Chapter Ten:
"How does it work?" Alex held the golden pocket watch in his hand that would not open.
Alexys held a separate one and banged it against her night stand, "Open, open."
"I don't think it'll work like that?" Alex chuckled.
Together they turned over and examined the device in search of an opening the way the Doctor had found one. Alexys furrowed her brows, "What did he say? This was an 'attempt at Time Lord Technology'?"
"Yeah, and that it could have to do with the Time Fissures," Alex added, holding it up in a shaft of light that came in through the window.
"We should think of a code name for this," Alexys dropped it into the drawer of her nightstand.
"Like what?" Alex lowered it into his lap to look at his friend.
"Uhhh…what about the golden compass like His Dark Material?"
"Did you even watch that?" he wondered.
"No, but I know Lin-Manuel Miranda is in it," she shrugged sheepishly.
Alex considered the potential for the nickname, "I don't know but I can't think of anything else. I guess that's fine."
"Great!" she smiled but it faltered slowly, "I promised Nick we'd get rid of all of them."
"Well…we pretty much have," Alex gestured toward the small bag on the bed that only held about ten, "We collected what? Three hundred?"
"At least!" Alexys huffed.
"Ten is nothing compared to it. Plus, we need to figure out where they came from and how they work," he continued to inspect the one in his hand.
"It's interesting…now that we have them side by side…it looks almost exactly like the ones we have for the Doctors except it's gold. It's almost like whoever made them wanted it to be so similar."
Alexys pulled out one of the silver fob watches on her person, "Maybe we should leave these here. Nick was adamant about getting the Dean to do searches on the students to make sure no one else held onto them. If we get caught with these and they get destroyed? I don't want to think of what that could mean."
"Where do we keep them though? I don't want just anyone to have access to them. I especially don't want Salem to think they're toys," Alex gestured toward Salem who sat on the ground stretching under the morning sun.
"He would neeeeeever," Alexys scoffed, "I have a good cat. There's no way he would do something like that."
"Still," Alex said the word in a serious tone.
"Alright…" Alexys stood from her bed to pick up Salem and place him out into the hall before shutting her door. "Come on precious, wonderful, incredible, beautiful, stunning, handsome, brilliant creature of mine."
"Do you know whe—?"
Alexys placed her finger to her lips as she motioned toward under the bed. Alex nodded in understanding and stood himself. She mouthed to him, "Make some noise."
"Uhhh…so I'm planning on a surprise for Luke. I just don't know where or when. He's been so sweet to me and I feel like I put him in danger last night. He was really spooked about it. I don't like feeling like I upset him so I want to make it up to him."
"What were you thinking of doing?" Alexys asked as she casually lifted one of the floorboards beneath her bed.
"I was thinking of baking something—"
"Browkies!" Alexys shouted eagerly, "I think you should make browkies."
Alex chuckled, "Okay, I'll put that on the list. I was thinking of making a rainbow challah too. Maybe cookies? But then I was thinking of cooking for him. Making dinner for us and having a nice night in."
Alexys took the bag on the bed and zipped it up before putting it inside the secret compartment, "Why not both? I'm helping Hilda bake something for the staff tonight anyway. We could all work together to bake and tomorrow you could cook dinner and already have dessert ready."
"The kitchen will be so full though," Alex handed over the two silver watches in his pocket.
"Come on, you don't want to have some bonding time with me, your cousin, and your super rad Aunties?" Alexys grabbed two small velvet pouches from her nightstand that held her crystals. She dumped them out to put the silver fob watches inside before putting them in the hole.
"That would be fun…Hilda does seem so…"
"Motherly?" Alexys answered for him, showing that his pouch was the black one and her pouch was the blue.
"Yeah, it's really disarming how welcoming she is. The longer we're here and the kinder she is…I don't know. It's bringing some emotions to the surface," he made that face he did when he was able to admit that he was in pain yet unable to express the pain and so had a slight laugh instead.
Alexys placed the two pouches deep inside the hole away from the back of compasses before shutting it into place, "I'm sorry. I'm really trying hard not to think about them and our relationship with them. I'm just sort of accepting it like they're props. Part of me thinks that in this alternate universe…I don't know. Maybe when we go back to our own universe we can bring our boys with us? I guess I'm just trying not to get too emotionally invested."
"But you're telling me to bake with you guys so that I can!" Alex huffed.
Laughter escaped Alexys as she shook her head, "No! I—Uh! Just want you to have fun…with me…and our make believe Aunt! I'm sorry!"
"It's fine, it's fine," Alex replied with fake tears, "But I guess I could use some help baking everything and Aunt Hilda is in charge of the bake sale."
"Speaking of which! I think I smell muffins," Alexys jumped from the bed.
In the kitchen Zelda sat in the same position she did every morning with a newspaper, cigarette, and coffee.
This time though Nick and Luke joined her.
Alex and Alexys ran to their respective partners with gentle kisses to each cheek, "What are you doing here! I thought you were picking us up in like twenty minutes?"
Nick leaned under the table to grab gently at Alexys' knee, "We came a little early and your Aunt Zelda invited us in."
"And how could we say no to Aunt Hilda's breakfast?" Luke seemed to already be on his third blueberry muffin.
"My precious Alexander, I've got your smoothie right here," Hilda sang her words as she placed a large cold glass on the table right beside him. "I've got a thermos in the fridge waiting for you. My dear Alexys, there is a thermos of tea waiting for you as well. I've also managed to pack you lunches. Today is a big day."
"What's so big about today?" Alexys drank her orange juice before smiling a thank you to Hilda who set her and Alex's plate down at the same time. She looked to Alex at her right with a furrowed brow.
"Well…" Luke looked between Alex and Alexys, "It's Finals."
The two shouted, "Finals!"
"Yeah…the Dean made it a full week early so we could all have time for the Finals Dance on the Tenth," Nick looked to Alexys with concern, "You don't remember?"
"It must have slipped my mind with all the weird stuff happening," she pointed up.
"We'll have no talk of that at the breakfast table. Those little trinkets broke the windshield of our hearse," Zelda huffed.
"I'm sorry to hear about that," Nick frowned.
"My uncle works in repair. I could give him a call if you need?" Luke offered.
"No need. The new church is offering good deeds to the community as a way of building a strong relationship with Greendale. Father Blackwood, himself, will be taking care of the hearse," she tapped her cigarette against an ashtray.
"Father Blackwood?" Alex nearly choked.
"Aunt Zelda, I don't have a good feeling about that guy. You should definitely stay away," Alexys warned.
Zelda looked to her with eyes that had lived a long, long time, "I wasn't aware you suddenly became the wise sage of our home, Alexys. Forgive me for not immediately seeking your council on the matter."
"Oh, enough you two," Hilda placed the brown paper bags beside Alex and Alexys. "He is rather…odd. The whole Church of Stillhet. Professor Smythe seems to think it's harmless. We should give them a chance."
Alexys could feel Alex, Nick, and Luke's eyes on her at the mention of the name. All she did was stare at Zelda as she dipped pieces of her muffin in the egg yolk, "All I'm saying is: I get a bad feeling about him and I love you dearly Aunt Zelda. Please promise you'll be careful."
Zelda gazed at her again as if prodding the statement for a challenge of authority. Having found none she sighed, "Oh, alright. You both be careful as well. They are predicting strange weather patterns over Greendale. Stay prepared."
"Will do!" the members at the table all grinned.
The conversation flowed peacefully, domestically. There were references to events Alex and Alexys had not actually lived through but as time went on they felt more and more real. Both the Aunties mentioned old family stories that Alex and Alexys swore they had grown up with. It was a fabulous time and even the goodbyes were fabulous too. They both leaned down to give Zelda a kiss on the cheek goodbye while Hilda pinched their faces and gave her own kisses to their forehead.
Outside Nick teased Alexys for her lunch. On the way to the car he pretended to take it while she pretended she would not share. The two lightly pinched and tickled at each other.
Alex was quiet though as he held onto Luke's hand. He could sense Luke was gearing up to ask what was up and before he could he spoke, "What are you doing tomorrow night?"
"Tomorrow night?" Luke pretended to really think about it before smiling and answering, "Nothing, why?"
"Well…I have a surprise."
"A surprise?" Luke grinned.
Alex laughed, "Yeah, for you. I'd like you to come over."
"What should I bring?" the question was posed as if there were no options that could lead to him arriving empty handed.
"You're favorite wine," Alex sighed.
Luke kissed the side of his head, "Done."
Once at the school, Alex and Alexys separated from their boyfriends to discuss their game plan. They figured it would be best to take the finals as quickly as possible then spend the rest of their time snooping through the school. It was decided that Alexys would attempt to sneak into the Dean's office to figure out who the mysterious "she" was that did not like creases. The other part of the plan was to go to Cerberus Books and try to talk to Rose Tyler to connect some of the missing pieces.
It all was perfectly thought out until they walked into their English class expecting to see Professor Schmidt and instead found Professor W.
The Professor W that happened to be Ms. Wardwell, Madame Satan, Lilith…or Missy.
Alex and Alexys were stunned at the sight of the woman. Both tried to remain casual but it was obvious they were not in good spirits. Alex's immediate thought was that Missy was taking over the form of Ms. Wardwell just as Lilith had in an attempt to get closer to them. Alexys' thought was similar but also included how hot she was.
"Um…thank you for your um…patience," the woman began searching around through her desk for something, "I apologize for leaving on such short notice. I came down with the flu and had to um stay in the hospital for a little while. I trust the substitute kept you all up to speed and gave you the reviews I made for the final."
"No…" a student in the back called out, "He mostly talked about Shakespeare."
There was visible distress on her features, "Oh…that's not…Well. I trust in all of your capabilities. This shouldn't be too hard. You are all very capable students!"
She seemed to delight as she pulled a stack from her drawer and plopped it onto her desk. Another student called out, "Is that the final?"
"Yes," she smiled, standing with the pile and beginning to walk around as she passed them out, "You'll have two hours to complete the final and it will account for fifty percent of your overall grade."
Alex and Alexys looked to each other with the agreement that they were screwed.
Two Hours Later…
"It actually wasn't that bad!" Alex had a look of pride on his features as everyone else emerged from the room exhausted.
"I have never read any of the books that were mentioned," Alexys groaned. "That thing was pure evil!"
"Honestly…it wasn't that bad!" Alex repeated.
Alexys opened up the brown paper bag with the lunch inside that Hilda had made them and began eating, "I am starving."
"Come on, why don't we go to the cafeteria? We might see the Study Group while we're there?" Alex teased.
"Fine, but I'm eating while we walk," Alexys grumbled.
"We still need to figure out a way to sneak into the Dean's office," Alex spoke in hushed tones as they walked through the hallway.
"Yeah we…do you see that?"
Through the window into the quad a group of four students wearing black stood and seemed to watch Alex and Alexys as they passed even through the wall that separated them. Alex narrowed his eyes, "Yeah…that's pretty weird. Do you think they went to the service?"
"I don't know but they're really not blinking," Alexys lifted a hand to offer a polite smile but there was nothing in return.
The two rounded the corner and with it came the end of the windows. Silence remained between them until they found a seat at a table far off from the rest of the zombie-like students leaving their own final hell.
"Okay, we need to break this down," Alexys spoke through a sandwich that could only be described as "artisan."
"Well…things fall from the sky. The next day Willie Nelson is gone and now Ms. Wardwell is here? Is it her or is it…you know?" Alex gestured openly to the possibility of it being Missy.
"I would say based on how she acted it was Ms. Wardwell but the test? Definitely you-know-who," Alexys took a sip of her tea from the thermos. "You're forgetting to mention that Willie Nelson seemed to be running from something the other day."
"True…Possibly the S—"
"Sontarans? I was thinking the same thing," Alexys gestured toward Alex and his own bag that remained untouched, "You're not going to eat?"
"I'm not really hungry. Plus, this smoothie is the amazing," he grinned, taking another sip.
"Alright…more details. The Church of Stillhet is offering good deeds and now people are wearing black and being weird? That can't be a coincidence," Alexys opened up a small sandwich bag that contained homemade chips.
"Do you think their recruiting?"
"That's what it seems like. We need to infiltrate a service somehow."
"I'm soooooorry," Alex hid his face, overcome with guilt at the fact that he had gotten drunk with Luke in the boatshed instead of investigating important matters.
Alexys laughed, "Don't worry. It's not like I was any help. Me and Nick…you know…fooled around instead of getting info from the party."
Alex shook his head in disagreement. No matter how many times she told him it wasn't a big deal he still felt in his heart that he had messed up something big for them. His eyes drifted across the cafeteria until it landed on something odd.
"Is that the Dean? I'm all fueled up now. I think I'm gonna go try to sneak into his office. Do me a favor and distract him?" Alexys pushed her right hand out with her left against her chest as she stood from the table.
Alex looked with wide eyes in shock while muscle memory forced him to complete the handshake, "How am I supposed to distract him?"
The question went unanswered. As soon as the handshake was complete she immediately began a brisk walk out of the cafeteria. He quickly rose to his feet and tried as casual a stride as he could manage toward the Dean. For the first time since he had been in Greendale the Dean wore regular close with no festive cheer upon it. Alex would have found that strange if he wasn't so overwhelmed with the possibilities of how to capture the man's attention.
"Thank you, yes. For the Final Dance I want circles, circles, lots and lots of circles," he gestured toward students with clipboards and pencils.
"Dean Pelton?" Alex spoke the name tentatively.
"Yee—Yes! I…uh…Mr. Spellman," the Dean swallowed hard then pushed the students away and whispered them to leave in a hurry, "What a surprise to see you here. How may I help you?"
"Actually, I was wondering if I could help you," he smiled with as much charm as he could muster.
The Dean looked at him suspiciously, "With what?"
"Uh…the Dance?"
He stood bolt upright, "We've got that all taken care of now if you don't mind me I must return to my office."
"Jeff Winger!"
The Dean froze, "You've got my attention."
Alex had blurted the name out with no backup but figured he would go with it, "I had lunch with Jeff Winger the other day."
"If you're just trying to make me jeal—"
"No! We uh…we talked about you," Alex wasn't technically lying.
The Dean cocked a brow, "…Go on."
Alex let out a sigh as he smiled and stood tall, "Dean…why don't we take a seat?"
Alexys was quick in her actions, making it to the Dean's office in less than five minutes. The hallway was relatively empty so when she slipped inside no one noticed her. She had anticipated Rhonda, the administrative assistant, to be waiting in the office but a small sign indicated that she was on break and would not be back until the next hour. Alexys delighted at the sign and quickly scampered through the unlocked door of the Dean's office, shutting it behind her. She internally screamed at the sight of the green walls and Dalmatian trinkets around but she had no time to indulge.
Her first order of business was to look on the desk. She took her phone out and took pictures of the surface in case there was something she could find with Alex that she wouldn't see with adrenaline coursing through her. The next thing she did was pull out the Dean's planner that rested hidden behind random pages of what looked like a story he was writing. The planner seemed to be on the calendar page for the month of December and she took a picture of that too. Immediately what jumped out to her was the 10th: Day of Awakening.
At the bottom of the page there was also a list of numbers with the primary one being: Blackwood.
She took another picture and moved to turn the page but as she did the door knob twisted.
Alexys dropped under the desk without a second of hesitation. The door opened and shut as if someone snuck into the office too. She held her breath and waited to hear who it could possibly be. Light footsteps made their way around the room with only whispers of drawers being opened and closed. Closer and closer the steps got until suddenly they were in the very place she had been.
She could see immediately that it was a male…a tall male. It looked to be a professor by the style of pant and shoes. He seemed to have great posture with how rigid and stiff his legs were. In the worst possible case scenario she wondered if she had the strength to punch the man's knee cap and break it. She balled her hands into fists in preparation.
"You there!"
Alexys shot her fist out only for it to hit air as the man jumped back and caught her wrist instead. She tried to pull her arm back, "Let go!"
"Smellpan?"
Frozen.
"Smellpan? Is that you?"
"Uh…yes…"
A hearty laugh came from Professor Smythe as he lowered himself to get eye level with her on the ground, "Now what on Earth are you doing under here?"
"I was spying on you, obviously," she rolled her eyes, tugging her hand back toward herself.
The Professor did not let her go, "You know, there are easier ways of getting me alone."
Her face went red as she looked between the solid grip he had on her wrist and the playfulness in his eyes, "Uh…well. I'm not one for easy."
"I certainly believe that," he smiled as he started to rise, helping her in the process, "What are you doing here? Really?"
"I could ask you the same thing," she huffed.
"I'm looking for a PTO Request. Wouldn't suppose you'd know where to find a form?"
"I…" Alexys glanced to a pile of forms on the desk, "Over there."
"Oh, right!" he laughed and reached over to grab it.
Alexys held her breath at his closeness. He was only inches away and all she could think about was all the other times they were this close and what had unfolded then. She swallowed hard as she took a step back only to be limited by the desk.
"You're still wearing the necklace. And look at this," he smiled as he reached down to grasp her right hand.
She looked down to and watched his thumb brush along the ring that he had given her forever ago. She nodded with blushing checks, "Yes…I wear jewelry."
"Good," he smiled as he brought it up closer to his face. His breath wafted over it and tingled upon her fingers as he spoke, "This kind of ring just might come in handy more than you think."
"What do you mean?" her hand trembled under his touch.
He let out a breath that casted over her face and smelled like peppermint and coffee. His fingers lifted to caress her cheek as his other continued to hold her hand, "I…I can't stop…thinking of you."
"Do—Professor," she whispered, her own hand lifting to hold onto his with the intention of pushing it away but all it did was press his hand against her cheek.
The door opened suddenly, "Right, well. I'm sorry about the creases—What is happening here?"
The two jumped back from each other and while the Professor stammered an excuse Alexys grabbed the day planner and rushed out.
"Ms. Spellman, wait."
Alexys gasped to see Professor Wardwell right behind the Dean. She had the same skittish appearance and the same docile voice she had in class, "Professor?"
For a moment she looked concerned as she gazed over her features but before Alexys knew it the planner was plucked from her hold, "Is this the Dean's?"
"Oh!" she gasped and shook her head, "Sorry…I thought it was mine. I have to uh…I gotta…"
"Ms. Spellman…is there something going on you would like to tell us?" Professor Wardwell had a strange look in her eye that Alexys could not understand but it made her afraid.
She looked between the Dean and Professor Wardwell before landing on Professor Smythe. Something told her to act quickly for fear that her Doctor—though not her Doctor anymore—would be in trouble. She chuckled, "Uh…no. It's a surprise for Dean Pelton that the student board is planning. Right, Professor Smythe?"
"Uh," he jumped quickly into the lie, stepping around the desk so that he could make it to the exit with Alexys, "Right. As the liaison between student and faculty I have authorized this surprise. Trust me, Dean, you are not going to want us to ruin it."
The Dean cocked his brow for the second time in that half hour, "Really…a surprise for me? I'm going to need more details."
"Let's just say a Effjay Ingerway might be involved…ay," Alexys chuckled, "Well, be on the look out!"
Once they were out of the room she shut the door.
"That was close," he rubbed the back of his neck.
She nodded, trying her best not to look at him as she began a run/walk out into the hall, "Right, gotta go!"
Alexys cursed at the fact that she almost had the whole planner but she pulled out her phone to review the pictures she had taken. Though she was shaken up about everything that had just happened she knew she had gotten some good leads. Alex would be proud.
