods of gathering information. After only about ten minutes, one of the LGM's figured out how to unlock the suit so it looked…well, like the suit that it was. The LGM's were impressed in unison and they continued their exploration of the suit. One of them eventually toddled over to where Buzz had taken a seat.

"Got anything for me?"

The LGM had a see-through tablet and was clicking away with one hand. "It is a robot suit, not unlike that of the Gargantians. But different." The green alien clicked a couple more times before offering the tablet to Buzz. The ranger took it and looked over the schematics. "It is synchronized with the wearer."

Interesting…he had never seen anything like it before. Sure, the suits the Gargantians made looked similar, but were powered differently and required a team to control the suit. It's almost like this suit was in contact with the wearers neuro system, much like the rocket packs issued to space rangers. Buzz scrolled through the information the LGM's had so far recovered. Wait, what? "This says that the suit can move independently of the wearer…how is that possible?"

"Primitive AI…" The alien responded, showing Buzz the specific page. "Can be programmed with information of a blueprint…and given basic commands." Buzz nodded and handed the alien back the tablet and it toddled off the continue helping it's companions. The ranger continued to watch in fascination as the LGM's worked on and around the suit. At one point he thought he might have had to step in and help when the suit stood by itself, causing the aliens to scatter in fear. When it was clear that nothing else was going to happen, the LGM's slowly crept from their hiding spots and Buzz relaxed. He wasn't really in the mood to be fighting off an unpiloted exosuit.

Not long after, Buzz's wrist communicator started yelling at him, and the ranger was hesitant to answer it…he didn't want another verbal assault from the Commander. He was in luck, for once, and one of the medical staff was on the other end. "Hey, Buzz. If you want to meet me in the medical wing, I can give you the report you requested."

"Thank you, I'll be down in a few minutes." Closing his communicator, the ranger took his leave from the LGM's. He would come by later and see if they had any new information for him. The more the rangers knew about alien technology, the better they could deal with it when confronted.

The walk down to the medical bay wasn't a long one and in short order Buzz was in the main medical facility. He was loath to admit that he had been here more times than he could count, and it wasn't a pleasant place for him to be…Buzz wasn't always the best of patients, and several of the nurses in the area were already giving him dirty looks. He didn't have to wait very long before a tall, slender alien woman approached him. "I see you found your way down here easily." The woman teased, offering the ranger a kind smile.

"Yes, well…I am acquainted with the area." Buzz grumbled, but smiled back nonetheless. "So, what do you have for me, Kess?"

Kess gave him a look that said she was displeased with him. "You know that I can't show you the files, and you know that I shouldn't even be talking with you about this." She scolded, "However, you were there and I can understand if you have legitimate reasons to know about this woman's injuries. You didn't get away uninjured yourself. Plus, you are not immediate family." The woman narrowed her eyes him, knowing well enough that he wasn't good at following medical instructions. "That being said, I will give you my report."

Buzz let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. For a minute, he thought that she was going to change her mind and keep the report strictly to the chain of command. While he was worried about Jane's recovery, he was more curious about how she survived the blast. Anyone that close to a bomb wouldn't have survived, she shouldn't have survived. Buzz just had to know. "Ready when you are."

The medical officer gave him another look before speaking. "She sustained various lacerations to her face and upper body. Mostly superficial, but there were places that were more severe, such as her shoulder, back and upper arms. It felt like the amount of wood we recovered from this woman could build a chair." Kess nearly threw her arms up in the air as the statement, a gesture that Buzz had seen many times in his time in the medical bay. "You said that she dropped to the floor boneless before the explosion?"

Buzz nodded, "Saw her ragdoll on the floor, thought it was the most bizarre thing."

Kess shrugged, flipping through her notes. "It saved her life. When she was brought in, she was wearing some kind of body armor. Our techs later found out that there was a failsafe trigger programmed into the armor." The doctor offered Buzz a small packet of papers regarding the body armor, as well as the weapons and other odds and ends Jane had with her. "If the wearer ever went limp, as if unconscious, the armor would emit a protective shield around the entire body, preventing any more harm to come to the wearer. So by dropping like she did-"

"It triggered the body armor to protect her." Buzz finished.

"Exactly. So, she might have been pushed around by the force of the explosion, but she didn't incur any extra injuries because of it. Other than that, we didn't find any more injuries from last night…However, it does look like she got into some kind of fight about a week ago. She had a pretty severe stab wound in her side, but she was lucky that it missed all her internal organs." Kess finished, watching the ranger read over the packet of papers.

"It's strange…relaxing your entire body enough to trick a piece of programmed metal to think that you're unconscious had to have been difficult at best…" How many times had Jane done that to where it was nearly second nature? When the doctor didn't attempt to tell him one way or the other Buzz chanced a look at Kess, and noticed that something had distracted her – she was looking off in the distance somewhere behind him. The behavior was odd enough, but there was a strange tenseness in her shoulders that he hadn't ever seen before. Handing the packet back to her, he chanced a question. "What aren't you telling me, Kess?"

The doctor let out a heavy sigh, her shoulders slumping. She readjusted her glasses before looking back at Buzz. "It isn't any of my business, and it certainly isn't any of yours, but…" Kess fidgeted a moment, something that was completely out of character for her, before continuing. "You know that we have to do a full examination of patients when they first come to our facilities, right?" Buzz nodded. It was standard protocol to make sure there was nothing more serious going on with an unknown person. "When we did, I will be the first one to tell you…I was absolutely horrified with what I saw." Kess took another moment to compose herself. "This woman, whoever she is, has had a very, very hard life. The amount of old injuries that I kept finding…it's unbelievable. She's had major injuries since she was young, but I noticed a huge spike in bone remodeling starting about a decade ago. Even as a medical professional who has supposedly seen everything, this blew me away. I can honestly say that I don't know what's holding this woman together, by all accounts, some of the injuries I've seen should have killed her. The best answer I can give is it's sheer force of will keeping her body from fizzling out."

Buzz felt his stomach sink down to his feet, he knew that Kess couldn't give him details of Jane's injuries, but at the same time…he didn't want to know. The simple fact that Kess, the most stubborn and practical of physicians he'd had the pleasure of knowing, was this shaken up over a woman she didn't even know was disturbing. Buzz felt a strong twinge of sadness pulling at him. He couldn't understand how a bright, intelligent young woman, from what he had come to understand, who seemed to have an aura of optimism surrounding her could be in that kind of condition. "Buzz, there's more…" What? How could there possibly be more? "She's also malnourished. I'm afraid that when we let her go, she'll go back to whatever kind of lifestyle she had before, and if that happens…" Kess looked down in hopelessness, "If that happens, she will completely burn out. She will die."

Buzz snapped his head up at that, eyes going wide. His appearance must have looked comical, but Kess only looked back at him in sympathy. "You're saying that she'll die regardless when she's released."

Kess held up her hands calmly, "I'm saying that if she returns to her old lifestyle, and nothing is done to change whatever behavior she had been doing before now, then she will die. The problem is that we have no control over this woman, Buzz. She isn't part of Star Command, or any organization affiliated with it. We can't order her on sick leave, or modified duty, or have someone ride along with her. It is completely out of our control." Kess took a deep breath and calmed herself down. "The best we can do is keep her here for a few days to make sure she's healing properly…but after that, we can't hold her."

"There has to be something we can do…" Buzz thought aloud, wracking his brain for any kind of loophole in the regulations. "We can't just let her…go off and get herself killed."

Kess nodded, placing a hand of Buzz's shoulder and giving a reassuring squeeze. "I don't know of one, but you're resourceful…I'm sure you'll think of something. I can give you a few days, but that's about it." The ranger nodded, retracting back into thought. Kess cocked her head to the side, studying the ranger before her. "Buzz, if you don't mind me asking…why are you so worried about this woman? Don't you barely know her?"

Buzz had to think a moment. He didn't know her, which was true; he didn't know where she came from, where she was going, or even what her real name was. He didn't know anything about her personal life, or her history. What he did know was that she was a fighter. A bounty hunter. And, if he really thought about it, a hero. She had saved his life from the explosion. She had helped him and his team take down a group of dangerous criminals. She had saved ranger Nova from getting blasted by that particle cannon, which could have caused serious injury to the princess. Her actions told Buzz that she wasn't one of those heartless bounty hunters that were only after the money. Jane was a bounty hunter that was on the side of good. And that, really, was enough for him. "Because I know that she's one of the good guys, Kess. And I think it would be cruel and unfair that I didn't try and save her life, after she risked her own to save mine."

Kess's expression softened. "If it's good enough for you, it's good enough for me. Now," the doctor's demeanor brightened back to her normal state, "Visiting hours are still open, if you want to go see her, but I warn you – your team has already waylaid her if I were to guess." At Buzz's confused expression the doctor chuckled. "She had requested, when she first woke up, to speak with one of your team members…Mira I think? Anyway, she was the first, and I guess when the other two heard she was here, since I saw them wandering around, they wanted to see her too. So you're not the only one with concern for this woman." A nurse came over and spoke briefly to Kess about another patient. "I must take my leave for now, Buzz. She's in room A113 whenever you're ready to see her." Kess then hurried off to another part of the medical bay leaving Buzz to contemplate everything that had been told to him.

With this new information that Kess had provided for him, and what little he'd been able to dig up after his first run in with Jane, things didn't add up. When he first started to research Bazooka Jane, Buzz had come up with relatively nothing. Other than being a drifter, which most bounty hunters were, as well as her name, he had found very little. It was only with actually talking to people who ran in the underground circuit that he learned anything useful. She was supposedly fearless, nothing scared the woman or phased her. She could go up against the worst possible odds and make it out alive. Buzz had also come across two variations of how she got her name – one of them being that she had originally carried around a giant plasma bazooka with her, blowing everyone away with little trouble. The other was that she survived a direct hit from a plasma bazooka, coming out of the smoke and tearing a new one into the shooter. Both sounded highly unlikely and nothing but urban legend. Another piece of surprising information was that she was rumored to be one of the richest bounty hunters in the universe.

But if she was one of the richest hunters in the universe, why was she in such bad shape? It didn't add up in Buzz's mind. Certainly someone who was that loaded would be able to afford food, or some kind of nourishment implements. He had also seen the way that she was dressed; she wore practical clothing, and nothing flashy or fancy…but it looked well worn in and old. And he never got a look at her ship, but he was willing to bet that it wasn't state of the art or new. So where was all the money going? Even if she bought the most expensive medical care from the black market – and that was surprisingly impressive if you knew where to look – she still would have had more than enough left over for…anything really. Bazooka Jane was an enigma…and Buzz wanted to solve it.

As the ranger approached his destination, he could hear the excited voices of his team coming from the room. Well, mostly Booster and X-R anyway.

"Being a bounty hunter sounds so exciting!"

"I'm sure being a space ranger is just as exciting-."

"Sounds like it pays well too."

"It can…on occasion."

"Do you always catch the bad guys, Jane?"

"Yes, though it can take a while…sometimes you have to be patient."

"Patience is overrated, we're more of a 'take action right now!' kind of team."

Buzz could hear Jane chuckle, "I've seen that first hand." The ranger stepped into the doorway and knocked on the frame with his knuckles, alerting everyone inside to his presence. "Well howdy, Ranger! Nice of you to finally join us!" The bounty hunter chirped. The smile that he received from Jane did weird things to his insides.

"Buzz! Jane was just telling us about what it's like to be a bounty hunter!" Booster said cheerily. "She's been all over the universe, and seen so many places!"

"Also gotten herself into a good bit of trouble as well…" Mira teased. Jane just smiled and shrugged.

"Jane, you being a bounty hunter and all…you probably know a lot of bounty hunters in the circuit, yeah?" X-R are prodded, pushing himself up onto the bed. "You wouldn't happen to know…oh, say, Samus Aran would you?"

"X-R!" Booster chastised.

"What! It's a legitimate question."

Jane gave an overly critical and knowing look to X-R, but it was clear that she was playing along. "We've crossed paths a couple of times…"

The robot ranger looked about ready to have a heart attack. "Do you have her number? Can I have it? Pleaaaaaaaase!" X-R, ever the smooth talker, picked up her hand daintily in his metal ones. It was obvious that he wanted to shake her hand up and down with his plea, but was making sure to be gentle because of her injuries.

The bounty hunter gave X-R a sympathetic smile, patting his little metal hands. "I'm afraid I don't have it…besides, I think she's still busy running down all those Space Pirates, nasty little critters that they are." X-R seemed to deflate at this news.

"Hey! Did you ever meet Shiv Katall?" Booster asked. To anyone else who didn't know the secret, it sounded like a normal conversational question. Mira gave the large ranger a look, and X-R swiveled his head in Boosters direction, but kept his mouth shut. Buzz felt his stomach knot and his hair stand on end at the name. It was supposed to have died…Booster, what are you doing?

Buzz watched Jane's eyes harden and turn cold, as her gaze turned unfocused into the distance. That's…oddly terrifying. "Once." And in a flash, the look was gone and the bright, carefree expression returned. "But I don't want to go into it." Booster excitement drooped into disappointment, but Jane reached over and patted the big guy on the arm. "Don't worry, Tiny. It wasn't that good a story anyway."

"She calls me Tiny." Booster said to Buzz perkily. The captain tried not to roll his eyes at the rookie.

"Oh! Here, Buzz, you can have my seat." Mira stood quickly, nearly falling over herself. Buzz rose a brow at the princess, finding her behavior…odd. "And wow, look at that! Hey guys, it's that time! You know, to go…do things." The room was silent, for a moment and then the female ranger spoke again. "C'mon, guys! We need to…need to go check in with the LGM's, yes! Find out what…they've been up to and all…regarding-"

"That thing that Buzz wanted them to do." X-R finished, catching onto what Mira was doing. "Come on, big guy, let's go." Mira and X-R practically dragged Booster from the room, leaving Jane and Buzz together. Buzz had to admit, sometimes his team was as subtle as a rock to the face.

"You'll have to excuse them, they don't always have…manners." The ranger grumbled in embarrassment over his team. He took a seat in the chair that Mira had offered him, cringing slightly in pain from his injuries. Ok, maybe not as alright as he previously thought… "Why did you want to see ranger Nova anyway?"

"Wow, you just get right down to business, don't you. No, 'howdy Jane, how are you feeling today?' or 'Jane, you look like something the cat dragged it'."

Buzz felt his face warm in embarrassment. How could he have forgotten to even say hello? Politeness and pleasantries had been beaten into him in the academy, how could he possibly forget that. "I apologize-"

"Oh, knock it off, I was just foolin'." She waved off his open-mouthed silence. "And before you try goin' and askin'…I'm feeling better."

"I'm glad to hear that." He replied honestly. After what she went through last night, it was amazing that she was sitting up in the hospital bed. This woman was something else, that was for sure.

"Anywho, I wanted to give your ranger a message. When I came here, I figured it was the perfect opportunity to pass it on, since I was lookin' for a ranger. I didn't know who it was until she showed up, and well, it worked out. And she must have called the rest of your rookies, since they showed up after we had been chatting for a while."

"Why did you need to give Mira a message?"

"Oh, it wasn't from me, I was just the messenger." Jane picked up the small tablet he remembered seeing during their first mission together. "I was after a guy, and ran into this other bounty hunter that was also after my mark. After we had caught the criminal, he asked me to pass off the message since I'd had a run in with ya'll before. I'm trying to remember what his name was…Roman? Romek?" Romac, Buzz knew who Jane was talking about. "He had wanted me to pass on a message to her in the event that I found ya'll again." Ahh, so that's why she looked more bouncy than normal.

"That was very kind of you…you didn't have to do that." Buzz commented. He had known she was one of the good guys, and this was just more proof. Jane just waved him off, like it was something she did all the time. The ranger leaned over with his elbows on his knees, stitching his fingers together. "Which brings me to why I'm here; I wanted to thank you for saving my life last night. You didn't have to do that either."

Jane shrugged her shoulders before trying to sit up straight on the bed. "It was the right thing to do." She readjusted herself again, wincing in discomfort. "Couldn't sully my reputation by letting ya die…it'd be bad for business."

Buzz snorted, "Oh, thanks. I'm so pleased that you only saved me to help your reputation." His sarcasm caused Jane to smirk a little. "But in all seriousness, thank you. I truly am grateful." He watched her eyes widen a little before she broke contact and looked at the bed, reaching up and fiddling with her braid.

"Yer welcome." It was so quiet, Buzz nearly missed it. It occurred to Buzz that maybe Jane had never been thanked for her services. Or for anything. The room felt quiet, and as time stretched on, the silence turned awkward. Jane didn't look at him, finding her hands fascinating…and Buzz couldn't seem to look away.

Until now, he had only gotten fleeting glances at her, or been so thoroughly distracted he never noticed how beautiful she was. She had fair skin, but that was the kind of complexion to be expected from someone with the color hair she had. Buzz could now see that she had faint freckles dotting her cheeks, and he felt it only added to her charm. He didn't know why, but…something drew him to this woman. There was just something about her…that also felt wrong. Buzz couldn't explain it, but somewhere in the back of his mind telling him she should be more alive. More happy, more carefree, brighter somehow. He could remember the look in her eyes when Shiv was mentioned, and he felt that look should have never been there to begin with. Maybe, just maybe, one day he would find out…but it was not this day. Buzz would unravel the mystery that was Bazooka Jane, just another time.

Buzz was brought back to the here and now when Jane grunted in pain; she had been trying to move her pillows around and must have twinged something. The captain's brows furrowed, hearing the soft curses from Jane. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"I've had worse…just a couple of bruises and scratches. Nothin' I can't handle." Jane continued to battle with the pillows behind her, eventually giving up with a huff and crossing her arms in irritation.

Shaking his head, Buzz stood and leaned over the bed, "Here, let me help you-"

Jane smacked his hands away from the pillows, "Don't need yer help, just leave em."

Buzz gave her a serious look, "You're obviously uncomfortable the way you are, just…let me move the pillows for you."

Jane returned the look with stubbornness, "I'm fine."

"You are not." The ranger sighed, "You need help, just take it and be happy."

"Neverrrrrr…" Her eyes widened and her lips thinned as she drew out the word in a low, raspy hiss. What is she doing?

Buzz had to bite the inside of his lip to stop the chuckle that threatened to bubble out. He didn't, however, manage to stop his eye from twitching. Jane's lips turned into a small smirk at the eye twitch. Buzz couldn't tell anymore if she was being stubborn for stubborns sake, or if she was playing him. Might be a little of both. The ranger chalked it up to the medications she was currently on to dull the pain and to fight off infection. He was sure she would be back to her normal self in a few days...whatever that was. "Are you done?" He asked with his authoritative captain's voice. Jane huffed and nodded, leaning up with a little effort so that Buzz could rearrange the pillows for optimum comfort.

"I suppose I should thank you."

"I suppose I should say your welcome." Buzz crossed his arms, "But I don't think I will."

Jane rolled her eyes, "Gee, what a prince. Should have expected as much commin' from you, Ranger. Honestly, I thought they would have taught you some manners in that ranger school o' yours."

"Oh, they did." Buzz agreed, nodded his head and stroking his chin like a stereotypical person with a beard. "They just don't apply to bounty hunters."

Jane put a hand over her heart, trying to pull off her best hurt expression, "You wound me, Ranger. Cut me right down to the core."

Buzz shrugged, pretending to brush invisible dust from his shoulders. "All in a days work." He attempted to keep up the charade a little longer but eventually broke into a smile and ruining it.

Jane laughed quietly, "You ain't bad, Ranger. Ain't bad at all." She stretched and covered a yawn, sinking down into the pillows and getting comfortable.

That was his queue. "Get some rest, you'll need it to recover quicker." Buzz moved away from the bed and headed to the door, thinking that he heard her say 'sleep is for the weak', but when he turned around she was already out. His team must have taken more out of her than he thought…or she just really needed her sleep after nearly getting blown up. How she had managed to fight as much as she did last night, with a stab wound no ness, was beyond him. And if what Kess had told him earlier was really true, then he needed to find a way to keep her from overdoing it…Buzz didn't want to think about what it would mean if he failed to find a solution.

Buzz thought it was best to talk to his team. He wouldn't give them any details concerning Jane's health, just if there was something in the regulations that he didn't remember, and if there was a way around circumstances involving a non Star Command party. If anyone would know where to look first, it was Booster. And XR could go through massive amounts of data quickly if they set up the right search parameters. It was only fair that he tried his best to find some way to keep her from running herself into the ground…she had saved his life, and he would be indebted to her until he could return the favor. It was the right thing to do, and he be damned if he didn't try his best.


"How can there be absolutely nothing?" Buzz tossed another useless regulations book onto the table he and his team were crowded around. He sighed heavily, rubbing his eyes in frustration. After days of research in between missions they hadn't come up with a solution. Jane was set to be released today. The ranger had been careful about what information he had given his team about the situation, but they could tell that this was really important to him. They were a fantastic team.

"We've gone through everything Buzz…not even I know of a loophole." Booster said dejectedly. He had been the first to jump on board of this crazy idea, and he had been trying his hardest to find something.

Buzz gave a reassuring pat on the rookies arm, "You did what you could. Don't beat yourself up about it."

"Seriously, though…it's like there's nothing that can be done…third party people who required medical attention and have nothing to do with the Galactic Alliance are pretty well protected from anything." Mira added, flipping through a manual. "Especially if they don't have any kind of criminal record. From what you told us, no one has ever pressed charges against Jane, so we can't monitor her on that front."

"Have any of you thought that maybe she just wants to disappear after this?" X-R offered offhandedly. "As friendly as Jane is with us, she doesn't strike me as the sticking around type. Seems like she's eager to get out of here, and never look back." The robot received disgruntled looks from the rest of the team. "Oh fine, ignore the voice of reason…because that hasn't blown up in our faces before."

Buzz took a moment to think on that; what he said was completely true. After the first wave of drugs Jane received had worn off and the dosage dialed back, she had become less forthcoming with his team. They had continued to visit her on their off time, but she seemed more closed off, anxious about her surroundings and seemed to be harboring nervous energy around the doctors and other personnel. It struck him as strange that someone who had absolutely nothing to hide, and Jane really did have a squeaky clean record from what he could tell, was as jittery as she was here. Buzz thought back to what Jane had told him last night about being brought to Star Command, and realized that there was something to the story that he was missing. He didn't know why she hated Star Command so vehemently, but now it was clear to him why she was so eager to leave.

The captain was about to reach for another booklet when his wrist communicator beeped at him. "Buzz Lightyear here." The image cleared up and showed Nebula's unhappy face.

"Get down to the hanger immediately, and bring your team. It's time to say goodbye to that viper of a woman." Buzz didn't get a chance to acknowledge the Commander before he severed the line.

Buzz looked at his team who held shocked expressions. "I guess we better head down there and make sure she isn't causing trouble." It was never a good sign when an entire team of space rangers were called to the same place when one would have been sufficient…especially if Nebula was that fired up over something. The team prepared for the worst as they made their way to the hanger, cautiously entering and surveying the area for a disturbance. They found one in front of Jane's ship, between her, the Commander and the LGM's.

"Uh, everything alright here?" Buzz asked as he and his team approached the small gathering.

"Not quite." Nebula grunted, his arms crossed and staring down Jane.

"Why the hell were those little varmints in my ship? That's my property and you don't have permission to board!" The bounty hunter fumed.

"You should be happy we even bothered to retrieve your ship at all." Was the gruff reply, "They were making sure everything was working properly before you left."

"We just wanted to help." One of the LGM's piped up. But the glare it received from Jane caused them to scatter again.

"For the last time, I don't want any of ya'lls help!" The woman had the nerve to stomp her foot. Buzz and his team watched the exchange between Jane and Nebula apprehensively. Each one of them felt it was best to keep quiet and prepare to break up a fight if need be.

"You'll accept it and be grateful. That's an order." He spoke with authority…and that didn't go over well with Jane.

"I ain't one of your rangers, you can't order me around." Jane rebutted, but Nebula had had enough and stepped into her space, looming over the woman.

"You will as long as you're on my station, missy. You were brought here for medical attention, under my supervision. As far as I'm concerned you're just like any other ranger on this station; you will listen to my orders, and you will obey them. Is that clear?" Commander Nebula could be intimidating when he wanted to be, he didn't have to shout at the rangers to get them to do what he ordered. Jane didn't move from her ground, but didn't say anything else either and the Commander took this as compliance. "Now, I've been told by the doctor that supervised over you that you still aren't completely 100 percent, but we can't keep you here. So you can do one of two things: you can either report into me personally for the next several weeks-" Jane looked like she was going to object, but Nebula beat her to it and held up a hand for silence, "Or, one of my ranger can accompany you until you're completely healed. Your choice."

"Absolutely not. Like I told your captain over here, I work alone. Having anyone else around would only slow me down." Jane crossed her arms and shifted her weight, attempting to look intimidating as well.

Nebula rolled his eyes and gave a severe look Buzz's way. "Now where have I heard that before." He grumbled. "You only have those two options."

Jane was silent for a moment, before shrugging. "Fine. If I absolutely must, I'll take the robot." She said easily, gesturing her hand in X-R's direction.

X-R looked ready to bolt into Jane's ship when Nebula spoke up. "Unfortunately you can't have him. He's instrumental to the inner workings here at the station as well as on patrol."

"I knew you really cared, dad!"

"I thought I told you to stop calling me that!" Nebula turned his attention back to Jane, ignoring the sulking robot next to him. When the bounty hunter opened her mouth again to speak, Nebula cut her off. "You can't take ranger Nova with you either, her father would never agree to such an expedition." Buzz started to get a bad feeling he knew what the Commander was doing. "Or Booster." He cut her off again before she ever said anything. Nebula what in the name of space are you doing?

"That only leaves…" Jane didn't even finish, eyes darting over to Buzz, "Oh no…No. There is no way I'm letting some…rocket jockey, playboy onto my ship!" When Nebula didn't say anything, she tried again. "You don't understand, I will kill him. I can just see it now, and I'd rather not ruin my clean reputation by offing Ranger over here because he was impossible to get along with." He should feel more offended by that. But at the same time, she was probably right. They hadn't exactly worked well together in the past, so it was conceivable that they would end up killing each other in a small enclosed space.

"Well, it's either him, or reporting to me once a week. What's it gonna be?" Nebula asked, impatience clear in his features.

After a moment or two of deliberating, Jane sighed, her shoulder slumping in defeat. "I'll radio in once a week."

"That's what I thought. Now, say your goodbyes…and get off my space station!"

Jane was surrounded in a flash, getting hugs from Mira and Booster. Even X-R got a hug from the bounty hunter, and he tried one last time to get her number. Buzz stayed back, knowing that this kind of goodbye wasn't normally Jane's style towards him. When she finally broke herself away from the rookies, she turned her attention onto him. Buzz walked over to the small group, his team making room for him. "Well, Ranger, it's been fun." She stuck her hand out towards him and Buzz shook her hand.

"I suppose this is goodbye then?" the Ranger asked.

"Naw, Ranger." Jane held onto his hand a second longer before letting go, "This is just a see ya later." With a wink, Jane turned around and boarded her ship, throwing over her shoulder one last, "Until next time, Ranger!"

"Until next time…" Buzz murmured under his breath, half waving as the ship fired up and then exited the hanger. And that was it. She was gone, and he hadn't managed to find a way to help her. Not that she would have accepted it anyway…He took a moment more to stare at the empty space where Jane's ship used to be before rounding up his team, they had work to do after all. Buzz was looking over the details for his next mission when he received a message from the Commander to meet him in his office. Confused as to why Nebula would want to see him, the ranger set off, leaving his team to finish the final arrangements for the mission.

When he approached the door to the Commander's office, he knocked on the doorframe to announce his presence. "You wanted to see me, Sir?"

"Lightyear, yes, come in." Nebula waved the ranger in, not looking up from whatever paperwork his was still struggling with. Buzz waited patiently in front of his superior's desk, but as the seconds ticked by he couldn't help but wonder if he'd been forgotten about. The ranger was nearly startled when the Commander broke the silence. "There's not a chance in hell that woman is going to contact me."

"Sir?"

"Son, I saw the report from Kess. That woman is too headstrong for her own good, like a ranger I would know." Nebula gave a pointed look to Buzz, who shifted uncomfortably under the older man's gaze. "So I propose that someone keep an eye on her and report back to me…make sure she doesn't get herself killed for the time being. I'd rather not get a verbal tirade from Kess if I can help it, been on the receiving end one too many times." Nebula dug through some of the papers on his desk before separating a stack and pushing them towards Buzz. "Regardless of what any of the rulebooks say, medical will always trump the handbook, so I've been informed," So, really that meant Kess threatened him… "That someone needs to keep an eye on the viper woman until she's recovered. That someone is going to be you."

"But sir, I'm needed here. My team needs me to do missions. I'm the best ranger you have-"

"And that's exactly why I want you going. Plus you've already dealt with her before, so you know more than anyone I could assign." Buzz opened his mouth to insist a point, but Nebula held up a hand. "Your team will do just fine. They've already proven themselves to be competent rangers…as long as they continue to work together."

"Sir, I can't just leave." Buzz tried to protest again.

"Son, you have more sick and vacation leave saved than you know what to do with. You hold the record!" Nebula stood from his desk and walked around to Buzz, clapping a hand on his back roughly, steering him to sit down. "Now, you're going to get all your paperwork filled out and taken care of. She still needs to take that Mitch person back wherever he came from, and then you'll start keeping an eye on her."

Buzz gave the stack of paperwork a disgruntled look, but made no move to start it. Nebula sighed, returning to his proper side of the desk and sinking into his chair. "Look, I know that you feel an obligation to your team and to the work that you do here. And you're right, you are the best ranger I got." The Commander leaned his elbows on the desk, giving Buzz a serious look. "But I also know you well enough to see when you're distracted. Don't think I haven't noticed you and your team's sudden and inexplicable fascination with Star Command rulebooks and guidelines. You want to keep an eye on the bounty hunter? Here's your opportunity."

He only had to think about it a moment to know that he agreed with the Commander. Buzz really did want to keep an eye on Jane and make sure that she at least healed completely before going fully back to her line of work. Nebula had just given him his permission to go do that on a silver platter…so then why was he hesitating? Something about this didn't add up. "What, exactly, would I be doing as far as mission records?"

Nebula leaned back in his chair and shrugged. "Who knows? As far as Star Command is concerned, you'd be off taking a vacation…which, might I add, I normally have to force you to take."

Buzz rose an eyebrow at that. He wasn't surprised that Nebula would take the plausible deniability road. However, that also meant that the Commander assumed that Buzz would be getting into trouble…which probably wouldn't be far from true. "Alright. Say I do this, how could I possibly track her after she drops off Mitch?" Buzz knew that trying to argue with the Commander would only end in failure. The prospects of doing a tracking mission on his own again were very tempting…but he wasn't sure about tracking Jane. He just knew that if he made a mistake and she found out, he would get the beating of a lifetime. Buzz was also wary that he wouldn't be out in the field, so to speak. He knew that his team could handle anything that got thrown at them…but only he could contend with some of the evilest forces in the universe. That being said, he was just going to have to trust Commander Nebula's judgment.

"By following the bounties of course." Nebula said as if it was common knowledge.

Follow the bounties? "With all due respect, Sir, I never attempted to follow a bounty before." Of course now that he said it out loud, it sounded dumb to his ears. Buzz had extensive training by Nebula himself before he could take the Shiv Katall mantel. But he still didn't know how they operated…the most he ever had to do other than get into fights – which took no skill at all – was intimidating those that questioned him.

"It's not that much different than the information gathering you do normally. You'll be fine." The desk spat out another stack of papers and Buzz tried not to chuckle at the disgusted look the Commander gave the desk.

"So the first place that I would go would be…" Buzz hedged, but knew what answer was coming. Out of all the places in the universe that a bounty hunter could go, would she really go there first?

"Trade World, of course."

Buzz couldn't help the mental sigh, of course.


So, I figure that I can update every other week being as my chapters can be a bit lengthy. Sound good? And thank you very much to toystorylover, athaye12, and Jessie - Princess Prairie for favoriting this story! It means a lot to me.