She closed her hands around something hard, but it easily bent, with a sudden snapping sound that startled her. "Woody?" she called, and her voice echoed.
No reply. All she could hear were her own breaths in the darkness. With a grunt of effort she rolled over and began to crawl through what felt like...garbage.
"Jessie," the Prospector's voice made her freeze. "I didn't bring you here to ignore me. I'm trying to make things right."
She didn't speak. She didn't move.
"You should know that I wanted better for you."
The garbage on which she sat suddenly shifted. "Let me help you up, Jessie. Take my hand."
She lifted her head, hoping to follow the sound of his voice to the light.
"I can't," she finally whispered.
The Prospector suddenly laughed, but it was hollow...evil. "Look at you, Jessica. You're where you belong now."
"Hey," the Prospector's voice was kind again. "I don't ever want to hear you speak that way to her."
"She's a clump of old parts and wool! She's worthless."
"Hey!" Jessica protested.
"What an ironic pity it is that your last name is Pride...You have nothing to be proud about."
"That's it. You and me."
Jessica withdrew as she heard the toys begin fighting. Turning, she crawled away; stopping only when a hand reached out from the rubble to grab hers. "You left me to rot underground!" the Prospector yelled. "You buried me and you left me!"
"Prospector, wait!"
"Now it's your turn!"
His hands grabbed onto her arms - and she came abruptly awake. The room was pitch black and she could still feel hands on her arms. Believing she was still in the trash chute surrounded by Prospectors, she wrestled with the toy. "No! You don't understand; don't do this!"
"Jessica! You're awake now," Woody hissed.
She tried to compose herself. "Why is it so dark?"
"The power went out," he grumbled.
"Jessica? You alright?" Hamm called.
"Yeah," she said sadly, wondering if toys could blush.
"Buzz, I-I don't want to step on one of you," Mary suddenly said. "Could you maybe find the candles?"
All eyes went to the glowing space toy, who stood and began walking. "Define candles."
"I'll help," Jessie said eagerly, lurching to her feet. She fell into step beside Buzz. "Stay very close to me, so I can see," she said dreamily.
"Alright," Buzz said impassively. They walked away, his plastic boots clinking on the linoleum. In the darkness, hearing the other toys settling down beside her, Jessica lay down and curled her fist, comforted by the round shape of her eyeball in her palm. She lay down and closed her right eye. Her effort to get back to sleep was interrupted by a rumble of thunder, growling menacingly...like a dog.
She sat up and wrapped her arms around her knees. As she stared into the distance, her shadow suddenly appeared, long and thin. As Buzz approached it grew shorter. His glowing legs stopped beside her and she slowly looked up at him.
He tried not to grimace. She looked bad enough in the daylight - which he knew sounded awful - but caught in his glow, he could see right into her empty eye socket. He could see the inside of her head, and the stitches that held the wool down. Against his wishes he felt his face contort in disdain. Why did her eyes have to be so big?
He set the lantern beside her and looked at the other toys. "Assemble here," he ordered, and the room was filled with the sound of collective toys' feet on the linoleum. Faces appeared. Looking down at Jessica Buzz realized he could not stand to look at the hole on her head any longer. "Uh, I'll just sit over there," he muttered, and walked a few steps further to take his place between Slink and Mrs. Potato Head.
"That's perfect. Thank you," Mary said.
A flashlight beam bobbed past the toys across from Woody and Jessica, stopped in front of Mary and rose into the air. "Here," Jessie's voice said.
"Aw, thank you." Suddenly the flashlight lifted quickly to a towering height. "Well, um...goodnight."
The sentiment was scattered sparsely in return, and the human's heavy footsteps retreated. Jessica placed her hands on the floor, feeling them grow less intense the further away she went. As Jessie's darkened figure passed by the lantern to loyally take her place near Buzz, Jessica felt Woody's hand bump into hers. Her eye quickly locked with both of his, and again she hoped toys couldn't blush...If they could he was able to see it now.
"Sorry," she mumbled, and her eye widened and shot back to him when his hand curled around hers.
"That's okay, Jess. G'night." He patted her hand and lay down, and her gaze swung to the softly illuminated faces around the lantern.
-0-0-0-0-
The candle had died out and all the lights were on, barely making a difference in the daylight. The rain still fell, and as Buzz came to he heard the hushed whispers of the strange toys who claimed to be his friends.
"Okay, Jess. -Ica," Woody hastily added, when both girls looked at him. "Have you ever flown before?"
"No." She looked at him like he was stupid. "I was in a box..."
Facing away from them, Buzz remained motionlessly on his side.
"Right. Well, it can be scary, but we've done it."
"Once," Mr. Potato Head scoffed.
"And," Woody said quickly, "We were successful, weren't we?"
"Be that as it may," Ken interjected, "Buzz shouldn't fly in his condition."
"Are you kidding? It's what every Buzz Lightyear wants to do," Mr. Potato Head answered.
"It could go to his head," Mrs. Potato Head tried to whisper.
"That's true. And let me tell you, when a Buzz Lightyear believes he's real, he's very stubborn," Woody said neutrally. "But have some faith! Remember who he is."
"We do. That's not the problem," Barbie said simply.
"Exactly. Like I was saying, he's indisposed," Ken continued. "You want to make a toy with amnesia try to pilot a helicopter? That's a horrible idea."
"Look, even if he thinks it is his first time flying, so what? He didn't have any experience yesterday, and he did just fine," Woody pointed out.
"Alright, fine. What about her?" Mr. Potato Head pointed at Jessica. "How'll she fly when she's fallin' apart?"
"She can ride in the car," Woody answered simply.
"Whoa, let me stop you right there, Woody," Jessica suddenly said, "I'm not going anywhere."
There was a moment of silence. "What?" Woody asked. "What do you mean?"
"I still need to be fixed!"
"Okay, okay, okay," Woody groaned hastily. "But we get on it, fast."
"What's your hurry, cowboy?" Hamm asked.
"Have you forgotten that the whole world knows our secret?" Woody hissed.
"Hey, I trust Mary a lot more than that daycare guy," Hamm answered.
"Yeah, we could all stay here," Barbie intervened.
"B-but what about Andy? And Bonnie?"
"What about 'em?" Slink asked.
"What about 'em? That's the importance you put on what they meant to us?" Woody asked incredulously.
"That part of our lives is over," Slink answered. "Bonnie sold us to Andy, Andy dropped us off at Sunnyside...Personally I don't see a problem in stayin'."
"Yeah. Who wants to live in a museum anyway?" Mr. Potato Head scoffed.
Jessica answered him. "I do."
All eyes went to her. She stood. "It sounds perfect. Fix me up, put me in a museum, I could be happy with that. Kids are...Kids are the worst."
"Not the kids at the daycare! You gotta give them a chance!" Woody insisted.
"Look at me, Woody," she murmured. "Maybe I gotta face the facts. Maybe I'm just...done."
"What!"
"I had my chance," she said quietly. "Maybe I shouldn't have even made it this far."
Woody stared at her for a moment. Then his brows came low. "I'll fix you up myself," he mumbled. "I know a thing or two about toy repair! You won't believe the things I've seen. And when I'm done, you can think with a clear head."
"You don't think my head is clear? I've been going back and forth on this for almost fifty years." She forced her voice to be cold and cruel, like when they first met. "What can you do for me now that a seamster could have done back then?"
"You're not lost anymore."
She gazed at him. "You're right, I'm not. I have my kid back. You can fly back to daycare if that's what you want. I'm done."
Woody turned and walked back toward the other toys, then stopped and turned back to face her. "I wanted better for you."
He turned and kept walking toward the remote-controlled vehicles, and she stared at his retreating back. Until Barbie was in her face. "You're being very selfish," Barbie snapped. "We flew all this way just for you, and if we hadn't, Buzz would be alright!"
"I didn't make you fly here. You chose to. And if you think I'm taking responsibility for a lightning strike, you can't leave fast enough."
Barbie withdrew, then stuck her nose in the air and walked away.
"I'm sorry, but uh, you're livin' on the impression that Mary wants to keep you," Hamm pointed out. "You gotta ask 'er."
Suddenly Mary let herself into the house, keys jingling. Her head swiveled to the majority of the toys. "You're leaving, huh?"
"Yes. Thanks for your hospitality." Woody tipped his hat as Buzz walked past him.
"Um, Mary?" Jessica asked, suddenly feeling timid. "Can I...stay here? With you?"
"You aren't going? After what they did for you?" Mary asked.
"I told them I wasn't staying," Jessica informed her. "They could have stayed home."
"Oh. Sure...You can stay."
"Thank you." Jessica looked at the toys, whom she approached. "Have a safe trip," she offered.
Woody glared at her. "If it wasn't for Buzz, you'd still be in a bush holding your legs in your arms," he snarled. "We'll give you five minutes if you change your mind. Come on, guys." He picked up his remote and walked outside, his toy helicopter dragging behind him.
"I should've said that; it's much better," Barbie said, as she followed.
Rex looked sadly at Jessica. "Um...'Bye, I guess." He walked stiffly after his friends.
Holding the doggy door open for the others, Woody gave Jessica one last glance. Then he ducked out and was gone.
In his absence Jessica suddenly felt alone and vulnerable. She looked up at Mary, who stared down at her. Finally she asked, "Do you...want to come see Mike and Sulley?"
Jessica pushed away her desire to visit the strange-looking monsters she had glimpsed so many years ago. Assessing her priorities she looked down at her eyeball. "Can you make me new again?" she asked softly.
"Um...No."
"Can you do anything to help me?"
Mary brightened. "My dad can!"
Jessica's metaphorical heart sank. She had almost been hoping Mary would say no again; now she had to choose between getting fixed and going with her friends. She sighed, trying to face the facts. If she went with the toys, she might not even last the trip. And even if she lasted, they might hit a bump and she could lose her eyeball forever!
She forced the functional side of her mouth into a smile. "Great."
"He's at work right now...If you like we can visit Mike and Sulley first."
Jessica nodded and stepped toward Mary's open hand, which gently closed around her little body. As Mary stood, lifting her high into the air, she looked up at her old owner. "Please...be careful with me."
Mary placed her other hand beneath Jessica's feet and loosened her grip. "Don't worry. I'll take care of you."
Jessica felt a rush of happiness at the words she had for so long ached to hear. As Mary carried her down the hall toward her bedroom she found herself sincerely hoping she was awake.