Hey all! I'm alive! And I'm writing TS fanfiction again! Woot!

I feel so horrible about how many TS stories I've left unfinished. I was planning on finishing all of them this summer, but I became surprisingly busy and have hardly written fanfiction at all. :'(

Anyway, I'm back and trying to finish what I've started. Thanks to everyone who reviewed and wanted to see this story finished. It makes me super excited to continue this fic (and my other TS fics) when kind people like yourselves review. :) You saved this story from deletion. Doesn't that just make you feel all tingly inside? ;)

Before you read (and I know I'm wasting valuable reading time with my hideously long author's note), some of the characters may be OOC. I apologize for this. I'm starting to get back in the swing of TS fanfiction again, so I'm probably pretty rusty. Just bear with me as I re-learn how to write for this fandom.

You're up," Hamm muttered as Slinky intently analyzed the chessboard for yet the twentieth time that match. The dog was meticulous when it came to chess, and it really started to annoy Hamm after the first few minutes of playing. The pig shifted his weight back and forth as his eyes wandered around the room. If he gave Slinky at least another few minutes, the dog might have made a move. Hamm let his gaze continue to wander, every now and then stopping to mentally analyze something or come up with some smart remark he could use later. He did have a reputation to keep up, after all.

He didn't have to look much further when Buzz came sauntering up to the duo. Glad for any sort of distraction, Hamm tried to strike up a conversation with Buzz. "What's on your mind, spaceman?"

Buzz made a disgruntled noise that sounded a lot like the word nothing. Hamm nodded, quickly scrambling to think of something else to say. Slinky hadn't moved a paw, and Hamm could tell this was going to be a very long game.

"I'd keep a careful eye on Woody," Hamm said. "It seems like he's planning something. I can always tell because he squints real hard like this." Hamm made a face similar to that of someone preparing to throw up, but no one laughed. The pig loudly exhaled and resumed staring at the board, waiting for Slinky to at least blink.

Buzz mentally noted the pig's efforts to get him to speak. He turned to face him and tried to comically respond by saying, "At least he doesn't think light bulbs are lasers."

Hamm quizzically stared at him. He obviously didn't find Buzz's attempt at humor funny in the slightest. "What's on your mind? You don't seem like your usual self."

Buzz sighed. Hamm was usually pretty observant, and it unnerved Buzz just how easy he was to read. "It's…the new girl."

"Jessie?" Hamm called, suddenly turning to face the board again when he thought he saw Slink move. Realizing it was a false alarm, he turned back to face Buzz.

"Yeah…Jessie…" Buzz pondered the name for a moment. It was a nice name for a nice girl. Heck, she was more than nice to Buzz, but he wouldn't admit that.

"What about her?"

Buzz scratched the back of his neck as he tried to formulate a response that didn't make it sound like he had a crush on her. "I…like her." He mentally smacked himself. So much for secrecy.

Hamm blinked once and began roaring with laughter. Buzz angrily furrowed his eyebrows as he crossed his arms. If his previous humorous remark wasn't funny, this certainly wasn't.

Once Hamm began to calm down after a few moments of side-splitting laughter, he gave Buzz a serious look. "It's not too hard to figure out. You can't even put together a coherent sentence when she's around."

"Thank you for pointing that out," Buzz angrily muttered.

Catching Buzz's southbound attitude, Hamm tried to lessen the mood. "Don't be so serious, Buzz. I was just teasing." Buzz still looked angry. Hamm tried a different approach. "Have you tried talking to her since?"

Buzz slowly nodded as his anger began to dissolve. His conversation with her…well…hadn't really been a conversation at all. Hamm seemed to understand because what he said next caught Buzz by surprise.

"It's all Woody's fault."

"What?"

"Woody," Hamm repeated. "He's causing this havoc."

"What do you mean?"

"He bragged to Mr. Potatohead that he could 'tame' Jessie," Hamm answered.

"Tame?"

"In case you haven't noticed, she's a firework just waiting to explode," Hamm seriously said, leaning slightly towards Buzz as Slink continued to blankly stare at the board. "Woody wants to avoid any sort of outburst the cowgirl might have."

Buzz's face fell slack as he listened to Hamm's words. Hamm continued on. "If you ask me, I'd say that he's got Wheezy somehow in on this too."

"Wheezy?" The penguin's name genuinely caught Buzz off guard, and Hamm failed to reply once he noticed Slink had finally played.

"I can win," Slink grinned.

"Pffffft, no you can't," Hamm laughed. "I've got this board memorized top to bottom. You can't win."

Hamm played his move, thinking he had the game in the bag, but in one swift movement, Slinky had checkmated his king.

"See?" Slinky chuckled as Hamm's mouth dropped to the ground.

Hamm muttered a few nonsensical words under his breath as he shot the dog a dirty look. He turned to face Buzz, his face gruffer with a slight trace of annoyance.

"Good luck with Jessie," Hamm said seriously as he began to walk away. Slink followed suit, and Buzz was left alone with the chessboard. He stared down at all of the pieces scattered across the board. He sighed as his gaze rested on the little pawns. They were first to be sent into battle, yet they were the least glorified or remembered. Buzz sighed again as he empathized with the little figurines.

"I know how you feel," he said out loud as studied one worn-looking pawn in particular. "I feel a lot of the time like I'm unnecessarily sacrificed. Sometimes I feel like Woody's playing with me. I don't want to be a pawn anymore."

Buzz's eyes drifted to the knight, and a small grin replaced his earlier frown. "I want to be a knight! Or…or even a king!" He stood up as tall as he could and placed his right fist over his heart. His heroic pose and loud talking caught the interest of none other than the cowgirl herself.

She'd been secretly watching him for the past few minutes. She didn't know what made her do it or even why her curiosity was suddenly struck by his forlorn appearance when he'd first approached Hamm and Slink. She'd kept her distance, looking over at the trio every now and again. She didn't want to admit that she'd been dying to hear what they'd been saying, but she had been much more focused on fixing her braid. All of this running around the room had caused her braid to slowly come out, and it drove her wild to have strands of hair loosely whirling around her face. She'd sat down to fix it, but unbeknownst to her, she'd sat very close to Hamm and Slinky's chess game. Buzz appeared, and the next thing she knew, he was alone, talking out loud, and striking a ridiculous pose. For whatever reason, she decided to approach him.

"Do they teach that at space camp?" she teased. She was startled by how soft the words had come out. She'd meant them to be more forceful, more poignant, but they had floated gently out of her mouth much like a mild summer breeze.

Buzz immediately dropped his pose and awkwardly shoved both hands under his armpits. "N-no."

She smirked as she noticed his slightly trembling body. He feared her. That was good.

"What were you talking to that little chess piece about?" she questioned.

He gulped rather loudly at the question. Did he dare tell her? "I wasn't talking to it," he lied, figuring a lie would make him appear saner than the truth.

"Right," she slowly nodded. It was obvious she didn't believe him. "So…you feel like a pawn."

Buzz cringed. The lie no longer mattered. She'd heard everything. He shifted his gaze to his feet, and mentally focused on keeping his body upright.

"We all do at times, I s'pose."

Buzz slowly peered up into her deep eyes. He'd never heard her take on such a serious tone before. Usually she was laughing or running or even jumping. Everything she did was light and airy, free and spirited. This Jessie that he was looking at was solemn, her mouth pulled into a tight line and her eyes gazing intensely into Buzz's. He averted his gaze after a few moments.

"But enough about chess pieces," she suddenly said, perking up more after each word. It was clear to Buzz she had just remembered something important.

Buzz raised his hand to speak, but Jessie waved her hand in annoyance. He slowly dropped his hand, letting it slink ashamedly to his side. "I still think it's mighty rude to treat me like a stranger, but I really don't want to talk about it right now. I'm off to meet up with that penguin feller, Wheezy. He says something exciting is happening tonight, and I don't want to miss whatever it is!"

Jessie began to bounce up and down in excitement. Buzz watched her, horrified.

"Wheezy? What are you doing with Wheezy? What plans? What?"

"Have fun with your chess pieces, space boy." She gave him a quick salute as she galloped off. Buzz hopelessly watched her leave, half-wanting to call after her, and half-wanting to cry. He took a deep breath and decided that it was time he have a heart-to-heart chat with Woody.

Is it just me, or does Wheezy come across like a creeper in this fic? LOL XD