Disclaimer: I own neither BtVS nor Community.

A/N: I've had this posted at Twisting the Hellmouth for a while, decided to finally post it here. Hope you enjoy!

Some of the dialogue is taken from Season 3 of Community.

Electives are Stupid

Anya looked around her at all the humans, who were eagerly awaiting the professor's instructions. This was stupid. Why did she have to take biology? College had all sorts of rules that didn't make sense, but the worst one was that she had to take classes that had nothing to do with making money.

Before leaving Sunnydale, Xander had explained it to her: If she wanted to have a business, she needed a business degree. Well, apparently in order to get a degree, she had to take idiotic classes called "General Undergraduate Requirements", such as art, science, and English. No one could explain to her why she had to take these classes.

Luckily, after all the confusion of the Ascension at Sunnydale's graduation, no one looked too closely at her high school diploma. In fact, all she had to do was mention the tragedy in California and the dean let her in, talking about real-life heroes and survivors.

And so here she was, in her second biology class of the semester. Professor Kane was explaining what she had to do, so Anya began to pay attention.

"Your first assignment is to construct a terrarium. Sort of like a diorama."

The class groaned. Seriously, what was with Greendale professors and dioramas? No one liked making them.

"You guys have weird reactions to stuff," The professor said, crossing his arms. He started talking about Legos, Harry Potter, and other stuff. Anya tuned him out. She didn't know who Harry Potter was, but she remembered Star Wars pretty fondly. Back in the '70s there was a woman whose husband left her for a skinnier version of herself. The movies had been pretty popular at the time, and Anya ended up turning the man into Jabba the Hut.

Smiling at the memory, Anya realized Professor Kane was still talking.

"Your terrariums are due tomorrow. Everyone, look at the person at the table across from you. That will be your lab partner for the rest of the year."

* * *

Troy locked eyes with Abed. "Who are these people?" Abed's eyes were wide with anxiety. Working with someone else could be tolerable, in a one-off kind of way, but for the rest of the year? Without his study-group family? That would throw off the entire dynamic. He could tell from the groans and muttering around him that his friends were thinking the same thing. Something would have to be done.

Immediately after his lecture, Professor Kane retreated to his office. The rest of the students were left to discuss their terrarium plans, while the seven cornered the professor. They would make him see reason, and allow them to work together, like they always did.

"I don't care, do what you want," Professor Kane said, exasperated.

Troy and Abed slapped their hands and chests in celebration, and the group returned to their table to discuss pairs.

Abed still wasn't completely comfortable with the outcome. After all, he remembered Spanish class from their first year. Señor Chang forced them to partner up, and the conflict between Pierce and Jeff nearly broke the group before it had even begun.

Damn, he thought. No matter how he ran the numbers, someone was going to get their feelings hurt. It was the classic scenario of having an odd number of characters. There was a reason all the good sitcoms had an even number of leads; Friends, Boy Meets World, even Cheers' ensemble cast had the correct ratio. With their solid 7 members, someone would have to have a random partner, while everyone else got to work with a friend. Abed's face turned blank as he began to run all the possible scenarios in his head of all the possible pairings.

In past situations like this, Pierce would be the obvious choice to be left as the odd-man-out. However, his whole psyche had been so fragile since the death of his father, Abed wasn't sure his character could handle another blow. After last year's pill dependence, it was too soon for Pierce to have another breakdown.

In other situations, it would make sense for their leader to be left-out. After all, the lead character was always going off and meeting new guest stars, Professor Slater being the most memorable. However, this time Jeff wasn't right for the part. He was going through some major character growth, and needed the familiar interactions of his friends to keep him from attacking the table with an axe again.

Sighing internally, Abed realized he would have to sacrifice his own wants for the good of the show.

Looking around, he realized that during his inner monologue, everyone else had broken up with their pre-assigned lab partner. Troy was looking at him expectantly. Abed didn't want to let his friend down, but there really was no other way. He couldn't risk letting the timeline get even darker.

"Sorry Troy," he said stoically. "I can't be your lab partner. See you later." Before his best friend could get over his shock, Abed turned around to really see who was sitting across from him for the first time.

Anya was standing now, waiting for her lab partner to acknowledge her. It seemed really rude that the professor had announced the assignment thirty minutes ago, yet the man in front of her seemed too occupied with his friends to say anything.

Then again, she had only been human for less than a year, and she wasn't always the best at interpreting their actions.

He seemed smart, and kind of cute, in that non-threatening boyish way she liked. She hoped he knew what a terrarium was, because she sure didn't.

"Hi. I'm Abed," he said, finally turning around. He waved his hand briefly in a hello.

"Anya," she replied, moving her face into a smile.