Summary: Something happened May 1st, 2016. When Jonas woke up, his mother was alive and he didn't remember the last year and half. Nearly five months later, his family has made the move to Camena for his mom to teach. His goal is to keep his head down and be good, for his mom's sake. That's made a lot harder when the girl he's never met but somehow recognizes decides to make herself a part of his life.

When Alex's brother died, she lost what small amount of stability she thought she had. Her parents divorced, she became a pariah, and decided it was better to break from the mold her community created for her than to ever live for their approval. But since May she's been haunted by memories and dreams of things she doesn't understand. And now there's the mystery kid sitting in the back of her English class...

Notes: Welcome to another Turner/Hammie project! This was actually the first thing we started as soon as we finished So it Goes; imagining an alternate universe (with a slightly longer loop) where, with Jonas as radio holder, he made the choice in his flashbacks that caused his mother to live. There may be some consistencies you notice between our fics (character names, for one, and a few ways of referring to each other). Multiverses are weird, right? ;D

Turner wrote for Jonas, Hammie wrote for Alex.

ONE

It had really only been two weeks or so, but it felt longer than that. Alex had walked into seventh period to find her usual English teacher missing, and replaced with another one, who she thought was just a long-term sub before it all sunk in. It wasn't a terrible switch - her old teacher had been kind of an old coot, and he really didn't like the class - but the new one was nice enough. Even though there were some odd things about her. Alex had just kept her head down about the whole thing, really. No reason to get involved. Especially since she needed to, now. After… everything.

She'd been late coming out of her last period thanks to an extra long test she hadn't had the time to study for, and she'd spotted some random guy staring down the local punk like he was about to kill him. Of course Alex had stuck around. Ren went on ahead, and her other friends took the bus, which only gave her the time to watch as Mystery Man absolutely destroyed the asshole. The thing was, she didn't know the reason. Was it a hit? A drug deal gone wrong? Either way, she hadn't told anyone. When there was something exciting going down for once, there wasn't a reason to spoil the fun.

So here she is. Two weeks later, after the boy had shown up at school more and more, and had practically become her teacher's assistant within that short span of time; from when she'd seen him deck a kid, to acting like some perfect apple-polisher. It didn't sit right with her. Then again, when does anything sit right with her anymore.

After shooing Ren off to some vacant table to wait while she checks around the back of the school, there he is again. Carrying a pair of files and minding his own business. Too easy. Alex jogs her way closer, and finally grabs onto the hem of his shirt, an odd kind of crooked grin on her face.

"Alright, Rocky Balboa: what's the catch?"

.

"What the fff-" Jonas cuts himself off, because oh right, school property, probably shouldn't be cursing like a sailor. He's been really good about behaving like a somewhat respectable unofficial-TA while hanging around Camena High. Which might possibly be happening more and more. Not that his mom minds it when he offers to help out. It's giving him volunteer hours for whatever future applications he'll make, fits in well with his half-load of courses at the community college, all around gives him positive cred in the new community. Apart from the whole incident of a couple weeks ago. But no one saw that, and the kid has been smart enough to keep his mouth shut so… Things seem to be going okay.

The move to Camena was kind of a big deal, but he'd graduated (after his whole weird is-it-brain-damage situation) with no plans on the horizon, his whole suspension thing in North Valley had already made it a little awkward socially, and his mom was ready to leave the memories of the North Valley Medical Center behind and go back to work. They'd needed 12th grade English teachers at Camena… It had sort of just fallen into place. Besides, once they'd crossed the county line it had felt familiar somehow. He didn't mind it.

What he did mind was douchebags who like spouting off shit about stuff they know nothing about, and being really fuckin' rude about his mother. She'd been through enough already, some rich kid student shouldn't get to make fun of her for the one day she couldn't go through the trouble of maintaining the whole illusion. It was the comment about trying to pull off her wig that really flipped the switch for him. And maybe that was why he'd started coming in to help her out every other day or so. To keep an eye on her. To keep an eye on the dick who thought it would be funny to humiliate her in front of her students. Well, it wasn't about to happen on his watch.

But really, most of Jonas's time in the classroom was spent grading multiple choice tests and studying for his own gen ed courses, and just keeping an ear out for trouble. Rarely ever took much notice of the students not on his shit list, to be honest.

But he recognizes her.

"I-" He hesitates for a second, cause he does recognize her, but— well, the hair is familiar enough, she's by the windows in one of the end-of-day classes for his mom, but her face is familiar, too. His brow furrows. She really really looks familiar. It's like a weird déjà vu, and it has him at a loss for words for a second.

.

That crooked kind of grin only grows on her face. Alex does her best not to talk loudly, seeing as there are still a few kids coming out of the building, and lets go of his shirt. That might just be weird. Unless she's trying to interrogate him, which— well, that is kind of what she's doing.

"C'mon, I've seen this play all the time. Drug ring? Underground fight club?" She sounds almost too happy to be doing this. Her eyes hold only mischief as Alex bounces on the balls of her feet and waits for his reply. No matter what he says, she's heard some things, which means she's going to get answers. Half decent answers. "I saw you thwack that kid. Of course I didn't say anything - I'm not trying to get you killed by your evil mob bosses - but something has to be up. I mean seriously."

She gestures toward the cross hanging around his neck, his face, and then the rest of the school. He's been hanging around her English teacher and the school grounds in general ever since that fight. Maybe Mrs. Long is onto him? Or maybe she's in on it? That'd be more interesting. Alex has been itching for a distraction ever since the school year had started, and she may have finally found it, if any of her assumptions are true. Which they usually aren't.

.

At first the best he can do is raise a bewildered brow, but as she goes on his face hardens. Jonas isn't keen on being accused of things he hasn't done. He's even less keen on this girl - this weirdly familiar girl - this weird, familiar girl - being aware of his little tête-à-tête with Douchface. His expression shutters, annoyed and on edge. Is that some kind of threat?

It's frustrating, cause there's something nagging at him about Miss Blue Curaçao over here, and he wants to pin it down and figure out what it is, but also— well, the kid shut up cause he knew he was in the wrong. But an outsider would still be fully aware that Jonas had thrown the first punch. The only punches that actually mattered, in all honesty. And he isn't underage anymore. Beating up a kid isn't fair game once you're over 18. It's just mean, and could probably be deemed assault. He'd had a close enough call the first time around, he really doesn't want any violence ending up on his permanent record.

So he watches her, and very carefully doesn't move, deciding on his angle here. He could intimidate. She already knows he can follow through. But if she really hasn't said anything about it…

Jonas has several inches on her, and lets that add some weight to his look down at her. She's kinda cute, in a 'never gonna happen, she's your mom's student, underage, and also very possibly insane, but hey she's got cool hair' kind of way. His lips are in a flat line, the words tripping at the tip of his tongue before he decides to just ignore her questions and settles on, "You're in— you're, what, seventh period? Mrs. Long's class, I mean." Something later in the day, cause he's seen her before and he never shows up before lunch, even on days where he doesn't have his own early classes. (And he's made a conscious effort to never have classes before 10am regardless.)

.

"Yup! You're in there sometimes for what, like, uh— a degree in teaching or something? I mean, that's what I can assume, since you end up helping with grading and all that jazz." The topic change doesn't bother her much. Alex can just wring the rest out of him when he actually wants to talk. "Honestly I'm kinda glad Mrs. Long got the job here. She's much better than the grouch of a teacher the seniors used to have. I mean, there were actual horror stories about the guy. Like how he stalks the halls at night and steals test papers!"

She curves her fingers like claws, wiggling them around as she chuckles softly. Seriously though, according to Clarissa (before everything) that guy was a menace of a man. Some old army sergeant or something. Mrs. Long is sometimes a little cheesy, and can go on about some stories in particular, but Alex likes her as a teacher. Which is rare. She hasn't liked someone as a teacher since elementary, and they'd been hard to top. But her train of thought is interrupted with—

"Yo, Alex! Are we gonna get moving soon, or—" Ren pauses in his jog, slows it to speedwalking, and he gets just close enough that she can loop an arm around his shoulders and pinch his cheek. "Ow! Ow ow ow, hey, you know I hate it when you do that! Also, who's the dude?"

"Don't know his name yet. Mystery TA, this is Ren, my best friend since preschool. And a pain in my ass since long before that." There isn't anything but fondness in her voice. Her friend just laughs, knocking her in the side with his elbow. What an odd pair they make.

.

Alex. Okay, so her name is Alex. Does he know any Alexes? Maybe before she dyed her hair? But then how would he know her?

Jonas is racking his brain, staring maybe a little too intensely at her because what the hell why can't he figure this out, when Blondie shows up. He looks… less familiar. Not in any of Jonas's mom's classes, at least not the ones he sees, but maybe he's seen him in the hall? He doesn't have that same weird uncanny thing that's going on with Curaçao. Alex.

He ignores the new kid, though he'd probably do better not meeting more high schoolers, even if they're only like a year younger than him, and instead shifts the files under one arm as he asks the girl, "Have we met before? Like—" His eyes dart to Blondie - Ren - and he corrects, "Like met, met." He's a man of few words, and even fewer in the face of a kid who's clothes scream casual entitlement. She's a little better. Old jacket, beat-up boots.

.

Ren grins, "Wow, what an original pickup line there—"

Alex cuts him off with a swift jab to the back of the head. "Oh shut up! He just thinks something looks familiar, that's all." She has to glance him over once, twice, three times, before something starts feeling off. Familiar, and off. Which means the mystery TA is someone she's seen around before. Maybe when her hair was still brown? Maybe before the whole... incident. For a minute she runs through her head, trying to think, before something clicks.

"Oh, wait, were you at that block party a few weeks back? The one where the grill started flaming and everyone freaked out but it wasn't really a huge problem because one of the kids shut the lid on it and everything was fine?" The one for the new neighbors. Maybe she'd seen him hanging around in the backdrop and just didn't realize until now. Or she's trying to fake herself out of some weird déjà vu so that she won't freak out once she gets home.

.

This time, the look Jonas shoots at the blond is a little more pointed, but he doesn't get a chance to defend himself before she's doing it for him. Still, he's not-quite-but-nearly scowling as she looks him over. And trying not to do the same in turn. Seriously, it's bugging the hell out of him. His fingers twitch but he doesn't reach for his lighter cause that would definitely be a no-no on campus (it's bad enough that he's already found a spot to light up behind the facilities shed by the stadium, at least that's only happened twice — one of which was shortly after… extracting an apology, let's say, from Doucheface).

A little bulb winks on at the back of his mind when she mentions the block party, cause he's fairly sure he heard something like that, which means they must live near each other, but he was pretty staunchly against attending it when it had been proposed to him. Not a fan of kids in large numbers, really. Still, it fills in the blanks a little on her. Not nearly enough, though.

Jonas is shaking his head in response when his phone goes off and he quickly looks down, slipping it from his pocket. It's not the newest model by any means, but it does what it needs to do. "Shit." Whoops, language. "Um." He's got all of twenty minutes to make it to his 4:30 class, and he'd wanted to ask the professor for a word about an assignment. "Look it's- uh, nice to meet you, I guess." They're pretty half-assed goodbyes, but he's too aware of the way cops wait at the intersection by the school to catch kids speeding home, and he's gonna need to cover too much space in too little time to get his everyday shit seen to. So it's off to Bily with a million whispered prayers that he can maybe manage to be five minutes early if he floors it in the right spots.

.

Alex opens her mouth to ask him something else - his name, where he lives, anything - but he's already gone. Well, son of a bitch. Looks like she has someone to find.

Ren snorts softly, still rubbing the back of his head where she'd smacked him across it. A deserved hit, really. They'd stab each other with their hands for much worse than accusing someone of dealing out a petty pickup line. There must be something on her face that gives Alex away, because he waves a hand in front of her, frowning slightly.

"Earth to Al-Pal! Yellow?"

"Yeah yeah yeah Ren, I'm listening, what is it?"

"You aren't actually considering talking to him again, right?" The pause in between is enough to make her best friend cringe with shame, and start walking off. "Oh my god, Alex! He's a college student! A college student who is working at our school right now, no less. You, you madwoman, are a heathen and should be punished as such."

She gives him a look of annoyance, and he only shrugs. "Whatever, Reginald, let's just get over to your house so that we can waste the rest of the day doing the stupid things that teenagers do." Which is her code word for please stop talking about it. Ren punches her in the arm, she punches back, and they jog off of school grounds to get picked up by one of Ren's parents. The rest of the day passes in a blur of homework, dinner, talking with her mother, and then bed.

.

College classes kind of suck.

Not as much as high school, though. The teachers are easier to talk to, maybe? They seem to care… less. Not in a bad way. Just in a 'we're not training you to answer government-mandated testing' sort of way. It's kinda nice. The social scene is… subpar. He's okay responding to people if they talk to him, not so great at being the first one to make contact, but there are a few people he's swapped numbers with. Community college is definitely not quite the same as what he'd expected from your standard college movies. Maybe cause there isn't really a dorm situation, with almost everyone commuting. His mom has pushed him to try going to some of the social events, though ("Free pizza, Jonas— just go so I don't have to feed you for a night, please").

Jonas is studying, spinning a pen between his fingers, staring at a printout of his physics professor's slideshow, trying to focus— but she's in his head. Miss Blue Curaçao. BC. Alex. As he tries to focus, fails miserably, and gradually slips in and out of consciousness, he's pretty sure he remembers her from somewhere. Or maybe he's dreaming. He's pretty sure he's never seen her by firelight. Never seen her jumping rock-to-rock across a river. That just… doesn't make sense.

Notes:

Okay Turner took all the important things to say right at the beginning, so this is what's happening: It's me! Hammie! I know right? Been a while. Anyways, I'm super excited to be sharing this with y'all again, especially considering all of my work with Turner is hella near and dear to the soft, squishy organ that pumps my blood through my body. Especially considering this is like a huge stress reliever sometimes but shh we don't talk about that. Hope everyone reading enjoys it!

Hammie -

Welcome to the new project (formerly referred to as mach2)! Admittedly, unlike some of our other projects, this one is a bit looser, in that we have about ten chapters written that are all consecutive, and then we got excited about a concept and skipped forward a bit to hit that, so... I suppose we'll see how it all comes together. If we ever hit the point that we haven't written the bridge between points, I may ask if anyone is interested in getting the disconnected parts or not, but until then just enjoy the ride! ^^ I've been poking around looking at formatting for some things in the next couple chapters, so that should be fun. For now; what do you think? Any ideas of things you'd expect from this AU? Or things you're curious about seeing? Any questions you have? I'd love to hear your thoughts in a comment ^^

-OWT