The prompt: "Well. What I'd really like to see is: Jeff dealing with the fallout of (or being directly involved in) shenanigans, preferably of the AnTroBed variety."

All he had wanted was his jacket that he'd left there the night before. But of course, when did what he wanted ever matter? Instead, Jeff had approached apartment 303 only to find the door ajar. He had hesitated, unsure if he was about to walk in on something private or if he would end up being the creepy guy that hung around his friends' empty apartment. But really, was that even possible with this group? He shook his head and checked himself, moving firmly toward the door. When he pushed it open, he stopped short and his eyes lit on the most obvious thing:

A pool of red on the floor.

The obvious answer was that something had spilled. Jeff repeated that mantra over and over in his head. It was harder to believe when he noticed that there was a dark and dried red stain across the table edge. The window was open. There was a broken vase near it. Jeff took in all the little details and forced himself, through sheer will, not to hyperventilate.

"Fucking hell." The words slipped past his lips in a horrified whisper. "Annie!" His voice echoed in the still apartment. "Annie!" Getting no response yet again, Jeff decided to try a different tack. "Abed! Troy!" The apartment remained quiet but Jeff swore he'd heard a squeak. "Fuck. I have to call 911. Jesus Christ... What... Fuck." He couldn't quite put together a coherent sentence but he figured this would have to be enough for now. He was about to dial, unsure if he would even be able to hear the operator over the tinny roar of blood in his ears.

"Wait, Jeff, don't call the police." Startled, he nearly dropped his phone. Standing across the room, at the door to Troy's bedroom, was Abed. Immediately, he realized this wasn't entirely as it looked, so Jeff settled for glaring as he attempted to bring his heart rate somewhere along the lines of 'normal' and keep his anger in check.

"What the hell, Abed?" The question was ground out and he was gratified to see that Abed winced. He hoped it was in fear.

"I suppose this does require an explanation. Okay. So we're attempting a low-budget horror/thriller for my next film project. Annie agreed to help. We wanted to gauge how realistic it was so we set up the scene and decided to let someone discover it - we've been taping your reaction." Breathing deeply, Jeff could feel his nostrils flaring as he listened to Abed's explanation. It was a fairly cruel thing to do to an unsuspecting friend. He was sort of surprised that Annie would go along with it despite her unexpectedly macabre sense of horror.

"I can't believe you said my name last!" Troy's voice floated out past the bedroom door, accompanied by a grunted 'oof' seconds later. Jeff frowned.

"Speaking of Annie, where is she?" Abed's face smoothed out to such a degree that Jeff's hackles rose. "Abed. Where. Is. She?"

"Annie is currently unavailable." Stepping closer, moving carefully around the staged scene, Jeff did his best to intimidate Abed. It turned out to be mostly unnecessary because seconds later, Troy squawked.

"Abed! Help! She got free and I don't feel safe the way she's looking at me. I think she's going to eat meeeeeeeeeeee!" Jeff couldn't be entirely certain but he was 99% sure Troy was crying. He manhandled Abed to the side and entered Troy's room in time to see Annie flip Troy over with her legs, completely disregarding the fact that she was wear a flimsy skirt, and then climb on top of his back, holding him down by applying pressure to his neck. His arms and legs flailed but she ignored it as she worked the gag out of her mouth.

"Holy shit, Annie." She turned to look at him. "Are you okay?" She gave him a brief nod. He shook his head to try banishing the memory of so much of her bare skin from his mind. It didn't really work but he managed to set it aside for the moment anyway.

"Yeah, I'm fine. But these two," She jerked a thumb at Troy then Abed. "Are going to be in serious trouble for the foreseeable future." Jeff nodded in understanding.

"What exactly happened here?" She sighed.

"I agreed to help Abed with his movie, like he said, so we set up the scene and then he told me that for added authenticity, to properly see how audiences would react, we needed to see genuine horror and fear. Meaning they needed someone to believe the scene really happened. They tied me up when I protested. And they gagged me." She paused there and gave Troy a noogie as he wailed below her. "And then set up the cameras. As soon as you entered the apartment, Troy sat on me!" Jeff could see her knees tighten on Troy's ribs and he heard the nearly silent 'ack!' that Troy let escape. "I'm not very happy with them." He pursed his lips, considering the situation.

"Did they hurt you?" She shook her head slowly. "How long were you… Tied up for?"

"What time is it?" He checked his watch.

"About 5:45PM."

"It was maybe 30 minutes." She narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "Did they know you were coming?" Jeff nodded

"I mean, I mentioned I was going to try dropping by today around 5 or 6. I said I would text Abed if I couldn't make it." Annie frowned.

"I can't believe they did this." Jeff nodded in agreement and stretched his arm out, his palm open in a non-threatening manner.

"I know. They're jerks. I mean, how'd they know I'd even react?" Annie rolled her eyes and stared at him skeptically. He shifted uncomfortably. "Okay, so maybe they had an idea. How about you let Troy go, though?" She looked down at her roommate whose back she was currently sitting on and nodded grudgingly. Jeff extended his hand to her and she took it as she gingerly stood and stretched.

She turned and stared at Troy who lay on her bed, peering at her fearfully. She pointed a finger and took a deep breath.

"You. You are in deep trouble, mister. I am going to leave this apartment and cool off and the two of you are going to clean this place up and make a sincere apology to me. And Jeff! And then we are going to sit down and have a talk." She shook her head in disbelief. "I'm really disappointed in the two of you. Now, I don't know where Abed has disappeared to, but you find him, and you explain to him what I just said. Understood?" Troy had the decency to look properly chastised and gave a quiet nod. "Good." She grabbed a jacket and flounced out of her room.

Jeff stared after her for a minute before he realized she was about to leave and hurried to catch up.

"Seems like we've both had a pretty traumatic day thanks to those two goons." She sighed and nodded, leaning against him as they waited for the elevator. He tucked his arm around her waist and stared at the top of his head, considering his words carefully. "How about I buy you some ice cream? Might help you 'cool' off." She snorted and turned her head into the groove of his arm before eyeing him from beneath lowered lashes.

"I need to eat dinner first. I already skipped lunch today." He frowned at her, a question on his lips, before she cut him off. "I had an assignment due. We have groceries, Jeff, don't worry." Her eye roll was accompanied by a gentle smile so he was partially mollified.

"I worry about you. It's not normal to ignore necessities like, you know, eating for studying, Annie. You don't see any other mammals doing that, do you?" She punched him weakly.

"You're such a dork."

"Doesn't that mean whale penis?"

"Just buy me dinner, okay, Jeff? Leave the witty remarks to people like Ryan Seacrest who get paid for it." His jaw dropped in offense.

"I should make you eat at that vegan place Britta loves just for that."

"You hate that place, not me." He frowned.

"Damn." The elevator dinged and a second later, the doors slid open and the two entered, his arm still curled gently around her waist.