Chase this Light
Because tonight, the world turned in me
Because right now, I don't dare to breathe
Oh, babe, I know it's alive
And somewhere for us to find tonight
Chase this light with me
-Chase this Light by Jimmy Eat World
Thud. Jeff awoke with a start. What the hell? There was another dull sound of something hitting his car. He looked around him, to see nobody around. He cracked the door and slowly exited his car, taking cautious steps. Looking around him he couldn't believe his eyes. Scattered throughout the courtyard were remnants of the fair the dean had earlier prattled on about. There was nobody to be seen though. Jeff headed towards the library to see if by chance the group was still there.
The library was deserted; there was nobody in sight, although paint was splattered on the walls. Jeff vaguely wondered if he was going to have to check out paint stained books for the rest of his college career. He glanced in the study room and saw Shirley gathering her stuff at the table. Jeff quickly entered, hoping to get answers to what was going on.
"Shirley?"
Shirley jumped at his voice but when she saw it was Jeff she smiled. "Oh, hi there Jeff," she greeted him casually, as if this was any other day.
Jeff looked at Shirley in disbelief. "What the hell happened?"
"Jeffrey, you really shouldn't talk like that," Shirley chided.
"Shirley," Jeff sighed impatiently.
"Paintball assassin started, that's what happened," she told him gravely.
"And this all happened?" He waved his hands at the paint covered walls.
"Well, when the prize was announced people went a little crazy."
"What's the prize?" Jeff couldn't imagine what it could possibly be.
"Priority registration. You have the first pick of classes. Everybody wants it and people started to turn on each other. Our little group even broke off into teams. I wanted it so I could schedule earlier classes to get home to my boys. But, I got shot by somebody in my marketing class. Apparently they didn't like brownies. At least that is what they yelled when they shot me."
Jeff noticed for the first time the purple splotch on her arm. Priority registration. That was an interesting thought. He could be guaranteed the classes he wanted. He wouldn't have to be stuck in a stupid poetry class for his English credit.
Shirley noticed the gleam that entered Jeff's eyes. "Do you want my gun and paintballs? I'm going home since I'm out." She laid her gun and the tubes of paintballs on the desks.
"Thanks Shirley."
"You're welcome Jeff." She headed out the door, but at the last minute turned around. "Be careful, a lot of the clubs are running in packs. You should try to team up with somebody. Running solo is dangerous while the glee club is still around."
"I will keep my eyes open. Have a goodnight Shirley."
"Good luck Jeff," Shirley called out as she left.
Jeff proceeded to check the ammo and loaded his gun. He knew he shouldn't stay in the study room. With the two entrances, he was vulnerable to attack. He needed to find a more secure place and he was going to need more paintballs. Shirley had only given him three rounds. For once his endless playing of Call of Duty might come in handy.
He eased the glass door open and peeked out in both directions. It looked clear. He ran down the hall quickly, turning the corner to head for the exit. A paint ball whizzed by his head and he glanced to see Leonard down the hallway from him. He retreated back around the corner and peeked out again to see Leonard crouching behind a library carrel. He knew the odds were fifty/fifty on this and he remembered what Shirley said about working with somebody.
"Leonard, it doesn't have to be like this," Jeff called out.
"What are you talking about Winger?"
"We could work together, form an alliance."
"Like Hell. Not after you took the last of the macaroni."
Jeff shook his head, still unsure of how Leonard knew that or why he remembered. He peeked out again and noticed that Leonard's legs were showing from behind the carrel. Jeff raised his gun and tried to steady his shot like he'd seen Jack Bauer do it. He took a shot and missed. Leonard swore and started to shoot blindly from his spot. Jeff took a deep breath and took another shot, this time hitting him.
"Damnit. You win this time Winger, but I'll get you someday."
Jeff didn't move from his spot until Leonard had left the hallway and he heard the door of the library open then close. Jeff stood up and looked around him once more. Jeff got lucky and found that Leonard had dropped his gun and paintballs once he had been hit. Jeff quickly scooped up the extra gun, tucking it behind him in the waistband of his pants. He pocketed the extra rounds.
He ran down the hallway, but turned the corner much more cautiously. He froze when he heard the door to the library open. He glanced around and saw Annie and Vaughn coming in. Vaughn was a few steps behind Annie who was sweeping her gun around the room quickly, scanning for people. Jeff smiled at seeing Annie battle ready. She had transformed her cardigan into a vest. Her hair was pulled back and she had her formidable face on. She looked sexy, he admitted to himself.
Jeff thought quickly. He wouldn't mind working with Annie, but he hated Vaughn and really could not stand the idea of having to team up with him. But he knew he was outnumbered and he had limited choices at this time.
"Annie!" Jeff called out, staying behind his corner just in case.
"Jeff? Is that you?" Annie replied.
"Yeah, can we talk?"
"Don't trust him, babe. He tried to break us up," Vaughn reminded Annie.
"I don't know. Are you going to shoot me?"
Jeff laughed. Only she would ask bluntly his intentions. "I promise I won't. Here I'm going to kick my gun out from behind the corner and I'll come out with my hands up."
"Okay then." Annie's voice still sounded a little unsure.
Jeff slid his gun out into view and took a slow step into view, his hands raised innocently. He knew he was taking a gamble, but he couldn't do this alone.
"I want to work together."
Annie eyed him but Vaughn spoke out immediately. "No way. We don't need you and your negative energy. You'll just turn on us."
Jeff glared at Vaughn. "You'll last longer with me around. Do you guys really think you two stand a chance against the other clubs? And what do you even need the priority registration for Vaughn? You are never in class. You just hang out on the lawn."
Vaughn bristled. "There's an underwater basket weaving class I really want to take next quarter but there is very limited space."
Annie kept quiet during the exchange, still eyeing Jeff. "I say we work together, Vaughn."
"Come on Annie. You are not seriously going to work with this guy. I thought you were supposed to be smart. He is just going to turn on you so he can win."
That's it, Jeff thought. He really did not like Vaughn's condescending tone and the fact he was criticizing Annie's intelligence. Without skipping a beat he pulled the gun from behind him and shot Vaughn square on in the forehead.
"Ouch!" Vaughn doubled over, grabbing at his head.
"Jeff!" Annie screeched, she turned her gun towards him and Jeff responded by turning his gun on her as well.
"Shoot him Annie," Vaughn ordered.
"We can still work together." Jeff kept his voice calm.
"Why should I trust you?" Annie asked in a voice that gave Jeff a little hope.
"You can't seriously be considering working with him after what he just did?" Vaughn whined.
"What's done is done," Jeff conceded. "You are alone now. We could take each other out right now or we could try for the prize together. Remember, we were unbeatable when we worked together for the debate."
Annie studied him, seriously.
"Annie do not listen to him. I don't want you working with him. If you do this we are through. You should just take yourself out of the game and come with me to go get some frozen yogurt."
Annie looked at him appalled. She lowered her gun and stared full on at Vaughn. "Just because you are not in the game I should give up?"
"Nobody even likes the classes you take so nobody else is going to sign up for them. You don't even need the priority registration."
Annie flared up, raising her gun. She shot him square on the chest. Vaughn backed up, shocked. "Honey bean, what are you doing?"
"I told you I needed this so I could get into the advanced Chemistry class that only has 15 spaces. I need the class to graduate early."
"Who needs to graduate early? You should just enjoy your time while you are here. Live and let live."
Annie gave Vaughn a couple more shots. "Get out of here."
Vaughn seemed to see something in her eyes that he didn't like because he didn't argue. He turned and darted from the library.
Jeff was a little scared as well seeing Annie like that. He really didn't want to anger her and have that wrath set on him. When she turned towards him with her gun aimed at him, he raised his hands in surrender.
"Okay, we can work together. But I swear if you turn on me before we are the final two I will never lend you my Spanish notes again," Annie threatened.
Jeff nodded seriously. "I wouldn't dare." And the truth was he wouldn't. He trusted Annie and he knew that with her by his side he actually may have a shot at being one of the final people in this. She obviously trusted him on some level and he knew that he wouldn't betray that trust until they were the final two. It briefly crossed his mind that if they were the final people in the game then he would have to shoot her and that thought made his insides clench. He didn't want to think about it right now. He would cross that bridge when he came to it.
"So, what's the plan?" Jeff asked, feeling that Annie had the upper hand.
"I don't know. I was coming here to research battle tactics," Annie replied, a little embarrassed.
"Is there a book about paintball assassin?" Jeff laughed.
Annie straightened up. "You never know. I was just going to do some research. Vaughn is a pacifist and I have zero combat skills."
"Well, you should be glad you paired up with me then. I happen to have logged hundreds of hours on first person shooter games and watch 24 religiously."
"Okay, then what do you suggest we do?" Annie obviously resigned herself to defer to Jeff's experience.
"We need a more secure location, preferably a room with only one exit. I say we grab supplies and hole ourselves up for a while. Let the clubs take each other out and thin out the numbers, that's when we move in and pick them off one by one."
"Sounds good to me. My English seminar classroom would probably work. It had only one door and it had no windows. I think it used to be a storage room actually that they converted to a classroom."
"Where is it?"
"It's in the student union building, just down the hallway from the bookstore."
"Great, we can grab provisions while we're there. Let's go then."
And just like that they fell into formation. Jeff led the way down the hallway and through the courtyard, while Annie got the rear, continually checking behind them to make sure nobody snuck up from behind. They were within 10 feet of the doors when paintballs started to zoom past their heads. They both dove into the bushes lining the building.
"I know that's you and Annie, Jeff," Britta yelled across the courtyard.
Jeff and Annie glanced at each other in shock. Jeff peered through the leaves trying to see where Britta was. He spotted a gun poking out from behind one of the fallen booths in the courtyard. He tapped Annie on the shoulder and pointed out the spot. Annie nodded and started to inch down the bush to get a better angle on the booth. Jeff held out his hand for her to wait. "Hold on for my signal," he whispered. In a louder voice he called out, "Who is with you?"
"How do you know I'm with anyone?"
"That was too many paintballs for one person. Who'd you rope in to work with you?"
"She didn't rope me in to work with her. She chose to work with me." Pierce's voice rang out clearly.
Jeff caught Annie's eye and gave the signal for Annie to be ready. "You know we could all work together."
"No way," Britta answered quickly. "I don't trust either of you."
"Come on Pierce. Wouldn't you rather be with the cool team?"
And on cue Pierce stood up. "I can join your team?"
Britta raised herself up a couple inches to try to yank Pierce down. Jeff nodded to Annie and they both leaned out from behind the bushes and took their shots. Both hit their targets.
"God Pierce, look what you did. I can't believe you were stupid enough to fall for that."
"Give it a rest Britta," Annie surprising defended Pierce as she stepped out from behind the bush. "You were stupid enough to try to save Pierce."
"I can't believe that you decided to put yourself in his league," Britta spoke to Annie, gesturing towards Jeff.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Jeff asked.
"Oh, like you are not going to betray her the first chance you get. You are going to use her and then just throw her away."
"Why does everybody keep saying that?" Jeff threw his arms up in exasperation.
"Hey now, if anybody is using anybody, I'm using Jeff."
"Yeah, I'm the one being used," Jeff added on.
Britta rolled her eyes. "Yeah, whatever. Let's go Pierce."
Britta turned and Pierce followed. "Do you think you can introduce me to some of your lesbian friends," was the last thing Annie and Jeff heard before they were out of ear shot.
"Let's get inside." Jeff led the way through the doors and into the deserted cafeteria. The place was a mess. Tables were overturned and most of the vending machines had been broken into. Jeff reached into one machine and grabbed the couple of packages of Pop Tarts that were remaining. One of the soda machines had been opened somehow and he snatched two bottles of water.
Annie took the lead down the hallway. She stopped at a door and tried the knob. It was unlocked. She cracked the door and peeked inside. The lights were off. She bit the bullet and flipped the switch and jumped into the room with her gun at the ready. The room was empty. Jeff followed her in the room quickly and he shut the door behind him, placing a chair under the knob so nobody could get in.
Jeff looked around him. The room would be a pleasant place to have a class if it wasn't so small and had no windows. The room was packed with comfy chairs and the industrial bench/couches that the library had. He took a mental note to take a seminar class sometime so he could in a comfy chair for class rather than too small desks.
"So, I say we hunker down here for a couple hours and hope some of the other teams take each other out. "
Annie agreed and set about taking off her vest and setting her guns down. She then curled up in one of the chairs, leaning her head on the arm rest. Out of instinct Jeff raised his arms and took off his sweater. He handed the shirt to her before taking the seat next to her, letting his limbs extend their full length and leaning his head back and closing his eyes.
"Thanks," Annie murmured, pulling the sweater over her. It was about 10 sizes to big, but it was warm and smelled like Jeff. She raised one of her sleeves to her face and took a deep breath. Jeff smelled like soap and something else she couldn't place. It was soothing.
They sat in silence for a few minutes before Annie spoke out. "Why did you shoot Vaughn?"
Jeff looked over at Annie, which was a mistake. His stomach did the weird clenching thing again when he saw Annie enveloped in his sweater. She didn't look like post-apocolyptic Annie anymore, which had been hot but this was better. She looked softer and natural. He blamed her catching him by surprise by answering honestly. "Because he was insulting you and I don't like him. You are too good for him. I've always thought it and it was cathartic to be able to shoot him."
"I like him. He's nice to me, Jeff. You shouldn't have done that. I can take care of myself. He's a good person."
Something in her tone made Jeff's eyes narrow. "And I'm not? Is that what you are implying?"
"Come on Jeff, you did shoot him."
"Because he was being a douche to you. I was protecting you. Why can't you see that? He is not somebody you should be with. You should be with someone who will actually listen to you when you talk about your classes. Someone who won't ask you to give up on a game because he is out. You should be with someone better and that is why I shot him."
"That doesn't make you a good person."
Annie's eyes bore into him and he wanted her approval, just like on family day. "But I'm a better person. You are so obsessed with making me do things I normally wouldn't do. I have changed."
Annie stood up, her hands on her hips. "But you wouldn't normally do those things. I think that the lawyer version of you, isn't the real you. That's been what I've been trying to show you. You can be a good person because you are one. I see it every time you spend time with me. I feel like I see the real Jeff Winger. I see the real Jeff when he tries to prevent us from changing Abed or telling Pierce about his horrible step-daughter. But for some reason with others you revert to lawyer Jeff. One of those versions of you is the real you. I want to believe it's the kind Jeff, but maybe I'm wrong."
Jeff sat up straighter and silently considered Annie. "You know it scares me to death that you see all of that. Usually the others are too distracted to notice. I have a reputation that needs to be maintained, but maybe I care more about you guys than I let on…maybe I care more about you and that's why I shot Vaughn."
Annie didn't hesitate, much like the day of the debate. She took a confident step forward and leaned down and kissed Jeff. When he brought his hands up to hold her face in place, Annie felt something settle within her. She took another step forward, pushing Jeff back and climbing into his lap, all the while not breaking the kiss.
"So what do we do now?" Annie whispered in between kisses to Jeff's bare chest.
Jeff tried to keep his mind clear and focusing on her words, but it was hard when naked Annie was lying on top of him after pretty much the best sex he had ever had. He never would have guessed it out of quiet, little Annie. The couch was uncomfortable for his too tall frame, but he would never move as long as she kept doing that thing with her tongue. He shook his head. She had asked him a question. What was it again? "Um, well, I was thinking we would win at this game."
Annie sighed, stopping to lean her chin on his chest and to look at him. "You know that's not what I meant."
"It's unfair to ask me questions while you're naked. It's very distracting," Jeff noted matter-of-factly.
"I had no idea." Annie made a move to get off him. "Maybe I should get some clothes on because I want to have this conversation."
"No," Jeff whined. "I'll talk. Just stay naked."
Annie laughed, lying back down on Jeff. "So, what happens now? Was this a one time thing for you?"
Jeff hated the uncertainty in her voice. He remembered Britta telling him that the one time she had sex, her gay boyfriend had cried afterwards. He felt bad because she probably didn't know how amazing she was. "God no. I was thinking we could do this on a regular basis."
"Really?" Annie's face lit up.
"Oh yeah. I don't think I would have it any other way."
Annie was silent for a moment before raising her head to look at Jeff more levelly. "On one condition."
Jeff raised his eyebrows. "Nobody said anything about conditions."
"I want to go out with you. I am not some girl who just sleeps around with guys. I date them and I want to date you."
Jeff remembered how when Slater and he had the conversation about labels, he had freaked out. With Annie though, he just felt content, like that was the obvious next step. "So sex whenever I want in exchange for taking you out to dinner every now and again."
Annie rolled her eyes, although there was a little person inside her doing back flips because that was a yes from Jeff Winger. "I wouldn't say unlimited. And I'm going to say right now you are not going to get me to skip class for some tryst in a janitors closet."
"You say that now," Jeff replied. "I have powers of seduction that you don't know about yet."
Annie giggled and layed her head on his chest, taking a deep breath. It was the same Jeff smell from the shirt, but in a more concentrated form. It calmed her nerves and she knew that she would never need pills again to refocus. She would just ask to smell Jeff. Ok, that would be weird so maybe she wouldn't ask. She could just hug him or something instead.
They stayed like that for a while, both on the verge of drifting off to sleep when they heard noises coming from the hallway. It was two voices rapping in Spanish. Annie and Jeff jolted knowing who it was. They scrambled to get their clothes on as quickly as possible and grabbed their guns. They positioned themselves at the door, Jeff taking the handle to go first out into the hallway. He jumped out with Annie following quickly after him. The two stood side by side, guns raised, facing Abed and Troy.
"So you two have made it this far. I've been wondering since we have seen no sign of you all day," Abed said.
"Are you two the last ones," Jeff asked, curious.
"Yes, we took out the Glee club by using our rap to distract them. We used their own trick on themselves and they caved."
"So now it's just the four us. What are going to do?" Annie questioned, looking at each person one at a time.
Breaking the silence was maniacal laughter. "You're all going to die!" Chang called out from the end of the hallway where he was standing in a beige suit with an ostentatious paint ball gun in hand.
"You're not even a student!" Troy yelled, outraged.
"Critical media literacy and politics of gender, beeyotch!" Chang waved his registration for proof.
The rest happened quickly. Chang raised his gun and started to fire upon the group in the hallway. Without skipping a beat both Jeff and Troy stepped in front of their respective partners, taking aim at Chang. There was a few seconds of constant shooting before everybody finished off their rounds. Everybody paused and looked down to look at their clothes. Annie and Abed were the only ones without paint on their bodies.
"Damnit," Chang muttered before stalking off.
Abed and Annie looked at each other and then the people who protected them. Then surprising everybody Abed quickly reloaded his gun and then pointed his gun down at his foot and fired.
"What?" Jeff, Annie, and Troy yelled at the same time.
"It's simple really. I was only playing this game for the sake of playing the game. If I won I was going to give my registration to Shirley because I heard her saying she wanted to use it to schedule her classes earlier to see her children. But, I don't mind Annie having it either. She probably has important classes she has to take."
Annie threw her arms around Abed, giving him a tight hug. "Thanks Abed."
Troy and Jeff cleared their throat. "Maybe we should go tell the dean you were victorious," Jeff suggested, not wanting Annie's arms around anybody but him.
So, the four of them headed to the dean's office to report the end of the game.
Jeff turned the corner of the library the next day, feeling happy that he didn't have to worry about shooters every time he went down a new hallway. He saw familiar brown hair in front of him heading to the study room. He jogged to catch up to her. "Hey."
"Hi there Jeff." Annie smiled at him shyly. After going home, taking a shower, and sneaking in a cat nap, she had a hard time believing that what happened with Jeff was real. Especially once everything went to normal, she didn't know if Jeff would still want to date her.
He knew she was unsure about last night, he was just hoping she wasn't having second thoughts. Specifically about the whole sex thing. He wasn't going to lie. He couldn't sleep once he got home because every time he shut his eyes he saw naked Annie on top of him.
"So, I was thinking if you were free tonight we could go out to dinner."
She turned her head sharply to looking at Jeff. "Dinner? Tonight."
"I believe that was your stipulation for as much a sex as I want. We had to go out on dates."
"I said nothing about all of the sex you wanted," Annie laughed.
"But, dinner?" Jeff looked at her hopefully. "And maybe we could go back to my place for a little while and hang out there."
Annie blushed. "I'll tell my parents I won't be home tonight."
They cut off their conversation though as they walked into the study room. The rest of the group was assembled around the table. They started to cheer for Annie.
Annie pulled out her registration form but handed it to Shirley. Shirley looked at her in shock. "Abed mentioned that you wanted to use priority registration to get home to kids earlier. That seems nobler than my goal to graduate early."
"Are you sure Annie?" Tears were pooling in her eyes, unable to believe that Annie would give up early registration for her.
"Yeah, for the first time being her for four year doesn't sound so horrible." She met Jeff's eyes, a serene smile playing on her lips.
A/N: So this was rushed to get this up by the deadline. The ending is rushed and I wanted a little more Chang but I ran out of time. I am sorry for the typos, I just had enough time to read through it once. I hope you enjoyed and please review. I enjoy all feedback.