Chapter Text
The atmosphere in the backpack remained uneasy the whole trip to Sunnyside. They did not expect the trip itself at all. Bonnie rarely took her toys with her to the daycare per her mother's rules because they could get lost or taken by another child. So, Andy's former toys managed to avoid returning to the former prison for a good 5 months without incident.
Today, however, the daycare closed to the public for staff training. Bonnie's mother and the other teachers had to renew something having to do with a CPR and an AED, whatever that meant. Bonnie therefore needed a distraction while her mother took the class. The four year old chose Woody, Buzz, and Jessie to accompany her for the day as her 3 favorite new-to-her toys.
They were not thrilled.
As soon as the backpack zipped up over them, Buzz's face dropped, barely concealing the abrupt panic in his eyes. Jessie's own raging anxiety increased at the sight. Shuffling over to him, she tucked herself under his arm and into his side, wrapping her arms around his waist. She could feel his whole body had tensed up.
“I'm alright.” The space toy mumbled, slipping his arm around her and holding on a little tighter than he intended.
“Convincing.” Jessie deadpanned, pressing her cheek against his.
“It's been a few months. I'm sure things have changed.” Woody assured, crossing his legs and placing his hands on his knees. “Barbie's been keeping us up to date. Things seem to be improving well.”
Jessie simply gave him a surly look.
“Convincing.” She repeated, her tone unchanged.
“Oh c'mon, Jessie.” The cowboy rolled his eyes. “She wouldn't lie to us.”
“It's not her I don' trust.” The cowgirl groused. “ 'Sides how do we know Lotso didn't take back over and start writin' fake letters acting as her to trick us?”
“He wouldn't know which child we belong to.” Buzz rumbled, staring distantly toward Bonnie's crayons. “He would have also tried to convince us to come back to Sunnyside long before now.”
“He probably doesn't even know we're alive.” Woody added, a shudder running through him.
“He coulda made Barbie tell him...” Jessie argued.
“Jessie. He's. Not. There.” The sheriff enunciated every word. “Everything's gonna be ok. I promise you. Both of you.”
The cowboy reached out, placing a hand on one of their shoulders each. He gave them a reassuring squeeze.
“We'll stick together and watch out for one another. Like we always have.” Woody declared. “I know it's gonna be a rough day, but we will get through it and make it back home in the end. Ok?”
Jessie's frown remained and the hardness in her expression barely softened. She trusted Woody with her life, truly she did, but the apprehension in her stomach would not calm down. She could not force herself to feel comforted by his words.
That place had traumatized her. Traumatized all of them. The idea of returning made her cloth crawl. Sunnyside's mode of operations may have changed, but the physical environment had not. The painful memories would still resurface once she saw the playground, the furniture, even the paint stained carpet again.
The toys who originally lived at the daycare were also still there as well. Toy donations joined the daycare all the time, but besides Lotso, no one else had left according to Barbie. That meant all of the toys who had served the strawberry-scented prison warden, who had traumatized Buzz to the point of panic attacks, still remained.
Keeping her promise to Buzz about not seeking to avenge him suddenly seemed much more difficult.
“You're right, Woody.” The Space Ranger beside her agreed. “I'm sure everything will be fine.”
Yet, his body had not relaxed an inch under the cowgirl's embrace. That in itself spoke volumes. He probably felt the same unnerving trepidation as her. No, he didn't remember as much as she did, but it only took one moment, one situation to emotionally scar him. To cause a fear so deep-seeded it will haunt him for years, if not his whole life.
Here he was again, masking to hide his true feelings.
The rag doll studied the space toy's face closely, empathetic concern spreading across her own. He noticed her gaze and quickly schooled his expression.
“What?” He asked warily.
Jessie didn't respond. She just gave him a look of exasperated disbelief. Her hand slipped into one of his and clenched around it firmly. He regarded her questioningly in return, his frown deepening.
The slam of a car door cut their silent conversation short. The backpack then lifted into the air and started bouncing along with little footsteps. They could hear Bonnie humming as her mother asked to hold her hand.
They had arrived.
The morning went smoothly enough. Bonnie thankfully played with the toy trio in the Butterfly Room. A few other teachers and staff brought their children as well and an adult who didn't need to take the certification class watched over them. Mostly playing by herself, Bonnie used some of the daycare's toys to act as villains and victims while Jessie, Buzz, and Woody took on their usual roles as heroes. The cowgirl did not recognize any of the Sunnyside toys from her vantage point in toy mode. She hoped it stayed that way. She would not be able to defend herself, her partner, or her brother if they came across any of Lotso's former henchmen with humans around.
Jessie just wanted them to play with their owner until the end and then go home.
Their luck ran out at lunchtime.
The class held an hour and a half recess for the staff members to grab food. Mrs. Anderson retrieved Bonnie to go out to eat at a fast food restaurant with the other children and their parents. The girl left her toys in the classroom, promising to return to their adventure when she returned. Soon enough, the daycare emptied out of nearly everyone except for a few adults who sat outside on the playground picnic tables to eat.
“You're here!”
Jessie jolted out of toy mode at the shrill squeal, but wound up ensnared in another toy's embrace seconds later. Phantom heart jumping into her throat, the cowgirl nearly wrestled whoever held her to the ground, but the blonde hair getting in her mouth was familiar.
“Oh it's so good to see you again!”
Barbie pulled back from the hug, grinning from ear to ear. She still wore her signature teal and pink unitard and her hair in a high ponytail. Jessie tried to give a smile back, but it came out more like a grimace. Barbie didn't seem to notice, making her way over to Buzz and Woody to greet them with exuberant enthusiasm as well.
“It's nice to see you too.” Woody tried not to groan at the tightness of her hug. “Sounds like you've been busy.”
“Oh yes! We've made quite a few changes around here!” Barbie turned with her arms wide, showing them their surroundings.
While the Butterfly Room had not changed much overall, the atmosphere felt significantly different. With hindsight, Bonnie's three toys realized the paradise they saw during their original introduction to the daycare felt like a facade, a fake image put on to hide the evil lying underneath. The paradise around them now felt genuinely happy and peaceful.
The room actually looked more like a community than a set of barracks on shelves. Various social and recreational venues dotted the room, including a fake pool and a make-shift gym. Some of the room's residents gave them friendly hellos before going about their business instead of acting joyful under duress.
And no strawberry-scented bear in sight.
“Hey! Look who it is!”
Jessie tensed at the new voice. She knew if Barbie was around so was Ken. She just hadn't entirely prepared for it yet. It took every ounce of her small supply of self-control to not fly off the handle at the sight of the Mattel doll. Oh the things she wanted to say to him...
The cowgirl glanced out of the corner of her eye to Buzz, who stood on the other side of Woody. His body had stiffened again and his hands balled into fists at his side. His expression remained unreadable to everyone else, but to her, she could see the strain on his face and the anxiety darkening his blue eyes.
“Nice of you guys to drop by!” Ken grinned, wearing the same blue leopard print shirt, blue ascot, and blue shorts he wore when they originally met. “Isn't this place groovy now?”
“Yes, quite impressive...” Woody agreed with a hesitant chuckle and a forced grin.
The sheriff made eye contact with Jessie, likely because she had uncharacteristically not engaged in the conversation yet. She sent back an uneasy, warning glare. Her green eyes darted toward Ken and then back to him. Subtly, she then nodded her head toward Buzz, who also stood unusually silent. Gazing at the condition of his best friend, Woody seemed to realize the reason for the cowgirl's guardedness.
“We should totally take you on a tour of the place!” Ken seemed completely oblivious to the edginess surrounding Bonnie's toys. “Show you what's new and cool!”
“I'm not sure that's -”
“I totally insist!” The Mattel doll cut Woody off. “It won't take too long at all!”
Jessie shook her head sharply at the sheriff, her green eyes wide and her lips pressed into a thin line. She could feel her expression grow more harried and agitated as the situation steered out of their control. Buzz had closed his eyes by then and seemed to concentrate on taking deep breaths to steady himself. The cowgirl couldn't see his body trembling yet, but she did not know how long his mental stamina would last if they went further into the daycare.
“Woody.” Jessie hissed to her brother under her breath. “No.”
“N-now wait a minute - ” The sheriff tried again to get Ken's attention.
“Honey, let's just keep it to the main part of the Butterfly Room, ok?” Barbie intervened, noticing the reactions of her friends.
“Huh? Why? They won't see even half - ...oh.”
Finally, Ken seemed to get a clue. Bonnie's toys still stood rooted in their spots in various states of discontent. Woody gave Barbie a grateful glance, however, his hands clenched together with nervousness. Buzz swallowed hard and breathed in deeply one last time, his fists loosening until his hands sat open and rigid at his sides. Jessie simply glared at him, her shoulders squared up and her stance defensive.
“Ohhh.” Ken winced at his lack of tact. “I uuuh, yeah. Yeah, let's just do that, I guess.”
He rubbed the back of his head as he turned and started walking in the direction of his dream house.
“I promise you're safe here.” Barbie turned to Bonnie's three toys. “I personally made sure to abolish all the corruption Lotso caused and remediated anyone who struggled with acclimating to our new democratic way of life.”
The trio just blinked at her.
“That's...quite a feat.” Only Buzz seemed to understand what exactly Barbie meant.
“Nothing I couldn't handle thanks to my time as the President!” The doll smiled brightly as she started to walk away.
“She was President?” Jessie wondered with disbelief once she was out of earshot.
“Who knows.” Woody shrugged before following Barbie's retreating form.
Buzz went to accompany the sheriff when a hand grasped his. Looking down, he saw Jessie's slim fingers lacing with his bulkier ones.
“We don' have to go with 'em.” The cowgirl suggested. “We can just stay right here 'til Bonnie gets back.”
The Space Ranger sighed. He hesitated with his response, his eyes staring at the tiled floor beneath them.
“I don't want to seem rude.” He muttered. “Besides, things seem to have improved immensely since...last time.”
“Buzz, you don't have to go through with somethin' you're not comfortable with.” Jessie tried to reason with him.
“I'm fine.”
“You're not.”
“Jessie.”
The cowgirl raised a brow at his curt tone. He rarely got impatient with her.
“We talked about this, though.” Jessie reminded, exasperated. “You don't have to hide how you're really feelin'.”
Buzz pressed his lips together and studied her carefully, his countenance pinched. He sighed through his nose and squeezed her hand tenderly.
“I know you're concerned for me.” The Space Ranger revealed. “I appreciate it, truly. Yes, I'm...uncomfortable being back here. The memories aren't pleasant. You understand that better than anyone else. But...I want to try. Try to move on from it. There's no evidence so far that we're in any danger. We can trust Barbie.”
“I don' trust Ken.” The cowgirl riposted.
“Well, based on what you told me about your escape from here, seems Barbie can keep him in line.” Buzz reminded gently. “He also risked getting thrown into the dumpster with us for her too.”
Jessie pouted sourly.
“Stop defending him...”
“Let's give him a chance.” The space toy held firm.
Jessie gave him a glare, but it held no real heat or anger.
“Fine.” The rag doll griped with a huff, crossing her arms over her chest. “But jus' know I'm only tryin' this for you. Not because I think he's a changed toy. He's gotta 'lot more to prove 'fore I think that.”
“That's fair.” Buzz nodded, compromising. “Thank you for being willing to try.”
The Space Ranger held out his hand to her, giving her a hopeful smile. Jessie retook it and gripped it tensely, her face still tight with anxiety. He brought the back of her hand up to his lips and pecked it, concern crossing his features.
“But you also have the option of not going on the tour too, you know.” He clarified. “Don't come just because of me. You can just sit here and Woody and I will keep an eye on you. ”
“I don't want to be left alone right now.” Jessie admitted quietly. “I'll...I'll be fine if we're together.”
“Alright.” Buzz acknowledged, clutching her hand a little tighter. “If your feelings change, let me know.”
“Only if you tell me too.”
The Space Ranger paused and met her expectant gaze. Humming an affirmative, he nodded once. The cowgirl smiled softly at his acceptance.
With that, the couple made their way toward the others hand-in-hand.