Criminating Caring pt. 5

The minutes seemed to click by like hours. The hushed whispers of the other rangers swirled around her as she sat handcuffed to her chair. Rubbing her hands together in a nervous manner, Jill waited next to Commander Nebula's office on a metal chair for all hell to break loose. The whole waiting game felt like she was back in school, sitting outside the principal's office as she waited for her father to arrive because she got into another fight. She had been a bit of a tomboy growing up, and would often get into a lot of schoolyard scuffles with bullies who made fun of her because of who her dad was. But now, instead of being labeled as a problem child, she was being labeled as an eco-terrorist along with being charged with trespassing, robbery, attempted murder, and arson. Sure she was guilty at maybe two of those things, but she wasn't a fire obsessed maniac killer. Gnawing on her bottom lip, she kept thinking of ways to talk her way out of this whole mess. She jumped when the door next to her swooshed open and an older man with a metal peg leg stepped out of the office.

"Alright kiddo," The well tanned man started, his bushy mustache twitching a bit as he spoke. "You wanna wait until your father gets here, or do you want your lawyer?" Shaking her head no, Jill knew what she had to do.

"I don't need either. I'll talk to you alone." Commander Arnold Nebula looked at her oddly for a bit.

"You sure about that, kiddo?" He asked. Jill was like a granddaughter to him, and even though she was in a world of trouble, she was still just a kid. Nodding her head, he shrugged as he un-cuffed her from the chair and led her to his office. Sitting down at his desk, Nebula tapped his fingers against the cool metal surface. "Alright, let's start from the beginning." Sighing Jill took a deep breath.

"I've done nothing wrong. All we did was take imprisoned animals being abused cruelly and unfairly. And under Galactic law, animals are not considered property unless proper paperwork says otherwise, in which case Trekco has no right to file property claim. We weren't there illegally, Ara's the sole heir to Trekco and she has full right to invite people to view her company, even after hours." Raising an eyebrow at her, he almost looked unconvinced.

"Okay then, you're cleared of two charges off your arrest. But unfortunately, it's the lesser two charges. So how about we just go over the biggies you still got." Jill sighed, she knew this was coming.

"We had no idea about the bomb. We're a nonviolent group."

"Really? Cause I've got a half destroyed cosmetic company, 3 injured and a girl recovering from smoke inhalation that says otherwise."

"We didn't know about the bomb. We were going to just save the animals and go. Our 'leader' was the one who brought it and set it off." Jill said, keeping her anger in check.

"And who might this 'leader' be?" Jill blushed a bit as she thought of him. His warm reddish eyes with a smoky gray ring around them were as alluring as they seem to pull you in. Perfect white teeth gleaming as his plush lips curled into a smile. Jet black hair fall gently in his face as his warm maple syrup colored skin complemented the rest of his strong tone figure. But her blushing slowly faded as his evil smile in the red light appeared in her mind, his eerie crackle was still ringing in her ears. Straightening herself up, she looked him straight in the eye.

"If I give you the leader and the evidence that the others and I weren't involved in the bombing, will you let us go?" Raising an eyebrow, Nebula thought it over.

"How do I know your little 'group' won't do this again if I do?"

"Because, with the leader gone, we'll stop. They're the only one who could calculate our so called 'attacks'. With them gone, we'll just fall apart." Watching her a little while longer, he sighed and nodded.

"Fine. You've got yourself a deal. But remember this lil missy. If I catch so much as a hint of TVA anywhere in the galaxy, you r little behind is going in a cell faster than you can say 'right to remain silent.' Am I clear?" Nodding in agreement, she smiled as he started his paperwork. She freed hundreds of cruelly treated animals, Stood up for herself, saved a friend from burning to death, and just escaped a first class shuttle ride to PC-7. Things were looking up for her.

"WHERE IS SHE?" Jumping a foot off her seat, Jill looked back at the door. Standing there was the last thing she ever wanted to see in the whole galaxy. Her father was gripping the doorframe, red with rage, and frowning very disapprovingly. Taking one look at him, she felt the color drain from her face. Marching over to her, he crossed his arms as his gaze turned to the Commander. "May I take my daughter home now? Or do I have to post bail for her?" Nebula shook his head.

"Nope, she talked her way outta it. All she has to do is give me the ring leader to this whole fiasco circus." Looking at the now trembling girl who was sinking down into her chair, he almost felt sorry for her. "Well?"

"T-Tyler Mclean." This got Buzz angrier.

"Oh, you better hope this 'Tyler' is a girl with a boy's name. Or you're gonna wish you were on the next shuttle to PC-7."

=[+]=[+]=

It was an awkward ride home for the Lightyears; save for Buzz's teeth grinding loudly, it was dead quiet in the car. Finally parking in the garage, he turned the car off and pointed towards the house, eyes never leaving the window shield.

"Your room. Now." He hissed darkly. Grabbing her bag, Jill did as she was told. She trembled in fear as she opened her bedroom door. She had never seen him so mad in her whole life. Gently placing her things down, she sat on her bed and waited. After 30 minutes of waiting passed, her heart sank when his loud footsteps were heard coming up the stairs. Opening her door, Buzz walked in and crossed his arms, an angry glare on his face. She couldn't help but wince as this whole scenario reminded her of when she was younger and after getting into major trouble would be sent to her room where he would make her wait a bit before coming in and turn her over his knee. She shuttered at the painful memory. "Alright," She snapped into present time when he started speaking. "Let's start from the beginning. How long have you been a member of this gang?"

"It's not a gang!" she yelled. "It's a group of teens saving abused animals!" She paused as his stern glare only deepened. Chuckling nervously, she looked at him sheepishly. "Uh, we formed about 2 months ago after biology class."

"And just what did you do in this…group?" Oh boy, this wouldn't be pretty.

"Oh, uh, well…we would…enter cosmetic companies' labs…"

"You mean breaking and entering." He said sternly. Rubbing her arms she shrugged.

"Well…yeah you could call it that…if you want…" He scowled a bit. "Then we would save cruelly kept animals being held against their will."

"Stealing private property." Buzz said.

"Well…kind of yes…kind of no…" she said hiding the sliver of anger of how her father saw animals. "Then we'd put up words of discouragement to the owners of the cosmetic companies…"

"Graffiti." He hissed. Biting her tongue, she nodded.

"Then we would leave evidence of said crimes so that the authorities would see and arrest the companies' owners." Surely he couldn't object to-

"Vigilante justice." Well, craters. Taking a deep breath, she calmed down her nerves.

"That's all we did. We'd leave. None of us knew anything about the bomb. I swear." After a few seconds ticked by, Buzz finally spoke.

"So you basically broke almost every law by breaking into buildings, stole," Trying to voice a defense, she was interrupted as he continued. "Defaced private property and partake in unlawful justice. Not to mention you used a friend to lie for you, broke curfew, and what's worst, you lied to me." Looking up, Jill saw that he had a slight hurt expression on his face. Was he really hurt over her lying to him, or was he just embarrassed that his seemingly perfect little girl was now a hoodlum and would ruin his reputation? "And all of it for what, for some stupid little furballs?" Reputation. Glaring at him, she hissed.

"They're not stupid." Before he could reply, she stood up. "They're not little furballs. They're tiny creatures who can't fight for their freedom, or cry out when they're being tortured. And they don't get any help because of people like you, who think they're nothing but stupid little furballs!" She knew she was on thin ice but she didn't care, she had it with her father's ignorance on animals' rights. "Good God what did mom ever see in you!" She froze as Buzz gave her the scariest death glare she'd ever seen and raised his hand. She closed her eyes and quickly turned her head away, waiting for the slap. When it didn't come, she slowly opened one eye and looked. He was just standing there; hand in position, twitching as he held himself back. Breathing out a frustrated sigh, he relaxed.

"You're grounded for two months. No TV, no computer, no going out what so ever. We'll talk more in the morning." Turning, he left her room and shut the door behind him. Flopping on her bed, Jill screamed her frustrations out on her pillow.

/~{+}~\

"Buzz?" Warp asked his academy buddy as he was staring out into space. The two young cadets were at the diner Cosmo's, along with another academy pal, Ty Parsec. Taking a bite out of his sandwich, Ty looked Buzz over.

"Maybe Cosmo's chili finally fried his brain." Giving him an unimpressed glare, Warp turned his attention back at his quiet friend.

"Come on buddy, your chili's gonna eat threw the bowl and table." After not getting a response, he looked to see what his friend was staring at. "What in the galaxy has you so-?" He paused as he saw the source of his friend's self induced coma. Sitting at the diner's counter was a genuine beauty. Silky reddish brown hair was neatly tied up in a ponytail as ivory colored skin seemed to glow heavenly. She was kinda scrawny for his taste, but she already had his pal under her spell. Smirking at Ty, he motioned to the young lady that had bewitched their friend. The two smirked evilly at each other as they whispered out a plan.

"Hey Buzz, old buddy, if you don't want me to go over to her and introduce you, move a muscle." Ty said. Waiting a minute for a response he got up. "Okie dokie, if you insist." Warp prided the clamped spoon in Buzz's hand, finally snapping him out of his trance.

"Huh? Whu-what's the matter?" He asked dazedly. He was almost smothered by a napkin Warp shoved in his face. "Hey! Warp! What are you-?"

"We've got to clean you up there before your future wife walks over here." The light blue man said pushing the chili bowl away. "Don't want her to think you're a gassy slob." Pushing his friend's hand away, Buzz glared at him.

"Warp, what are you talking about?" Looking across the table, he panicked when he saw that Ty was missing from his seat. And with a quick turn of his head, he saw that he was next to the girl he was ogling over. Grabbing Warp by the helm of his suit, he pulled him close. "What are you two doing?" Smiling innocently, Warp raised his hands in defense.

"Why Buzz, whatever do you mean? Me and Ty are merely trying to introduce you to a young lady that you are clearly interested in. Oh, look, here she comes now." He said openly, causing Buzz to let go of him and stare at the girl walking over. "I'll leave you two alone." Warp said sliding out of the booth, taking the five alarm chili with him. Buzz gulped as the young woman walked up to him.

"Your friend said that you wanted to talk?" Her voice was a smidge monotone, but was very sweet. Looking behind her at the diner's counter, he growled as both of his friends gave him the thumbs up. Turning his attention back to her, he smiled nervously as he stood up.

"Buzz Lightmeet nice to year you…I mean…Buzz Lightyear nice to uh meet you." He stammered a bit embarrassingly correcting himself. She tilted her head to the side, but shook his hand.

"Ozma Furbana." She plainly said. Sitting down, Buzz noticed that she had an intern badge clipped on her hip.

"So, you're an intern at Star Command? Whu-what department are you from?"

"Animal research and Wildlife preservation." Smiling, Buzz nodded.

"Oh, ye-yeah! Animals, they're cute and fluffy…except the ones without fur…those are cute and smoothy… " He yammered causing her to look at him as if his head exploded and Zurg ticks were crawling out. Warp and Ty slapped their heads in allusion.

"Uh, yeah…some-some are." Seeing that he was losing her, he quickly changed the subject.

"Su-so! Ozma! That's a pretty name." She studied his face a bit before the edges of her mouth formed a somewhat smile.

"Really?" Nodding his head, she brushed a bit of her hair out of her face. "Well…thanks. I never really cared for it much…"

"Well I like it. It's pretty and unique…" Pausing a moment he gulped before continuing. "Like you." She looked at him shellshock. Smooth Lightyear, real smooth. Looking down at the table uncomfortably, she got up and grabbed her bag.

"I-I gotta get going. Pleasure meeting you." She turned and dashed out of the diner, leaving him behind, completely confuse and a tad heartbroken. Sighing, he placed his head on the table. Warp and Ty slowly walked over to their fallen friend.

"Hey bud." Warp said patting his friend on the back. "It's not that bad. She's not good enough for you."

"Yeah, and it could be worst." Ty mentioned.

"How?" Buzz mumbled.

"Me and Ty could have eaten all of your chili." Warp said. "Which we did…sorry." He placed the empty bowl on the table. Buzz moaned in depression as he sat there broken hearted and empty stomach.

/~{+}~\

Buzz couldn't help but chuckle at the memory. He wasn't the smoothest operator back in the day, plus it didn't help that his friends kept shoving him at her. But he finally got the hand of it after a few hits and misses. Gently placing their wedding photo back down on the dresser, he snapped back to the present when a soft knocking was heard.

"Yes?" He froze as Jill slowly opened the door. Despite his anger over her recent actions, it slowly melted away when he saw how red and swollen her face was. "Sweetie, are you okay?" Her eyes were red and blood shot, and he saw that her cheeks were damp, almost as if she was crying. "Jillian, what's-?" He was cut off as Jill lunged at him and wrapped her arms around his chest, burying her face into the soft material of his pajama top. Buzz had to steady himself in order not to fall over from the sudden hug attack.

"He said he understood." Jill whispered, trying to keep tears back. Buzz blinked as he looked down at her.

"Who said he understood?" Biting her lip, she swallowed in hope to get rid of the lump in her throat.

"Tyler." He glared at this. Even though he never met this Tyler, he hated the little punk for getting his baby girl into trouble. "Mom was his hero. He knew that I wanted to be an environmentalist, he told me about his group. He said I was important. He said I was special…he…he said I would be like mom." She bit harder on her quivering lip, hoping to keep the tears back, but it was failing. Finally she gave up and started to sob. "But he just used me to get what he wanted." She warbled. Buzz looked at her for a moment, and then sat down on his bed with her. Stroking her hair, he held her close to him. "Why does this hurt so much?" She sniveled.

"Because, you've had your heartbroken." He said, rubbing her back. "You liked this boy, right?" She slowly nodded her head. "And when you found out his true intentions, it hurt you right?" She nodded again. "That's why it hurts so much. He took advantage of the crush you had on him and used it to hurt you. And I wish I could make it all better, but I can't. All I can do is give you a hug and assure you that it happens to everyone. Some more than others, but your heart will heal and you'll fall in love all over again, hopefully this time to someone who'll love you back." Nuzzling into his warm arms, Jill hiccupped a bit.

"Dad?" He looked at her. "Before? I'm sorry about what I said." He smiled warmly.

"It's okay Sweetie, I'm sorry too." Before falling asleep she smiled at him.

"Dad? I think I can see what mom saw in you."

"Oh?"

"You maybe thick headed, but you've got a kind heart." Slowly closing her eyes, Buzz carefully scooped her up and carried her back to her room. Quietly thinking, this Tyler kid better hope they would never cross paths, because no grabby little pyromaniac would use his daughter and get away with it.