Ugh. I write too dang much. R&R

Disclaimer/Spoilers: See Chapter 1.

Trust Your Feelings

Complete chaos erupted. As soon as Buzz finished his sentence, every prisoner in the room began to yell all at once. Different statements and questions mixed together into one loud and confusing uproar. Yet, Buzz could clearly hear his name intermingled in the mess of words. They all directed their comments to him and him alone. All their focus rested on him, whether angry or upset, shocked or disappointed. One, however, remained utterly still.

Jessie merely stared at him, her eyes wide and her mouth set tightly into a frown. For several moments she stayed in that arrangement and the space ranger could not look away. Those emerald irises bore into his very soul and Buzz certainly felt he could never forget such a sight.

"Enough!" Lotso's voice resonated loudly over the screams, silencing the room.

Irritated and impatient, the bear strode over to Jessie's cell and yanked it open, sending the cowgirl to the floor of the basket.

"Big Baby, let's get this over with so I can sleep." He growled to the biggest of his henchmen.

Jessie instantly latched onto the metal bars, making herself as small as possible. When Big Baby reached in and clamped his hands on the cowgirl's back, Jessie resisted by pounding her feet against his plastic arms. The baby doll lost his grip on her and every time he tried to grab her again, she would kick him with swift ferocity. She refused to give in without a fight.

Lotso's annoyance peaked after Big Baby tried and failed a fourth time. He turned to the octopus toy standing to his right, slamming his cane against the floor.

"Stretch! Get her out of there, now!" He demanded.

"No, wait!"

Mr. Potato Head had yelled aloud, startling most of the toys around him. Grasping the bars of his cell, with his wife eyeing the scene frightfully behind him, the plastic spud averted all of his attention to Lotso.

"Take me instead." He insisted. "You were going to put me there anyway. I'll go in Jessie's place."

Buzz raised an eyebrow, but had no time to mull over the toy's plea as Lotso chuckled deeply.

"What? You think an exchange will get her off the hook?" The bear mocked. "This little missy is too unruly for my tastes. She needs to learn how to be obedient to her superiors. Stretch, please proceed."

As the octopus progressed in wrenching Jessie from her cell, Buzz could not help but feel regret and uncertainty flow throughout him. The cowgirl's cries and screams made him rigid. The pit of his stomach twisted uncomfortably as Stretch roughly carried Jessie out of the room. He could only watch the scene unfold. Yet, despite her struggles, the cowgirl managed to glance back at him one last time.

His mind numbed. An image flashed before him, quick but slow enough for him to see a face, Jessie's face, smiling brightly, eyes shining, cheeks flushed–

"Lightyear."

The ranger stood automatically at attention, watching his commander approach him slowly.

"Watch them well." Lotso ordered, giving the inmates a side glare. "I don't want any funny business tonight."

Buzz saluted robotically.

"Yes, sir."

Deep down, however, he wasn't sure if he could follow that order.

An hour passed and another soon started. Buzz paced the same line for the hundredth time and continued to do so. The room had settled into an unnerving silence ever since Jessie's sentence to The Box. The tension of the air seemed to intensify with the passage of time and Buzz decided to keep his eyes averted from the prisoners he so dutifully guarded. He felt a consistent vibe of antipathy radiating from them.

Not one of them slept. Every time he risked a glance at the horse or the Barbie doll, they stared at him with distraught expressions. He tried to ignore them, naively reassuring himself they wished to trick him to help their "emperor." Though, Buzz grew increasingly anxious. Never before had so much…disappointment and frustration been directed toward him. What exactly had he done?

He about-faced to pace another lap when a small sound caught his ear. His head snapped up, noticing a slight disturbance in Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head's cell. One of the spuds had their back turned to him, whispering heatedly with the other. They obviously had a hard time keeping quiet. Sighing, Buzz walked toward them.

"What's going on over here?" The ranger's voice did not sound as authoritative as he had wished, falling flat on a tired and solemn note instead.

Mrs. Potato Head spun around quickly.

"N-nothing." She responded. "We're just talking."

Despite one of her eyes missing, Buzz could clearly see the elderly toy's troubled expression. He narrowed his eyes and frowned. He assumed her distresses had been caused by him, just like the other prisoners, but he still did not understand why.

"What are you talking about?" He persisted in his questioning, anger slowly igniting within him.

Mrs. Potato Head appeared uncertain, glancing toward her husband before speaking again.

"Just talking about the day, that's all." She tried to sound convincing, but her voice still held an irritating sadness.

"Oh really?" Buzz asked, an eyebrow rising. "Nothing more?"

On any normal day, the ranger would consider his actions unnecessary and rude. His annoyance, however, continued to build, somewhat out of his control. He grew upset, feeling so unsure and imperfect. Such feelings were alien to him and, though he would never admit it, they frightened him. What had he done? Why couldn't they just tell him?

"Yeah, nothing more, Light-snack." Mr. Potato Head came to his wife's rescue. "Nothing that would matter to you anyway."

"Why not?" Buzz cried loudly, no longer taking precautions to keep his voice down. "Why wouldn't it matter? You're the prisoners, yet I'm the one that feels guilty! What did I do?"

The couple gazed at him, somewhat startled yet still tentative. The ranger glanced around quickly, noticing the other inmates stared carefully at him as well. This only frustrated him further. He realized he was not receiving an answer anytime soon. Throwing up his hands, he prepared to return to his pace line.

"We were talking about Jessie."

He stopped mid-step. Just hearing Mrs. Potato Head say her name sent shivers up his spine. He should have known. He wanted to forget what happened, push it aside so he could purge his doubt. Her absence affected him though, despite what he told himself. And the glance she gave him before she left…he couldn't remember anyone ever looking so hurt and helpless. The mere memory of it pierced his heart.

"This has to do with her punishment, am I correct?" Buzz turned slowly, looking for the female spud's reaction.

"Yes, honey. It does." Mrs. Potato Head reestablished her natural caring demeanor. "We are worried for her."

"I don't understand, though." Buzz admitted, forgetting he presided over these toys. "The Box is just an enormous sand box. There's nothing truly harmful in there."

"The darkness." A rougher voice reasoned and the ranger looked up toward Slinky, the stretchy dog. "Jessie has a terrible fear of darkness and closed spaces."

"Nyctophobia and claustrophobia." Hamm, the pink, slotted pig added smartly.

Buzz's eyes widened. No wonder why she looked so frightened.

"Why, exactly?" He asked out of curiosity.

"Oh, deary. You already know." Mrs. Potato Head sighed.

"I do?" The ranger grew confused, glancing at the elderly toy warily.

"You've known Jessie for ten years, Buzz." Rex, the lizard-man, spoke next, quietly and sadly.

Buzz took a step back, bewilderment twisting his features. They gazed at him intently, expecting him to remember something he couldn't. He hadn't known her for more than two minutes, no longer ten years. What were they talking about? They just wanted to deceive him. Yet, the image of Jessie flickered in his mind again, her wide smile, her dazzling eyes, her flushed cheeks. His stomach suddenly fluttered and he jumped slightly in surprise. He never felt quite like that before. As he tried to decipher the new sensation that enveloped his stomach, his head began to ache from some unknown source.

"Why didn't you tell Commander Lotso about her fears?" Buzz pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to change the subject.

"I would not trust Lotso with that information." Mrs. Potato Head retorted quickly. "He would have no problem hurting her more so if he knew."

"But Commander–"

"Look, Lightyear, "Mr. Potato Head interrupted. "I don't know exactly what that furry air freshener did to you, but let me tell you, he's bad news. Even if we did tell him, it wouldn't have made a difference."

On the outside, the plastic potato appeared grumpy and irritable, but Buzz could sense something different underlined his temper. Maybe he felt guilty about what happened to Jessie; The Box was supposed to be his punishment, not hers. Whatever was eating him though began to chew on Buzz as well. His imagination began to run wild, picturing the cowgirl slipping toward insanity and her health fading every second in the darkness, never able to recover.

He shocked himself out of his revere, clutching his head tenderly as his headache intensified. His heart pounded as his chest tightened once again. It couldn't be true.

"I don't know if I should believe you." The space ranger admitted. "He has given me no reason to believe he means to harm anyone."

"Have we?" Slinky asked, previously observing the scene quietly. "You might not've been at the right angle to see his face, but when he decided to send Jessie to The Box, I saw nothin' but excitement on his face. It was…scary."

A neigh agreed with him. The horse, the only prisoner who did not speak, nodded his head forlornly as he gazed at Buzz with large, wholesome eyes. He had seen it too.

The ranger's hardened features softened and he looked toward the ground. Slinky was right. None of the toys tried to do him any harm. Their emotions seemed true enough and they greatly cared for one another. In fact, that's all they seemed to care for at the moment.

He suddenly felt responsible for Jessie's suffering and he hated the feeling. His stomach fluttered again, but shame weighed heavily on his heart. He pressed a hand against his chest plate, but the discomfort did not recede.

"Please, Buzz," Mrs. Potato Head called gently. "You have to help Jessie."

"What?" He nearly yelped. "Why? How?"

"You're the only one who can." She implied, giving him a small smile. "And you need to right the wrongs."

Buzz furrowed his brow, but soon agreed with her assertion. He needed to fix this, all of this. Most importantly, he needed to help Jessie. At the moment of his revelation, he felt much lighter and stronger. The, what was the term…the butterflies in his stomach swirled about and the new sensation enlivened him greatly. He was making the right decision and that was all the encouragement he needed.

"I'll save her," He promised, "I'll save her, and then I'll save you all."

"I know you will." Mrs. Potato Head smiled brightly before lowering her voice, as if to talk to herself. "I always hoped your love for her would be absolute, no matter what happened."

Buzz, despite turning to walk away, heard the majority of the comment.

"You hoped I what?" He whipped around swiftly.

"Oh, nothing dear." The elderly toy laughed heartily. "Run along quickly before sunrise."

Still befuddled, the space ranger headed for the unlocked hallway door. The night just kept getting longer and longer.