Remedial Chaos Theory: Extra Credit
Author: Palgrave
Fandom: Community
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Dan Harmon created it, Chris McKenna inspired it, NBC and Sony Pictures own it, and I have a dazzling smile.
Author's Notes: I feel like writing something longer, but haven't quite summoned up the nerve to break out of my short-fic one-off comfort zone yet. This is a bit of a compromise. Feedback and constructive criticism, as ever, welcome and gratefully received. Enjoy!
Summary: So, there's a Prime Timeline and a Darkest Timeline. But what about the other timelines?
Two
It's a bit of a surprise to Annie when, just before she leaves the party, Troy wraps her in a big bear hug and insistently demands that she be safe when she goes home. A nice surprise, but a surprise nonetheless.
He doesn't let go of her until she promises him she'll be careful, and as she turns to go down the corridor she misses the worried, conflicted glance he shoots at her back as he closes the door.
Troy doesn't mention the gun until everyone's gone home and he and Abed are tidying up, and by 'tidying up', they actually mean 'building a blanket fort'.
"Abed," Troy says, "Annie carries a gun with her."
Abed nods.
"You knew?"
"No, but I suspected. It fits in with her archetype. She's the buttoned-up nice girl who you shouldn't mess with because she's secretly kind of badass. And a little bit crazy. She's kind of like Willow on Buffy, but with no magic and less lesbianism."
"I suppose."
"Plus, she does live in kind of a crappy neighborhood."
"I know." Troy hugged a pillow closer to him and frowned. "I tried talking about it with Jeff, but he just got a drink and hit his head on the fan. That doesn't seem very useful. But she really needs to get out of that apartment. "
"I know what you mean. Willow eventually went on a crazy rampage and tried to destroy the whole world. And while that last bit's admittedly less of an likelihood in Annie's case, it's still a Ms. 45 situation waiting to happen at the very least."
"I don't want Annie to go on a crazy rampage," Troy moans. "Or to destroy the world. Both of those would suck. What are we gonna do, Abed?"
Abed thinks for a minute.
"I have a proposal," he eventually says. "It's a plot development I've been considering for a while now, actually. I think if we play our cards right, we can solve Annie's situation and increase the dramatic complexity around here as well."
Troy listens.
After full rehearsals, they decide to both go to Annie's apartment with their proposal two nights later. Partly because they agree both of them would stand a better chance of convincing her than just the one, partly because the equipment for their proposal is quite unwieldy for just one person, and partly because neither of them wants to encounter the creepy guy in the stained jeans who seems to live in her corridor by themselves.
She's surprised to see them. "Troy? Abed? What are you..."
They squeeze past her into her apartment and stand at either side of her, looking down, with their most serious cop faces on, as they practiced earlier. Abed suggested that they do a round of Law & Order in the Dreamatorium before they came here to make themselves even more convincing. It does mean that Annie has to keep snapping her head back and forward like she's watching a tennis match to follow the conversation, however, but they decided that the eventual benefits would outweigh the minor ache in her neck she was likely to receive as a result.
"We know about the gun, Annie," Troy begins.
"It's not safe for you here, Annie, "Abed adds.
"We think you should move out of this apartment, Annie."
"We want you to move in with us, Annie."
"We're not going to take no for an answer, Annie."
At this last part, Annie's face lights up and she bounces on her heels excitedly, clapping her hands together. It's possible that her eyes get a bit wet and shiny.
"You guys!" She squeals "I... I don't even... yes! Of course! I'd love to!"
Both Troy and Abed blink unanimously.
"Oh," Troy says, a little uncertainly.
Annie's face scrunches up in confusion. "What?"
"Well, we weren't actually expecting you to agree so quickly," Abed explains. "Our proposal wasn't quite finished."
"Yeah, we kind of had a whole... thing worked out."
"Hence the garbage bags."
After a few moments, they decide to just show her the whole proposal anyway. After all, it involves shadow-puppets, so everyone wins.
"Wait," Troy says eventually, "Less lesbianism?!"