Kiss Me in the Dark.

Disclaimer: I do not own Toy Story.

Nothing in life honestly could have prepared Jessie to expect this; for the very, 'very' rare time she actually took the toy Sheriff's position as her own when it came to preparing big events. Though she unconsciously panicked at this moment in time, the anxiety coursing through her was enough to give her a taster session of what it was like to be in his use for a day. This, though, unfortunately wasn't good.

"Where in Tarnations did that darn Sheriff hide my hat?" Jessie asked irrationally as she pulled herself up to the rim of the open toy box, peering inside the exposed structure squinting in the hopes that this would be enough to spot the first sign of red amongst the dull shadows. Inside the box, a few toys had gathered to catch a few hours' kip before their owner came back from his grandparent's bounding with excitement for the day that lay ahead. Apart from them and the rest of the overhanging shadows, Jessie saw nothing inside the box and frowned, clearly disheartened. He just 'had' to do something like this when he knew she had in a bad enough state as she had.

Fine sailing; a great day; and wonderful experiences to be met without a fret. Critters in the Barn, Jessie wished the day could have rolled out before her in the way she had hoped. She had been planning to take the absolute mickey out of Woody for stressing over the situation in the way he had been bound to, and she had been rather looking forward to it as well. Since nothing could beat winding the innocent rag doll up on a sunny day like this, and this was meant. Because nothing else could, as the cowgirl very well knew. But now that the tables had turned on her - well - Jessie felt furious. How could he do something like this to her at this ridiculous time? Two and a half hours away from being taken to cowboy camp with Bullseye and Woody for the first time? The very twisted thoughts ran through Jessie's mind and made the stuffing in her stomach knot.

If revenge was necessary, then it would be served cold and sweet. Just how she liked it, she eventually told herself. Fresh as the morning sun resting upon the entangled grass of the prairie, where her paranoia had settled into a rushing whisper and when she wouldn't get her pull string tangled in a knot with every single worry that lay ahead. Where world could meet beauty and she could yodel through the winds on a horse back - pure brilliance as it is in other words, just the way she had been able to picture for all so long,

'Damn it!' She eventually cursed, suppressing the inevitable huff. Now she envied her own thoughts, and it was all because of that stupid Sheriff! Well, this was only as expected; Woody had never really had any to begin with. So at least she could force a wide smile at this, though the smile was only wiped off her face when she grunted and elevated herself higher. Her hat had to be in there somewhere, she had convinced herself. But the unconvincing white lie was only wiped away from the central core of her mind when she felt her weight toppling forwards and her metaphorical heart skipped a beat.

With her natural functions coming to a complete halt, Jessie's breath caught in her throat as her eyes widened in complete surprise. She tried to grip onto the rim of the toy box to keep her balance steady, but all this did was curtail the fall, and her senses froze at this as an instinct kept the scream concealed inside, building up the pressure inside her chest and straining her muscles uncomfortably. Below her, she could see a toy perched against the box's wall and, ultimately dreading to find out whom it might be, she flinched.

A gasp escaping her lips, Jessie winced instantly when coming into contact with the toy below. Jewels began to form within the heap of her stuffing when a grunt of exasperation informed her of exactly who the toy she had fallen onto was. Upon natural instinct, she knew that this 'wasn't' good news.

Choking back a stutter of anxiety, the Cowgirl darted to her feet like a Western Ninja - though she didn't know how this thought had appealed to her at this moment in time - in an instant.

"S-sorry." She stammered, shooting her apology to the elderly-minded toy without thinking twice. "S-so, so, so s-sorry." Naturally, she dropped the matter of searching the area in the toy bow for her hat and staggered out, throwing herself over the box's side to avoid the general lecture she'd often get referring to how 'Naturally Clumsy' she was. However, as she came to realize, she should have been more precautious as she had been. Because that spud was as grotty as the dirt from the world below at times…

"Why don't you watch where ya going, you clutz!" Mr Potato Head, being as pleasant as ever to those around, countered in return as she fled the space as quickly as possible.

Pacing towards the leg of Andy Davis' bed in a half-hearted huff, Jessie came to a halt and frowned. The shock that coursed through her artificial nerves was one she hadn't come across before and she now felt agitated in all the wrong ways. How could 'she', of all toys, let the Sheriff trick her like this? What could she have done to possible deserve this kind of torture? She asked herself this as she placed a finger on her chin in thought.

Well - she had stolen his hat last week, which was something she never wanted to do again if she valued Woody's sense of profound confidence, as he had been bawling like a lunatic when he had been convinced that his hat was lost for good. Which, when put into Jessie's perspective, was quite fun for a selected amount of time until he broke down in absolute hysterics. And she had drawn on his face with a non-permanent marker pen last month when he had been asleep after Andy left for school, and had walked around Andy's room all day with the word 'Yellow' written across his forehead and the biggest novelty glasses Jessie had been able to draw. And there had also been the time when she had tied his pull string to the wooden rod of Andy's bed when she had been absolutely furious with him for one reason or another, but that was besides the point as he really had deserved it that time. Other than this, and all the other mishaps Woody hadn't had evidence enough to draw back to her, the Sheriff had absolutely no reason to treat her like this whatsoever. And the mere thought of this made her furious.

Beginning to lose herself in her own thoughts, she soon felt a hand on her shoulder and gasped sharply. Jumping around in shock to the source of her surprise to come face to face with the newly uneasy Space Ranger, who was staring at her as though she had just been pulled from acid.

Coming to the reassuring realization, Jessie allowed her nerves to settle and blew out a sigh of relief. It wasn't that she had expected to come across something drastic or serious though, but the shock that had hit her had been heavy, almost enough to knock the breath out of her system.

"Oh…" She murmured slowly, now feeling slightly embarrassed as she met his gaze. Only 'she' could react in such a way so frequently. "It's just you…"

Seeming slightly bewildered, Buzz arched an eyebrow and eyed her suspiciously. Well - at least she didn't think she had lost her hat when she really had it placed on her head - supposedly… "Um…yeah. Well, I just saw you from…across the room a few moments ago and thought you looked - um -anxious." He stuttered slowly, trying to force the uneasy feelings aside as he spoke. Fortunately for him though, Jessie had always been completely oblivious to his behaviour around her. "So I was just wondering if-if you were feeling all right. N-not that you wouldn't be though, but I was wondering. You know - so that I can make sure-"

Completely aware of the fact that he was rambling on for no apparent reason, he paused when he noticed that Jessie had become lost in her thoughts yet again. Which he was grateful for of course, otherwise he might have embarrassed the living daylights out of himself.

"Em…" He muttered slowly, not sure of how he should close the situation in the safest way possible. "I'm sorry; I think I forgot to do something. I will dismiss myself from your presence now."

With that said he darted off in the distance, snapping Jessie away from her train of thought for a second time as he did so. Briefly taking the time to seem bewildered, she stared in his direction out of disbelief for a few moments before dismissing the matter completely. She didn't need to focus on this now, since trying to find her missing hat now was the best thing to do with her time.

Deciding to pursue the hunt for her hat, Jessie carried on.

…

By this point, she had the Sheriff directly in her line of sight. In plain view, he could be seen playing a match of Checkers with Slinky immediately beside Andy's bed. Looking completely innocent even when the crime against Western Nature had been committed under his name. Oh yes, she thought impishly. She was going to get her payback, and she was going to give it to him cold. Cold and rusty - the best way it could ever be.

With a smile creeping onto her features, Jessie stealthily crept towards the Sheriff. Woody's back was towards her, so that was good. He wouldn't see her coming, and that was always the best way for him to go when she had set up her suspicious plans. Her plans were silently done, but yet sophisticated. Just the way they should be.

Making sure she didn't become too lost in her thoughts, she crept further towards them and braced herself subtly. Inhaling deeply, she charged forward and knocked him to the ground. Having been caught completely off guard by her sudden action, Woody yelped in surprise and gasped, using his hands to support his fall. Slinky, who had been opposite Woody during the ambush, stared at the two of them with widened eyes and swallowed a gulp.

"Ah! J-Jessie-" He gasped in surprise. Though he hadn't seen her face as yet, there was no questioning that it had been her to knock the breath out of his chest. As it was only her who would tackle him at such a random time and she was the only toy in the room that was both lighter than him and withheld the ability to pin him to the ground in such a way. The shock of the encounter had died by the time Jessie had taken hold of both of his arms, pulling them towards her in a way that always forced the Sheriff into submission and now he was only annoyed.

"Jessie?" He asked pointlessly. "Why are you doing this?"

"Oh you know fully well why I'm doing this." She stated simply, her voice as firm as stone as she glared at the back of his head icily. The fact that he had taken her hat in such an obvious way had left her absolutely furious. And yet now he was trying to act stupid to it all? That was just plain wrong.

"No I-ow!" He moaned in pain when she dug her foot into his back and tugged on his arms harder. The way he writhed underneath her wasn't even half of what Jessie needed to keep herself from throwing him out of the window at that very moment in time.

"You stole my hat you back end!" Jessie accused, only for both the eyebrows of Woody and Slinky to rise to the heavens in utter confusion. Was she even making sense to herself? They wondered.

"Um…Jess?" Slinky spoke up, only for Jessie to dismiss him instantly.

"Not now, Slink!" Jessie countered, tugging harder at Woody's arms to relieve the building pressure raging through her senses.

"Jessie, stop it!" Woody pleaded, uselessly struggling for life underneath her. His breaths were heavy and his cries were desperate, but this didn't satisfy Jessie by any means.

"Jess-"

"You stole my hat, you horse's leaving!"

Somehow, Slinky had managed to sneak his statement in somewhere. And the cowgirl found herself freezing in her tracks some time afterwards.

"Jess. You're wearing your hat." Slinky stated, causing Jessie's senses to freeze in place as his words sunk into her core. Her gaze drifted down slowly and a nervous smile suddenly tugged at her features.

Maybe she should evaluate everything before leaping to conclusions?

()()()()

"Woody!" Jessie snapped when Andy and his mother had stopped off at a gas station to fuel their vehicle, her voice one of exasperation. Beside her, Bullseye whimpered and withdrew himself far away from the due as possible. Since sometimes it was better to just stay out of arguments rather than to get himself involved in them. Which was exactly why he was trying to keep himself as far away from the two as possible during their dispute. "This isn't funny!"

A chuckle from the Sheriff told Jessie that he had ignored her plead completely. And this had left Jessie only feeling completely frustrated. How could he of all people laugh at her during a time like this? It really didn't seem fair if she could be completely honest, and she mentally scalded at him for this.

"'Woody!'" Jessie exclaimed, trying to thrust herself forward only to realize she couldn't. Her hands were tangled along with her pull string. How this had happened, she had no idea. But when the car had come to a halt before, the bag had sloped forward leaving them all to lose their balance, sending them toppling forward into a massive heap. Then BAM! The next thing Jessie knew, she was tangled up in her own pull string.

Stifling a giggle, Woody shot her an apologetic look through the dark. Though he had been thankful for this little dilemma, as Jessie's state of hyperventilation prior to this situation had left him feeling unnerved. And now that she seemed to be perfectly fine in her state of fury, he could only blow out a chuckle of amusement. She really was priceless at times.

Snorting slightly, Woody rolled his eyes and leant forward. "All right, all right, all right. Hold your horses."

Failing to see the error in the words before they had been uttered, Woody only became aware of Bullseye's shock when the horse neighed in protest. "No offence meant. " Woody quickly added, discarding the matter before he could tick anyone else off.

Reaching forward in the dark, Woody felt around for the pull-string - completely oblivious to how Jessie's heart froze in place as her cheeks began to heat up. Yep. The Sheriff really needed to calculate his actions before contemplating them.

"Woody!" She snapped again, writhing from his grip in shock and gaping at him in horror. "Watch it before I lasso your hands off."

Noticing the error, Woody became wide-eyed in humiliation when he realized when his hand had been. Drawing it to him quickly, he quickly stammered: "Sorry!"

"And so you should be."

Woody shook his head and worked hard to disentangle the knot. It took several moments, but when he had managed it he snorted in half-hearted exasperation after feeling the glare Jessie was sending.

"Well it's not my fault you can't keep your marbles straight."

At his words, Jessie seriously wanted to protest. But then saw that the previous situation had blanked her mind completely, and now she couldn't think of any comeback at all as Woody's smugness kissed her senses in the dark.

A/N Not what you all expected now, was it? :D I had been wanting to write a WoodyxJessie one-shot for a while and then I was struck with this idea this morning, though the ending didn't turn out quite how I imagined it to be. Okay, I also don't know what on Earth I had been on when writing this but what I do know is that fact that I seriously want more of it! It's great!

I might get around to writing a few more WoodyxJessie one-shots in the future, but I'm not sure whether I'll ever get around to doing them yet. What do you all think? Suggestions are welcome! A/N