AN: This is going to appear like it's been posted in the wrong set of oneshots at first, but it's not :)
Not finished editing, but I have to be at work in 4 hours.
The van was silent once the exhausted family of three had unloaded in to the last available cone. Rolling luggage clattered across the asphalt and over the curb of the sidewalk to be deposited just inside the door. As the evening deepened, the orange light from the room spilled in to the parking lot, warm and inviting against the cool moonlight that filtered through the van's moonroof.
"I forgot my toys."
"You can get them once we've had something to eat."
"But I always bring one when we stop somewhere."
"And that usually ends up with a frantic search doesn't it?"
There was a brief pause outside the sliding door of the van before a sigh. "Yeah, ok."
The horn of the van beeped once as the doors were locked before the stillness of the evening crept back in, the only sound being the ticking of the engine as it cooled from a day's worth of driving.
"Can't someone open the box?"
"We might be seen."
The reply was nearly a whine. "But I can't breathe."
A third voice joined the conversation, forced patience reminding the two of previously discussed topics.
"How many times have I told you, Rex. You take one side of the box, Jessie takes the other."
The sheriff badge on Woody's vest flashed briefly as he gestured to the handle cut outs on either side of the box, but the topic changed abruptly once the toys had tipped the box over, getting some much needed air and space to stretch.
"Where even are we, anyway?" Potato Head asked while switching his shoes out for a second set.
Using the pen that mom had been using to cross off landmarks, Buzz followed the highlighted route, pausing over the circled name of the town. "It's called Radiator Springs."
"Well that tells me nothing..."
"Guys look!" Jessie had perched herself beside a headrest, hiding in a blindspot to see out the van's windows. "Would you look at that?"
"It's just a bunch of lights."
Woody glanced in Potato Head's direction briefly before climbing up on to the door handle to get a better look. The older toys of the group appreciating the sight more so than the others.
"Boy, it's been a while since I've seen neon like that."
Buzz stood beside him, holding the seat belt to keep himself up as he balanced near the door lock. "It looks like a space port."
Woody blinked a few times, drawn away from the scene as images of Pizza Planet came to mind, hyper-active hyper drive and astro terf... That wasn't originally what he had associated the sight with, and he drummed his fingers against the car door before deciding not to dwell on it. That had been years ago, there was no reason to be worrying about it now.
"Oh, look at that car." Hamm suddenly chimed in. "That's a 1949 Mercury Eight. Probably the original paint job too."
"You should have a car like that, Sheriff." Buzz joked.
"That's a little after my intended time." He raised a brow. "Besides, that's what I've got Bullseye for."
They oohed and ahhed over the sights of the town's night life, making sure to keep out of direct line of any of the windows. As it grew later, they made their way back to the box, uprighting it and returning one by one to their places. Woody and Buzz both froze when they heard Andy and his mother's voices outside, but they passed the van without stopping. Woody took the chance to peek over the seat to see Molly asleep on Mrs. Davis' shoulder, and a very tired little boy waiting patiently for her to open the hotel door.
He grinned faintly as the door closed behind them and they disappeared for the night. So they wouldn't be needed, that wasn't as bad as it used to feel.
He flinched when he heard more voices outside the door and shrunk beside the headrest, pulling his hat off so it couldn't be seen. With a wince, he waved to Buzz who was watching expectantly from the open lid of the box.
They were adults, that was about all he could tell. Polite, and understanding of the hour for as low as their conversation was, being considerate to the other guests of the hotel. Another vehicle pulled up beside the van, engine rumbling lowly and drowning out anything that might have otherwise been heard.
Woody blinked a few times, nearly dropping his hat and juggling it carefully, catching it just in time before it had a chance to fall out of the shadow he was so carefully concealed in. Taking the chance to inch across the van's bench seat, he put his hat back on and crawled across to the driver's side, closer to the people outside.
"Woody."
He winced again and glanced over his shoulder to see Buzz gesturing for him to get in the box. "Hold on."
Knowing that the space ranger was still hissing for him to return to safety, he inched around the other headrest and held on to the seat belt to lean out and look at the classic car parked beside them.
Whitewalls and gorgeous paint, it reflected the neon from up the block in the dark and the chrome glinted under the light of the parking space. He finally caught a few brief comments of the conversation, and watched as the car began backing away.
"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow."
"Don't be late."
As the car made a three point turn to leave, Woody jumped back down on to the bucket seats, shoving his hat fitmly on to his head as he rushed for the manual door lock.
Buzz had jumped from his cover, his suit glowing in a small area of the seat. "Woody, what are you doing?"
"I gotta see something."
"What?"
"I'll be back before Andy wakes up."
"Where's he going?" Hamm was heard from the box.
"Who knows." Potato Head grumbled. "Now shut up and let me sleep."
"But he can't just leave." Rex complained.
"Alright. Relax." Woody turned away from the door, hurried and obviously frustrated at being held up from whatever it was he was attempting to do. He rubbed his forehead, pushing his hat back before pulling it back down in a business like fashion. "I just wanted to check something out, okay? Andy's mom isn't going to move the van until they leave tomorrow morning, and I'll be back long before that."
There was no immediate response from within the box, so with a sigh, Woody continued with his original plan. Without needing to be told that Buzz would most likely follow, he spoke before getting the door to open. "Jessie'll be in charge."
He dropped on to the pavement quietly, and wasn't surprised to hear the plastic tapping of Buzz's feet hitting the ground as he followed behind. Buzz was much more stealth like and sure footed than he was, but he never got caught, so it didn't really matter.
"What are we doing?"
"I just wanted to see something."
"You said that already."
The green of his space suit was too noticable, and there were times that Woody still found himself jealous of the other toy. He glowed in the dark. His suit provided a way to see in the dark.
Woody had a removable hat and badge...
While it had been a few years since Buzz had been introduced to Andy's room, he was still fairly new. His socket joints were in good condition, his helmet still opened and closed smoothly.
Woody could feel stitching loosening in places...
That town looked like a space port to Buzz.
To him it was something else.
They stood in the scrub brush on the edge of the drive they had run across to, and Buzz gave him a knowing look. "What's going on, Cowboy?"
"I-..." He paused and heaved a low sigh. "I just wanted to see-" Hesitating once again, he wasn't sure how to put his thoughts in to words.
Those feelings of jealousy shifted to guilt when Buzz waited in patient silence. Even when he didn't understand something, Buzz Lightyear was always there.
"Sure is a pretty sight."
Woody glanced up to see his friend's attention back on the town, the flashing lights in the dark. It might have seemed cosmic to the space toy, but to him it was familiar in a different sense. He grinned faintly, leaning against a small branch.
"You know I forget I am so much older than you."
That seemed to catch his friend off gaurd, and the look he was given was startled bemusement.
Woody gestured through the leaves. "I've seen places like this before.
"You have?"
"Mmhmm. Long time ago."
That seemed to spark some curiosity, Buzz hesitating a moment before speaking again. "When did you...?"
"When was I made?" Woody looked away from the main street finally. "My patent is '49 or '50 I think."
Buzz blinked a few times, like anything before '95 was impossible. "Andy's only nine. You've never talked about another kid."
He was surprised to see Woody's expression shift subtly, closing up a bit, returning to the task at hand and watching across the drive. Faint light from a building across from them lit half his face as he considered leaving their cover. "Andy's my responsibility now."
That didn't expain what they were doing at all. Buzz looked out from the scrub brush and back to Woody, raising a brow and attempting to continue the conversation. "So...who was your first kid?"
Was Andy his first kid? Had Woody spent decades waiting for a child the same way Stinky Pete had? Was that why he had been so jealous when Buzz joined their group?
"Woody-" He groaned lowly when he didn't get a chance to finish the question, jumping up to follow when Woody had jumped up from their cover. The light of the building shrinking as heavy wooden doors began to close. They slipped in at the last moment, hiding behind a rear tire of the vehicle parked within the space, and Buzz continued to watch his friend in confusion and concern as he ran from one tire to the other. He might have been a younger toy, but he wasn't exactly oblivious.
A door closed, and a single bare bulb was all that was left to light the area. Backing out from beneath the vehicle, Woody stared up at the side of a cobalt blue classic car, lettering and decals contrasting against the dark paint.
"Almost as old as I am..."
"What?" Buzz didn't understand what was happening in the slightest, Woody wasn't one to just leave a safe space, where Andy would know he was supposed to be.
Looking about the garage, Woody finally answered one of his questions. "Andy's my first kid...but he wasn't my first owner..."
"Woody..."
"I was a gift-" He grinned a little wistfully and fixed his hat. "-and he was a good kid."
"But you said Andy-"
"Was my first kid." Woody agreed with a shrug. It was a figure of speach.
Buzz stepped carefully around him to look over the area, leaving tiny footprints in the dirt as if it were moondust. His gaze fell on a framed newspaper clipping the same time Woody spoke.
"His name was Jesse."
AN2: This is partially kiwisodaa's fault from Tumblr, but being able to take my two all time favorite characters in the same setting is what fanfic is all about right? This feels like a major stretch but I think it's fun.
