Chapter Text
Act 1, Scene 1
Ext. Greendale Campus, Midday in January.
Vicki, dressed in a smart pantsuit and baseball cap, walked as quietly as she was able around the exterior of the Greendale science wing. She was so focused on observing the perimeter of the campus that she only noticed the person standing beside the garbage can when she was nearly upon them, and they both jumped away from each other in a start.
“Pop, pop!” Magnitude exclaimed in surprise.
Vicki breathed a sigh of relief. It was no intruder, only a fellow Greendale Sentinel. After ascertaining that there had been no suspicious activity on his watch, she relieved him from his post and told him to direct Neil and Abed in her direction if he encountered them on his way to class. Almost before she had finished this instruction, the two appeared around the corner. Magnitude wished them all luck with another “Pop, pop!” before scurrying away. Despite the sun in the sky, the January air was bitterly cold, and the campus unnervingly still.
Vicki caught Neil’s eye and smiled, but her expression held equal parts joy and apprehension. When Vicki turned to Abed, his face was as unreadable as ever.
“Have you seen him yet?” asked Neil. Vicki shook her head. Abed gave a slight scoff. Vicky gave Neil a questioning look, and he explained.
“Abed thinks we’re making it up.” he said. “That’s why I brought him, even though he’s not a sentinel.”
“I didn’t say you were making it up.” said Abed. “Just that it didn’t make any narrative sense. Jeff got written out of the show, which means he’s not likely to come back except for special occasions, if that. The term just started so we’re not in finale territory yet.”
“Vicky, why don’t you tell Abed what we saw on our watch yesterday.” said Neil.
Vicky sat down against the side of the building, and the other two followed suit. She couldn’t believe it; she was finally about to speak to Abed, one of the legendary Greendale Seven, without being interrupted by some more dramatic event!
“Well, at around this time yesterday, when me and Niel were on watch, we-”
“Look! Over there!” Neil interrupted her, and pointed towards the road. Vicki sighed.
The three of them passed a set of binoculars back and forth, and Abed was forced to concede that the man dressed in goth attire pacing back and forth on the sidewalk across from Greendale did bear a striking resemblance to Jeff.
“Go talk to him!” Neil prodded Abed. Abed stood and began walking towards Jeff, but before he could catch Jeff’s attention, Professor Duncan exited the building and began walking in their direction. Jeff hurried away, and Abed returned to Neil and Vicki.
“Do you believe it’s him, now that you’ve gotten a closer look?” asked Vicki.
Abed nodded slowly. “It does look like him. And he’s wearing the same goth outfit as when we brought down the Chang dynasty. This is really weird, even for Greendale.”
“That’s exactly how he’s looked the past two days as well.” said Neil. “Do you know what it could mean?”
“I have no clue.” Abed admitted. “But I doubt it’s anything good.”
“Is it related to the reason there’s now a Greendale Sentinel watch schedule? I could be studying right now, but instead I have to guard the perimeter every noon.”
Vicky nodded firmly in agreement. “I’d like to know as well. I’ve heard rumors that the Dean is stocking up on paint supplies… there’s not going to be another paintball war, is there?”
Abed shrugged.
“That, I can’t say. But I can tell you what I’ve heard. As you know, Jeff helped us defeat Chang and his security guard children. It was a group effort, but since Jeff was our leading man many saw him as the primary force behind our successful coup. Now that he’s gone, there have been rumours that Chang has gathered a new army and is planning to return to Greendale. I take it that this is why Rich has created a guard system.”
That made sense to Vicki, though she felt nervous at the thought of crazy manic Chang back on campus. She hadn’t seen him since his removal, but there were constant rumours of Chang sightings. She’d thought they were only rumours…
She opened her mouth to remark on the situation, but was interrupted once again, this time by Abed. He help up a hand to shush her and pointed at where Jeff was once again making his way down the sidewalk across from Greendale. Without warning, Abed leaped up and ran towards him with surprising athleticism. Vicki strained to hear what they were saying, but could only hear snatches of their conversation. She heard Jeff say he wanted to meet with any member of the study group not under Rich’s influence, and was suddenly glad to be a minor character in the lives of the Greendale Seven. She had no desire to be caught in a rivalry between Jeff and Rich, even if Jeff no longer went to Greendale.
Then the bell rang, signalling the end of the lunch period. Jeff visibly startled and darted off -- like a criminal fleeing his past. Abed returned to them, and unsurprisingly did not fill them in on his brief conversation with Jeff. Instead he simply thanked them for alerting him to the situation, and stated that he needed to talk to Troy. Annie Kim relieved Vicki and Niel from their watch shortly afterwards, and that was the end of that.
Act 1, Scene 2
Int. Study room, the same day at noon.
Rich was standing in Jeff’s place at the study table, giving a Winger speech. Troy refused to rename the speech in his mind; he was now their leader, and he was giving a speech, so it was a Winger speech. He would called it a “Stephenson” speech over his dead body.
Rich was eloquent, Troy would give him that. He was perfect at most things, and public speaking was no exception. Troy could tell everyone else in the room was swayed by his honeyed words. Why couldn’t they see that this was wrong?
“I know Jeff was very dear to everyone in this room. I myself had a hard time seeing him go, and I was not nearly as close to him as many of you. He changed Greendale, and moreover, he changed us. Jeff Winger was a complicated man, but he was brilliant, personable, and inspiring. And I’m sure he still is, only… somewhere else! Jeff said it himself when he left, that he wanted us to carry on, and he wanted this study group to stay strong. This is why I have taken up his mantle as leader, and, of course, appointment Annie as the co-chair to what we have now deemed the Save Greendale Committee.”
Here he stood, and offered Annie his hand.
“M’Lady.” he said.
“M’Lord.” she replied, and accepted his hand to help her out of her seat. Troy bristled.
Rich called the meeting to order, and the group began discussing the most pressing point of interest; the possible return of Chang. Or rather, Rich, Annie and Britta began discussing Chang. Shirley seemed distracted, and Pierce was busy stuffing his face with the kettle corn that Rich had brought for him. Once upon a time Troy would have been equally enthused about kettle corn, but he couldn’t bring himself to eat more than a few handfuls. And they were good handfuls! It was a shame, really.
Worst of all, Abed was conspicuously absent. Troy wondered where he was, and if he was off having a side adventure without him. Troy missed him. He loved being Abed’s friend, but he wished he could be the main character once in a while.
Once Rich and Annie had decided to get the Dean to send an email to City College inquiring as to the possible whereabouts of Chang (he had appeared in the background of a City College student’s instagram picture, and it was the best lead they had), Shirley cleared her throat.
“As you all know,” she began, “my sons have fallen ill with a fever. Andre was able to take the last few days off of work, isn’t that so considerate? He knew I didn’t want to miss the first few days of the semester.” She smiled sweetly, clearly waiting for an “aww” reaction that no one provided.
“But of course, he needs to go back to work soon, so I’m going to have to take a few days off. Everybody be good while I’m gone, alright? Don’t get into trouble.”
Rich gave Shirley his blessing to go spend time with her sick kids. Britta gave him an sharp look.
“Rich, in what world does Shirley need your permission to do anything? Do you not respect her, because she’s a woman? That is so sexist!”
“Yeah!” Pierce chimed in. “She should be seeking my permission as well! Shirley, you are allowed to leave for a few days to take care of your children. You’re welcome.”
Shirley stomped out in a huff while Rich rushed to clarify the intention behind his statement and diffuse Britta’s growing rage. Troy nearly made it out the door unhindered but was stopped in his tracks by a warm hand clasping onto his shoulder. Troy shrugged Rich off and turned to face him.
“What do you want?” he said sullenly.
“Why so gloomy Troy? You look like you’ve got a little storm cloud over your head.” he said in his caring, patronizing way.
“No, uh, I’m pretty sure it’s sunny out?” said Troy. Man, this guy couldn’t even get the weather right.
Annie cornered Troy from the other side.
“Troy, please.” she entreated him. “Can’t you try to cheer up a bit? I know you’re upset that Jeff’s gone, but people graduate. It’s not like he’s dead.”
“Are you sure? He could be.” grumbled Troy, subtly trying to edge his way towards the door. “He hasn’t messaged us once! He didn’t even reply to Abed’s ‘merry Christmas’ text!”
Rich placed a second hand on Troy’s other shoulder. His eyes were overflowing with compassion.
“Troy, it is so sweet of you to be this upset about Jeff. And I get it, I do! Jeff was a great guy. But you need to start moving on at some point. Everyone graduates eventually, right?”
Troy refused to meet his eyes. Rich didn’t ‘get it’. He’d barely known Jeff!
“And you know you can always come to me if you want to talk, right Troy?” Rich continued. “As the new co-leader of the Study Group slash Save Greendale Committee, I’m always going to be here for you.”
Rich moved away eventually, when Troy didn’t answer. Annie stepped into his place, and leaned over to hug Troy. He hugged her back, reluctantly at first but then with more conviction. He was mad at Annie for being a traitor to Jeff but she was still one of his best friends, and he still loved her.
“Please don’t leave the study group, Troy.” she mumbled as they hugged. The crack in her voice betrayed that she was more upset than she seemed.
He squeezed her closer.
“I would never.”
She gave him a tentative smile as they parted. He knew she was hoping this fixed everything. It hadn’t, of course, and it couldn’t. This was further proven when she accepted Rich’s arm and they left the study room together.
Now alone in the room, Troy slumped down back into his chair. He didn’t feel like attending his air conditioning class today. He knew it wouldn’t even matter; he was already better than the teacher. Instead, he put his head on his hands and wondered how it had all come to this.
It hadn’t even been two months since Jeff had found out mid semester that he already had the required courses to graduate. And in less than two months, everyone else in the group had started acting like he’d never even been there. He’d been totally and thoroughly replaced by Rich of all people. Troy didn’t get it. He’d liked Rich well enough the first few times they’d met, but he was no Jeff. How could Annie not see that? How had Rich ensnared her so thoroughly that she’d accepted his proposal to co-run the Save Greendale Committee less than a month after Jeff left?
And the worst part of it all was that whenever Troy tried to bring it up to anyone in the group they just looked at him like he was either crazy or jealous. Except Abed of course, but even Abed was handling this better than he was.
As if conjured by a thought, Abed entered the study room and took his usual seat.
“Sorry I missed the meeting.” he said. “I had business to attend to.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re here now. The meeting was pretty horrible. Rich kept trying to be Jeff, and Annie kept letting him.” Troy was still slumped over onto the table, and Abed began rubbing his back. That made it hard to stay grumpy because Abed was actually the best at back rubs. They sat like that for a while before Abed spoke out of the blue.
“I saw him today.”
“Who?” asked Troy.
“Jeff.”
Troy sat bolt upright. “Like, our Jeff? Jeff Winger, that Jeff?”
“Don’t get your hopes up yet. It was a weird encounter. I’m not sure what this means for our narrative.”
Troy’s eyes widened as Abed told him the story in full. He immediately agreed to accompany Abed to meet with Jeff the following day.
“Did he say why he was there?” Troy questioned.
“Not really, but he seemed… sad, I think. Or angry. Or possibly it was indigestion, but I’m going with sadness.”
Troy had no clue what was going on, and it scared him that Abed didn’t either. They discussed the situation on the way back to their apartment, and agreed that as much as it was nice to see Jeff again, his reappearance was probably bad news. The fact that he’d mentioned Rich made Troy suspect Rich was involved somehow, but there would be no way of knowing until the next day. Troy’s sleep that night was restless, his brain abuzz with anticipation for the meeting.
Act 1, Scene 3
Int. Greendale, the same day, after the meeting. In class.
Britta and Shirley sat side by side in philosophy class, whispering to each other and ignoring the teacher completely.
“You’re going to have to text me what the homework is while I’m away, Britta.” said Shirley.
“Duh-doy!” said Britta. “Just because you’re at home cleaning up kiddie puke doesn't mean I’m going to do our group projects myself.”
“Of course not.” Shirley gave her a sweet smile. Then her voice dropped, and she gave Britta a menacing look. “But you be careful while I’m gone, alright?”
“About what?”
“You know what I’m talking about.” Shirley said intensely, and with a bit too much eyebrow movement.
“I really don’t!” said Britta, a bit too loudly. The teacher shushed her.
Shirley continued more quietly. “I’m talking about Troy, and you know… the two of you!”
“What about the two of us?” Britta said, but she had a feeling she knew where Shirley was going. She and Troy had kind of sort of started dating, back before Jeff left. He’d said some really sweet things to her, even given her a stuffed toy as a gift once. Unfortunately, it had all but faded in the chaos surrounding Jeff’s sudden and unexpected graduation, and Britta wasn’t too sure why Shirley was bringing it up now.
“Britta… I’m trying to put this gently, but you are aware he doesn’t really love you, yes?”
Britta gasped a bit, even though she hadn’t thought he did. The moment seemed to call for it.
“I’m sure that boy only has the best intentions towards you, and only ever has. But he’s dealing with a lot right now. I’m sure you’ve noticed he’s been a bit more… on edge, lately.”
She had noticed that; it would have been hard not to. Everyone knew Troy wasn’t dealing with the changes in their study group well. It had surprised her that it was Troy and not Abed who had trouble with the adjustment, but Abed was hard to predict at the best of times.
“Britta, listen to me. I am asking you this, as your friend. Do not have premarital sex with Troy.” said Shirley.
“What???” said Britta. “What? No! What? Where did that come from? I’m not planning to have sex with Troy! ...But I could if I wanted to! I am an independent woman, and I will have sex with whoever I like. That could include Troy! It’s none of your business! I can have premarital sex with whoever I want!”
Britta, now standing, suddenly realized the entire class was staring at her.
“Miss Perry,” said the teacher. “Do you need to leave the room?”
She sunk back down into her chair, face red.
Shirley explained very calmly that she was only looking out for Britta’s eternal soul. She had been a bit worried, she said, because she knew Britta was attracted to men in pain. Britta protested that point, but Shirley shushed her.
“Troy has been in some emotional distress lately, and I was just worried that you would want to…” here she trailed off delicately.
“What, jump his bones?” said Britta.
“Yes, thank you.” said Shirley.
Britta scoffed and muttered a comment under her breath about Shirley minding her own business. Shirley looked like she was about to take offence, but her eyes caught on something past Britta’s shoulder. She turned to see Pierce, loudly and slowly sliding his desk in their direction. The two women rolled their eyes in unison. They both tuned him out as he began offering Shirley unsolicited parenting advice, smattered with useless truisms, bigoted assumptions, and unrelated claims about his own sex life. Shirley stood up the instant class was dismissed.
“Remember what I said, Britta.” Shirley told her, before making a swift exit.
“Wait, what did Shirley say to you?” said Pierce.
“Ah, nothing. Just something about Troy.” Britta said, which was her first big mistake. Pierce smiled knowingly -- a concerning expression on his face -- and attempted to put an arm around Britta. She shrugged him off with a disgusted “eugh”.
“You know, I’d been meaning to have a little chat with you about Troy as well.” said Pierce, following Britta down the hallway. “We were all a little concerned…”
Pierce rambled on, giving pretty much the same advice as Shirley but even more condescension and overly blatant sexual innuendo.
“I don’t know who I should be more offended for, me or Troy!” said Britta, wheeling around to face Pierce in the hallway. “Stop talking about him like he’s some kind of sex fiend! He’s our friend, and a good guy.”
“Well of course!” said Pierce. “When did I say he wasn't. But he’s also a guy, and guys like to…” here Pierce made an extremely crude hand gesture. “You’re an extremely attractive woman Britta-”
“Ew.”
“-and young men like Troy tend to think more with their dicks than their brains! You know that.”
Britta did have to concede him that point, in general, but she refused to believe Troy would be so heartless. He had seemed perfectly polite back when they had kind-of sort-of dated. Definitely not just in it for the sex -- in fact, she got the sense that she was the more sexually inclined of the two of them. He’d seemed content to just watch television, for the most part.
Britta finally managed to ditch Pierce when they exited the building, and dug a cigarette out of her bag. Everyone needed to stop getting all up in her business. She was a perfectly capable, functional, and rational adult woman.