Wow, FrozenFever123! Your review made me smile, you are so perceptive. You must have been reading my mind or something. This chapter was in the process of being written when you reviewed today, and I couldn't help laughing! You'll see why! Man, you're quick at deduction. I'm so glad to know you're reading the story. Oh, by the way, I have a Deviantart account now! I was very apprehensive for a while, but I have one now.

Bonnie was in bed, but many of her toys were far from asleep, especially the guys who were keeping watch over their family. Jack lay on the hardwood floor close to the bedroom door, that way he could scout the majority of the space if anything suspicious turned up. Potato Head marched through the hallways, with his wife-since he was on guard duty, they thought it would be the perfect time to have some alone quality time while their brood was asleep-. Jessie strolled with Buzz for a while, then she decided to head back and check on their sweet little owner and other friends. Buzz found Woody in the living room. He was sitting up on the window sill, with his legs crossed in front of him and his arms folded. It was a muggy tonight, but there was a slight breeze which was refreshing. Buzz climbed up to the sill. "Hey, Buzz." Woody sighed as he turned his head.

"Hi." Buzz responded. "So, everything all right?"

"So far." Woody nodded. "I have so many mixed emotions about this."

"I know what you mean." Buzz agreed.

"Part of me says we're being way overprotective," Woody explained.

"But then the other part says we should be on alert because something really could happen." Buzz finished for him.

"Yep." Woody blew out a breath. "One hand says we have absolutely nothing to worry about."

"But the other hand says that something very wrong could happen and we need to be prepared." Buzz continued. "I'm feeling that too. Listen, cowboy. It's better to be safe than sorry and to be prepared and not have an opportunity than to have an opportunity and not be prepared." Buzz patted his friend's shoulder.

"True." Woody shrugged. "I suppose next week we'll all be laughing about how silly we acted."

"Maybe." Buzz grinned. "Woody, do you trust me?"

"You know better than to ask that, Buzz." Woody said firmly, taken aback at the question.

"I'm serious." Buzz glared. "Do you trust me?"

"You know I do, Buzz." Woody stated fervently. "I don't trust anyone else in the world as much as I know I can count on you." Buzz seemed satsified with that answer and continued.

"Well, Woody...my instincts are highly elevated right now, and I can never run away from or argue with these gut feelings when they're at this level."

"You don't have guts." Woody teased and Buzz rolled his eyes. "So, what exactly are they telling you?" Woody inquired more seriously.

"That this is the best thing we can do right now." Buzz said. "If it blows over and turns out to be nothing, then like you said, we'll all have a good laugh. But for now, let's just do what we feel we need to."

"Okay. Thanks." Woody smiled.

"Any time." Buzz nudged his pal. "If you need me, just holler."

"Same goes for you." Woody replied, as Buzz departed. A few minutes later, Woody thought he heard pitter-pattering on the deck floor beneath him. He intently leaned over the edge of his perch. It was dark, so he couldn't make anything specific out. "Probably just another cat." Woody shrugged, but then he gasped when something unexpected emerged up onto the porch swing!

"Woody! I mean, Sheriff!" The figure's voice exclaimed.

"Who..." Woody began to interrogate, but then he recognized the face as the guy clambered up next to him. "Matthew!" Woody gasped. "Sgt., don't do that to me again! You really startled me."

"Apologies, Sheriff." Sgt. Matthew said formally, standing fully at attention.

"Matt, you can relax now." Woody rolled his eyes, but the soldier didn't move. "Would you loosen up? Matthew, at ease." Woody muttered and the soldier's posture slacked from the previous stiffness. "Would you mind telling me what this is all about?" Woody asked with his arms crossed.

"Sorry that I messed up my arrival." Matthew grinned. "And I know you probably don't really want to see me right now..."

"Don't say that." Woody cut him off. "You're an old friend, Matt. Now, I might question the crowd you hang around with, but we're still friends."

"Okay." Matthew chuckled. "Woody? I need to talk to you, is it okay?"

"Sure." Woody nodded. "Sit here." He patted the spot next to him on the sill.

"I'd like to clear up something."

"Do I need Buzz here to hear this?" Woody raised his eyebrows.

"If it'd be better, but he doesn't have to." Matthew shrugged. "If it'll make you feel better."

"I'll listen." Woody said, deciding to give his old friend a chance. "So, what's up, partner? What's on your mind?"

"I suppose by now all of you are wondering what in the world I'm doing hanging around with a previous member of the Spikes Toy Gang." Matthew stated. His tone was lighthearted and not accusatory.

"You bet we are!" Woody exclaimed. "I would like very much to know."

"Well, you see...I knew him before." Matthew said. "I knew him back when he was a gang member."

"What?" Woody shifted his position. "You did?"

"Yeah."

"How?"

"Because I was once a prisoner of that gang myself." Matthew said. Woody raised his eyebrows.

"You were? No way. Is that how you know Jack?" Woody asked.

"Yes." Matthew sighed. "You see, three years ago, I was on vacation with my owner, Bobby. He, uh...he's Carl's little cousin, but was always more like a nephew. When Carl got older, he gave a few of us to him." Woody nodded. "Anyway, three years ago, we were on vacation. We were at a hotel and while Bobby and his family went swimming, Katan, Fox, Link, and I were exploring the vicinity of our sleeping quarters while we had a chance, and Katan actually searched for scrap crumbs to eat!" Woody chuckled. "Ahem," Matthew continued, "we were searching around, seeing how large and different it was from our home when Fox said that he thought he heard footsteps behind us, and not people's! He was pretty sharp, remember?"

"Yeah, I do." Woody sighed.

"Well, the rest of us assumed that it was just a service pet in the hotel, and with Katan being so hyper, it's not like we weren't gonna be noticed! So, we continued our scouting when all of a sudden, we met these toys-at the time we didn't know they were members of the Spikes Toy Gang!-and thought they belonged to kids in the building. They agreed to show us around, but something about them didn't set well with Fox and Link agreed with him. I decided to watch them sharply. When the gang chose to show us the kitchen in the building, Fox and I declined and we all went back to our room. Unfortunately, Katan wanted to go with them. He fussed and pouted at us for being overprotective, but we didn't give in.

'That night while we were all sleeping, that cat Puss in the Boots-whom Katan thought was cool because he was a pirate cat-snuck into Bobby's hotel room and convinced my little buddy to follow him and surprise us all in the morning with snacks! Well, you've seen him, and he's a very curious but also mischievous cub, so he agreed without a second thought. Thankfully, Link heard them and woke the rest of us. We followed after them. We'd just about reached the kitchen and called out to Katan when suddenly everything went black!'"

"The gang abducted you." Woody stated.

"Yes." Matthew stared at him. "But how..." Then he stopped himself from asking, remembering that Woody and his crew had been kidnap victims too. "You're right. We didn't know where we were going, where they were taking us! We found ourselves in a huge warehouse, but as soon as we could see, we were each snatched and separated. I was interrogated by Spike, Fal, and the crocodile. Jack...Jack was standing in the corner of the room. He didn't say anything at all. They thought I was a keeper. They tried to recruit me. At first, I felt bad for them, but then after I saw the terrible things they did to other toys, I refused to join them. Fal was there, and was just as hideous as the rest. Jack? Now, Jack was different. He kept a sharp eye on us, that was his job. And it was his job to see that we were as miserable as possible. Thankfully, the gang trusted him enough not to come with him every time, so when he was often alone with us, he kept saying he was sorry for our misfortune and tried to make sure we were as okay as possible."

"So, what happened to you guys?" Woody asked curiously.

Matthew cleared his throat. "They held us as hostages. We weren't allowed to leave the room they locked us in, and there were no ventilation shafts on the bottom walls, so we couldn't really escape. Every day they'd take one of us away and torture us one way or another. I always tried to protest when they went after Katan, Fox, Link, and the other prisoners, but, it was useless as you probably know."

"Oh, I know!" Woody exclaimed, nodding. "Trust me!"

"When the gang finally got it through their thick heads that I was dead-bent on not joining them, they decided to get rid of me. Jack was assigned to do away with me, but when the others thought he was sending me to my death, he was fooling them. He helped me escape."

"That's Jack." Woody nodded.

"Mmm-hmm." Matthew smiled. "I didn't know where my friends were, but I followed Jack. He stuck me inside a small drain inside the floor and gave me directions of where to go. I did as directed, and found myself outside in the parking lot, in some dirty water! Katan was waiting for me! I was so glad to see him. We searched around the premises for our other friends but they were nowhere. So, the two of us snuck into a shipping truck and stayed in there for a few days till we found a package addressed to Bobby's house! When the truck pulled up in front of it, we snuck out and got back to our owner's room. He was so happy to see us."

"I'm sure he was!" Woody grinned. "But, Matt? What about Fox and Link? What happened to them?" Matthew's face clouded over and he blankly gazed straight ahead.

"I never found out exactly," He muttered angrily, "but you can draw your own conclusions. Five days before those crooks 'executed' me, Fox and Link both were taken out for their usual torture session, but this time, neither of them ever came back! Then later, Spike stormed in with a sickening gleam in his eyes. Fal and Puss walked in. Fal was holding..." Matthew gulped, "Fal was holding Fox's tail! And...and Puss had Link's left arm." Woody shuddered and shook his head sorrowfully. He knew that the criminal toys had done horrible things like that, but these two toys had been his friends! And now...now they...he was even more grateful that he, Buzz, Jessie, Potato Head, Slinky, Mitsy, Rex, and Trixie had made it back to Bonnie, all in one piece! He touched Matthew's arm.

"Aw, Matt. I'm so sorry." Woody whispered. "They were our friends too, and I can't imagine what that was like for you to have to go through that!" Matthew didn't say anything. Woody stared at his friend's plastic uniform torso. It had scrapes and scratches. Woody sensed that they were his 'battle scars' from being a prisoner. "I'm so glad you got out of there." Woody said.

"Yeah." Matthew nodded. "So, you see? I knew what I was talking about when I said that Fal is different." Matthew said firmly. "I've seen him at his worst. And trust me, Woody, when I first ran into him again, when Bobby brought him home, I wanted absolutely nothing to do with him! I didn't want him in the same house with us. But he was Bobby's new toy. But, over time I grew to see that he was different, and he is! He is deeply ashamed of the things he used to do. If you saw him now the way I do, you'd believe that too. And now? Well, now we're friends. Unbelievable I know, but it's true!"

"Wow, Matt." Woody gaped. "I didn't know that. And I believe you, pal. I still don't trust him right now, but I trust your judgement, but...you'll have to be patient if it takes us a while to warm up to him, okay?"

"I understand, Woody." Matthew smiled. "It's okay. It took me a very long time decide to give him a chance, so I know exactly how you feel. I just wanted you to know where I stand, and that I'd never intentionally put you guys at risk if I thought my friend was harmful."

"Thanks, partner. I appreciate that, and so will the others." Woody patted the soldier's shoulder.

"Oh, that's okay." Matthew smiled back. "Not tonight, but would you mind telling me about your guys' experience there some time? I'm very interested in knowing how you all survived, and how Jack came to live with you!"

"I suppose I could," Woody mumbled. "It's not easy to talk about. But, neither is what you just told me! Sure, Buzz and I would be glad to sit down with you and explain what happened. But, not tonight, okay?"

"Sure." Matthew patted Woody's arm.

"Hey, could you do me a favor?" Woody asked.

"I'll do what I can." Matthew shrugged.

"Tell me where Bobby got the Falcon from and, and when that was, and...could you ask him about his other gang members?" Woody begged. He wanted to know if they'd made it to the flea market, and if the Falcon knew anything about what happened to them. "I...we need to know. I mean we really need to know."

"At your service, Sheriff." Matthew said firmly. "I'll find out what I can."

"Thank you!" Woody exclaimed. "It's very important."

"Of course." Matthew said. "Well, I guess I'd better shove off. It's pretty late. Thanks for listening."

"Thank you for being honest with me, fellow." Woody tipped his hat. "We'll talk again, I'm sure. See ya around."

"Same to you." Matthew saluted the cowboy and departed.

Woody felt a bit relieved. At least he'd gotten some answers, but they still needed more of them! And as far as he was concerned, they would still watch their step closely with that Falcon. Maybe Matthew could get them vital information so they'd know if their family was in danger or not. Oh, the cowboy doll couldn't wait for life to be normal again! Buzz returned and Woody told him everything that Matthew had shared. Buzz was surprised, and saddened about Fox and Link, but was still wary of the old gang member. The two toys tried to talk to the others about it, but Potato Head said that the soldier was only diverting Woody's attention so that his criminal pal could case Bonnie's home and plan some trouble. Woody and Buzz could only hope that he was wrong!

What do you think? Do you think Matt is being deceived? When I say Fox and Link, I mean StarFox64 and Link from The Legend of Zelda game, which neither of them I own. Their association with Woody and his crew is explained in my fanfic The Big Bully.

So, what do you guys think is gonna happen? Oh, and another question: do any of you miss Wheezy from the Toy Story series, or is he just an okay character to you? Your answers will make a difference for part of the story later, an angle I'm debating on. So, please let me know. I know the main gist of what I'm planning to write, but for curiosity's sake, what would you like to see happen?