Better late than never, here's a new chapter! :) Thanks so much for the reviews encouraging me to continue with this fic. I've had bad writer's block lately, but I'm hoping to get all my stories updated before too much longer.

As always, Toy Story doesn't belong to me, only the story is mine. Enjoy, and please leave a review! :D

The aroma of pancakes wafted through the Anderson house until it reached the nostrils of a sleeping Bonnie, who stirred at the smell of her favorite breakfast.

"Mmm," she stretched and rubbed her eyes. "I hope they're chocolate chip."

The little girl sat up in bed and glanced at the toys that were closest to her. She picked up Buzz and Jessie, and two bare feet hit the floor then shuffled out the door toward the kitchen. If she had happened to look down at the toy couple she carried in her arms, she couldn't have helped but notice the relief that spread across their faces at the thought of even a brief respite from Zurg's presence.

And brief their break was. Bonnie returned a half hour later, setting the duo back down on her bed. "You be good while I'm gone," she spoke out loud to the room, as she dressed for her outing to the mall. "I'll show you all my new school stuff when I get home!"

Once she had left the room, the toys came to life. The click of the front door and the rev of an engine told them that they were free for at least a couple hours. Buzz and Jessie sat up and tried to avoid eye contact with Zurg, who they assumed was still watching them from the nightstand. They wasted no time in sliding down the side of the bed and making a beeline for the bedroom door.

"Buzzie! Wait! Where are you going?" Zurg awkwardly swung himself over the edge of the nightstand, and hung by his fingertips before dropping to the floor.

"Jessie and I are going to watch some TV, while the family's gone," Buzz replied tersely. "We'll be back later."

The emperor followed after them. "But I thought we could spend some time together today, father and son."

The dejected tone to his voice made Buzz feel guilty, and the couple stopped, their getaway thwarted. "I guess we don't have to go just yet," he conceded grudgingly.

"Buzz!" Jessie frantically whispered.

"We'll just give him a few minutes, to pacify him," the space ranger replied under his breath. "Then maybe we can get him off our back." He turned to Zurg, and braced himself for the awkwardness to come. "Umm, what do you want to talk about?"

"I suppose I better get used to having you around, since Buzzie seems so fond of you," the emperor said, indicating Jessie. "So, tell me, how did you two meet?"

"Well, it's sort of a long story," Jessie began, her voice uncharacteristically timid. "Woody, he was Andy's toy, with Buzz 'n some of the others here, but he got kidnapped by the fella who owned me 'n my horse Bullseye. When Buzz came to rescue him, Bullseye 'n I went home with them."

Zurg feigned shock. "You were owned by a man? And you went home willingly with other men you just met? Really, Buzzie, what kind of—"

"Hold on, it ain't like that!" the cowgirl blurted out defensively, insulted by his implications. Her green eyes widened and her lips pursed in a plea for Buzz to intervene.

"Woody is her brother, and she was owned by a toy collector," clarified Buzz, cutting in. "Jessie is a valuable vintage toy—"

"Vintage? As in an older woman?" The emperor shook his head disapprovingly. "So my Buzzie is just another conquest in a long line of suitors?"

The cowgirl's face twisted in offense at Zurg's accusation. "No! Buzz is my first—"

"I find that hard to believe, since you're so much older."

Jessie glared at the rude interruption, and Buzz responded instead, taking her hand in an attempt to diffuse her temper. "Jessie spent a lot of time alone, in storage."

"Do you mean to tell me she was in jail?"

"Not jail, storage, like in a box, and from no fault of her own." Once again, the space ranger was rapidly losing patience with his pseudo-father's interrogations. "Now can we please change the subject? This is not something she's comfortable discussing."

"Of course, I should have known she'd have her weaknesses," Zurg scoffed. "Although, seeing that she's dressed like a man, you'd think she would be stronger. You could have at least found someone who wasn't so plain." He exhaled dramatically, as if resigning himself to the inevitable. "I might as well ask, how long have you been together?"

"One year, as of last week." Buzz looked at his cowgirl and smiled. Her eyes met his, and the ire clouding her features dissipated at the mention of their milestone. "Although, we were friends for ten years before that."

"Ten years?!" the emperor exclaimed. "Why in the universe haven't you married her yet, son? I personally think you can do better, but if you're determined to keep this one, why not make an honest woman out of her?"

"I can't believe this! We will take things at our own pace, not yours," Buzz snapped, getting angrier by the minute. "Why do we have to justify our choices to you, anyway? I don't see how our relationship is any of your business."

"It is my business, I am your father!" Zurg argued. "I just want the best for my Buzzie, even if it does have to be this common little country girl."

"That's IT!" Jessie released Buzz's hand and lunged at the emperor in a fury. The space ranger grabbed his girlfriend around the waist and held her back, as her legs and arms swung wildly.

"Lemme at 'im!" she shrieked. "I've had enough'a his meddlin'!"

"Calm down, Jessie, it's okay," he soothed.

"It AIN'T okay! He's got no right to talk to us like that!"

"I can see why you find her so charming, son," Zurg remarked sarcastically. "You know, a Melstronian princess would never behave in such an unladylike fashion."

The cowgirl tried to wriggle free from her boyfriend's grasp. "Ohhh, I'm gonna tan his hide!"

"I'll handle this," Buzz asserted, before facing Zurg. "I will not have you insulting the woman I love! You know NOTHING about her, or me for that matter. Now, if you'll excuse us, we're leaving for a while. Alone." Jessie's defiant stare remained fixed on Zurg, who looked blankly back at them, unaffected by their emotion. "Come on, Jessie," Buzz urged, placing a hand on the small of her back to guide her along. She scowled at the offending space toy one more time, then turned to leave with her boyfriend.

The couple stormed out of the room, with no destination in mind—anywhere but where Zurg was would be fine—in a desperate search for some peace and quiet.

"The nerve'a him!" Jessie clenched her fists. "Who does he think he is? He ain't your real Pa, he's just some deluded ol' toy from Sunnyside who thinks he can run our lives!"

"I almost wish he saw me as the enemy," Buzz sighed. "At least then I'd know how to handle him. But this…"

Woody was making his rounds, checking on the other toys who were elsewhere in the house. He stopped Buzz and Jessie as he passed them in the hallway, still venting to each other.

"How's it going? Enjoying the family reunion?" the cowboy questioned with a smirk.

"Don't ask," Buzz grumbled. "If he was just harassing me—but now he's finding fault with Jessie. I don't know what to do."

"That's family for ya, right Jess?" Woody teased his sister, trying to lighten the mood.

The cowgirl doll wasn't amused. "But he ain't family, Woody! He just thinks he is."

"Well, if you want to be technical, we're not really brother and sister, being toys and all," he reasoned. "Not any more so than Zurg and Buzz are father and son. But we were manufactured to have that relationship, and choose to honor it. We're probably more like family to each other than a lot of human siblings, right?"

Jessie nodded reluctantly. She couldn't argue with her brother's logic, and he continued, resting his hand lightly on her shoulder in reassurance.

"Sure, we drive each other crazy every now and then, that's what family does. But we're always there for each other when it really counts. Maybe if you give Zurg a chance, set some boundaries, it might not be so bad. Having a family is a rare thing in the toy world; it might be worth giving it a shot. Just try talking to him."

"I suppose you're right," Buzz admitted.

"Do I have to be nice to him?" whined Jessie. "He hates me!"

"It's the right thing to do, Jessie," her boyfriend calmly reminded her. The cowgirl groaned, but knew she would have to at least try. For Buzz.

Buzz and Jessie walked back into Bonnie's room with trepidation, and found Zurg standing behind Rex and Trixie at Bonnie's computer, cheering on the video game villains the two dinosaurs were trying to defeat.

"Uh… Zurg? Can we talk? In private?"

"I told you to call me Dad, son," he reminded the space ranger. "And, sure—but does she have to come too?" he spoke under his breath and gestured to Jessie.

"Yes," Buzz insisted, wrapping an arm around Jessie's waist. "You need to accept that she's a permanent part of my life, or you'll have no relationship with me."

"Fine," the emperor muttered. But before they could proceed any further, Woody's entrance cut their discussion short.

"They're home!" the cowboy called out as he passed through the doorway, followed by Dolly and Chuckles, who had been watching the television after Buzz and Jessie never claimed it.

Toys dispersed to the locations Bonnie had left them in and fell inanimate. In moments Mrs. Anderson and her daughter appeared, heavy-laden with shopping bags.

"Put your school supplies in your backpack now, Bon Bon, so they don't get misplaced," she instructed, "and set your new clothes out on the bed. I'll help you put them away later." With a kiss on the top of Bonnie's head, Mrs. Anderson exited the room and left the little girl to the task at hand.

"Hi toys!" she exclaimed. "Look at all my new stuff!" She began picking up the shopping bags and turning them upside down, haphazardly dumping the contents out on her bed. Toys were buried under piles of clothing as she sorted the pencils, crayons, scissors, and such from between the folds of fabric.

After filling her backpack, the little girl proceeded to put on an impromptu fashion show for her toys, lining them up as a runway audience throughout the room. Donning each shirt and skirt and pair of pants in her new wardrobe, she made fanciful outfits befitting her quirky style, and hours passed as each ensemble was tried on and discarded for the next.

"Bonnie Anderson, look at the mess in here!" exclaimed her mother, as she came to call her daughter for dinner and discovered the crumpled clothes strewn across the bed and floor. "All your pretty new clothes will be dirty and wrinkled. Get me some hangers, so we can clean this up before dinner gets cold."

The little girl dragged her step stool over to the closet and reached for the hangers on the bar. Taking them to her mother, the two hung and folded their purchases and put them away quickly. Before she left the bedroom, Bonnie grabbed Zurg and Dolly.

"You two can make up evil plots together while I eat!"

The rest of Bonnie's toys enjoyed the reprieve while Zurg was away with their owner, and relaxed quietly as they listened for her return. They could hear her laughter down the hall as she watched a movie with her parents, then the splashing and giggling as she took her bath. Finally Bonnie stumbled tiredly into the room, pulled on clean pajamas, and was soon joined by her parents.

Her father tousled her damp brown hair, then retrieved her wet towel from the floor. "Grab your toys and hop into bed, squirt."

The little girl scanned the room quickly but thoughtfully. She picked up Zurg—despite not considering him cuddly enough the night before—as well as Dolly, Mr. Pricklepants, and Woody, and lined them up against the spare pillow, then climbed into bed herself.

"Goodnight, sweetheart." Bonnie's mother tucked the covers around her, and both parents hugged and kissed her before turning out the light. In moments she was asleep, Woody clutched tightly in her arms.

As soon as the house was still, Buzz and Jessie slipped down from Bonnie's small table, where they had been placed during the fashion show, and headed stealthily down the hall towards the living room. They climbed up onto the couch and settled down against the soft cushions, relieved to finally have some time just the two of them, to sit and talk in private. Of course, the conversation immediately turned to their recent trials with Zurg.

"I tried Buzz, I really did. But he's impossible!"

"I know you did." He kissed her forehead. "Don't let him get to you anymore. I'll talk to him tomorrow if I have to. We just have one more day to survive, and then he'll be gone."

"Good riddance."

The couple reclined on the sofa and lay together in the calm darkness, Jessie's head on Buzz's shoulder, his hand absentmindedly playing with her hair. Just as it seemed as if they were succumbing to the exhaustion of their day, Jessie's worried voice broke the silence.

"Buzz?"

"Hmm?" the space ranger mumbled, half asleep.

"Is he right?"

"Who?"

"Zurg."

"What are you talking about? He's crazy."

"I'm serious. He called me old, and plain, and weak. And my clothes—I'm not girly, it's true."

Buzz raised himself up on one elbow, so that he could look his girlfriend in the eye, and gently brushed her cheek with his free hand. "Listen to me, Jessie. You are nothing he said you are. You're beautiful, and brave and strong. And you may not be girly, but you are feminine… and hot."

Jessie giggled and pulled him in for a tender kiss, thanking him wordlessly for always knowing what she needed to hear.

"You know I like your jeans," he smirked, slipping his hand in her back pocket, as they settled into a cozy embrace. "I don't want you to change anything about yourself, ever. I love my cowgirl."