Fic: Criminology 101 (5/?)
Fandom: Community
Title: Criminology 101
Character/Pairing(s): Jeff/Annie
Rating: PG
Summary: Mafia AU. Annie gets her introduction into Greendale's crime world, in the hopes that she can finally bag Troy Barnes. Meanwhile, Jeff tries to keep things running smoothly while Pierce is busy, and he has no time for silly schoolgirls and their tight sweaters.
Disclaimer: I sadly do not own Community.
Warnings: some violence, and mentions of drugs.
A/N - I was gonna go on a brief break because I have so much schoolwork to do, but that lasted about three days altogether, so here, have a chapter.
Part 1 // Part 2a/2b / Part 3 / Part 4
Annie liked Vaughn. He was nice, and he complimented her in the weirdest ways, but it still made her feel good about herself. Everyone in the group had met Vaughn one time or another. Apparently, he'd dated Britta for a while. And once when he tried to scam them Shirley dealt with him. From what Troy told her, it was pretty ugly. When Annie asked Shirley about it, the woman giggled at the memory.
They were all crazy in this mansion.
Annie had no trouble with Vaughn. He liked her just as much as she liked him. Even more, actually. Annie knew she could trust him enough, and he was too afraid of Jeff to screw her over. Or at least that was what she thought.
She should have seen the signs when she showed up. It was different. For starters, Vaughn was actually wearing a hoodie when she showed up. Also, he seemed kind of fidgety, which was unusual considering how relaxed he was most of the time. Annie should have seen these things for what they were, instead of just assuming Vaughn was having an off day. People didn't have off days in the drug business. They were either fine or they weren't, and Vaughn wasn't.
"I need extra," Vaughn said quietly when she handed him the money.
"What are you talking about? That's the same price as always."
Vaughn gulped. "Well the price has gone up. I want an extra five hundred."
Annie laughed like she thought he was joking. "Vaughn, I have the usual two thousand and that's it. Now give me the drugs."
Vaughn held out a hand to take the money from her. Annie reached out to hand him the envelope filled with cash, but Vaughn grabbed her wrist and the last second and pulled her close. He pulled a knife from his hoodie pocket and held it up to her neck.
"I don't want to hurt you. Just give me the extra five hundred," Vaughn said.
Annie was scared. She could feel the edge of the knife against her throat. She was still pretty young. Most of her accomplishments included straight As in school, and two very successful drug businesses. She'd only ever had onegay boyfriend, and the guy she currently had feelings for was an unhappy consigliere who drank too much scotch and didn't sleep enough. Those were the only thoughts running through her mind. That, and she needed to get the hell out of there.
"Vaughn, please," She begged.
"I don't want to hurt you," He repeated, tightening his grip on the knife. He looked scared too, like he didn't really want to do this.
Annie took a breath, swallowing down her tears, and kneed him right in his privates. Vaughn jerked back in pain, slicing her shoulder accidentally.
Annie didn't feel it though. She was too focused on running back to her car. Vaughn followed her quickly, making a grab for her arm. She half-punched him in the face and kicked his shin. He fell back, and Annie sprinted to her crappy car.
She must have hit a world record for starting a car quickly, and she drove out of there without a second glance. She didn't know if Vaughn had a car. She didn't even know if he had given up on chasing her or not, she just drove furiously through the streets of Greendale.
She was shaking by the time she walked through the Hawthorne mansion. She could feel the pain in her arm now, and there was blood leaking all the way down to her fingertips.
"Hello?" She called out, but nobody answered her.
Troy and Abed had gone out for the night to catch the premier of the new Kickpuncher movie. She remembered them mentioning it earlier. Britta was god knows where most of the time, and Shirley had moved back into her home as soon as she had healed.
She didn't know if Jeff was around. His business usually took on random hours of the day.
"Hello?" She tried again, going halfway up the stairs.
"Annie?" Jeff's voice called from the kitchen. Annie ran down to him, holding her arm so he wouldn't see how badly she'd screwed up. It didn't make much of a difference. Her sleeve was stained completely red.
As soon as Jeff saw her, a dark look flashed across his features. "What happened?" He asked calmly.
"Vaughn- he tried-" Annie stuttered, unable to find the words. She was mad at Vaughn. Mad at him for screwing up her business. Mad at him for making her look like a scared, little girl in front of Jeff.
Jeff seemed equally pissed at the smelly hippie. He walked over to her, and put a comforting hand on her back, leading her toward the kitchen. He sat her at the table, and told her to relax, before rooting through a cupboard for the first aid kit.
"I'm sorry, Jeff," Annie said quietly when he took the seat next to her.
Jeff didn't reply. Instead, he gently removed her sweater, glancing at her face every few seconds to make sure it wasn't hurting her. He wiped up most of the blood with a towel, then cleaned the cut. The stuff he used stung a bit, but he was trying to make it as painless as possible for her. Every time she made a noise of pain, he'd stop and give her three seconds to relax again.
He'd obviously done this before. Annie wondered how many times, and who, and why. Abed had shown her a scar on his stomach once from a bad deal. He said Jeff had cleaned it up for him, but Annie had found that hard to believe at the time. Usually, Jeff was too busy for this sort of thing, and whenever anyone got injured he sent them to Nurse Jackie.
"It's not too deep so you won't be needing stitches," Jeff said gently. He picked up a band aid, cutting it the right size, and pressing it lightly over the cut. He gave her a small smile when he finished. "So what happened?"
"Vaughn wanted an extra five hundred," Annie said. "When I didn't give it to him, he pulled out a knife."
Jeff nodded in understanding.
"It was my fault. I should have seen something was off."
Jeff shook his head, leaning in closer to her. "No, Annie, it wasn't. Vaughn's the one to blame here." He sat back with an angry expression now. "I'll deal with him."
"I want to come," Annie said quickly. "When you … y'know. I want to be there."
Jeff looked like he wanted to protest, but decided against it. He nodded curtly, and gave her back her bloodstained sweater. "Okay," He said quietly and stood up.
"Send him a text. Tell him you'll meet him tomorrow with the extra cash."
"Okay," Annie said.
Jeff cocked his head at her curiously. "If he had a knife, how did you escape?"
Annie shrugged, but winced halfway, finding that it hurt now. "I kicked him in the genitals."
Jeff laughed, but it wasn't a mean one. He gave her an affectionate smile. "I always knew you were a tough one."
XXX
It really was a testament to how dumb Vaughn was, that he actually showed up. Anyone with half a brain would know that nothing good could come of meeting with the drug dealer you tried to stab. Then again, Vaughn probably didn't realize how important Annie was. Jeff was baffled by it too, sometimes. He was mostly used to it though, which wasn't a good thing, as he had to continuously remind himself.
Vaughn was standing in the usual spot, wearing a stupid looking hoodie, that no doubt was where he hid the knife. Vaughn didn't wear clothes if he could help it.
When he noticed Jeff walking in front of Annie he got ready to flee, but Jeff was too fast for him. He whipped out his gun at lightning speed, aiming it right at Vaughn's face.
"Don't even," He warned, smirk playing on his lips. He wasn't gonna admit it, but he was far too happy to have a valid excuse for shooting Vaughn.
Vaughn froze like a deer in the headlights as Jeff and Annie walked closer and closer. Jeff's gun didn't waver.
"I told you not to try anything just because I was gone," Jeff said.
Annie trailed behind him, glaring intensely at Vaughn.
"I wasn't- " Vaughn began but Jeff stepped closer to shut him up.
"See the problem with that argument is I don't care," Jeff said. "You went after some one I care about, and now I'm going after you. Simple, so even you can understand it."
"I didn't -"
"No, you didn't," Jeff finished for him. He pressed the gun to Vaughn's forehead, savouring the way nervous sweat fell from Vaughn's temple.
"Your knife," Jeff demanded. Vaughn pulled it out of his pocket and held it out to him. Jeff took it and gave it to Annie to hold. He lowered his gun and smiled at Vaughn, giving him that false sense of getting away with it. When Vaughn finally smiled back, Jeff smacked him across the face with the gun.
Vaughn fell to the boards of the dock, crying out in pain. Jeff was rather unimpressed by him. He really was the lamest type of person to threaten.
"Please," Vaughn begged.
"Shut up, Vaughn," Jeff spat. Vaughn shrunk in on himself, but Jeff wasn't having it. He pulled him by the collar and sent a knee into his stomach, knocking the air out of him. Jeff dropped him back to the floor and shook his head at the pathetic mess that was Vaughn Miller.
"What do you want from me?" Vaughn croaked.
"I want you to apologize," Jeff ordered.
"I'm sorry! I'm so, so sorry!" Vaughn cried. He seemed so small now. Almost like a child. The almost was the difference between Jeff killing him or not.
Jeff sent a satisfied smile to Annie, before facing Vaughn's whimpering frame again.
"Great. But now you're gonna have to make it up to me for going against your word," Jeff said.
"Anything! I'll do anything."
Jeff rolled his eyes.
"I don't want you to do anything, Vaughn. In fact, what I want is for you to not do anything. Don't talk, don't move, don't breathe. Just … don't."
Vaughn let out a shuddered breath. "No, please. I'll do better. Please!"
"Stand up, Vaughn." Jeff instructed.
Vaughn did as he was told.
Jeff gave him a once over, rolling his eyes at the hippie's attire.
"You know, I had half the mind to let you live tonight," Jeff said. Vaughn smiled but Jeff shook his head at him.
"I would have, honestly. But you just had to wear those ridiculous douchebag sandals."
Vaughn gulped. It was the last thing he did before Jeff raised his gun and sent three shots right into his chest.
He fell backwards, blood pooling around him and dripping off the dock, into the sea.
Jeff turned to face Annie, who was still holding the knife tightly in her hand.
"You okay?" He asked.
Annie looked shell-shocked. He understood. He'd reacted the exact same the first time he'd watched somebody get killed. Her eyes were wide and bright with fear and surprise. It didn't matter whether you expected it or not, there was always that look of surprise the first time around.
She nodded absently.
Jeff put the gun back in his holster and walked up to her. She flinched slightly before realizing that Jeff was on her side, and relaxing a little.
"It's strange, I know," Jeff admitted. "Do you want me to take that?" He asked, nodding to the knife.
Annie shook her head, staring down at the weapon with an unreadable expression. "No. I want to keep it."
Jeff nodded. "Okay."
He put an arm on her back gently, not wanting to frighten her again, and began to pull her back to his car.
"Shouldn't we clean that up?" Annie asked.
"Shirley will take care of it," Jeff assured her, rubbing light circles on her back with his thumb.
The drive back to the mansion was silent. Annie stared out the window, while Jeff drove, occasionally glancing at her direction.
"Are you sure you're okay?" He asked her, while they were stopped at some lights.
Annie swallowed and nodded silently.
"You can stay at the mansion for the night, if you want," He said. "Or not," He added after it occurred to him that maybe she wouldn't want to be around him after what happened.
"Okay," She said. He wasn't sure what she was saying okay to, but took it anyway. At least she was talking again.
XXX
The thing was, Annie knew Jeff had killed people. He'd flat out admitted that he'd gotten rid of Starburns for her. But there was a giant difference between knowing some one was a murderer, and seeing some one being a murderer.
She was afraid. Not of Jeff, but that was what was getting to her. She was afraid, about how not afraid of Jeff she was. She'd watched him unflinchingly fire three bullets into Vaughn's guts, and she wasn't afraid. Instead, she was almost in awe of him. She wanted to help. She wanted to be able to do what he did. She wanted to kill people without even a blink and be able to turn around and smile when it was all over. That was what scared her the most.
She didn't stay at the Hawthorne mansion. In fact, she completely avoided going back there for the entire week. Jeff probably thought she was scared of him now, and brushing up on her morals or something like that. She wanted to let him know she wasn't, but then again, he hadn't called to ask, and no cops had shown up at his door, so he must know she hadn't blabbed to anyone.
Instead, Annie dove into her dealing. Despite the misunderstandings with Vaughn, she still had enough product left over to last another week or so. She carried on as always, selling to the usuals with a smile on her face, and collecting money whenever was needed.
She was still having problems with that one student. Magnitude was his nickname. He was a party sort of guy, always getting little highs off Annie whenever there was news about a rager going on on campus. He was a nice guy, and a little hyper-active. His only fault seemed to be that he never had money to pay for the drugs. Annie let him get away with it for the first two weeks, when he promised to have it to her as soon as possible. She was reasonable enough, and it wasn't like she needed the money. But by week three, she'd had enough.
There was not having the money, and then there was just refusing to pay, and Magnitude was definitely the latter.
Annie was good at dealing with people who didn't pay. Sometimes people thought they could scam her because she looked so innocent, but more often than not Annie showed up at their door with her formidable face on, and they realized they couldn't get away that easy. She never had to resort to actual physical violence, although she did have to mace a guy once.
Still, as she left her dorm room this time around, something made her drag along Vaughn's knife. She'd kept the knife close to her at all times, although she couldn't quite explain why. It gave her a thrill, carrying around something that belonged to the guy she watched get shot to death, even if she wasn't the one doing the shooting. Plus, Jeff refused to give her a gun, and after what happened with Vaughn, it was obvious that she'd need something a little stronger than pepper-spray.
She knocked on Magnitude's door loudly, calling his name out.
"Pop! Pop!" He greeted her, with a grin.
"I need my money," Annie told him, not in the mood for any of his nonsense. He'd dragged this out long enough, and she needed all her money soon because she no longer had a supplier.
"Yeah, about that," Magnitude said. "I don't quite have it right now, but -"
"Cut the crap, Magnitude! It's been three weeks, and you still haven't paid!" Annie exclaimed. "Unless you've spent the last three weeks not buying lunch, and not paying for gas for your car, I am not leaving here until you give me what you owe me," She said, pushing past him and sitting herself stubbornly on his bed.
Magnitude smiled. "Look, I'll get it to you as soon as I can, but right now -"
"Right now's the only time I'll take it," Annie said.
Magnitude finally dropped his smile, and glared at her.
"Well, I don't have the money," He told her. "So what?"
Annie stood up, and marched across the room so that they were face to face. He was taller than her by a few inches, which still made him pretty short, but she had to look up at him anyway. She gave him her best formidable face, making sure he knew just how serious she was about this. He didn't look impressed.
"You gonna glare at me all day?" He shoved Annie away by her shoulders.
Annie sighed impatiently and pulled out Vaughn's knife. "No, I'm going to take what's owed to me, whether you decide to give it or not."
His eyes flashed with fear, but he didn't seem to think she'd do it. Annie didn't think she'd do it either. Or maybe she would. Her head was full of conflicting thoughts. She wanted to do it. A deep, primal part of her, really wanted to just jam the knife into him. Her old self was telling her to stop, but with every passing day, her old self seemed to fade a little more from her memory.
"You're not gonna stab me, Annie."
"Try me," Annie said with determination.
Magnitude laughed. He reached out a hand to take the knife from her. "Why don't you just stop -" But before he could reach it Annie sliced his wrist.
He cried out in surprise, and Annie shoved him against the door, holding the knife up to his face.
"I want my money, Magnitude," She said quietly.
Magnitude sneered at her. "I'm not afraid of you. You're just a little girl. You get nothing."
"Oh yeah?" Annie asked. She brought the knife down the space between them, and lunged it into his stomach. Magnitude did a little more than just cry out this time around.
"Well?" Annie asked.
"What are you gonna do, kill me?" His voice was strained.
Annie glared at him. He was too cocky for his own good. She leaned forward, so that there was barely any space left between their faces.
"If you ask nicely, I just might."
Magnitude spat in her face.
Annie dug the knife deeper, and then pushed it all the way down, slicing his stomach open. Magnitude screamed. Then his eyes rolled back into his head and his body went limp against her.
Annie dropped him to the floor, eyes widening when she realized what she had done. She'd killed some one. She'd actually ended somebody's life. On purpose.
She panicked for a brief second, torn between crying and running away. She took a deep breath to calm herself, and counted to ten. She had to be rational about this.
First of all, she couldn't do this alone. She needed Jeff, and Troy, and everyone on the team. She'd seen enough CSI to know she needed to get rid of the body, and hide any evidence.
Her first move she decided, was going to the Hawthorne mansion and getting some assistance. She couldn't leave like this though. She had Magnitude's blood all over her. She'd look extremely guilty.
She took her sweater and shirt off, throwing on a t-shirt that Magnitude had left lying around in his room. There were a few splatters on her tights, which she ripped off along with her skirt, throwing on Magnitude's sweatpants instead. She threw on a Greendale Community College sweater, just to be sure.
She checked herself over in Magnitude's mirror. She looked pale, and her hands were shaking, but other than that she looked pretty normal. No one would ever suspect her of slicing some one open. At least she hoped not.
After that she took Magnitude's key from the pocket of his dead body, and locked the door behind her as she ran down the hall. She probably should have hid him somewhere, but she couldn't exactly bring him anywhere without being noticed. He was pretty popular around campus. Not to mention some one would see if she was dragging a dead body along behind her.
Annie tried to get into her car in the parking lot, but her hands were shaking too much for her to get the key in the ignition. She decided to just walk, since it was only ten minutes away. She made it halfway before she started to feel nauseous, and ended up throwing up her breakfast, lunch, and dinner in an alleyway.
She took a few calming breaths, and spat out any leftover taste of bile from her mouth, before continuing on.
The gate was still broken, therefore still letting anyone who wanted to, just walk right in.
She didn't bother ringing the bell when she got there, since she'd long passed that point of trust.
Jeff was in the living room with Abed. He was pinching the bridge of his nose, in that way of his whenever he had a stress headache. He was nodding along while Abed passed a bunch of files to him silently. Abed had a worried expression, and he looked like he was staying silent so Jeff wouldn't snap at him, rather than because it was his weird Abed thing.
"Jeff," Annie said, letting out a shaky breath. Her voice sounded small, though she didn't feel frightened. She felt powerful, and she didn't quite know how to handle it.
"Not now, Annie," Jeff said without looking up. "Are you sure Shirley can't do anything about this?" He asked Abed, who shook his head in reply. Jeff sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "This cannot be happening," He whispered to himself in frustration.
Annie decided to maybe go try and find Britta or Troy and get them to help instead, but Abed stopped her.
"What happened?" He asked.
"What?"
"You look a little off," Abed noted.
Jeff finally looked up. A small crease appeared between his brows. "Why are you wearing that?"
Annie opened her mouth to answer, but Jeff shook his head before she could get a word out.
"Wait, doesn't matter. I have to deal with this thing for Troy."
"What happened to Troy?" Annie asked, taking tentative steps closer.
"He's in prison. Laybourne planted evidence on him to get us back for the factory," Jeff said, flicking through the pages that were laid out on the table. "Assault and reckless endangerment?" He read off the page, and frowned at Abed again. "Who gave the testimony?"
"I'm still working on that," Abed said. "It was anonymous, but I think it was definitely one of his capos; Maybe even his underboss."
"Pelton? Doesn't seem likely," Jeff said.
"You haven't seen the same side of him that I have," Abed said. "He's unstable, and Laybourne knows exactly how to play him to get what he wants."
"Jeff, I really need to talk to you," Annie repeated, more demanding this time.
Jeff sighed. "Annie, I'm sort of in the middle of something important right now," He groaned.
Annie stuck her nose in the air. "Fine," She said in a petulant voice. "Then I guess it won't matter that I just killed some one."
Abed raised his eyebrows at her and Jeff blinked like a fish.
"I'm sorry?" He asked, in a gruff voice.
"I realize you're busy right now," Annie said, ignoring him. "But I have no idea how to dispose of a body."
Jeff gaped at her for a second, before clearing his throat and collecting himself.
"I think it's about time you moved into the mansion."
Title: Criminology 101
Character/Pairing(s): Jeff/Annie
Rating: PG
Summary: Mafia AU. Annie gets her introduction into Greendale's crime world, in the hopes that she can finally bag Troy Barnes. Meanwhile, Jeff tries to keep things running smoothly while Pierce is busy, and he has no time for silly schoolgirls and their tight sweaters.
Disclaimer: I sadly do not own Community.
Warnings: some violence, and mentions of drugs.
A/N - I was gonna go on a brief break because I have so much schoolwork to do, but that lasted about three days altogether, so here, have a chapter.
Part 1 // Part 2a/2b / Part 3 / Part 4
Annie liked Vaughn. He was nice, and he complimented her in the weirdest ways, but it still made her feel good about herself. Everyone in the group had met Vaughn one time or another. Apparently, he'd dated Britta for a while. And once when he tried to scam them Shirley dealt with him. From what Troy told her, it was pretty ugly. When Annie asked Shirley about it, the woman giggled at the memory.
They were all crazy in this mansion.
Annie had no trouble with Vaughn. He liked her just as much as she liked him. Even more, actually. Annie knew she could trust him enough, and he was too afraid of Jeff to screw her over. Or at least that was what she thought.
She should have seen the signs when she showed up. It was different. For starters, Vaughn was actually wearing a hoodie when she showed up. Also, he seemed kind of fidgety, which was unusual considering how relaxed he was most of the time. Annie should have seen these things for what they were, instead of just assuming Vaughn was having an off day. People didn't have off days in the drug business. They were either fine or they weren't, and Vaughn wasn't.
"I need extra," Vaughn said quietly when she handed him the money.
"What are you talking about? That's the same price as always."
Vaughn gulped. "Well the price has gone up. I want an extra five hundred."
Annie laughed like she thought he was joking. "Vaughn, I have the usual two thousand and that's it. Now give me the drugs."
Vaughn held out a hand to take the money from her. Annie reached out to hand him the envelope filled with cash, but Vaughn grabbed her wrist and the last second and pulled her close. He pulled a knife from his hoodie pocket and held it up to her neck.
"I don't want to hurt you. Just give me the extra five hundred," Vaughn said.
Annie was scared. She could feel the edge of the knife against her throat. She was still pretty young. Most of her accomplishments included straight As in school, and two very successful drug businesses. She'd only ever had onegay boyfriend, and the guy she currently had feelings for was an unhappy consigliere who drank too much scotch and didn't sleep enough. Those were the only thoughts running through her mind. That, and she needed to get the hell out of there.
"Vaughn, please," She begged.
"I don't want to hurt you," He repeated, tightening his grip on the knife. He looked scared too, like he didn't really want to do this.
Annie took a breath, swallowing down her tears, and kneed him right in his privates. Vaughn jerked back in pain, slicing her shoulder accidentally.
Annie didn't feel it though. She was too focused on running back to her car. Vaughn followed her quickly, making a grab for her arm. She half-punched him in the face and kicked his shin. He fell back, and Annie sprinted to her crappy car.
She must have hit a world record for starting a car quickly, and she drove out of there without a second glance. She didn't know if Vaughn had a car. She didn't even know if he had given up on chasing her or not, she just drove furiously through the streets of Greendale.
She was shaking by the time she walked through the Hawthorne mansion. She could feel the pain in her arm now, and there was blood leaking all the way down to her fingertips.
"Hello?" She called out, but nobody answered her.
Troy and Abed had gone out for the night to catch the premier of the new Kickpuncher movie. She remembered them mentioning it earlier. Britta was god knows where most of the time, and Shirley had moved back into her home as soon as she had healed.
She didn't know if Jeff was around. His business usually took on random hours of the day.
"Hello?" She tried again, going halfway up the stairs.
"Annie?" Jeff's voice called from the kitchen. Annie ran down to him, holding her arm so he wouldn't see how badly she'd screwed up. It didn't make much of a difference. Her sleeve was stained completely red.
As soon as Jeff saw her, a dark look flashed across his features. "What happened?" He asked calmly.
"Vaughn- he tried-" Annie stuttered, unable to find the words. She was mad at Vaughn. Mad at him for screwing up her business. Mad at him for making her look like a scared, little girl in front of Jeff.
Jeff seemed equally pissed at the smelly hippie. He walked over to her, and put a comforting hand on her back, leading her toward the kitchen. He sat her at the table, and told her to relax, before rooting through a cupboard for the first aid kit.
"I'm sorry, Jeff," Annie said quietly when he took the seat next to her.
Jeff didn't reply. Instead, he gently removed her sweater, glancing at her face every few seconds to make sure it wasn't hurting her. He wiped up most of the blood with a towel, then cleaned the cut. The stuff he used stung a bit, but he was trying to make it as painless as possible for her. Every time she made a noise of pain, he'd stop and give her three seconds to relax again.
He'd obviously done this before. Annie wondered how many times, and who, and why. Abed had shown her a scar on his stomach once from a bad deal. He said Jeff had cleaned it up for him, but Annie had found that hard to believe at the time. Usually, Jeff was too busy for this sort of thing, and whenever anyone got injured he sent them to Nurse Jackie.
"It's not too deep so you won't be needing stitches," Jeff said gently. He picked up a band aid, cutting it the right size, and pressing it lightly over the cut. He gave her a small smile when he finished. "So what happened?"
"Vaughn wanted an extra five hundred," Annie said. "When I didn't give it to him, he pulled out a knife."
Jeff nodded in understanding.
"It was my fault. I should have seen something was off."
Jeff shook his head, leaning in closer to her. "No, Annie, it wasn't. Vaughn's the one to blame here." He sat back with an angry expression now. "I'll deal with him."
"I want to come," Annie said quickly. "When you … y'know. I want to be there."
Jeff looked like he wanted to protest, but decided against it. He nodded curtly, and gave her back her bloodstained sweater. "Okay," He said quietly and stood up.
"Send him a text. Tell him you'll meet him tomorrow with the extra cash."
"Okay," Annie said.
Jeff cocked his head at her curiously. "If he had a knife, how did you escape?"
Annie shrugged, but winced halfway, finding that it hurt now. "I kicked him in the genitals."
Jeff laughed, but it wasn't a mean one. He gave her an affectionate smile. "I always knew you were a tough one."
XXX
It really was a testament to how dumb Vaughn was, that he actually showed up. Anyone with half a brain would know that nothing good could come of meeting with the drug dealer you tried to stab. Then again, Vaughn probably didn't realize how important Annie was. Jeff was baffled by it too, sometimes. He was mostly used to it though, which wasn't a good thing, as he had to continuously remind himself.
Vaughn was standing in the usual spot, wearing a stupid looking hoodie, that no doubt was where he hid the knife. Vaughn didn't wear clothes if he could help it.
When he noticed Jeff walking in front of Annie he got ready to flee, but Jeff was too fast for him. He whipped out his gun at lightning speed, aiming it right at Vaughn's face.
"Don't even," He warned, smirk playing on his lips. He wasn't gonna admit it, but he was far too happy to have a valid excuse for shooting Vaughn.
Vaughn froze like a deer in the headlights as Jeff and Annie walked closer and closer. Jeff's gun didn't waver.
"I told you not to try anything just because I was gone," Jeff said.
Annie trailed behind him, glaring intensely at Vaughn.
"I wasn't- " Vaughn began but Jeff stepped closer to shut him up.
"See the problem with that argument is I don't care," Jeff said. "You went after some one I care about, and now I'm going after you. Simple, so even you can understand it."
"I didn't -"
"No, you didn't," Jeff finished for him. He pressed the gun to Vaughn's forehead, savouring the way nervous sweat fell from Vaughn's temple.
"Your knife," Jeff demanded. Vaughn pulled it out of his pocket and held it out to him. Jeff took it and gave it to Annie to hold. He lowered his gun and smiled at Vaughn, giving him that false sense of getting away with it. When Vaughn finally smiled back, Jeff smacked him across the face with the gun.
Vaughn fell to the boards of the dock, crying out in pain. Jeff was rather unimpressed by him. He really was the lamest type of person to threaten.
"Please," Vaughn begged.
"Shut up, Vaughn," Jeff spat. Vaughn shrunk in on himself, but Jeff wasn't having it. He pulled him by the collar and sent a knee into his stomach, knocking the air out of him. Jeff dropped him back to the floor and shook his head at the pathetic mess that was Vaughn Miller.
"What do you want from me?" Vaughn croaked.
"I want you to apologize," Jeff ordered.
"I'm sorry! I'm so, so sorry!" Vaughn cried. He seemed so small now. Almost like a child. The almost was the difference between Jeff killing him or not.
Jeff sent a satisfied smile to Annie, before facing Vaughn's whimpering frame again.
"Great. But now you're gonna have to make it up to me for going against your word," Jeff said.
"Anything! I'll do anything."
Jeff rolled his eyes.
"I don't want you to do anything, Vaughn. In fact, what I want is for you to not do anything. Don't talk, don't move, don't breathe. Just … don't."
Vaughn let out a shuddered breath. "No, please. I'll do better. Please!"
"Stand up, Vaughn." Jeff instructed.
Vaughn did as he was told.
Jeff gave him a once over, rolling his eyes at the hippie's attire.
"You know, I had half the mind to let you live tonight," Jeff said. Vaughn smiled but Jeff shook his head at him.
"I would have, honestly. But you just had to wear those ridiculous douchebag sandals."
Vaughn gulped. It was the last thing he did before Jeff raised his gun and sent three shots right into his chest.
He fell backwards, blood pooling around him and dripping off the dock, into the sea.
Jeff turned to face Annie, who was still holding the knife tightly in her hand.
"You okay?" He asked.
Annie looked shell-shocked. He understood. He'd reacted the exact same the first time he'd watched somebody get killed. Her eyes were wide and bright with fear and surprise. It didn't matter whether you expected it or not, there was always that look of surprise the first time around.
She nodded absently.
Jeff put the gun back in his holster and walked up to her. She flinched slightly before realizing that Jeff was on her side, and relaxing a little.
"It's strange, I know," Jeff admitted. "Do you want me to take that?" He asked, nodding to the knife.
Annie shook her head, staring down at the weapon with an unreadable expression. "No. I want to keep it."
Jeff nodded. "Okay."
He put an arm on her back gently, not wanting to frighten her again, and began to pull her back to his car.
"Shouldn't we clean that up?" Annie asked.
"Shirley will take care of it," Jeff assured her, rubbing light circles on her back with his thumb.
The drive back to the mansion was silent. Annie stared out the window, while Jeff drove, occasionally glancing at her direction.
"Are you sure you're okay?" He asked her, while they were stopped at some lights.
Annie swallowed and nodded silently.
"You can stay at the mansion for the night, if you want," He said. "Or not," He added after it occurred to him that maybe she wouldn't want to be around him after what happened.
"Okay," She said. He wasn't sure what she was saying okay to, but took it anyway. At least she was talking again.
XXX
The thing was, Annie knew Jeff had killed people. He'd flat out admitted that he'd gotten rid of Starburns for her. But there was a giant difference between knowing some one was a murderer, and seeing some one being a murderer.
She was afraid. Not of Jeff, but that was what was getting to her. She was afraid, about how not afraid of Jeff she was. She'd watched him unflinchingly fire three bullets into Vaughn's guts, and she wasn't afraid. Instead, she was almost in awe of him. She wanted to help. She wanted to be able to do what he did. She wanted to kill people without even a blink and be able to turn around and smile when it was all over. That was what scared her the most.
She didn't stay at the Hawthorne mansion. In fact, she completely avoided going back there for the entire week. Jeff probably thought she was scared of him now, and brushing up on her morals or something like that. She wanted to let him know she wasn't, but then again, he hadn't called to ask, and no cops had shown up at his door, so he must know she hadn't blabbed to anyone.
Instead, Annie dove into her dealing. Despite the misunderstandings with Vaughn, she still had enough product left over to last another week or so. She carried on as always, selling to the usuals with a smile on her face, and collecting money whenever was needed.
She was still having problems with that one student. Magnitude was his nickname. He was a party sort of guy, always getting little highs off Annie whenever there was news about a rager going on on campus. He was a nice guy, and a little hyper-active. His only fault seemed to be that he never had money to pay for the drugs. Annie let him get away with it for the first two weeks, when he promised to have it to her as soon as possible. She was reasonable enough, and it wasn't like she needed the money. But by week three, she'd had enough.
There was not having the money, and then there was just refusing to pay, and Magnitude was definitely the latter.
Annie was good at dealing with people who didn't pay. Sometimes people thought they could scam her because she looked so innocent, but more often than not Annie showed up at their door with her formidable face on, and they realized they couldn't get away that easy. She never had to resort to actual physical violence, although she did have to mace a guy once.
Still, as she left her dorm room this time around, something made her drag along Vaughn's knife. She'd kept the knife close to her at all times, although she couldn't quite explain why. It gave her a thrill, carrying around something that belonged to the guy she watched get shot to death, even if she wasn't the one doing the shooting. Plus, Jeff refused to give her a gun, and after what happened with Vaughn, it was obvious that she'd need something a little stronger than pepper-spray.
She knocked on Magnitude's door loudly, calling his name out.
"Pop! Pop!" He greeted her, with a grin.
"I need my money," Annie told him, not in the mood for any of his nonsense. He'd dragged this out long enough, and she needed all her money soon because she no longer had a supplier.
"Yeah, about that," Magnitude said. "I don't quite have it right now, but -"
"Cut the crap, Magnitude! It's been three weeks, and you still haven't paid!" Annie exclaimed. "Unless you've spent the last three weeks not buying lunch, and not paying for gas for your car, I am not leaving here until you give me what you owe me," She said, pushing past him and sitting herself stubbornly on his bed.
Magnitude smiled. "Look, I'll get it to you as soon as I can, but right now -"
"Right now's the only time I'll take it," Annie said.
Magnitude finally dropped his smile, and glared at her.
"Well, I don't have the money," He told her. "So what?"
Annie stood up, and marched across the room so that they were face to face. He was taller than her by a few inches, which still made him pretty short, but she had to look up at him anyway. She gave him her best formidable face, making sure he knew just how serious she was about this. He didn't look impressed.
"You gonna glare at me all day?" He shoved Annie away by her shoulders.
Annie sighed impatiently and pulled out Vaughn's knife. "No, I'm going to take what's owed to me, whether you decide to give it or not."
His eyes flashed with fear, but he didn't seem to think she'd do it. Annie didn't think she'd do it either. Or maybe she would. Her head was full of conflicting thoughts. She wanted to do it. A deep, primal part of her, really wanted to just jam the knife into him. Her old self was telling her to stop, but with every passing day, her old self seemed to fade a little more from her memory.
"You're not gonna stab me, Annie."
"Try me," Annie said with determination.
Magnitude laughed. He reached out a hand to take the knife from her. "Why don't you just stop -" But before he could reach it Annie sliced his wrist.
He cried out in surprise, and Annie shoved him against the door, holding the knife up to his face.
"I want my money, Magnitude," She said quietly.
Magnitude sneered at her. "I'm not afraid of you. You're just a little girl. You get nothing."
"Oh yeah?" Annie asked. She brought the knife down the space between them, and lunged it into his stomach. Magnitude did a little more than just cry out this time around.
"Well?" Annie asked.
"What are you gonna do, kill me?" His voice was strained.
Annie glared at him. He was too cocky for his own good. She leaned forward, so that there was barely any space left between their faces.
"If you ask nicely, I just might."
Magnitude spat in her face.
Annie dug the knife deeper, and then pushed it all the way down, slicing his stomach open. Magnitude screamed. Then his eyes rolled back into his head and his body went limp against her.
Annie dropped him to the floor, eyes widening when she realized what she had done. She'd killed some one. She'd actually ended somebody's life. On purpose.
She panicked for a brief second, torn between crying and running away. She took a deep breath to calm herself, and counted to ten. She had to be rational about this.
First of all, she couldn't do this alone. She needed Jeff, and Troy, and everyone on the team. She'd seen enough CSI to know she needed to get rid of the body, and hide any evidence.
Her first move she decided, was going to the Hawthorne mansion and getting some assistance. She couldn't leave like this though. She had Magnitude's blood all over her. She'd look extremely guilty.
She took her sweater and shirt off, throwing on a t-shirt that Magnitude had left lying around in his room. There were a few splatters on her tights, which she ripped off along with her skirt, throwing on Magnitude's sweatpants instead. She threw on a Greendale Community College sweater, just to be sure.
She checked herself over in Magnitude's mirror. She looked pale, and her hands were shaking, but other than that she looked pretty normal. No one would ever suspect her of slicing some one open. At least she hoped not.
After that she took Magnitude's key from the pocket of his dead body, and locked the door behind her as she ran down the hall. She probably should have hid him somewhere, but she couldn't exactly bring him anywhere without being noticed. He was pretty popular around campus. Not to mention some one would see if she was dragging a dead body along behind her.
Annie tried to get into her car in the parking lot, but her hands were shaking too much for her to get the key in the ignition. She decided to just walk, since it was only ten minutes away. She made it halfway before she started to feel nauseous, and ended up throwing up her breakfast, lunch, and dinner in an alleyway.
She took a few calming breaths, and spat out any leftover taste of bile from her mouth, before continuing on.
The gate was still broken, therefore still letting anyone who wanted to, just walk right in.
She didn't bother ringing the bell when she got there, since she'd long passed that point of trust.
Jeff was in the living room with Abed. He was pinching the bridge of his nose, in that way of his whenever he had a stress headache. He was nodding along while Abed passed a bunch of files to him silently. Abed had a worried expression, and he looked like he was staying silent so Jeff wouldn't snap at him, rather than because it was his weird Abed thing.
"Jeff," Annie said, letting out a shaky breath. Her voice sounded small, though she didn't feel frightened. She felt powerful, and she didn't quite know how to handle it.
"Not now, Annie," Jeff said without looking up. "Are you sure Shirley can't do anything about this?" He asked Abed, who shook his head in reply. Jeff sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "This cannot be happening," He whispered to himself in frustration.
Annie decided to maybe go try and find Britta or Troy and get them to help instead, but Abed stopped her.
"What happened?" He asked.
"What?"
"You look a little off," Abed noted.
Jeff finally looked up. A small crease appeared between his brows. "Why are you wearing that?"
Annie opened her mouth to answer, but Jeff shook his head before she could get a word out.
"Wait, doesn't matter. I have to deal with this thing for Troy."
"What happened to Troy?" Annie asked, taking tentative steps closer.
"He's in prison. Laybourne planted evidence on him to get us back for the factory," Jeff said, flicking through the pages that were laid out on the table. "Assault and reckless endangerment?" He read off the page, and frowned at Abed again. "Who gave the testimony?"
"I'm still working on that," Abed said. "It was anonymous, but I think it was definitely one of his capos; Maybe even his underboss."
"Pelton? Doesn't seem likely," Jeff said.
"You haven't seen the same side of him that I have," Abed said. "He's unstable, and Laybourne knows exactly how to play him to get what he wants."
"Jeff, I really need to talk to you," Annie repeated, more demanding this time.
Jeff sighed. "Annie, I'm sort of in the middle of something important right now," He groaned.
Annie stuck her nose in the air. "Fine," She said in a petulant voice. "Then I guess it won't matter that I just killed some one."
Abed raised his eyebrows at her and Jeff blinked like a fish.
"I'm sorry?" He asked, in a gruff voice.
"I realize you're busy right now," Annie said, ignoring him. "But I have no idea how to dispose of a body."
Jeff gaped at her for a second, before clearing his throat and collecting himself.
"I think it's about time you moved into the mansion."