"Good morning mister Lightyear!" a young voice chirped during Buzz's sleep. The brightness of the white blinded him for several seconds until the ceiling above him emerged in his eyesight. With his heart pounding against his ribcage, he apprehensively searched the room and spotted a female by the wooden door across the room. Pinching the coarse material of the hospital gown he wore, he swept his fingertips around the area of his wound. "I hope you had a good night's rest," she greeted, walking over to him, "Last night you lost consciousness due to your large amount of blood loss from rushing over to the space station. Luckily, the nurses who took you in were able to stop the bleeding and managed to sew in nine stitches."

Mumbling to himself, his eyes flickered around the pale atmosphere and brought his attention back to the nurse. The orderly alerted him that some of the members of the military officials had been waiting in the lobby for him to wake up. He gave her permission to let them enter and watched her swiftly walk out of the room later to reveal his colleagues. As they awkwardly bundled at the doorway, Buzz rose his hand to let them draw closer to his bed.

"Come in," he requested, smoothing put the sheets in front of him, "Due to the events last night, I have made some very important decisions that will need to be announced to the soldiers by this afternoon."


"An enemy has been at our station without our knowledge. Zurg's force has underhandedly intervened in our battle station, thus increasing their threat to our army." The soldiers in the auditorium fidgeted in their chairs as they watched General Porkham pace across the space in front of them. "Captain Lightyear was stabbed last night due to a member from the empire being on these grounds," he continued, taking a moment to pause. "The officials and I have spoken with him this morning in his hospital bed. We have decided to call off any future battles. However, he pushed for a guerilla attack directly at Zurg's empire, targeting Zurg himself in the hopes of finally capturing him. Only a small group of chosen soldiers with head with him to the empire as soon as he heals to get Zurg while the remaining recruiters with stay here on guard. His decisions on who will be the guerilla fighters will be made by the end of this week, approximately around the time estimated time where he will be in full recovery. You are dismissed."

Porkham suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder after several moments of observing the departing militia. He turned to see Woody raising his eyebrow.

"I didn't hear you mention that Zurg himself had been in our territory last night," Woody mumbled to the portly man, "I would think that's a vital piece of information that our soldiers should know." The general gave him a disappointed expression.

"I didn't want to ignite fear in them," he defended, rubbing his hands together as he peer around the room, "Besides, I think Edward was just a little lightheaded. Seeing Zurg? Here? I think the guards would have caught him with his gear and costume on."

"Well, he did say that he didn't have his mask on. Perhaps the guards had mistaken him as one of us?" Porkham blew a slow breath out of his mouth.

"Woody, lets be real here. We haven't seen the man without his mask throughout his whole political career. The most recent photos of him were taken twenty years ago. No matter how many times Lightyear has swore the man looked like the same man in the photos, twenty years is a lengthy time period. The man in those photos were taken in his twenties. Zurg is in his forties now, and a person's looks changed drastically between their twenties and forties." But he would know seeing his own father Woody wished he could say, holding his tongue.

"But they can still be recognizable," Woody fought back, rising to the balls of his feet. "We should take his words into consideration. I trust him when he says that he looked Zurg in the face, unmasked and exposed. I don't think we should ignore his accusations like we are."


"I heard that he had to run all the way from his cabin to the battle station," Barbie sighed as she swung her legs while readjusted her body on the bench to a more comfortable position. Stretch mentally counted the amount of taps of Mira's jump rope swiping the dirt as she clucked her tongue against the roof of her mouth.

"Yeah. Shame really. But it's at our expense," she quipped, "He still won't let the Zurg thing go. Now we gotta be worried about being chosen for engaging in the guerilla attacks. As much as I love the thought of hiding in places to jump out and shoot at the enemy, frankly I think we're fighting a lost cause." The three women heard a shot being ignited, followed by a loud thump. Listening to Jessie's groans, they faced the cowgirl who was now on the ground, waving dust away from her face. "Didja get it?" Stretch asked sardonically.

"Dammit. I did it again," Jessie mumbled, watching XR approach her.

"Good afternoon ladies!" he announced, reaching his hand towards Jessie. "Here, let me help you." As the redhead rose to her feet, she squatted down to pick up her laser gun and repositioned herself. "I see an improvement, Ms. Pride."

"I wish I saw the same," she muttered, measuring the distance between her and the target ahead.

"Hey, XR," Mira called out, gathering her jump rope, "Did you guys ever catch the guy from Zurg's empire?"

"No," XR answered, "Nobody saw him enter or leave our station. The word on street is Lightyear is claiming that it was Zurg himself." As the females talked amongst themselves, Jessie put her gun down to face the robot.

"What d'ya mean?" she questioned.

"Well, just as it sounds," XR responded, "The only two witnesses, the guards in front of his cabin, were knocked out so they have no memory of what the man looked like. Captain Lightyear, however, swears that it was Zurg, unmasked and without his armor, who wounded him. The staff thinks that he delirious from the loss of blood and and lack of rest he had this morning, though, when he claimed that." Jessie looked over her shoulder behind her, spotting the nurses' station in the distance and faced XR again.

"I see," she said absently, setting her gun on the bench by her acquaintances, "Will ya excuse me, partner? I think I need to make a visit."


Watching a male nurse walk through the entrance while sipping his coffee, Jessie lightly jogged to the closing door and slipped herself inside. Not sure of what to expect, the lobby area seemed much like what a hospital would look like on Earth for civilians. It appeared to be a slow day for the woman at the front desk was mindlessly shuffling papers and glancing at the clock in hopes of her lunch break to approach. Jessie quickly strolled up to the desk and rest her arms on the cool, teal counter as she waited for the woman to look up. The secretary glanced at Jessie, her face expressionless and immediately brought life to her eyes with a smile and asked if she could be of an assistance. Shortly after Jessie answered her question, the nurse told her the room number and pointed her to the right direction. After thanking her, Jessie sauntered over to the hallways, staring at her shoes that contracted with the pale, cream tiles underneath her. Arguing with herself as she met up with the open doorframe, she debated with herself whether this had been a smart idea or not. Walking in, she saw a slumbering figure in the bed.

Oh he's asleep. she thought, nervously looking around the room, This is silly. I shouldn't bother him when he's at rest. I don't want to wake-

Abruptly, she turned for the door after watching him squirm in his covers but halted after hearing her name.

"Ms. Pride?" his voice croaked while rubbing his eyes.

"H-howdy," she spat out in alarm, turning rapidly to look at him. "I, uh, just wanted to see how you were doin', Captain Lightyear." To her relief, a warm grin crossed him face as he rested his arm on his forehead. She walked closer to him until his bed rail by his feet touched her thighs. "So, how are you?"

"I've been in better situations," he replied, "Of course, I've been in worse as well. I've been watching you." He smile decreased slightly as he eyes grew slightly wider. "I-I mean, watching you from the window. Gun practice. I see you in the window practicing shooting. With your laser gun." She gave a small giggle.

"And I'm still fallin' on my butt," she added. "I wish I coulda brought ya somethin'. It didn't even occur to me till now."

"That's alright. It was very kind of you to stop by in the first place." A long silence between them happened with the sound of phones and laughter in the background.

"Well, I better get goin'," she announced, "I just wanted to check up on ya since I haven't seen ya since the party." Buzz apprehensively cleared his throat.

"Yeah, yeah," he said, watching her leave. "S-see you tomorrow?" She stopped in her steps and caught a glimpse of him, a smirk growing on her face.

"Sure thing," she agreed, "See you tomorrow."


Bo snuggled under Woody's arm as she face the glass door, cupping hands around her mug. Looking up for his approval, he brought down his lips and gave her a small peck on her forehead. They surveyed the moonlit figures silently. Woody then felt a nudge at his side and peer over to Bo's mischievous expression on her face.

"Jessie has been visiting him for these past few days now, Woody," Bo began before taking a sip of her coffee, "I think there might be something there." Woody rolled his eyes disbelief.

"Highly doubt it, Bo," he returned, tapping his fingers on her shoulders, "I know Jessie. She's always wanting to help those who are hurt. She's always been like that ever since she was a little girl, especially when it comes to animals." Bo emitted a tiny, sarcastic 'mmm-hmm' while her blue orbs met up with Woody's.

""Well, all I'm saying is-"

"C'mon Bo!" an older woman called out, "Get back to work!"

"I'm on a break, Betty!" Bo yelled back, watching her co-worker grunt disapprovingly. "Anyways," she continued, averting her attention back to Woody, "all I'm saying is she's really helped him through the healing process." She watch as a proud smile spread across his face for his sister. Resting her head on his chest, she felt Woody's arms wrap around her tighter. "They're getting there."


"And I remember sittin' at the table and Mama was makin' us say grace," Jessie spoke, kicking the pebble in the grass as the cool breeze stroked her cheeks, "I was only a little girl, so I didn't know any better, but while my grandma was prayin', I was eatin' the food. By time everybody opened their eyes, a good portion of the food was gone." Buzz chuckled with her and suddenly turned serious.

"You're lucky to have had such a large family." Jessie grew solemn as she looked over to Buzz. It was the first time she noticed the night sky's color change compared to its oranges tones it had when they initially met earlier in the evening. She didn't realize how quickly the hours passed.

"It's not as hot as it sounds. I mean, first I had to share a room with Woody. We weren't as close as we were now so you could imagine how I felt about that. And my parents always dragged me to kiddy clubs and girl scouts and other activities that I never really wanted to do. And my grandparents were old, so I found them icky when I was little. I also lived in a small town, so gossip flew around pretty darn fast. At times, I felt claustrophobic and just need to breathe. I loved my family and neighbors, but I loved the outdoors. The feel of grass and…the scent of fresh air. And when I got Bullseye-"

"Bullseye?" he interrupted, raising his eyebrow.

"Yeah, my horse. I got him when I was thirteen. I made a bet with my dad that I could shoot his gun five times and have all the bullets hit the center of his target. I didn't have a lot of practice, so imagine my surprise when I actually did it. Then, the next day after work, he brought me home a calf. I named him Bullseye."

"Sounds like you were close to you father," Buzz noted, crossing his arms. Giving him a meek smile, she rubbed her hand on his shoulder in a consoling manner.

"What about you? Weren't you close with your father?" Buzz glanced over to the cowgirl and took a deep sigh.

"It's not a thing I open up to many people about," he began, shuffling his steps, "I guessing that you might of heard this from Woody or one another that Zurg is my father?" Jessie slapped her hands against her thighs as she sucked in her cheeks.

"I-I might've heard something like that." Luckily, Buzz gave an understanding look.

"I don't remember my father being in my life too much. I see mental images here and there, but not full memories. I was only nine when he sent me to military school and had jumped from school to school throughout my adolescent life. When I was sixteen, I had found out from my mother that he had been sent to prison for assault and battery of officials at the time. She swore to me that he never wanted to do such a thing, he was only trying to lead a revolt by having him and his supporters march at the capital. The police had warned him that he was too close to the president and that they needed to back up but he wouldn't listen. Both sides opened arms, and till this day nobody knows who pulled out their weapons first. Well, the court saw my father as a radical, a violent one at that. So, they sent him to prison, but his empire already began to grow. When he got out, he claimed his title as emperor." Buzz turned to the redhead. "You know the rest afterwards due to the news media. I was angry at him at the time. I didn't want to believe my mother's pleads over the phone that he was innocent and didn't mean no harm. I let my personal feelings get in the way and still do, so I pledged to myself and this country to capture him." Stillness grew between them as they listened to the crickets' noise surrounding them. "I was, and still am, ashamed of him being my father. And I try to keep that information bundled inside of me so that the littlest amount of people know."

"I'm sorry, Captain Lightyear," Jessie finally admitted. "None of this should've happened to you."

"Everybody says that," Buzz murmured angrily to himself.

"Looked at me, Edward," Jessie gently commanded, holding his face to look into her emerald orbs, "You can always go to me if you need anything." Buzz was quiet and softly caressed her cheek. Her skin was illuminated by the night sky as her eyes sparkled the reflection on the stars. The two space rangers lured close together and pressed their lip against one another. Slowly pulling back, Buzz dropped his hands as he erected his stance.

"I-I, uh, apologize for such unprofessional behavior, Jessica" he stammered, viewing the smug look on her face. "I better, uh, get going. The nurses are probably wondering where I am right now."

"You know, you could call me Jessie," she pointed out, shoving her hands in her pockets. "I wouldn't mind."

"Alright," Buzz settled, looking at the ground, "And c-call me Buzz."

"Buzz?"

"W-well, it's shorter than Captain Lightyear, that's for sure, and-"

"Sweet dreams, Buzz." He caught eye contract with her again, gave a sheepish wave, and headed off to the nurses' station. After several moments of Jessie watching two dragonflies soaring in front of her, she took a deep breath of satisfaction and laughed in spite of herself. Suddenly, a cloth came over her face and felt something bounding her arms to her body as she struggled to escape. Feeling her body being lifted off the ground, her legs swung desperately as fought back the sack over herself. Ignoring her pleads, the man who held her tossed her into the back of a van and slammed the doors closed. Shutting her eyes to relief the pain she experienced after landing on her side, she heard unidentifiable voices which caused her body to freeze in fear.

"Did you get her?" a deep voice grumbled. As the bag was pulled off, she squinted from the brightness of the interior truck lights. After moments of focusing, she found the face of Zurg's mask staring at her followed by a man's body kneeling to her level. Gasping in shock, she jerked back as she surveyed the mask slightly tilting in examination.

"Don't be scared, doll face," he told her, "We're not going to hurt you. In fact, you're going to be pretty important to us. You're going to be the bait, and we need you to look your best."

Just pretend that this planet that they are on has the same characteristics as earth (oxygen, sunrise/fall, etc.) Otherwise, it would have been awkward for them to kiss with astronaut helmets. Sorry that's its a little rushed, and thank you to those who favored, alerted, and reviewed this story! Please leave a review!