This is a crossover between Community and Parks and Rec – which is taking Community's time slot of death this fall – and these two are somehow the final survivors of NBC's last golden comedy era. Familiarity with both shows is necessary of course.
This is starting in mid December 2012, and presents an alternate end to Community S4 in which Jeff doesn't get the History 101 credit he needs to graduate early. It's also set in the middle of Parks S5, weeks after Leslie and Ben got engaged.
He marched to the Dean's office without thinking. He couldn't afford to think. The things he'd been thinking….well, they were too disturbing to keep thinking about. That's why he was getting this settled now.
"Where is it?" Jeff asked Dean Pelton, before he could make even one Dean pun or ab grab.
"Where's what? There's only so many it's I'm intimately familiar with," the Dean excused. But Jeff wasn't letting that go further.
"I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt. I'm going to assume you didn't forge my grades so I'd fail History 101," Jeff announced. "I'll even assume that Cornwallis didn't forge them either."
The phrase "We both know he's done it before," rang in back of Jeff's brain. But he ignored it – and ignored all the times he'd ignored it before.
"Wait, you failed?" the Dean announced. "You mean you're not….oh my, so many conflicting emotions…."
"Dean!" Jeff slammed Pelton's desk to snap him out of it.
"Well, that hardly helped my emotions, did it? Come on Jeffrey, use your head! Gotta start sometime, right?" Dean Pelton tried to joke, but instantly knew he was way off.
"I need one more credit to get out of here. And I'm not spending 15 weeks in another history class to get it," Jeff laid down. "You must have one credit I can get during winter break. You're gonna tell me how I get it, right now."
With nerves and other conflicting emotions, Dean Pelton started going through his records. "You know, it's called a winter break for a reason," the Dean prepared Jeff. "There's not gonna be any month-long classes. Not for a whole credit, anyway."
"Then find something else that's a credit's worth. You have to have one of those," Jeff demanded.
"I'm telling you, I don't see anything," the Dean stammered. "Maybe one thing, but…."
"Okay, let's go with the one thing," Jeff hooked himself on. "How does that get me out of here?"
"You wouldn't like it. No one would, so…." the Dean tried to scoff.
"Let's not talk about what I wouldn't like right now," Jeff said. "I would like to go anywhere other than Greendale this January. If there's something that'll make that happen, you'll tell me and I'll love it. Trust me."
"You'd have to go to Indiana!" Dean Pelton cried out, which shut Jeff up.
"Okay. Figures you'd be right about something now," Jeff deadpanned, which gave the Dean time to explain better.
"Look, I've been trying to hook Greendale up with other cities. Offer our full services to towns across America. Send our students out there to be interns," the Dean finally explained better. "But the only place interested was this small town in Indiana. Well, it was mostly this one City Council woman, really."
Jeff bit back any possible comments about the Dean and a woman and kept listening. "Anyway, she's letting us send two students to intern at her city government for the break. One slot filled up right away, but there's still one open. And it's technically worth one credit, so…."
"One full credit? And it'll go on my record before next semester? And I don't have to come back after that?" Jeff double checked.
"Well, if you want to put it that way," Dean Pelton shrugged. "But come on, Jeffrey, that's not you! You're not a small town guy, no matter what my farm dreams tell me! If you couldn't pass a History class in here, you're not gonna work at a small town government in Indiana for a month? Right?"
Unfortunately, this was a rare Dean Pelton sentence that made complete sense. Jeff thought about it a little more – then when he thought even deeper, he made himself stop thinking again. There was only one thought and goal that truly mattered right now. No matter what.
"I'll let you know in a month, and then I'm gone. Sign me up now, make it legally binding, just do it. Before I come to my senses," Jeff pressed.
"Hold on, this is happening so fast. I know there's at least one thing I forgot to tell you," the Dean tried to remember.
"And while you're thinking about that, my senses are coming back. Stop those bastards before they can breathe, now," Jeff made final.
Dean Pelton got himself under control to find the necessary paperwork, then got Jeff to sign it. When the formalities were finished, Jeff was about to give a curt thank you, and head off to lament his lot in life in private. At least until Annie barged in.
"Jeff? We gave you some time to cool off. That gets us a few minutes of your time now, okay?" Annie offered, then she noticed Jeff, the Dean and their paperwork. "Damn it, I told Troy this would happen!"
"Oh, that's it!" Dean Pelton suddenly remembered. "Annie! Turns out you'll have a partner in Indiana after all! Jeffrey took the last spot!"
Both Jeff and Annie were left speechless, for multiple reasons. Annie broke the silence, as quietly as possible, by mumbling, "I didn't tell him this…."
"Hold on. You're going to Indiana?" Jeff let sunk in. "You were leaving for the holidays, and you didn't tell us?"
"And how were you gonna tell us?" Annie shot back, but quickly backed off. "I mean….I just signed up a few days ago. I was gonna tell everyone after our grades came in….then yours came in and…."
"And now you're both leaving for Pawnee, Indiana together, for a whole month. Great, there's those conflicted emotions again," the Dean huffed. "Unless any of you want to change your mind."
Jeff had more than enough reasons to change his mind before Annie charged in. Now that he remembered them all and had some new ones, he honestly didn't know what he'd say.
In contrast, Annie had no reasons to reconsider before a few minutes ago. Now she was at a loss for words too. Yet Jeff found his first.
"No, I don't," he answered. "If this gets me out of Greendale next month, I don't care. I'm going."
Jeff knew he would get lectured by Annie for saying that stuff, and for all the various things it implied. But after a few seconds, he noticed the lecture wasn't coming. In fact, she wasn't even giving him her disapproving Jeff stare. She looked too….worried, somehow.
In a few ways, that was a big ironic laugh. Not that it mattered.
"You know what, I don't care, either," Annie said. Although it could have been a swipe at Jeff, his lack of caring and his need to leave everything behind now, it didn't sound that way. "If you want to go with me, you can go," she told him, despite sounding off in the middle.
However, she and Jeff both stayed steady when they told the group afterwards. They had a field day questioning Jeff, mocking and lecturing him, and feeling hurt that he still wanted to leave early. But aside from Troy and Abed asking about house rules while Annie was gone – and their disappointment that they still couldn't film in her room – her leaving didn't get as much attention.
It made sense, since Jeff was the bigger story. It probably made more sense to them that Annie would go, just for one more futile credit to make the valedictorian race look closer.
She'd let them think that – she'd certainly made it easy for them already. But hopefully, she wouldn't make it that easy for them anymore after she came back.
Unless Jeff ruined that too.
Of course, Shirley had to bring it up out loud when the rest of the group left the study room. "Annie? Are you sure you're okay with….your traveling buddy?" Shirley asked her.
"Of course I am," Annie answered too quickly. "A whole month with Jeff, in a nice small town, for a nice credit? How couldn't I be okay?" she barely convinced her.
"Annie, you drooled over the Dean when he acted like Jeff. In front of me," Shirley reminded. "You at least admitted you had a problem. That's the only reason I didn't blab to Jeff and make him stop your…..whatever you got once and for all. If you still can't do more than admit your problem….then maybe this isn't the healthiest thing for you."
"Don't you think I know that?" Annie erupted. "You don't know everything yet, you know!"
It didn't take long to realize that was the opposite of what Annie wanted to do. Luckily, she spoke up in time before Shirley could speak back. "I'm sorry, Shirley. I didn't want to mean that."
"Well, I guess that sounds half-good," Shirley conceded.
"I am sorry," Annie repeated. "And you're right. I didn't want to think about him on this trip. I didn't want to think about a lot of things…." she hinted. "But it doesn't make a difference now, does it?"
"I can still blab to Jeff. After I say some other things so he'll behave himself," Shirley offered. "Trust me, he won't think about taking his shirt off in that office when I'm done. You can apologize to the other ladies there later."
"You don't need to do that. But thanks," Annie said, keeping her fluster under control. "I still need to do this. Now more than ever. I've….I've just got to put this whole semester behind me. This is the best way to do it, Jeff or not."
"That'll get you to be No. 1 again? Good luck," Shirley tried to say playfully, yet with some warning attached.
"I hope it'll make me a lot of things again," Annie sighed. Before Shirley could question that further, Annie added, "You just enjoy being on top this Christmas, okay? It's a really good feeling. You earned every bit of it, and I hope your family is really proud of you."
"Yeah, both of them are," Shirley assured, then hugged Annie to show she'd miss her – and even refrained from offering to send a pastor to Pawnee. Annie would have tuned it out anyway, since she was too proud of showing some growth again before she left Greendale.
It sustained her until about two days later, when she and Jeff bid the group goodbye at the airport. After that, it was just her and Jeff together – as it would be for the next month – as they waited for their plane to board. There were no direct flights to Pawnee, so they'd have to fly to the neighboring town of Eagleton and get driven to their new home.
But first, they had to wait around at the gate, which they did in complete silence. Each of them both wanted to talk and really didn't want to talk, in equal measure – which made them relieved and sad.
Annie tried to get her mind off it first. To help her, she went into her purse and got something to reminded her why she was really here.
"Getting a head start on reading, eh?" Jeff asked before he could stop himself. "There's no letter grade in this thing, you know. You think you're training to get a credit plus?"
Jeff knew that was funny, but he knew he could have saved it after the ice thawed – or after he figured out why there was ice between them. Or why that was on his mind when he had other things to finally finish.
"You'd think that, wouldn't you?" Annie said, but it wasn't in a sarcastic or angry way. It was in a sad resignation kind of way. As Jeff let it sink in and began to regret it, Annie decided to admit, "I'm not doing this because of a credit, Jeff. I'm doing this because of her."
Jeff actually looked at what Annie was reading – a newspaper clipping with a picture of a short blonde woman taking an oath in some office. He vaguely connected the dots and guessed, "That's the councilwoman, right?"
"Her name is Leslie Knope," Annie educated him. "I knew about her long before this. When we were expelled, I read all kinds of news to keep my mind busy. Something had to, anyway. One day, I read about her."
"I guess I should ask what's newsworthy about her now," Jeff figured.
"Everything," Annie started to get lost in. "She was in a secret romance with her boss before she ran for City Council. But they broke up, then they got back together, and he gave up his job for her. Then when she lost her campaign managers, he and all her friends helped her take on this….dreamy dim bulb, and she won! It was like…."
"The Annie Edison special. Storybook romance and overachieving rolled into one," Jeff guessed.
"It's not just that," Annie corrected. "She's an overachiever, but she's actually made a real difference. She works all the time, and she still has the love of her life. She's pushy, but people would still go to the ends of the earth for her. And she had to choose between having love and a career….then she decided to have both. And she got both. And she figured out how to do it the right way."
Before Annie got any deeper into that, she skipped to the next part. "So when I found out the Dean was sending interns to Pawnee, I begged him to let me go. And I begged to work for her. And I got it. So I'm doing this to work for….a real inspiration. If only for a little while." She paused and dared to admit, "I really need to be inspired like that now."
"Because you're not No. 1 anymore?" Jeff guessed half-wrong – whether it was a relief or not.
"Because of a lot of things," Annie hoped to close it then and there. Somehow, it worked.
"So I'm working for another you, then?" Jeff brought the attention back to himself.
"I'm not there yet. Besides, you're not working for her, remember?" Annie said. "You were assigned to the Assistant City Manager. And his dumb rules kept Leslie and Ben apart, so you can't slack off with him. It'd serve him right, but you can't do it. And you can't lean on me to carry you. Hell, it even stopped working in Greendale."
Annie didn't mean to hit that nerve. Jeff was nowhere near ready to joke about that yet, and wouldn't be until he finally left Greendale. There was a time she could have needled and joked with him about anything – but that was further away from coming back now.
Yet while Jeff looked annoyed, he didn't follow with snide remarks of his own. Instead, he sighed and admitted, "Point taken. But if I'm gonna survive this, there's no point living in the past now. Especially the recent past."
He sure knew how to hit close to home without realizing it. "You're right, Jeff," Annie admitted out loud.
"I guess bothering you won't help either," Jeff went on. "This'll clearly be a lot more fun for you than me. But since someone should have fun here, I won't make it harder for you. If you want to live it up with your new role model, I won't get in your way."
"Well, it's not like you should stay totally out of my way," Annie offered, but regretted it a little. She was supposed to resist the urge to open doors with him, before she got worse. Then again, this was the first time he was opening doors since the convention.
"Probably not. I still need one friend there to keep me sane," Jeff confessed. "But I promise I'll try not to drive you insane. I can't say I'll succeed, but I'll try. You know how big that is for me."
"You're right, I do," Annie credited him, while trying not to revel in him calling her a friend. Even getting that much again was comforting – but she wouldn't let it be that comforting.
Nevertheless, she added, "But if you need real help, you know I'll do what I can for you. Without carrying you or neglecting my duties for Miss Knope, I mean," she set boundaries.
"It's a deal, Miss Edison," Jeff teased. While Annie tried not to get carried away, Jeff felt more carried away in a good way than he had in days. Maybe weeks, if he thought carefully.
But he got bailed out when they announced the flight to Eagleton was boarding. When their row was called, Jeff got up and said, "Well, there goes my last chance for a stay of execution. Might as well head for the guillotine."
As Annie finished rolling her eyes, it made a familiar word leave Jeff's mouth as he offered his hand. "Milady?"
It'd been so long since Jeff called her his lady. It'd been a while since Annie felt like any kind of lady, really. Yet she couldn't help but feel this wouldn't help her become a real lady again. So Annie took his hand and got up without showing any reaction.
Yet when she almost caught a flicker of concern on Jeff's face, she instinctively said "Milord" at last. She wondered if she should have meant to do that. But when she saw that long dormant, yet familiar, flicker of relief and mirth in Jeff's eyes, it didn't matter as much.
But both of them only indulged in it for a few moments, for their various reasons. At the least, the subsequent silence wasn't awkward as they got to the plane.
And when they took off, they could focus on their odyssey again – and their vastly different expectations.