"So Buzz is being kept in a cabinet in the main room by some snobby china dolls who don't play well with others," explained Bo as they made their way down a narrow path behind a bookshelf. "And they're even less fond of me, so him being a plastic toy plus being my friend? Sad to say he's not in the best company."

"Awh, how could anyone not like you?" asked Jessie, still in disbelief.

"Well…" began Bo trying to find the words as she used her staff to propel her up the shelf, pulling herself up and jumping with ease. "Let's just say they don't approve of how I choose to do things."

"Look at you!" exclaimed a very impressed Jessie, standing at the bottom in awe for a moment before following her lead.

"Well I learned from the best," smiled Bo as she sat on the edge of the shelf, overlooking the the shop. Jessie sat beside her and gazed at the rows of shelves like they were a foreign sea. Was this dusty, dark place really a home to Bo? Could she possibly be happy here? Before she had a chance to ask, Bo spoke.

"We'll have to wait an hour or so," the shepherdess said, swinging her feet. "Buzz's batteries are low and the only spares I know of in his size are in the lights they use to light their display case. We tried a bit earlier to get them, but in his current state… we did not maintain the element of surprise."

"Well, luckily I'm very surprising," laughed Jessie with a tip of her hat.

"So what brings you two here?" sighed Bo. "Were you donated? Lost?"

"Oh no, nothing like that…"

"...romantic getaway?" teased Bo with a smile to which Jessie just laughed. She was glad to have found Bo, but something about telling her they came there for her seemed wrong at the moment. Seeing now that she wasn't waiting around to be sold, that she wasn't scared or lonely like she had feared,Jessie was somewhat relieved. But it hadn't occurred to her that Bo might not be able to go with them, that she might not want to go with them and it wasn't a conversation she wanted to rush and potentially ruin.

"Just an adventure," said Jessie nonchalantly.

"Well since we've got time to kill…" Bo went on, curiosity dancing in her eyes. "How are things back in Andy's room?"

"Well, uh… empty I guess," said Jessie, bring her knees to her chest. She knew this wasn't a sad story; it was a happy story. And she had imagined countless times telling it to Bo, how life in the rooms was after she left and how they had to leave Andy but found Bonnie. Being able to do it now felt utterly surreal and she felt as though she couldn't talk fast enough.

"And now you have a little girl, huh?" said Bo dreamily when Jessie had finished.

"Yup, and she's great," sighed Jessie happily. "We're all really happy there… I think you'd be happy there too."

"Uh, so how is everyone else adjusting?" Bo asked, delicately avoiding answering Jessie. The cowgirl knew when she said "everyone" she really meant "Woody."

"Well…" began Jessie.

A few weeks ago

"Okay Bonnie who are you gonna bring for show and tell this week?" asked Mrs. Anderson as she finished helping her daughter get dressed.

"Everyone!" Declared Bonnie happily, wrapping as many toys as she could in her arms.

"Okay sweetie," laughed her mother as her daughter held the toys closer. "You do this every week. How about this time we pick just one toy? Hmm?"

"Just one?" Bonnie pouted.

"Let's try it out," continued mom. "When you get to kindergarten you can't bring all your toys everyday. Today can be practice. C'mon, let's eat our breakfast and when we get back you can pick out your favorite toy."

"Okay mommy!" Agreed Bonnie, hungry and eager for pancakes. Once she had bounced out of the room, the toys sprang to life and Woody walked over to Buzz on the bed.

"Okay Buzz, while I'm gone today I need you to keep an eye on Rex and Trixie, I know that new video game comes out today and I don't trust them not to charge dad's credit card again."

"Okay but Woody, where-?"

"Oh and I was gonna show Dolly the seating chart idea I had for meetings but I can always do that tomorrow if you can't get to it."

"Fine, but where-?"

"Oh and Slinky wanted to get a checkers tournament going but then we realized a lot of Bonnie's toys don't know how to play. So I was gonna spend the day teaching them but if you could start while I'm gone, I would-."

"Woody, where are you going?" The space ranger was able to ask at last.

"Oh, show and tell," said Woody as though it was obvious. "You heard mom, only one toy today and I think we all know that means, well ya know…"

"I see," said Buzz, not convinced. "I mean don't count your horses, cowboy-"

"It's 'don't count your chickens,' Buzz."

"-but as we've learned in the past there's a chance she won't pick you."

"Oh?" Said Woody before he put together what Buzz was referring to. "Oh! Oh, Buzz I'm not gonna throw you out a window again if you get picked over me!"

"I mean, I didn't think you would but-."

"No, no, no, I just thought it was obvious," continued Woody with a laugh. "Playtime lately has been very western heavy so it wouldn't surprise me if she's just like Andy was at her age. Now, I'm not saying you won't get a turn at show and tell I just think the first solo show… we'll I think I've got it locked up."

"Whatever you say, cowboy," said Buzz with a laugh. He didn't take it too much to heart, he knew this would mean so much to Woody who was more wound up than usual. He watched with a smirk as his best friend polished his sheriff's star and made sure he was in a prominent spot.

While the other toys adored Bonnie, of course, show and tell didn't mean as much to them. What it was in reality was spending most of the day in Bonnie's backpack, crammed between books and pencils cases. Luckily, Bonnie was in the butterfly room so her toys having to ensure the former tyranny had never been much of a factor but the whole ordeal was overly tiring and her indecision often created an overcrowded backpack. So no one else was worried about not being chosen, but to Woody it meant everything.

Finally, Bonnie can skipping back in. Today, she had elected to wear her cowboy boots and Woody took that as a good sign.

"Mommy! Mommy! Can you braid my hair?" Said Bonnie as she ran around her room gathering her supplies and sweater.

"If you can sit down for two seconds of course I can."

"I wanna match Jessie!" Said Bonnie as she set the backpack down on the bed and gently placed the cowgirl inside. She reached over Woody to do so and he would never admit it to Jessie but it stung a little. Bonnie happily ran out to have her hair braided as Jessie made herself comfortable in the bag.

"Well, look on the bright side you can cross off all your errands today!" Said Buzz awkwardly as the two remained motionless awaiting Bonnie's return.

"Huh? Oh yeah, yeah of course," Woody said, only half listening.

"Hey, you were right about the western thing… at least." Tried Buzz again, torn between his happiness for Jessie and his sympathy for Woody.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," said Woody, still staring at the door in some state of disbelief and familiarity. "It's just a phase though, I'm sure she'll bring a different toy every week."

"So you're… happy for Jessie?" Buzz almost hesitated to ask, half afraid of the answer.

"Of course," said Woody, snapping back to his former self. And he was. He'd be happy for any toy Bonnie picked, but his pride was a hard pill to swallow, no matter how many times he had done it. "Of course I am. Are you gonna be okay spending a whole day away from her?"

Buzz smiled, Woody's teasing confirmed he'd be okay. "I'll find a way to manage," he said. "I'm sure there's plenty on your list to keep me distracted. How many toys do we have to teach checkers to?"

As genuinely sure as Buzz was that Bonnie would eventually pick Woody for solo show and tell, Jessie quickly became a regular. Bonnie created a theme, each show and tell she prepared another story starring her and Jessie. One week they were cowgirl detectives, the next was a cowgirl ballerinas, then cowgirl chefs/ninjas. She would workshop the stories with the other toys at home and deliver the summary in class. They became more intricate, she started designing sets, making Jessie additional costumes and having her mother write down her favorites so she wouldn't forget.

In a way, Woody was right. She was a lot like Andy. Bonnie was creative, but Woody wasn't her muse.

"Do you want a crossword puzzle or a word search?" Buzz asked Jessie as she sat in Bonnie's backpack, getting ready to leave.

"Hmmmm, is there a sudoku in there?" She asked as Buzz searched the pile of Dad's brain teaser collection. "Doesn't matter much to me, as long as I have a pencil sharpener. "

"Good idea," said Buzz, folding the paper and putting it in the bag beside her. "Better take two, one for the bus ride there and one for the ride back. Excited for the field trip?"

"Boy am I!" Exclaimed Jessie. "Been looking forward to it all week! Just wish you could come with me."

"Me too," said Buzz with a small smile. "But I'm excited to hear all about it!"

"Are you gonna be okay here with uh-?"

They both looked to the edge of the bed where Woody sat. Slinky was besides him talking but he didn't appear to be listing or even aware the dog was beside him.

"Yeah, he'll be fine,"

"Maybe I should stay and let Woody go…"

"Then Bonnie would be worried she lost you and there's no way Woody would enjoy himself," said Buzz, his logic easing her of her ill earned guilt. "He'll be okay. I'll keep my eye on him, he knows better than anyone that you can't force these things. You deserve to have fun."

She smiled. The sounds of footsteps behind them got louder, and Bonnie's laughter echoed in the hallway. "Bonnie's coming!" Whispered Jessie with excitement as she leaned forward to give Buzz a quick peck on the cheek. "See you later!" She wved as she ducked in the bag and zipped herself up. Buzz took his stationary position beside the bag, nearly failing to hide his goofy smile.

"Hi toys!" Said Bonnie, grabbing her backpack and confirming Jessie was in the front pocket, safe and secure. "Bye toys!" She said and quickly shut the door behind her.

The toys waited a moment to make sure she hasn't forgotten anything, Woody hoping she'd decide to take two toys, but once the car pulled away they resumed normal activity.

"So, have a checklist for today?" Buzz asked Woody, hoping to distract him early on from his dismal mood.

"Um yeah," he said, he voice sounding as though he had just woken up. "I gave it to Dolly earlier. Let me go get it."

"Okay well, I'm sure that's how interest works in a bank but I doubt the dime she gave you last week is worth more now," said an unconvinced Dolly to an insisting Hamm.

"Well next time the ice cream truck comes, we'll see how many fudge bars Bonnie can afford and then we'll talk," said the pig.

"Okay, but then how-?"

"Hey Dolly," interjected Woody before their personalities clashed further. "Do you have the list I gave you earlier to look over? I wanna start checking some stuff off."

"I'll tell you why you're wrong later " said Dolly, waving Hamm away. "Uh yeah, but we can't really do anything until Jessie gets back."

"Um, why?" asked Woody confused. "She's been through the lectures at Andy's, she knows the information. And if she didn't I'm sure Buzz would be more than happy to fill her in."

"Well, no… yeah, that's just it," tried Dolly. "It's spring cleaning and it's the first time Mom's really talked about donating toys or putting some in storage…"

"Yeah, and we wanna make sure everyone's prepared," finished Woody.

"Okay potsy I'm gonna level with you,'' said Dolly. "I've been with Bonnie the longest, we go way back; to the crib. I know squat about this stuff. But Jessie is the only toy who's experienced this stuff first hand."

"Um, no offense but the rest of us were donated too… by Andy."

"Yeah, and I'm sure her experience came in handy," said Dolly but the guilt look on Woody's face told her he didn't utilize her experience in the change. "Okay well, storage is a horse of a different color. I know you all were in the toy box, but mom just redid the basement and Bonnie's getting a baby cousin in a few months, there's a good chance some of the old timers are gonna be in boxes and it's gonna be scary. I asked Jessie to share her story, kind of a Q and A."

"Well, I'm the one who got her out of storage," said Woody a little smugly, crossing his arms.

"Well she's the one who survived storage," said Dolly in a similar defensive tone, also crossing her arms. "You're welcome to help out too Sheriff but truth is the other toys see Jessie as kind of a leader of the room."

"And that… doesn't bother you?" Woody asked carefully, genuinely curious but not wanting to insinuate she should be. "I mean, you said it you've been here the longest. Shouldn't that be you?"

"I think of it more as 'good cop, bad cop,'"

"And you are…?"

"Bad cop," she said simply. "Jessie can rally the troops, have a positive attitude, help everyone get along and I'll yell at them when they step outta line."

"Doesn't sound very equal,"

"You'd be surprised how much yelling is involved," laughed Dolly. "Girls' rooms work a little different Woody and Bonnie is Jessie's third kid; you can't deny that she has more experience with this kind of thing."

He couldn't deny it. But he also couldn't deny his desire to be the one everyone relied on. But Dolly was right; Jessie had earned the title and was doing a great job. He knew he was being a bit of bad sport, but being in the background was not his forte. He didn't know what to do if he wasn't planning something or running a meeting. But they didn't need that from him here.

"So just relax, play some cards, take a walk," continued Dolly, leading him around the room. "You worry too much; you're giving Rex a run for his money."

"We talking money?" Asked Hamm, walking over to rejoin the conversation.

"See how important the yelling part is again? It's a full time job," said Dolly before turning to Hamm. "Alright lets see if the dime has turned into a quarter yet."

The pair walked away, an unwavering argument quickly forming as Woody thought about what Dolly said.

He should be proud, in addition to Jessie he had helped Andy's former toys enough that they were able to pass on their knowledge to Bonnie's toys. When he did call a meeting, he could tell he was repeating himself. It was all things they had already heard. And while he should be proud that his lessons were being passed down, he saw his potential free time as a void.

When they first arrived, a lot of toys saw Bonnie as a chance to start over: a new room, new friends, new playtime. Woody knew it'd be different, he knew it would take time to adjust. But it was like he could never find his footing. He knew it was possible he wouldn't mean as much to Bonnie as he did to Andy and he felt selfish to even think it, but he didn't entertain that notion long. Even when Buzz came, Woody wasn't second banana for very long. He had cowboy camp with Andy, he had always played the hero in playtime (even if he had to share the spotlight with Buzz every now and then) and he was the one mom never even considered for the yard sales.

But as much as Bonnie loved him and took to heart that he was given to her special, he couldn't go back in time and be all those things to her. He couldn't be as sentimental as Dolly, he couldn't be as inspiring as Jessie, and he couldn't assume his former role amongst the toys. He had been demoted. But it was more than that. Before, he had a purpose, several in fact. If he couldn't be with Andy he could advise the toys but now no one… needed him.

But that wasn't Jessie's place to say, so instead she said: "He's Woody."

"That bad, huh?" said Bo knowingly. Jessie nodded. Jessie could've lied to her, but Bo knew better. She always knew better, especially when it came to Woody. "Well he's never been one for change, that's for sure."

"Yeah, Buzz told me about what happened when he first got to Andy's room," said Jessie.

"Yeah? And what else has Buzz told you?" teased Bo, as ruthless on the subject as though no time had passed. Jessie twirled the end of her braid with her finger and scrunched her nose, not knowing where to start.

"Nothing in English," chuckled Jessie. It struck her how long it had been since she'd seen Buzz and although she was enjoying quality time with Bo, she was worried. "He's safe right? Where he is? I mean, they won't hurt him? Should we-?"

"I've dealt with this lot before," insisted Bo. "They're more rude than dangerous. They're not fast and there's plenty parts of the store they won't go near. Avoiding them will be easy, and they can't do much to Buzz if he's already in low battery mode, poor thing probably doesn't even know what's going on. The tricky part will be getting new batteries, they've been hoarding them for months."

"How many do their lights need?"

"Only two, but it's more than that," explained Bo. "They think so low of toys. They consider themselves collectibles, prized possessions and do everything they can to make it harder for toys to get out of here. They hoard batteries, glue, tape, accessories; anything a toy might need to fix themselves, or help them find a kid."

"What did they take from you?"

"My sheep," Bo said solemnly. "That's their leverage over me. So this plan has to go exactly right, I can't risk them getting hurt."

Jessie reached out and touched Bo's hand. "I understand," she said. And of course she did. "We'll get them back, and take those prissy dolls down a peg or two."

"I know we will," she said, more confident than ever before that it was finally true. "Now, we'll need to make it over to the cabinet in about an hour. By then they'll be back to their usual activities; I don't make it a habit of confronting them more than once a day. But they don't know about you, so we can use that to our..."

Bo trailed off, her attention focusing on something in the distance. Jessie followed her gaze but didn't see anything. "Bo?"

"One second," whispered Bo, her hand reaching for her staff as her stare was unwavering. "I need to make sure the floor is safe. Stay up here; I should be right back."

She jumped quietly down to the floor, her movements rehearsed and focused. Jessie fought the urge to follow and whispered down. "What if you aren't?"

"If I'm not back within the hour, meet me at the bottom of the cabinet," responded Bo. "Stay in the shadows and try and stay off the floor. If Beatrice is out, it may sabotage our plans."

"Beatrice?" asked Jessie. "Who's Beatrice? Is that another doll?"

But Bo was already gone from sight before she could answer, leaving the cowgirl alone, wondering who among the three of them was in the most danger. Little did she know, it was actually Woody.

"