Disclaimer: Disney&Pixar owned Toy Story.
It would be awesome if I owned it or was related to someone who does.
A/N: This is the final chapter! This part was a little hard to pull off, but I think it went well. Sometimes I feel like such a jerk when I write about the bad things that this poor cowgirl doll goes through. Damn me.
Enjoy the rest of the story!
"This is bad...", Woody said sadly. He was clearly just as heartbroken as Buzz was. They both knew that Jessie would be ok with time and it would be like nothing ever happened. Yet, as they stared at her helpless form they knew that today might be a little difficult.
"Hey, Woody! Woody?", Slinky called.
"Everything alright up there?" Dolly called as well. Some of the toys took notice that Jessie hadn't been yodeling or carrying on with her usual antics since she got home.
Woody bit his lip. "I'll handle this, Buzz."
Buzz didn't bother answering him. He stood in his spot staring helplessly at Jessie.
"Buzz?"
"Huh? Oh... umm yeah yeah deal with the ground floor."
Woody sighed and turned his attention to the rest of the room.
"Everything is fine we just have a small problem up here!"
"Is it Jessie?", Mrs. Potato Head asked. She like the others looked very worried.
"Is she broken!", Rex cried.
"Look guys it'll be fine. Until I or Buzz give the word, no one is allowed up here. Understand?"
All of the toys nodded and muttered in agreement. Woody could tell that everyone was on edge about this.
"Slink, start a game up. Something, anything to keep everyone away from this bed. I'll be down in a minute to help.", Woody ordered.
"Sure thing, Woody.", Slinky gave Woody a quick nod before turning to the toys.
"Alright everyone you heard the Sheriff! Come on who wants to play a game of checkers?", he started rounding up all of the toys he could for checkers. He got some help from Trixie who decided to take some other toys like Rex to the computer to play some games.
Satisfied that everyone was actually listening to him with no whining for once, Woody looked back at Buzz and Jessie. He was a little surprised at what he saw only because he didn't expect it. Buzz was carrying Jessie in his arms over to Bonnie's pillow. He sat down, leaned his back against the pillow and gently put Jessie down between his legs. He took her hat and placed it to the side and held her. He rubbed her back while she clung to him. Her head was resting on his chest and she had what looked like a good grip on his left arm. By the looks and sounds of it, she was still gasping for air. He carefully walked up to the couple and knelt down beside them.
"How is she?", Woody whispered.
"I think she's getting a little better. She's not shaking.", Buzz started patting Jessie's braid.
"Jess?", Woody softly called. He gave her a minute and grew even more concerned when she didn't bother answering. He joined in on rubbing her back for a short while. Woody waited until Jessie's panic attack finally showed signs of dying down. When he heard her stop gasping for breath he and Buzz took it as a good sign. Her breathing was no longer shallow.
"I should really get going. Slinky probably needs my help right now. I told him "in a minute." I'm pretty sure he was assuming that I meant three minutes not ten.", he said calmly.
"It's alright. Just handle the situation down below. He probably needs the extra help."
Right as Woody was about to get up, Buzz stopped him. "Wait, looks like someone really wants to come over here.", Buzz motioned towards Bullseye who was sitting at the edge of the bed looking forlorn. When he saw that he had been caught he set his ears back and bowed his head. He started to get up and back away slowly, hoping that Woody and Buzz wouldn't yell at him for not following orders.
"No, Bullseye it's ok. Come here.", Woody sighed. The horse quickly hopped up and sprinted towards them without a second thought. He gave Woody a small lick on the cheek then got himself comfortable next to Buzz and rubbed his head on his hand. He then looked at Jessie sadly and snuggled his head against her. He whimpered and placed his head on Buzz's knee. The entire time he stared at Jessie and every so often he would try snuggling with her again.
"Looks like you got some help, Ranger."
Buzz smiled. "Looks like.", he patted Bullseye on the head before focusing his attention on Jessie again.
"If anything just call for me and I'll come rushing back up here.", with that Woody went off to check on everyone.
They laid there in silence. The only sound that came from the group was Bullseye who yawned, turned his head away from Jessie and started sleeping. His back was pressed against Buzz's leg. Buzz didn't seem to mind. It was good to have Bullseye close by for support. He looked down at Jessie. Her grip on his arm had loosened. She leaned over to rub Bullseye's ear before placing her head back on Buzz's chest. It sounded like she was crying quietly. He took this as a chance to finally start talking.
"Are you ok?"
"I think so.", she sniffled.
"Do you want to tell me what happened?", Buzz asked.
Jessie shrugged her shoulders.
"It might help if you talk to me."
She sighed. Buzz was not going to leave her alone until she started talking. "I was put in the box because Bonnie's mom didn't want anything bad to happen to me."
"Then that's fine. It's better being in the box than the Caterpillar Room, right?"
"I suppose. It- it was like Emily all over again.", she felt her throat closing up when she mentioned her old owner's name.
"How so?"
"She was so happy to be around me. Just like Emily was the last day we were together. Then I was put in the box and just got left there with no where to go.", she struggled to get her last words out. Putting her hand up to her eyes to wipe away tears, Jessie kept talking.
"I just kept thinking that Bonnie was going to leave me in that box...", she leaned up away from Buzz. She didn't bother getting up. She simply sat down with her back against Buzz's chest and her legs out in front of her. Any other time and Buzz would have been delighted and having his cheeks grow a dark red color, but now wasn't the time for that.
"Bonnie would never do what Emily did."
Jessie stared down at her hands. "What about Andy? He put us in that garbage bag."
"With the intent of putting us in the attic for safekeeping.", Buzz added.
Jessie continued to stare at her hands. The two sat in silence for a few minutes. Every now and then they could hear Bullseye breathing heavily in his sleep or Trixie screaming happily that she beat someone else's score in whatever game was taking place on the floor.
"When you say that Bonnie would never do what Emily did... how... how do you know for sure?", she finally asked. She raised her head and turned in Buzz's direction.
Buzz sighed. "I don't."
"Oh...", she turned back around.
"What I do know is that she loves all of us and Mom works at the daycare."
"What does Mom working at the daycare have to do with Bonnie?", she asked. She turned back around and patiently waited for an answer.
"Sunnyside is always accepting donations, remember? It's only a matter of time before we get dropped off in the Butterfly Room with Ken and Barbie."
Jessie thought about it for a moment. It was true that Bonnie's mother would one day donate the toys to the daycare. It did make a lot of sense and according to Dolly, Mrs. Anderson had donated all of Bonnie's old baby toys about a year ago. Despite knowing this, she still had doubts.
She started to play with her braid. "What if we get separated by a yard sale or are given away to different kids?"
"I wouldn't allow that.", he sighed before continuing.
"If something like that were to happen to anyone in this family. I'd bust my butt to make sure that we are all together."
"Really?", Jessie asked.
Buzz smiled. "Jessie, you've known me for so long. You shouldn't have to question it."
Jessie leaned back into Buzz's chest. "But we can't stop fate forever."
"Doesn't mean we can't fight it.", Buzz added.
"We've fought fate quite a few times and sometimes we beat it. Sunnyside is a perfect example of this."
Buzz didn't say anything more. He wanted to let his words seep into Jessie's mind. Let her think about it for a bit. He knew that she might never get over these panic attacks, but at least she could always attempt at digging back into her thoughts to find his words.
"Thanks Buzz.", she finally said. She got herself comfortable with Buzz, taking his left arm and wrapping it around her shoulders. She leaned on his chest and watched Bullseye's ears twitch as he slept. Buzz felt the blush creeping up on his face. The cowgirl seemed to have finally relaxed and was acting as if she wanted to cuddle. He awkwardly put his other arm around her and was overjoyed when she took his hand and rubbed it on her cheek. Buzz wasn't sure if she was doing this to be cute or if she still wanted some comfort. He assumed that it was a little bit of both.
Before he could close his eyes to relax with Jessie, he caught Woody at the corner of his eye popping up into view. He turned his head and saw Woody mouth out "Everything ok?".
Buzz's reply was a thumbs up.