So, ok. I actually found time to write this. Yay!

Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed last chapter! You guys are amazing and make this story so much more enjoyable!

I hope you enjoy!

Warning: Rated T


To Compromise

Jessie stared blankly into the empty cell. She couldn't believe it. She couldn't feel anything, her muscles numb and her bones rigid. All she could comprehend was the fact that she had come too late. How long ago had he been taken? Where did they take him? Was he already…

Gritting her teeth together, the cowgirl slammed an angry fist against the cell wall, crying aloud in frustration and despair. It wasn't fair. She was always one step behind, no matter how hard she tried to get ahead. A tremor of pain coursed through her side, upsetting her further. She barely felt the cool trickles of tears spilling down her flushed cheeks.

"Jessie!" Woody's call echoed about the large room. "Jess, what –"

Assuming he saw what she had seen inside the cell, Jessie kept her eyes shut tight as she leaned heavily against the cell wall. She wouldn't be able to stand the defeated look on her brother's face when he figured out their failure, her failure.

"Jess, is that your hat?"

She hadn't expected that reaction. Looking up, the cowgirl peered into the cell again. She didn't know how she missed it before, but there, in the middle of the cell, was her hat. It sat forgotten on the floor, waiting for somebody to wear it once again. Buzz must have unwillingly left it behind as he was being taken away.

Tears stung her eyes again. She wanted him to hold onto it because she wanted them to be connected in some invisible way, to let him know she was always with him. But the hat had been separated from him, the connection severed, possibly forever. Just like Zurg wanted.

"They took him five minutes ago."

Jessie whipped around, a mysterious voice rasping from behind her. Woody quickly mimicked her and both of their gazes fell upon the cell across from them. A tall, thin alien sat within, legs crossed and eyes closed as if he were meditating. His expression remained passive and expressionless as the two Earthlings approached him.

"What did you say?" Woody asked carefully.

"They took Lightyear five minutes ago, down that direction." He pointed a long, boney finger to their left, the way they had not come. "Though, I do not know why. The doctors' offices and guard lounges are that way. Interesting, indeed."

"The doctors?" Jessie repeated, her eyebrows shooting up.

"Jess, five minutes is not that long." The sheriff commented from beside her. "He could still be alive. We have to hurry."

"You know where to look?" The alien inquired for his own benefit.

"I do." The cowgirl responded, a new sensation of vigor and determination erupting within her.

Before anyone could question her, she waved Darkmatter's key card in front of the alien's cell and then turned to unlock Buzz's unoccupied cell. Stepping inside for a brief moment, she snatched her hat and placed it upon her head with expertise, smiling a bit at the familiar feel of it against her forehead.

"So, what's the plan?" Woody asked as she began to walk in their appointed direction.

"We're going to the doctor's."


They trotted down a metal hallway, lined with numerous doors. The feet of the hundred or so escapees stomped on the ground in a rumble, squeezing through the hallways two-by-two as they steadily followed the Earthlings leading them. Not one guard or adversary crossed their paths. In fact, the entire length of the hallway was unoccupied. The doors remained locked, the rooms empty. It was completely vacant.

Jessie looked around wildly as she ran, always glancing at the digital, glowing numbers marking every door. She kept turning her head back and forth, side to side, to take in every number carefully.

"A105, A106…" She whispered under her heaving breaths.

"Where are we going, Jess?" Woody asked, sounding a little uncertain about his sister's sense of direction.

"I was in one of these rooms, earlier, getting treatment." She commented, still observing the numbers. "When I left to go talk to Zurg, I noticed the number over the door I came out of."

"Wait a minute, you talked to Zurg?" The sheriff cried incredulously.

"I remember the number…" Jessie ignored her brother's question, holding her focus. "I need to talk to that doctor…"

Before Woody could inquire further, she stopped short. Skidding on his boots, the sheriff barely managed to stop himself from plowing into the cowgirl. Recomposing himself, Woody looked to her and noticed she stood rigid in front of a particular door.

A113.

"This is it." Jessie mumbled, stepping forward.

She walked up to the panel on the wall. Once again, she used Darkmatter's key card to unlock the door. With a whoosh, it opened swiftly, revealing the room Jessie had awoken in after the Sunnyside crashed.

It wasn't exactly the same as she remembered.

The room was in shambles. The bed was overturned, leaning bent and ripped against the opposite wall. The contents of the cabinets lied strewn about everywhere, the medicines leaking out of their beakers and the pills and needles littering almost every inch of the floor. Scrapes and burnt marks marred the ceiling and the walls. An acrid, burning stench dominated the air along with the strong scents of the many open medicines. However, the one thing that caught their attention the most was the puddle of strange, yellow liquid that had settled in the middle of the chaos.

No one occupied the room.

Jessie glanced around the room slowly, unsure about what to make of the sight before her. An uneasy silence descended upon the group as she and Woody carefully entered through the doorway. Several others tried to join them, but the cowgirl advised them to stay outside and keep a look out.

As she observed the mess, Jessie could not help but feel a deep sorrow shadowing her thoughts. Had she caused this disaster? Did the Brain Pod doctor wind up facing the consequences he tried so hard to avoid? She barely knew him, but he still healed her and helped her to the best of his ability, despite his fears. Yet, the cowgirl could not help but feel that whatever suffering he was put through was her fault. His help had come with a cost.

Just as she turned around to head for the door again, Jessie looked to the dismantled bed. An eyebrow rose when she noticed a familiar-looking device lying on the floor beside it. Carefully, she worked her way toward the object of interest, avoiding the dangers of the needles and the unnerving puddle of liquid. Once she reached it, she settled into a squat to take a closer look at the device.

Her emerald eyes widened.

"What is it, Jess?" Woody asked, noticing his sister's peculiar behavior.

There was a pause as she picked up the object and examined it in her hand for a moment, smiling slightly. She shifted her gaze onto her brother's brown eyes and held aloft the device for him to see.

"It's the communicator Buzz gave me…" Her smile turned into a wide grin as she gazed at the sleek gadget.

"That's excellent!" Woody cheered softly. "We can–"

"Wait."

Closing his mouth quickly, the sheriff realized Jessie had looked to the floor again. She bent over and picked something else up. She stood with a small piece of paper clasped in her fingers, staring intently at it for a long moment. Her eyebrows furrowed as she pursed her lips.

"It says 'weaponry.'" The cowgirl stated with confusion.

"Where did you find it?" The sheriff questioned in wonder.

"Right next to…the communicator…" Realization suddenly exploded onto her face and she quickly began to quiver with excitement, looking to Woody eagerly. "That's where he is! That's where they took Buzz! The weaponry! Let's go!"

Before the sheriff could even process what she had said, Jessie snatched his arm and yanked him out of the room. She faced the crowd of prisoners awaiting outside and hurriedly began to address them.

"Does anyone know where the weaponry is?" She called out.

"I have one of the guard's maps." A Space Ranger responded, holding up a thin, holographic map.

"Good, you're leading the way." Jessie informed him, bringing him to the front.

"Jess, how do we know this is right?" Woody retorted, finally understanding his sister's motives.

"The note was lying next to the communicator." The cowgirl explained hastily. "The doctor had confiscated everything off me before he began operating on my injury, my guns, my lasso, and my communicator. Think about it, Woody, a single piece of paper lying right next to the communicator he had with a specific place in this prison written on it."

The reasoning seemed credible enough, but the cowboy still did not feel too sure. Jessie gave an exasperated, heavy sigh at his lack of cooperation.

"Woody, I can't explain it any better," She defended, "but, I feel like this is the answer, the place we need to find. I don't know if it's right or not, but I'm not ignoring it. If it turns out to be right and I didn't try to go for it...I would never be able to forgive myself."

Her emerald eyes shimmered in the dim lighting, glowing bright with hope and resolve. She was sure, adamant about her choice, hoping he would concur with her decision. Woody sighed, still nervous about the dangers Jessie was so willing to thrust herself into, but he could not help but smile; she had nothing to worry about.

"Lead the way, Miss Pride."

Beaming, the cowgirl gave him a wide grin before turning on her heel, looking to the crowd again.

"Where's the helmsman?"

In mere seconds, the bandaged head of the helmsman appeared as he shuffled through the immense mob. Confused but flattered, the man strode up to the cowgirl and awaited orders. She presented the communicator to him, casting a serious expression across her face.

"Call Star Command."


Time crawled. He did not know how much time had passed since he was brought to the weaponry, but Buzz realized he could care less. He only cared about the precious minutes he had left.

The Space Ranger sat in a simple, metal-crafted chair. Both of his ankles were bound on each of its front legs and his wrists were tied behind its backrest. The guards had tied him in a way so his chest was fully exposed and so he could not move, even if he wanted to try to. They seemed like experts on performing a flawless execution.

He shuddered at the reminder. So far, he had been left to face the sullen silence of the room alone. It gave him time to think, to reminisce. He took the liberty to recall several important moments of his life and even a few insignificant moments that just made him appreciate the life he led. Certain memories and visions comforted and saddened him, enlivened and weakened him. Looking back, he felt proud of himself and what he accomplished in his short lifetime. He felt no regrets.

"…don't you regret anything…"

Jessie's soft voice echoed in his head, filling all of his senses. His lips began to tingle, his cheek and his hands as well; everywhere she had touched him in their last meeting shivered gently. No, that wasn't true. There was one thing he utterly regretted, more so than any of the mistakes he ever made.

He would not be able to be there for her when she wanted him, when she needed him. He would not be able to protect her, hold her, comfort her. She would be left alone, forced to bear the pain by herself…like he had mere hours ago. He never wanted her to experience that.

But he couldn't stop his execution from happening. It was too late.

'Some hero I am,' Buzz thought bitterly, 'I can't even save myself.'

He bowed his head as far as he could, pain shooting up his back as he did so. He ignored it though, focused too much on his thoughts.

'I'm sorry, Jessie. I can't…I can't be there…'

"Had enough time to mull over your last thoughts?"

The familiar, deep, resounding voice barely startled the ranger. Zurg's voice rarely bothered him anymore, having heard it so much on mission after mission. Instead, the captain opened his eyes and breathed in deeply, forcing an indifferent expression onto his face as he glared at his arch enemy.

The evil emperor himself smiled menacingly, striding into the weaponry with an arrogant pride. Behind him, dozens of guards and Hornets spilled into the room, lining the walls and preparing their guns to protect the area. The last one to enter was Darkmatter.

The blue alien seemed quite peeved, but placid as he walked toward his master's side. From where he sat, Buzz could see he had a deep cut on his lip. The apprentice detected his gaze and soon figured out as to where the he was looking, sending a fierce glare in the ranger's direction. Buzz merely raised a brow at the reaction. Darkmatter soon looked away as he sheathed the pistol he held in his hand, wiping his stained gloves together, cleaning them crudely.

"It is done, my lord." He addressed Zurg in a deep voice.

"Excellent."

Buzz did not know what they were referring to, but he preferred not to find out. It was the least of his worries at the moment.

After fixing himself up a bit, Zurg finally faced the captured Space Ranger fully, his robotic, yellow mouth sneering broadly. He chuckled slightly as he lifted his hands up, marveling the sight before him.

"Well, Lightyear, it seems our story has finally reached its conclusion." The villain gloated proudly. "After years of ceaseless battles and endless encounters, we finally find out who is victorious in the end."

Buzz glared slightly, not willing to give the emperor anything else to mock him with. If he was going to die at the hands of his worst enemy, he would do so with dignity.

"And so, without any further ado, I will take the great pleasure and opportunity in killing you, Buzz Lightyear." Zurg announced amusedly.

The villain snapped his fingers and several Brain Pod and Grub servants ran up to a particular safe embedded into the wall behind him. After they opened the lock, they began to remove a large, black piece of machinery. It took every single one of them to remove it from the safe, but once they did, they carried it out into the light for everyone in the room to see.

An enormous ion blaster was erected in their hands. It had four barrels at its very end, each one able to rotate easily on the large disk they were melded onto. A large bandolier wrapped around the blaster underneath the disk, leading to the arm socket all of Zurg's blasters were known to have. With some difficulty, the servants managed to haul it over to their master and present it to him.

Casually, the emperor slipped his armor-clad arm into the arm socket, taking a hold of the trigger mechanism inside. The blaster's air cooling tubes were connected to a device on his back as the gun itself was finally activated. It hummed threateningly as it warmed up after its long slumber in the safe. A yellow light blazed inside each of the four barrels, brightening as the seconds passed.

Zurg lifted the ion blaster and aimed it directly at Buzz's trapped form. Even from where he sat a few feet away, the ranger could feel the heat radiating within the gun's barrels.

"Take a good look, Lightyear." Zurg commented smugly. "This will be the last sight you will ever see. I hope you've enjoyed the petty life you've lived, but I'm afraid it ends now."

"And don't worry about what you're leaving behind." Darkmatter stepped into view, making sure his face could be seen easily. "I'll make sure everything's taken care of…especially your girl."

The indifference melted off Buzz's face as a fearful realization quickly replaced it. The blue alien continued to smirk haughtily, letting an expression of lust pass over his face briefly. The Space Ranger's jaw dropped slightly, but the shock didn't last. Quickly, anger coursed through him.

"Don't you dare touch her!" He roared.

"All ready did." Darkmatter informed amusedly. "And I'll do it again. You won't be able to do a thing about it."

Buzz swore he saw red, but soon enough all he saw was yellow. The ion blaster was mere inches from his face, powering up, preparing to fire. The captain only stared for a moment, all his ire fading in light of his final seconds.

"Goodbye, Lightyear." Zurg sang.

Buzz closed his eyes.

A shot fired.

The heat disappeared suddenly and a cry rang out in the air. He felt no different, no laser burning his skin, quickly eating him away from within. He opened his eyes.

Zurg had been brought to his knees. His ion blaster smoked from within its gears, the yellow light no longer blaring inside the barrels. Every guard in the room aimed their guns toward the doors, shocked and surprised at whatever they saw.

Turning his head, Buzz looked to his savior. He could not help the smile that erupted on his lips.

There stood Jessie, her red hat settled like usual on her head, her posture straight and tall, and her pistol smoking and ready to fire again. Woody and the rest of the escaped prisoners filled in the space behind her, ready to defend or attack.

They watched silently as Zurg picked himself up to stare incredulously at the mob opposing him. Jessie could only grin.

"I'm here to compromise the death sentence of Buzz Lightyear…and this time, I don't suggest you turn me down."


*goes collapses on the non-existent couch in her room* Only a few more to go!