A/N: OK I know I’ve been absent for like, months now but reasonable explanation for that but I’m not going into detail here. To save you all the trouble of reading that much. Long story short: School/Driving/Life. So at least I’m updating here! I’m SO glad everyone’s been responding to this story so well. I’m glad you all like it. So here’s chapter 4.

The Misalliance

IV- When fainting is the only possible solution

“…and now for the weather report, Mark…” Mira sighed, reaching for the alarm. Note to self; don’t put it on radio to wake up to. The dragging on of the news casters happy, sing song voice could make anyone sick when just getting up because it was too dang early to think about having a smile on your face.

Pulling the covers a little higher she defiantly thought of going back to sleep before that sudden urge to start the daily routine came again like every day. Stretching her arms out wide she winced at the sudden rays of light. Another note to self; get new blinds.

By the time she took a shower and waited for that last drop of coffee to drop it was nearly seven thirty and the Spacesport didn’t leave till an hour later. Craters, she could have slept in after all.

Yawning for the heck of it Mira got up for a second cup before the phone rang. In a way was really weird because no one called this early in the morning.

“Hello?” She said, switching on the vidphone. She was slightly surprised to see Buzz on the other end but was shocked to not only see circles under his eyes but the words panic seemed to cross her mind while looking at him. And boy did his face spell out panic!

“Mira, no time to talk I called you off today. Meet me in Central Park in an hour. Good I’ll see you then.” And he hung up.

Mira sat there for a good minute before getting up with her coffee cup. She walked slowly to the sink and set in carefully before setting her head against the cupboard, letting out a small moan of frustration.

What. The. Heck? What in the world was THAT? He called her off? He called her off work without telling her why? He wanted her go where? What the heck? Well, wasn’t he going to be surprised to see she didn’t make it? Tough luck buddy but this was the exact reason she left the Palace!

Grumbling to herself she stayed at her spot for a little longer. Mira wasn’t going to be late for work that was for sure. Unless she called in saying that Buzz was full of it and that she didn’t agree to take off that day that might solve it but she was contemplating with herself.

It wasn’t every day that Buzz called out of the blue and with such urgency in his voice it was unnerving. Maybe something was wrong. Well, something wasn’t right if he acted like his mind was on the fritz. He seemed so nervous and shaky on the phone it was almost impossible to say anything even if she had gotten the chance.

So with a deep sigh Mira sat up and headed over towards the coffee pot. If this was going to be a long day might as well have the energy for it.

It was about nine when Mira reached the park. Tipping the cabby Mira settled for the long walk to the center of the winding brick roads. The park was a beautiful place actually and a lot of the time a way to escape the bustling of Capitol City.

Mire never been here per say but she head some very good reviews from guarding diplomats on the way to conferences. It was a wonder why Buzz would choose this place to meet and never did it once hit her as a date. Because calling someone off work out of the blue for a date wasn’t romantic in the slightest.

Nope.

So she kept walking down the path trying not to get lost. Craters this place was big! Who would have guessed something like this was hidden in the city? Not her that was for sure. It took her about a few minutes to guess that the road circled towards the center, there being no need to tack onto another one. Though it wasn’t exactly as she would guess the central part of the park would look like. Everything was covered in greenery, vines, and many, many tree that needed a good trimming along with the bushes. It reminded her of a Rhizome, for the strangest reason expected one of its cow inhabitants would walk out and greet her. Nope, just Buzz.

Who, by the way, looked like was about to have a panic attack just by standing by a tree, dressed in casual clothing for once. Well, maybe that was what was making him so uncomfortable but no collar tugging could make someone look like the world was coming to an end. And in the past months Mira wouldn’t even be surprised if that was the case.

Buzz looked over at that moment, taking a few steps towards her. Before she could get a word in he grabbed her by the rest, as gently as he could, and pulled her halfway across the brick road to an even more vegetated area of the part, which really needed to be trimmed the more Mira looked at it.

“Okay! Question and answer time!” She said, snatching her hand away. He didn’t stop her, though just looked behind his shoulder and sighed. “What’s ...” What’s what? What’s the big idea? Why in the world would you call me off work for no apparent reason? Are you a moron? Each mental quote sounded like a good one to say, but not much lip length to say it in. So Nova came up with the best question possible for the moment.

“What’s this all about?”

Buzz sighed, rubbing at his temples. He didn’t get much sleep last night and his face proved it. It also proved that he was acting like a total ignorant man, but that was going to be a conversation for later.

“Listen, Mira, I wouldn’t normally do anything like this unless it was important right?” He didn’t wait for her answer. “And I wouldn’t make decisions for you out of the blue just because I’m your commanding officer. But right now this is important and threatening to our careers and our minds.”

Okay, Buzz lost it. Alright, Mira took a course in this in the Academy. Just act like they’re right, smile broadly and nod at whatever they say, and when the time comes knock them out when they aren’t looking and call for backup! Wait, he was her backup! Well, just have to knock him out and see if it’ll bring him back for his senses.

The look on his face told her he got it. She thought he was a nut. Stop here because the roads closed up ahead. Alright, plan B then if she didn’t believe him. She had to come out sometime.

“You can’t come out now,” Stepping aside he let Mira have full view of what was possibly the most life changing thing to happen to her since a year ago.

“MIRA!” Arsell sang as she ran forward from the vegetation she was hiding in. “It’s so good to see you!”

It wasn’t good to see Arsell. Really, Mira could have said it was good to see an old friend, but, she never actually saw her just heard her, and never really bothered to remember her much after, say she stopped talking to them. And really, all in all she never really guessed that Arsell was real. Or alive.

So doing the only possible thing her mind could come up with right now was a single line.

Mira faint now.

XR tapped his foot impatiently in the break room, waiting by the door. Now this wasn’t the thing Commander Nebula was expecting when first walking in—tripping over XR as he did so which made him even angrier than he already was that day.

“Hey pops,” XR said after saluting. “Mind telling me where Buzz and Mira are at?”

“Yeah,” Booster cut in. “They’re not sick or anything? Right? Or,” He gasped like a sudden realization just came over him than an overactive imagination in affect. “Something really bad happened last night and they’ve gone missing!”

Nebula didn’t even bother giving him the look today. There was too much on his mind at the moment and Buzz and Mira was a constant exaggeration to that. “No, nothin’ happened to them. They’re not sick, either! They just called off.”

The two rangers looked at one another before the laughing started. It began as small muffled giggles then all out bawling. Booster was holding his sides from hurting too much and XR was grabbing the wall to make sure he was sturdy enough to stand straight.

“Nice one pops.” He said. “Never thought I’d see the day you’d make a funny. Come here I’m proud of ya!” Nebula backed away from XR’s out stretched hands in the favor of protecting him before ordering them to sit.

“That’s was no joke. Lightyear called in early saying he and Mira were taking the day off. Somewhere along the lines they were told to go down to the clinic for a mandatory check-up. Now I expect everything to be fine, but you two are stuck here for the day. Fine with you?”

“Yes sir!” They saluted again as Nebula left the break room grumbling to himself.

“You buy any of that?” XR asked suddenly when Nebula was completely gone. He opened the door and peered out to make sure it was all clear before wheeling back to the table.

“I’m not so sure XR,” Booster said, sitting down again. “It sounds like the truth. I mean, they were due for another check-up sooner or later,”

“Later is right. We all know Buzz Lightyear. He wouldn’t take a day off unless they forced him by suspension or a straight jacket. I’m telling you buddy something fishy is going on around here and I’d like to know what.” Crossing him arms the room stayed quiet besides the quiet hum of the fridge and the air compressor.

“So up for a game of chess?”

“Nah, we played that last time,”

“Checkers then?”

XR thought about it. “How about a challenge? Chinese checkers and the loser pays for lunch at Cosmo’s for a week.”

“Deal!”

Mira found herself staring up at a patch of blue sky in the middle of a park with a jacket under her head. Well apparently the thought went through all the way and she really fainted. Hopefully that was nothing to do with her powers forming and Daddy forgot to tell her about it. Luckily nothing was hurt or throbbing as she sat up.

“Mira,” Buzz said, who was strangely enough right beside her. “Are you all right?”

He said it almost concernedly that it touched her—almost. Of course she was talking to the same guy that called her off, asked her to the park, and made her faint all in one day. Being touched was beyond all recognition and really not in her agenda to be very nice.

“I’m fine,” She said shortly after, running her hand through her hair. It took her a few minutes to comprehend that he was lending a hand down to her and that was his jacket she had her head on for however long she was out. “What made me pass out anyways?”

Buzz sighed. Mira arched an eyebrow curiously. Was there something she should have got? Like this was all some big joke and she was looking down to a black haired teenager who was smiling up at her with cat-like grin.

“Forgetting about little ole me, huh?” Arsell said suddenly. Mira felt lightheaded again, but not fainting wise. More like screaming wise. This was for real. Arsell was fore real.

Arsell’s expression changed. Like she noticed Mira’s discontent in letting this little situation become reality. So she said, “You’re not going to faint again? I knew I shouldn’t of come out! If this big lug here pressed the panic button last night I sure you would!”

Mira looked over at Buzz, eyeing him. “You fainted?”

Buzz shook his head. “I didn’t faint. I just panicked! You would too if you seen someone sitting on your bed when you just get home.”

Now Mira turned her head towards Arsell, who blushed slightly. “Ha-ha, who knew that was his bedroom? Heck I’d be scared too if a random person was perched on my bed.”

If there was a time to be lost for words now was it. Never has she had to go through something like this. Being partnered up with Team Lightyear for four years did make her drained and a little brain crazy but she handled it. Her father that always bugged her, tortured her for joining Star Command, she handled that too. But going through a robotic galaxy chase, getting brain fried by the so called robot you piloted as a test subject at first then a fighter pilot, get trapped on a planet that was ready for melt down at any moment and months afterwards you meet the so called ‘electric shock’ voice in the head and know she was real than a mental disruption was a little much, don’t you think?

Now it all made sense. Why Buzz called her off. Why he looked so out of it. Why he looked so brain dead when he called her up this morning and told her to meet him at the park. Yep, this explained everything. More than possible in a complete hour she came here. Or at least she thought it was an hour.

“What are we going to do?” Nova asked the question that was probably on everyone’s minds. “I mean, yeah, she’s here and everything but Buzz, this is a little thing we forgot to mention to like, everyone! What would everyone think if we bring a little girl into Star Command, say we lied and for the whole time we were being instructed by this little girl we bring in? They’re going to think we’re crazy and wonder what really happened eleven months ago and…and…”

Okay, not good. She was walking around in circles, rambling and Buzz and Arsell were looking at her exactly the way she imaged the so called individuals to stare.

“For starters Mira, stop rambling!” Buzz said, sitting down at the park bench. Mira sighed and sat next to him. She was drained and it wasn’t even the end of the day yet.

“We need to think of something else besides that. Or they…” He dropped of there. Either out of dramatic pause or a loss for words Mira didn’t know but she gave him a minute to start up again.

“Or they what?”

Buzz sighed. “Think we really are crazy.” Mira nodded, letting her head sink into her hands. Well, there you go thinking a nice day was upon you and suddenly was change in events and it all plummets down. If he never called her off work this would have been so much better.

“You could always lie.”

The two rangers looked up at Arsell, standing over them with her hands behind her back like an innocent child.

“How?”

Arsell shook her head. “You two don’t get out often, huh? I just saying why don’t we take the long road instead of the short? We could always say I’m a relative staying at the house, or a friend’s daughter that’s bunking with you for a little bit. In a way it’s the truth, but a lie at the same time. Here I have a place to stay and here you two won’t have to admit to hearing an actual voice. Problems solved for everyone.”

There was another slight pause before Buzz asked the question that’s been on his mind ever since last night.

“How do we know this is right?”

Arsell stood up straight and gave them the biggest, sliest, cat-like smile anyone could give at that age. Like she was a ninety-year-old stuck in a little girl’s body.

“Well, I guess that you just have to trust your instincts now, don’t ya?”