Annie refused to look at Jeff. Unfortunately she also refused to look at the Doctor. Which meant that she couldn't look to her left or her right; she just had to stare straight forward and hope that Britta and Shirley would get her out.

Which, at the moment, didn't look to be any time soon.

They'd been in Greendale's 'detention center' for over an hour, and still no sign of Britta or Shirley to come sign their release papers. Of course, given how upset they were about the entire affair, what with all the punching, kicking, and swearing; even the fact that all three of them had been tazed didn't earn them sympathy points. Annie figured she should probably bunker in for the night, which only thankful that they'd allowed her to keep her backpack and homework. So at least the night wouldn't be a total loss.

Ignoring Jeff's snoring and the Doctor's tapping feet, she rummaged through her backpack, searching for her history book. Her hands brushed against her day planner and then her calendar. Once she spotted them her lips tightened up and she forced herself not to glare at the Doctor. She still couldn't understand how she got a Lower Third Class. Did he not see the little star she put next to October 19th? How was that not perfectly marking the calendar?

Annie sat back and glanced over Jeff's direction. He lay sprawled out over a trio of chairs, quietly snoring and snoozing away the bruises he'd receive when he attacked the Doctor. Annie wasn't sure who had given them to him, the Doctor or herself. She just couldn't believe how insane he'd gotten over all of this. Worse than Rich!

Outside in the office, Annie thought she saw Officer Cackowski leaving for a break. Meaning that, no one was coming for them at all. He would have hung around otherwise. What a perfect way to waste a night, stuck between two guys she was mad at and a bunch of homework; some of which was going to get her a worthless grade.

"For what it's worth," the Doctor suddenly said. "I'm sorry about what happened back there in your study room. I didn't mean to hurt Jeff, I used to be into Venutian Martial Arts when I was younger and I'm afraid some of those old reflexes came back when he attacked me."

Annie nodded, "I think I punched him pretty good too. I'm sorry you got stuck in the middle of all of this. Jeff and me… and well all of us have some very serious issues I guess."

"Believe me," the Doctor said. "I've had my share of dysfunctional relationships. Though to be fair, most of them are because I thwarted their plans for universal domination… at any rate… I'm sorry for causing any trouble with your friends."

"It's alright," Annie folded her arms and leaned back in her seat. "We'll get past it. This isn't the first time we've lost our collective minds."

The two of them sat in silence for a few minutes, the entire time the Doctor tapped his foot or drummed his fingers on his knees like a kid that just had too much energy to sit still. Annie glanced at her backpack, then took a deep breath and retrieved her calendar.

"Doctor," she held it up. "I have to know, what's wrong with my calendar? I worked really hard on it and you failed me. I have to know why."

"Annie," the Doctor shook his head, but his voice was strangely soft. "I know you worked hard, everyone in your group did, and I'm truly touched that you would all jump so head first into any homework I assigned. But it was never about the actual work or even the end product. I was trying to get through to you."

"Get through to me? What does that mean?"

"You need to open your eyes Annie, really open them and look at what's around you. Things are not right here at Greendale Community College, and no amount of homework is going to fix them."

"I don't think that's fair," Annie said. "I mean yeah, our flag has a butt on it and we had to fight off an infestation of squirrels over the summer, but we have a lot of heart. Even if we're a bit crazy."

"That's not what I'm talking about," the Doctor said. "I'm really sorry but-"

"No, I'm sorry," Jeff said. Annie glanced at him and raised a brow as he sat up. He blinked at the bright lights a few times but focused in on the Doctor. "Annie's right, we are all seriously messed up, me especially, and I kind of let that play out on you."

"Perfectly alright Jeffery," the Doctor smiled.

"Though if I can be blunt with you," Jeff said. "I think you should tone down the whole… nutty professor thing you've got going on."

"I'm sorry," the Doctor said. "The what?"

"You know," Jeff said. "The whole… talking with your hands at a million miles a minute, throwing out random words like 'Venutian Martial Arts' claiming that you have first hand knowledge of the fall of Troy. Things like that. It makes all the internet research I dug up on you seem legit."

"Internet research? Annie said. "Jeff, really?"

"You're high-roading me there Squints?" Jeff said. "You let Wendy Peffercorn there get to second under the pretense of you being unconscious."

"What are you?"

"Sandlot!" the Doctor clapped his hands and pointed. "It was on the list of movies Abed texted to me to watch over the weekend. Fantastic movie, not sure on the rules of baseball though I didn't think that dogs were regularly a part of the game."

"This is what I'm talking about," Jeff said. "I mean, I have British friends and even they know that's not part of baseball. Also I though they were supposed to roll the ball on the ground."

"What research are you talking about?" Annie said.

"It's stupid," Jeff rolled his eyes but fumbled in his pocket, retrieving some folded papers. "I printed these off before everyone got to the study room. It must be some sort of elaborate hoax. Maybe the Doctor got some really craptacular reviews at . It was all made to make it look like he was some sort of… I don't know… harbinger of doom."

Annie took the papers and began looking over the printed photographs. One of the Doctor in an old black and white picture wearing a fez, the other with him standing at the New York Stock exchange. She crinkled her brows together as she looked at them and tried to make sense of it all. Especially the papers that came after describing men even further back that matched the Doctor's description. Jeff actually thought any of this was real? How was it that Troy and Abed super glued dates on themselves and somehow both she and Jeff managed to be crazier than them?

It was only after looking at the documents for a couple moments that Annie became aware of the Doctor hovering over her shoulder, looking at the pictures. He wore an odd smile on his face, almost like looking at old baby pictures or a yearbook. She looked back at the picture of him with the fez. Almost commenting at how silly he, or this relative of his, looked

Below the picture an italicized sentence identified the picture of being on the set of Road to Morocco, October 19th 1942, something clicked in her mind and she flipped back to the picture of the New York Stock Exchange. Her eyes roamed over the picture the screaming men, the red lights, the torn papers. She was no historian but she'd recently done a paper on the 80's.

"October 19th 1987," She said out loud.

"Black Monday," Jeff said.

"And this other picture was taken on October 19th," she said.

Jeff leaned over and looked at the picture. "I guess so… huh…"

"And this!" Annie flipped to another page. "The soldier that surrendered Lord Cornwallis' sword to Washington… that was on October 19th!"

"Okay that is weird," Jeff said.

Annie glanced over to the Doctor, he was out of his seat entirely now, an eager smile had overtaken his previous one and he nodded to the papers encouragingly. She turned back to them and scanned them over again and again. Each record happened on October 19th. Each appearance Jeff had looked up on the Doctor was October 19th. Had he fallen into an unnecessarily dark Jim Carrey movie?

"This doesn't make any sense," Jeff said. "October 19th isn't some important day. I mean hell, today is October 19th and none of us are doing anything special besides spending time in detention… wait… it snowed this weekend."

"It snows in October sometimes," Annie said.

"Not at Greendale, it barely snows in December… that's weird…"

The Doctor's previous words about something not being right came back to Annie and she ruffled through the papers again, searching for more clues. When nothing else jumped out at her she sat back and tried to work it out on her own. Repeat frauds of the Doctor on October 19th, the same day as today, and snow when there shouldn't have been, almost like it was the dead of winter… it didn't add up. Then her eyes fell on her calendar.

As quickly as she saw it she snatched it up and opened it up. At first nothing seemed out of the ordinary; October 19th, just like it should read. Then she noticed she'd opened it up to the first page. October should be one of the last. Her head tingled and she squinted at the page until all once the numbers and letters changed and she realized what she was really looking at.

"It's January…" she said. "We're at the end of January!"

"What?" Jeff leaned over her and grabbed an edge of the calendar so he could look at it. "I'm not sure what you're talking about Annie, look at the date. It's October 19th."

"No it's not!" Annie shook her head. "Jeff, think about it. This is the first page of the calendar. And look what I've done to every single date. I marked them all as if they were October 19th. I thought I was just marking important dates, but I was marking the same date over and over again. It's January!"

"No it's…" Jeff glared at the calendar. "No… but…"

"Think about it Jeff. How long have you thought it was October 19th? Doesn't it seem like that was every day? Even when it felt like it shouldn't be?"

Jeff furrowed his brows and looked at the calendar again... he glanced at the Doctor then back at the calendar and then at the evidence he'd collected. Some of those dates he knew happened on October 19th, but others… he'd found a description of the Doctor appearing at the crash of the Hindenburg… that didn't happen on October 19th right? Neither did Independence Day… the movie.

Without a word he took his papers and flipped to the one in question. Over the actual date he'd scribbled, October 19th 2012. It was in his handwriting and everything! He'd done it with other dates as well. He felt Annie's hand on his arm, her face was lined with worry.

"Jeff?"

He pulled out his phone and stared at the date. He'd actually written over it with a marker. But after rubbing it away, it read October 19th, until he stared at it and realized that it didn't actually say that at all.

"It's January 2013," he said.

"I know," Annie nodded. "Jeff what's going on?"

"I'll tell you what's going on!" the Doctor finally piped up, his face beaming. "You worked it out! The pair of you worked it out! Come here!"

Before Annie could react, the Doctor wrapped both herself and Jeff in a group hug. His lips suddenly pressed against hers, she heard Jeff grunt something only to see the Doctor turn and kiss him too! Jeff pulled back, and Annie followed, darting her eyes back and forth between Jeff and the Doctor.

"What do you mean we've worked it out?" Jeff said, rubbing his mouth with the back of his hand. "Doctor, what is really going on here? How can it be January 2013 instead of October 19th 2012 like we thought it was?"

"Well it's really very simple," the Doctor said then rubbed his chin. "Actually no, it's not terribly simple at all. It's really actually very complicated, but the point is that the two of you have realized what was wrong! It means we can go about fixing it now!"

"Fixing it?" Annie said as the Doctor whipped out his little glowing tool and suddenly the locks on the door snapped open. The Doctor ran to the door and swung it wide before turning back to them.

"Well come along you two!" he said. "Greendale won't realign itself with the spacetime continuum itself! I'm going to need your help!"

"But we're still in detention…" Annie said yet her feet followed after the Doctor at least as far as the door. "Doctor we can't just go!"

"Of course we can Annie," the Doctor said. "But stay if you like, repeat the same dull day every day or come with me and do something amazing!"

The Doctor set out into the office, Annie exchanged a glance with Jeff before the pair of them hurried after him. Jeff caught up with him first with Annie just behind, doing her best to match the pace of four long legs. She was just thankful she didn't wear heels like she'd considered in the morning when she wanted to impress the Doctor.

"So what's all this about realigning ourselves with the timeline?" Jeff said. "It sounds like goofy sci-fi technobabble."

"Never underestimate tecnobabble Jeffery," the Doctor said. "You can explain away the entire universe with technobabble. I've gotten myself out of the most unlikely situations with technobabble."

"But why were we seeing October 19th on everything?" Annie said. "My planner, the calendars, the pictures."

"That's where things begin to get complicated," the Doctor said as they made their way through the halls. "Greendale… the entire school is under the influence of an immense temporal field that's pulled you out of synch with the rest of the world. It started on October 19th and you literally haven't moved in time since. You didn't notice it because of a perception filter subconsciously tricked your minds into not only not noticing the incongruities but actively writing them in without you even realizing it."

"What?" Jeff shook his head. "Even if I understood what you said… that's crazy, that's impossible!"

"More impossible than you staring at calendars and dates on the internet and thinking it was a different date?" the Doctor stopped and put his hand on Jeff's shoulder. "Now I know you have a hard time believing in the fantastic but you need to understand that the universe is fantastic and the more you ignore it the easier it is for it to overtake you. Open your eyes Jeffery and you'll see that there's a lot more in front of you than you could have guessed."

"Okay," Annie said. "So if I understand right… you're saying that Greendale is stuck in time? On October 19th like in Groundhog's Day?"

"Love that movie," the Doctor said. "I've actually become quite the cinephile since coming here thanks to your man Abed. And in a manner of speaking you're correct, except nobody played the part of Tom Hanks… no… not him… can't remember the main actor's name. Chevy Chase? Nevermind, not important. No one knew your day was repeating so no one could change it. That's why I had you study the calendars. Someone had to snap out of it before it could be fixed."

Jeff shook his head, his brows furrowed in concentration. "Okay… but if we're in Groundhog's Day… then
everything would have reset right? The calendars shouldn't have been showing the actual date."

"Wibbley Wobbley, timey whimey," the Doctor said and approached the supply closet door. "Time marched on without the students at Greendale but it didn't march on for them. The perception filter made you all think it was October 19th while reality slowly warped around you."

"I'm really not following any of this," Jeff said. "And I'm still not convinced this isn't some trip brought on by the potato water and black mold."

"Still don't believe in the impossible?" the Doctor quirked half a smile. "What's it going to take to convince you? Something even more impossible than what you've seen?"

"Maybe," Jeff said. "Why?"

"Because you're going to love this!" the Doctor rubbed his hands together and threw the closet doors wide open. The room sat in mostly darkness, with exception of a light that shone atop a big blue box. Annie scanned her eyes up and down it, trying to figure out what it meant.

"Just a box," she said. "A police box?"

"My Police Box!" the Doctor said then lifted up a hand and snapped his fingers. The doors swung open behind him. "Come on in."

The Doctor stepped into the box and Annie found herself again looking to Jeff, who looked just as confused as he was. The Doctor wanted them to all cram into a box? For some reason her heart beat just a little faster and she almost felt the urge to run. But Jeff nodded to her and went in. Then she took a breath and followed.

Both she and Jeff walked out of the box a half second later and ran around it from different directions, meeting each other behind. If her heart was beating quicker before she went in, now it raced! Jeff had the same dumbfounded look she knew she had and the two of them both ran back inside the massive, alien interior of the box.

"You don't need to worry," The Doctor grinned slyly. "This is a judgment free zone, you can say whatever is on your mind at the moment. It may help."

Both Jeff and Annie spoke at the same time and in one breath.

"It's bigger on the inside!"

"I must be on Adderall again!"

"What?" the Doctor said and came away from the central console that dominated the room. "No Annie, Jeff had it right! You most certainly are not on drugs!"

"This… this is impossible!" Annie said. "What… how… Doctor… who are you?"

"Everything I researched is true isn't it!" Jeff said. "Those weren't pictures or descriptions of your ancestors… they were you! This… this box is…"

"Impossible?" the Doctor raised is brows. "This box is called the Tardis, it's a time machine that can go anywhere and anywhen. I'm a Time Lord from the Planet Gallifrey, I'm over a thousand years old and I've come to Greendale to help you get your time back. How's that for impossible?"

Annie shook her head. It was just all too much to take in at once. A timemachine that was bigger on the inside, Greendale being out of synch with reality, her having been attracted to a man a few centuries older than her…

"Don't worry, you'll pick it all up," the Doctor said. "And Annie… see to Jeff, I have to get us underway."

The Doctor began pulling levers and pushing buttons. Annie turned to see Jeff hunched over a railing looking like he might vomit. She rushed to him and placed a hand on his back, rubbing small circles around it while he heaved heavy breathes.

"Okay…" Jeff said after a moment. "I… I may have misjudged this guy a bit. Holy crap Annie! What did we just get ourselves into?"

"I don't know," she said. "And I'm a bit terrified too, but you saw the calendars, you know something's wrong, if the Doctor can help us fix it we need to do what we can. For Greendale… for the study group."

"Yeah," Jeff nodded. "For the study group. But if you want, when we go out there to face…whatever it is we're going to face, I'm man enough to let you lead the charge. I'm not afraid to let a woman go first when we're facing the unknown."

Annie smiled and rolled her eyes, then froze a half a second later as the Doctor waved his whirring, green light past both herself and Jeff. The two of them turned to see him holding the light up as if examining it then taking his little rod over to the console and putting it in a slot.

"Just taking temporal readings off of you," the Doctor said without even looking at them. "It should allow me to lock onto the source of the distortion. Just a minute… there we go! Hang on you two!"

The Doctor threw a lever and the room jostled, nearly throwing Annie off her feet. Jeff caught her around the waist and she latched onto the railing. The shuddering stopped but the floor hummed rhythmically along with the strange wheezing noise that came from the engines.

Just as soon as Annie had a chance to take it all in, the room jolted one more time then stopped. The Doctor flipped a different switch then spun around to face them.

"Alright, we're here, there are a pair of torches by the door. Grab them, follow me, and remember one thing above all others, no matter what we see out there, no matter what happens, do exactly as I say. Got it?"

They both nodded and followed the Doctor to the doors. In a little slot they spotted the flashlights and flicked them on then off to make sure they worked. Annie felt Jeff's fingers bump against hers and she fought the urge to snatch them up. She needed to be brave. The Doctor opened the door to a dark room and took a step out, holding his little rod at the ready.

"What is that thing?" Jeff asked as they stepped out into the dark.

"Sonic Screwdriver," the Doctor replied. "Trusty little gadget just in case something goes wrong."

Annie shined her light across the room. Cement floors and walls with rows and rows of shelves all along. She broke away from Jeff and the Doctor just a bit so she could get a better look at the shelves. Mostly they had boxes but some had P.E. equipment and others folders and files. But it didn't take her more than a second to see the G.C.C logo on it.

"We're still at Greendale?" she turned her light on the Doctor.

"The basement I should think by the looks of it," he said. "Makes sense after all, whatever is affecting your timeline would have to be localized."

"Watch your step Annie," Jeff said.

"No need to worry yet Jeffery," the Doctor said. "I'm not picking up any threatening life signs on my sonic."

"Yeah, well apparently you need to have it scan for small animals," Jeff said. "There's a psychotic cat down here. It attacked me last year during the mob themed paintball fight."

"A cat?" Annie raised a brow and couldn't help but smile. "You're afraid of a cat?"

"This cat's insane!" Jeff said. "And maybe even is part of all of this! When I saw it before, I got this weird feeling of déjà vu, like I'd seen it before but couldn't remember!"

"Right," the Doctor smiled, clearly as amused as Annie. "I'll be sure to set my sonic to look like ferocious felines."

No sooner did he say that, then a horrible screech rang out and a ball, a tiny but vicious, ball of fur and claws shot out at the Doctor from a nearby shelf. The Doctor didn't even have time to yell as the cat scratched and bit at him. Annie nearly dropped her light and Jeff rushed to the Doctor's aide, all the while he flailed about screaming something about 'regeneration' and 'worse than daleks'.

Jeff was almost to him and Annie started running as well; until, just out of the corner of her eye, she spotted something. Or at least thought she did. She turned to look at it directly but just saw an empty space between two shelves. The Doctor and Jeff shouted and she turned to them both desperately trying to get the cat off of his face. She started off toward them, swearing that she saw that… thing again as she went.

This time she stopped, glanced at Jeff and the Doctor, who nearly had the cat off, then turned directly at the object and approached. As she did she felt this weird buzzing in her head and the closer she got the stronger it got. It still looked like an empty wall between two shelves but she knew there was something there. Her mind went back to the Doctor's words and him talking about a perception filter. Could that be it?

Off in the distance, she heard the Doctor and Jeff shouting her name but she closed her eyes and focused on the buzzing and remembered how the words and letters on her calendar reorganized before her very eyes when she really concentrated. Slowly, all the while the world buzzed and she heard footsteps nearing, she lifted her eyes open.

Before her stood a massive machine, with oily gears and dark burn marks, from its top, it chugged out black smoke that piped up into the school. But what really caught her attention was the noise, a wheezing almost exactly like the Tardis, that was the buzzing she'd heard before. And something else, a melodic three note tone that sounded vaguely familiar.

"Annie!" Jeff's voice cut through the tone and the wheezing. She actually jumped when he latched onto her shoulder from behind. The Doctor appeared on her other side, also gripping her tightly.

"What is that?" Jeff said.

"I think," the Doctor drew his sonic screwdriver in the air. "That Annie has discovered the source of our problems."

"It sounds like your Tardis," Annie said.

"Well, yes…" the Doctor said. "I very much suspect that it has some stolen tech in it. I recognize this device now, I'd had my suspicions but I needed proof. It's calibrated for the mental patterns of Greendale students so I could never find it before."

"So what is it?" Jeff said.

"A Nihilistic Brain Computer," the Doctor said. "A device so wretched, it literally sucks in all brainwaves and intelligence around it to convert into temporal energy."

"You mean it makes people dumber in order to power a time machine like yours?"

"Not like mine!" the Doctor said. "No, the Tardis is far more advanced and doesn't require such barbarous or crude methods to power herself. This was built by a very desperate, horrible person. Don't worry, I've already taken care of him. This machine however, it's been slowly working on the students for years and has only just reached a critical level that it's affecting time around it."

"Nihilistic Brain Computer huh?" Jeff said. "I think you're right. I feel dumber just being around it."

"The effect on the two of you is muted because you've broken through its temporal field. But if we remain here too long we won't be able to even remember our names."

"So what do we do?" Annie said. "How do we shut it off?"

"We can't," the Doctor said. "But we can destroy it… overload it. It's already working overtime because I suspect your school attendance is at an all time low. Fewer minds to feed off of."

"And we do that how?" Jeff said.

"Concentrate, concentrate on universal truths. Great lessons in life you've learned, the Nihilistic Brain Computer can't handle truly creative, intelligent thoughts, it's much easier for it to consume simple, lackadaisical, stupid brain patterns."

"Good thing the Dean isn't down here," Jeff muttered, Annie and the Doctor glared at him. "Okay I'm kidding! So we just have to think this thing to death?"

"Don't be silly Jeff," the Doctor said. "You're feeding it complex neural patterns that will cause its mental conversion circuits to overload. It would have to be alive for you to think it to death."

"Okay, so…" Annie looked to the Doctor and Jeff. "We just start?"

"What? Yes, start whenever you're ready," the Doctor said and waved his sonic in front of the Nihilistic Brain Computer. "And… ah…, I think you should do it soon, its levels of stupidity and irrelevance are reaching critical, if we don't act now it may be too late."

Annie nodded and closed her eyes. At first she tried of thinking of complex equations she had been studying in her latest mathematics class, but deep down she didn't feel those did the trick. She tried thinking on her classes on hospital administration, the buzzing returned and it suddenly became harder and harder to recall specifics from those lessons.

"Doctor…" she heard Jeff say. "Something… what's… going… happening?"

"It's fighting back!" the Doctor's words came as if from far away, and she felt his hand on the back of her neck, squeezing it affirmingly. "You have to concentrate, it will go after specific knowledge first looking for an opportunity to exploit, you have to think of emotional lessons, things that it can't strip bare because they make up who you are!"

The buzzing only increased and Annie furrowed her brows, finding it hard to concentrate on… really anything. She tried to think of her favorite school subject, her favorite assignment, her favorite project… none of them came to her… they were there… as if hanging just out of reach but she couldn't even picture them.

Then her mind went to the first diorama they did as a study group in Duncan's "Anthropology" class. The Evolution of the Stick. She smiled as she thought on it, how they'd argued whether or not sticks could form tribes and they'd decided that the stick would eventually evolve into a crossdressing tree. She'd learned that the study group could make anything fun. Her mind went to another evolutionary diorama. When Annie's Boobs had stolen her pen. She'd learned that her friends would go to any lengths of reason to stick together.

"Concentrate Jeff!" the Doctor said, momentarily breaking her concentration. "Think truly hard! What is most important to you?! Your friends will be stuck in time if you cannot think!"

Annie squeezed her eyes tighter, her diorama with Britta on the oil spill, the diorama with the parasailing raccoons that Pierce made for them, her diorama for the bio-diorama-rama… where she learned that friendship was more important than academic fraud.

Strong fingers suddenly gripped hers, and she knew it was Jeff. Her mind flooded with feelings and lessons learned, not in classes but in the cafeteria, in the quad, in a paint splattered hallway, and especially in the study room. At Greendale she learned about having friends, about connecting with someone truly special when you never saw it coming or thought it possible. Troy, Abed, Britta, Shirley, Pierce, and Jeff, they taught her what it was to have family that accepted her no matter what. They taught her to relax, to enjoy herself, and most importantly, to like herself.

That's what Greendale had taught her. What the Nihilistic Brain Computer could never take away. The memories she had with her Study Group. Her family.

"That's it! That's it! Ha haaa!" she thought she heard the Doctor but she was still locked in thought, until she felt smoke stinging her nose and Jeff's hand pulling her away.

Her eyes opened and she gasped to see the machine smoking and smoldering with bright, multicolored sparks flying in all directions. And then just as soon as she saw that the Doctor filled her view, standing right in front of Jeff and herself, waving his hands excitedly as he cheered.

"Absolutely brilliant!" he said. "The both of you! Absolutely brilliant! Come here!"

Before the Doctor could hug them again Jeff held out his hands. "Doctor if it's just the same, can we skip the hugging and kissing this time?"

The Doctor sighed and shrugged. "I guess it's true what they say about Americans… come along Edison, come along Winger."

Together they left the terrible machine and made their way back to the Tardis, once inside Annie got her first real good look at the damage the cat had done to the Doctor, his coat was ripped and torn and he had several red lines carved along his face. She looked to Jeff, also covered in scratches. She bit her lip then went to her bag and retrieved some disinfectant and cotton swabs from the first aide kit she kept in there for emergencies.

"Just give me a second and I'll have us back up top!" the Doctor said, not really paying attention to them at this point.

"Sit down," Annie said to Jeff as the Doctor worked at the console. "We need to get you cleaned up."

"Don't worry about it Annie," Jeff shrugged. "It's just some cat scratches-"

"That you got in a filthy basement from a cat that lived in that filthy, black mold infested basement, moments before you thought a machine to a smoldering, smoking death. It will only take a second."

"No getting away from Nurse Annie is there?" Jeff cracked a crooked smile.

Annie grinned back and dribbled a bit of disinfectant on the cotton swab, "That's Doctor-"

"Who?" the Doctor said over his shoulder from the console.

"Doctor Annie," Jeff said just before Annie dabbed the swab on one of Jeff's scratches. His teeth immediately clenched and he audibly hissed the moment it made contact. Annie just shook her head and continued working, moving onto another scratch. And doing her best not to make fun of him.

By the time she finished the Doctor had landed the Tardis. He came over to them looking as pleased as he could be with himself and with them, a bright smile across his face as he looped his thumbs underneath his suspender straps. At least until he saw Annie getting up and approaching him with the disinfectant.

…..

It took nearly ten minutes to actually clean the Doctor's wounds and another ten minutes after that to get him to stop complaining about it. By the time Annie and Jeff exited the Tardis she was ready to pull out his floppy hair. How could a nigh immortal time traveler have the pain threshold of a six year old? He made Jeff look manly!

But after the ordeal was finally over, Jeff and Annie stood outside the Tardis, with the Doctor telling them that he would be along shortly. For a few moments they just stood there, looking around the darkened storage room, trying to find words to express exactly how weird the last few hours had been.

Somehow they'd both gone off the crazy end of their respective personalities and then wound up learning that reality was far crazier than either of them could have ever imagined and they both had the distinct impression that they'd only seen the tip of the iceberg.

"So… Annie," Jeff said, obviously searching for anything to say. Finally he took a deep breath, "I think I need to apologize to you too. I kind of acted like a maniac. Even though technically I was right on everything but motive. And… Annie…look, if you like this guy…"

"Jeff, don't," she shook her head. "Yes, I find the Doctor compelling and a bit attractive. But I don't know if I like him… I really don't know what I think of him now! It wasn't like I planned on fainting and having him make a poor attempt at CPR on me. I just… sort of went with it, part of me just wanted to be swept off my feet and he literally did that."

"Right," Jeff said. "And that's why I'm just saying-"

"But it wasn't all just him," Annie said. "I was 'unconscious' when you were putting a wet rag on my head and stroking my cheek and when you took my hand. It was really sweet. So don't… don't try and make any noble gestures about not being jealous that we both know you don't mean."

"I was going to say that he may have a time traveling box but I have a Lexus, and I'm not afraid to show off in it."

Annie laughed in spite of herself and glanced down at her watch. The previous mirth drained from her face when she saw that it still read October 19th until she stared at it and concentrated, only then did the real date show up. Hadn't they fixed it? The Tardis door creaked open just as she was showing Jeff. The Doctor came out and caught sight of her watch.

"Yes, about that," he said, carrying a handbag of some sort under his arm. "No need to worry, the timeline has been fixed, but it will take time for Greendale to realign itself with regular reality. About half a year."

"Half a year?" Annie said. "So we're just supposed to go half a year behind the rest of the world?"

"You'll hardly notice, after a few days you're bodies will adjust with your new, quicker timestream and you won't even notice the time differential anymore. I'd like to get you there sooner but some journey's you can't skip to the end or even want to, even with my Tardis."

"So what now?" Jeff said. "We just pretend this never happened?"

"No of course not!" the Doctor said. "You've been given a unique look into how the universe actually is. I can't expect anyone to ignore that. And… well, I'd like to give the two of you the choice. If you want… you can come with me, all of time and space at your fingertips! Running around like a proper gang so time heroes!"

Annie's mind went to the thoughts she'd used to beat the Nihilistic Brain Computer. The study group, what Greendale had taught her. If she understood right she wouldn't have to necessarily give all of that up to travel with the Doctor, they could always come back to this time. But even as she thought that she knew her answer.

And when she gave it, Jeff spoke at the same time.

"Greendale's where I belong."

"Right," the Doctor said, nodding as if he knew that would be their answer. "In that case I decided to give the two of you parting gifts."

"You're going?" Jeff said.

"Greendale's where you belong, but I belong out there! Running to the next wonder of the universe or the next place that needs me. Or even the next place where I can get myself a jammie dodger."

"Just like Greendale," Annie said. "I mean with the needing you… not the jammie dodger."

"Quite right," the Doctor nodded. "Frankly, I would have gotten here sooner but I had to stop in 2012 to put down a giant rampaging Mayan Robot that would have destroyed the world in a mad race against the clock. It was nothing really, just a matter of reversing the polarity of its eternal destruction emitters, just the typical day on the job. Enjoy December 21st when you get to it!"

"Thanks…" Jeff said.

"Alright," the Doctor clapped his hands together. Now for the gifts! I love giving gifts! Love receiving them too but I'm usually never around on holidays. Anyway for Annie… I noticed that your book bag is filled to bursting, so I got you this!"

The Doctor handed her the handbag, it resembled something Shirley would lug around, only with a more elaborate pattern, almost a Victorian pattern if she had to name one. All in all she didn't quite get it, how could it be better than her normal book bag. At least that's what she thought until she opened it.

"It's bigger on the inside!" she said as she stuck her entire arm in it. "I'll be able to get all my text books for the week in it! Maybe even the whole semester!"

"Great," Jeff muttered. "You created a monster."

"Thought you'd like that," He said. "It was given to me by an old friend, member of my race… now she was a classy lady… anyway! Jeffery! Jeffy, Jeff! Your gift… comes with a few restrictions!"

"Restrictions?" Jeff said.

"Yes," the Doctor handed him a small piece of paper. "This is psychic paper. It's what I used to make your dean think I was qualified to teach at your school. Well, I was ridiculously qualified but he needed documentation. Show this to whomever you like and they'll think it contains whatever certification, clearance, or identification you need them to believe you have. However, it's keyed to my own psychic paper. If you abuse this and use it to cheat in your classes or to get a job, I'll know. And you won't want another visit from me in those circumstances. Understood?"

"Yeah…" Jeff nodded, staring at the paper.

"Alright," the Doctor clapped his hands together. "And with that settled, I must be off! Be sure to stand back the pair of you! And keep your eyes on the Tardis! You'll love the show!"

The Doctor went to his door but Annie stopped him, grabbing his hand so he couldn't go just yet.

"One more thing," she said. "You can travel in time, do you know… you know anything about our future? I mean, the study group, my future, Jeff's future? Anything we should know?"

"As a friend of mine always says," the Doctor smiled. "Spoilers. Just remember the lessons Greendale has taught you and your future will be bright indeed! You've got a wonderful last year of Greendale ahead of you, barring the odd twists and turns, but beyond that the future is whatever you make of it! For the Study Group, for Greendale, and for Jeff and Annie."

"Aw," Annie said and she swore she heard Jeff do it too.

They barely had time to thank him for the gifts and the help before he shut the door. Remembering what he said, Jeff grabbed Annie's hand and backed them away.

Moment's later the whining, wheezing noise of the Tardis reverberated through the room. The light on top flashed brightly and the entire box slowly faded until it was gone and they could only hear the faint echo of its engines.

Together they stood, marveling at what they saw. Annie glanced down at Jeff's hand and then smiled up at him. He glanced down and returned that smile with the one he favored her with many times in the past.

"So," he said. "What now?"

"Now?" Annie grinned. "I say we enjoy the rest of October 19th and the rest of the year that it brings!"

"Hmm," Jeff nodded. "Sounds like a plan. Also, I think we should double check the dean's desk."

"What? Why?"

"In case it's a time desk!"