Buzz seated himself at the other end of the table, as if it showed just how sincere his upcoming words meant. "I swear on my life, Woody, burning your house down hadn't been part of the plan. This was supposed to be a bloodless event, only meant to scare you to come clean and surrender."

"I'd say you scared me, alright," Woody responded dryly. "But it doesn't change the fact that my wife and son are dead."

At that moment, a terrible, almost animalistic expression overcame the man's face. Jessie flinched, but Buzz couldn't say he was surprised. The way his eyes blazed, the deep unforgiving scowl of gritted teeth like a crazed lion – all were the understandable signs of a man that lost his greatest treasure. And in Woody's case… his entire family.

Then miraculously, he returned to the calm, almost uncaring cowboy that seemed to think of his entire situation as one big joke. He took to rocking the chair back and forth by its hind legs. "Any news about that, by the way?" he quipped.

"We… found Bo's remains in the kitchen area. She was barely… recognizable."

"Hm. Probably must've been getting ready to make that pot roast she promised this morn," Woody mused. "'Course, that'll never happen, now since she was the one that ended up roasted after what your people did…"

"Woody –"

"And what about my kid?" Woody's lifeless eyes flashed suddenly. "He okay?"

"No trace, as of yet." Buzz replied truthfully. "Thought it's probably because –"

"- he burned to ashes along with most of the house," Woody finished, frighteningly calm again and nodding as if he heard of this hundreds of times. "Don't need to go into full detail 'bout it. Saw the flames go up myself – could see it jumping o'er buildings from all the way in the middle of town."

He raised an eyebrow, an incomprehensible smirk on his lips. "Pretty bad timing for a bit of arson while the man of the house's out doin' the groceries, don't you think?"

Buzz tensed, holding back the intense urge to defend himself. It was a daunting experience, being accused by someone who you used to call a best friend… But his reasoning was silenced by the futility of it. Nothing he could say could bring back the lives of those two innocents.

And yet, Buzz realized. The same went for the dozens of other lives lost by the hardened criminal before him. Woody wasn't supposed to be passing the guilt trips here.

"Buzz."

The space sheriff blinked and turned slightly to his left shoulder. Jessie had been leaning over to speak in his ear.

"Oh, sorry. You need the seat?"

"No, not about that," Jessie dismissed before he could insist she take it. "Don't you think it's starting to get a bit too noisy outside?"

Now that he thought about it, the chanting was getting awfully loud… Scratch that. The sheer power of hundreds of angry voices was enough to send him reeling. He figured at least half of them must've come from that angry mob that stormed and devastated Woody's house this morning. Clearly, they were eager for more.

"LET US AT HIM! LET US AT HIM!"

"HE ONLY GOT. WHAT HE DESERVED. HE ONLY GOT. WHAT HE DESERVED!"

"HE HAD HIS FUN! NOW IT'S OUR TURN!"

So this was why she needed to lean in so close. "Want me to give 'em a good talkin' to?" she offered.

Buzz had a dozen and a half excuses to go against that statement, but picked the best one to amplify his argument.

"Don't be ridiculous! Think of the baby!"

Jessie rolled her eyes. She expected as much of an answer. But she smiled at her husband's concern anyway.

"I'll go have a world with them," Buzz continued and rose from his chair. Then he paused.

Although he knew it was county procedure never to leave a convict unsupervised, one couldn't blame him for having second thoughts leaving his pregnant wife with the job. And the quiet smile on Woody's lips unnerved him. It wasn't the face of a crazed, cold-hearted murderer… but rather, it was the same warm smile of long ago, back when there were best friends, laughing and treasuring the moments of being held by a child. It had been a good two years since Woody last smiled like that.

"You'd better go, pardner," Woody advised. "You know how everyone listens to you. It'll be a piece of cake."

Buzz looked at Jessie and, for once, she nodded in agreement with the cowboy. "It'll be okay," she said soothingly, then punched him in the arm like she meant it. "I mean, look at him! Pigs'll fly if he manages to get out of that, trust me. I'll be fine!"

Buzz sighed. Once she set her mind so strongly on something, it was useless to try and convince her otherwise.

"Alright," he said, spending a moment to nurse his injured arm. Then suddenly, he tugged on Jessie's hand, pulling her close, and, without warning, kissed her. Then he let go and started for the door without so much as looking back at either of them. "No fighting until I get back, got it?"

"Yes sir," the two chorused.

As the door shut, Jessie chuckled and shook her head, quite giddy after her husband's revenge just then. Despite the tragedy that befell all of them two years ago, she was glad that somehow managed to bring Buzz and her even closer together. And to even have them blessed with a child! These little blessings made life a bit more bearable, that's for sure.

Then reality brought her back to the fact she had a job to do.

And when Woody saw she had returned her attention to him, he again made his bright, friendly smile that troubled Buzz not too long ago. But Jessie wasn't falling for that so easily.

"What's on your mind, Jackeroo?" she sneered.

"Nothing much," Woody admitted, still idling and rocking his chair. His eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "So, how's my rootin' tootin' cowgirl been doing all these years?"