A/N: This was written one weekend as a complete joke. EllasDogs and I were talking about our favorite characters and how we tend to see them in the best light possible, always making them fantastic, wonderful and great. We were talking about how funny it would be if sitcom Jack ran into exaggerated and ridiculous versions of our two favorite characters, Janet and Larry...thus, this stupid story was born. Warning, it is VERY silly. I hope it makes someone somewhere laugh and smile.
This story has nothing to do with my current Larry/Terri canon, it's just a piece of pure fluffy, corny cheese. And speaking of that, yes, YES I will finish my Larry/Terri stories...I am hoping to finish up this upcoming April. I meant to post something a little while back, at the beginning of the New Year, but have been struggling with the worst case of writer's block I've had since starting this journey with fanfiction, ever since mid December. It's the weirdest thing...I know exactly what I want to write, am incredibly excited to do so...but then I have the hardest time actually doing it. Kind of scary, really. But I WILL finish, no matter what. I am not giving up this easily. I guess a part of me wanted to tackle something like this to get my creative spark on fire again, to remove whatever mental block that is holding me back at the moment.
Looking like a rumpled butterfly, Jack exited his bedroom and yawned sleepily. He was on autopilot, determined to make it to the kitchen in order to make some coffee before he fell over.
His journey to the kitchen was interrupted by Janet bursting into the apartment. He jumped at the sudden movement because it had scared the crap out of him. As far as he knew, Janet was still asleep. His jaw dropped when he noticed a cape billowing behind her as she marched into the apartment. He rubbed his eyes, thinking that they were still too tired to focus and that he must've been seeing things.
"Hi, Jack!" Janet greeted him cheerfully. "You would not believe the day I had today!"
The day she had today? The day was just getting started. And what was with the cape? It wasn't Halloween yet. Through his confusion, he noticed she was carrying a large box in with her. Normally, the petite girl would find an activity like this to be strenuous, but she was breezing into the apartment with this box as if it was lighter than air.
"You shouldn't be carrying something that heavy by yourself!" Jack finally blurted out.
"Oh, it's no problem!" Janet reassured him, gingerly setting the box down onto the floor. "Couldn't just leave these little guys up there in that tree!"
Jack curiously peered down into the box and saw that there were five plump and active puppies happily squirming around in there. So many things whirled through his mind. What was Janet doing up this early? Had she really saved puppies from a tree? How did the little ones even get up into a tree to begin with? Nothing was making any sense. He just stared at Janet dumbly.
"Would you believe that I saved these precious babies after I had saved a poor woman from being mugged, but before I helped an elderly gentleman cross the street? It was a very productive day today!" Janet smiled, unfazed by Jack's total confusion.
"You what? But how? Why? I don't understand..." Jack was in awe. He always knew that Janet was pretty special and amazing and was easy on the eyes as well. He didn't, however, know that he was living with a real life superhero.
"Oh, Jack!" Janet laughed as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. She reached up in order to unfasten her cape. "You're so funny!"
Before Jack could stammer out any more questions, there was a knock on the door. In a daze, Jack went to go answer it but then was stopped by Janet. She tensed, seemingly on high alert all of a sudden. She bravely stepped in front of him and faced the door.
"Just a minute, Jack." Janet warned him. Her beautiful, large brown eyes narrowed in concentration as she stared at, no, through the door.
"Janet?" Jack whispered. "What are you doing?"
Janet apparently found the answers she was seeking. Her expression relaxed once again into a lovely smile.
"It's just Larry. And I think he has something for you...a little surprise." Janet winked playfully at Jack, causing his heart to skip a beat. He had to fight through his conflicted feelings as he made his way (wobbly legged) over to the door. Jack hoped that a visit from his friend Larry would bring him back down to earth, as he currently felt like he was living in a Twilight Zone episode. Unfortunately, all hopes of normalcy were dashed once Jack opened the door for his best friend. He did a double take at what he saw.
"You have got to be kidding me..." Jack groaned.
Standing there with a beatific smile on his face, was his best friend Larry Dallas. He was literally glowing. To top it all off, he had a large shimmering, golden halo above his head.
"Hello, Jack! I'm so happy to see you!" Larry greeted him warmly. He then reached down and grasped at one of Jack's hands. Bringing his hand up, Larry then pressed a massive wad of cash into the palm of his hand. "I've come to pay you back everything I've ever borrowed from you, and then some."
Jack was entirely too weirded out to enjoy the experience, however. Larry then reached forward and pulled Jack into a warm embrace.
"You're the best friend any guy could ever have and I just love you so much!" Larry giggled, giving him a parting kiss on the cheek. As Jack stood gaping like a fish out of water, Larry caught sight of Janet, who had just taken off her cape.
"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't know you were getting undressed. I'll give you some privacy." Larry apologized to Janet. He covered his eyes with his hands and then he turned around with his back to Jack and Janet. When he did so, Jack noticed that he had wings with snow white feathers sprouting out from his shoulder blades and stretching down to his lower back. They were currently tucked in and not unfurled at the moment. Jack found himself wondering, through his mind numbing shock, what Larry's wing span would be. Jack mentally slapped himself for this thought as soon as it entered his mind.
"Don't worry about it, Larry. It's just my cape!" Janet laughed, folding it and draping it neatly over the back of the couch. "Why don't you come on in?"
"Gee, I'd hate to impose..." Larry turned back around to face his friends. Jack had heard him say this sort of thing many times in a smarmy kind of way, only this time, shockingly, Larry was being serious.
"Nonsense! Jack was just about to make a pot of coffee." Janet smiled.
Jack gasped. He'd realized in all of the excitement of this morning that he'd completely forgotten to make the coffee. Also, how did Janet know this?
"Well, if you're sure..." Larry finally accepted.
"Wait a minute, honey...let me help you get through the door..." Janet rushed forward and reached up, angling Larry's halo so that it was crooked on his head so that he it would fit through the doorway. Once Larry stepped through the doorway, she straightened it out again. The two of them grinned at each other, looking like creepy all too perfect twins.
"Thank you, Janet! I love you so much!" Larry hugged her, before pulling back to smile at her. "You're the best."
"No, you are!" Janet insisted.
"You are." Larry laughed.
"I'm pretty sure you're the best." Janet countered.
"Nope. You are." Larry winked at her.
The two of them laughed like this was the funniest thing in the world as Jack watched them in shock. Magically, two coffee mugs appeared in Janet's hands. How did she do that?
"Shall we sit?" Janet asked him, handing Larry his cup of coffee.
"Yes, we shall!" Larry lightly tapped his coffee mug against hers in a cheers motion, beaming happily.
The two friends linked arms and sat down on the couch together.
"Jack, honey? Would you like to join us? There's a cup of coffee for you here too...just how you like it." Janet called to him.
Jack crept over to the couch and carefully sat next to his friends. Sure enough, his favorite mug was waiting for him on the coffee table. Seriously, how did Janet do that? Jack sipped nervously from his coffee cup as Larry and Janet chatted like two friends who had been separated for years. The puppies that Janet had rescued found their way out of the box and had made their way over to Janet and Larry, causing the two of them to kiss and cuddle the little fur-balls in between sips of coffee. It was all too sickeningly sweet. Jack didn't know what happened, but he just wanted his imperfect friends back. This was too much of a good thing.
"What just happened here?" Jack muttered into his coffee mug, his eyes huge and staring off into space. "Who are you people?"
"What do you mean, Jack?" Janet wondered.
"I feel like I've gone nuts. Either that or I'm dreaming. Yes, that's it...I'm dreaming and I've just got to wake up..." Jack talked to himself, trying to convince himself to snap out of it.
"Jack, I think I know just what you need..." Larry placed a comforting hand on his knee. Then he looked at Jack earnestly, speaking sincerely. "I think you should come to church with me."
Jack choked on his coffee in surprise. This was just too much. He slammed his coffee mug down onto the table and sprang to his feet, unable to stand it any longer.
"That's it! I am going back to sleep! And when I wake up from this ridiculous dream that I'm having, I want YOU TWO..." Jack pointed wildly to his two friends as if they were imposters. "...to be completely back to normal! Understand?!"
Larry and Janet cast each other worried looks, concerned for their friend.
"Why is he acting so strangely?" Larry whispered to her, his wings fluttering nervously.
"I haven't the slightest idea." Janet shook her head.
Jack turned and stomped over to his bedroom, walking in and slamming the door shut behind him.
Jack tossed and turned through a few hours of restless sleep. Other than the odd scenario with the wonder woman cape and the halo and wings, Jack had mostly a black and dreamless sleep. When he couldn't stand to be in bed any longer he finally got up and tip toed over to the bedroom door, cracking it open to he could peek outside into the apartment.
"Hello?" He called timidly. "Anybody there?"
He had no clue what time it was. As he crept out into the living room area, he could see that the coffee mugs no longer sat on the coffee table. He breathed a sigh of relief, happy that he was no longer hallucinating or dreaming or doing what ever the hell he had been doing before.
"Maybe I'll be okay..." Jack said quietly to himself. He really didn't want to have to go to a mental hospital.
A knock on the door sounded, and Jack jumped out of his skin.
"Jack?" Janet's voice called from the other side of the door, muffled and obviously struggling with something.
Jack's pulse quickened at her voice. He wasn't prepared to face any more craziness.
"Can you come here and help me with these groceries, please?" Janet asked.
A slow smile came to Jack's face and the nervous tension he'd been holding in his shoulders relaxed slightly. It sounded like a perfectly normal question. He opened the door and was immediately greeted by two large, brown paper bags full of groceries being shoved into his arms.
"Oh, thank you so much, Jack!" Janet huffed out in relief as she staggered into the apartment under the weight of the load she was still carrying. "You have no idea how hard it was getting up the stairs!"
The two roommates got everything into the kitchen and began to unload the bags and had started to put everything away. Jack kept sneaking glances her way, overjoyed that it seemed that he had gotten his friend back...no cape, no superpowers...just a decent, normal girl who works in a flower shop. Eventually Janet had to speak up, however, because she felt Jack's eyes on her.
"What's the matter? Why do you keep staring at me?" Janet questioned him suspiciously.
"Oh, um..." Jack hesitated, embarrassed he had been caught. "Well, I had this dream about you..."
"Jack Tripper, if you're going to tell me about one of your dirty dreams again..." Janet warned.
"No, no...it wasn't that kind of dream!" Jack tried to calm her down. "It was the stupidest dream I'd ever had in my life. It's almost too stupid to talk about..."
"Really?" Janet laughed lightly. "Sounds fun! I'd love to hear it!"
"No, you wouldn't. You'll think I'm crazy..." Jack started to blush with embarrassment. "Larry was in it too. You guys...well, let's just say that you guys weren't acting like yourselves at all."
Before Janet could respond, Larry's infamous knock sounded on the door.
"Speaking of Larry..." Jack chuckled nervously to himself. He could feel a bit of nervous tension coming back into his spirit as he had to face his best friend. He'd give anything to see Larry back to normal again.
Jack and Janet finished putting away the very last of the groceries before answering the door.
"Hey, Jacko!" Larry greeted him cheerfully. "What do you say to me taking you and Janet out to the Regal Beagle tonight?"
"But you don't have any money..." Jack stated flatly. Why was Larry still being strangely nice? A part of Jack knew that it was nothing to be too suspicious over. Ever since Chrissy had moved back home over two weeks ago, he, Janet and Larry had been doing things as a group to fill the hole left by the blonde's absence and Larry's offer was not out of the ordinary these days.
"I will once you lend me 50 bucks!" Larry laughed jokingly, his eyes glittering with mischief.
Jack could feel his initial uneasiness melting away at the normal and very Larry-like statement. He gladly handed Larry over the money, almost overjoyed to be doing so. Larry and Janet started to leave for the Regal Beagle, but then Janet stopped and turned to address her roommate, confusion marring her delicate features as Jack made no attempt to leave with them.
"Aren't you coming with us?" Janet questioned him.
"Yeah, you look like you could use a strong drink." Larry commented, remembering how nervous and on edge Jack seemed when he'd answered the door.
"Nah, you guys go ahead. I think I'm just going to hang out here." Jack replied, a soft smile on his face. He was so glad that everything was back to normal.
"Well, Janet!" Larry grinned teasingly. "It looks like it's just you and me! Sounds pretty romantic, am I right?"
"Wrong!" Janet glared at him. The fierceness in her gaze was enough to make Larry cringe a little bit, laughing at her indignation.
"Okay then!" Larry shrugged, knowing when to back off. "See ya, Jack!"
"Bye, Jack!" Janet waved to him.
"You guys have fun." Jack nodded to them as they left the apartment and shut the door. Jack stood there for a moment, laughing at himself and at how upset he'd gotten over his silly dream. At least it was just a dream.
He made his way over to the couch and sank down into the cushions.
"Thank God that's over!" He sighed in relief.
Suddenly, the sound of an audience bursting into uproarious laughter, seemingly to what he'd just said, exploded inside of the apartment. It sounded as if there was a studio audience right there in his living room, totally unseen. Jack jumped a mile off of the couch and landed heavily on the floor at the shock of the noise. He scrambled to pull himself up into a sitting position, looking frantically all over for the source of the noise as his nerves were shaken all over again.
"What the Hell?!" Jack wailed.
THE END...OR IS IT?!
