Fic: Criminology 101 (2a/?)

[moeexyz]

Fandom: Community
Title: Criminology 101
Character/Pairing(s): One sided Annie/Troy, past Jeff/Britta, and eventual 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 - Holy cow! An update that didn't take three months? This is madness. (Madness? THIS ... IS ... SPARTA! Sorry, I couldn't help myself.)

Part 1


Annie's morning routine usually involved breakfast, a run through her gang-infested neighbourhood, shower, and then working all day to scrape enough cash to start college by the next semester.

It was habit, and Annie was used to it.

What she wasn't used to, was people knocking on her door early in the morning.

She didn't have anyone who would want to come to see her, unless her mother had a change of heart, but Annie doubted that.

She looked through the peephole to see a police woman standing outside smiling widely. She had dark frizzy hair, that she kept in a bun under her hat, and she looked like the least threatening cop on the planet.

"Helloooo," She cooed when Annie answered the door. "Are you Annie Edison."

"Yes. Is there a problem officer?"

"No. I just want to ask you a few questions," The cop said. She introduced herself as Officer Bennett with the Greendale PD, and she wanted to know if Annie knew anything about drug-dealing around the Greendale area.

Ironic, Annie thought, considering the job she'd been offered then rejected for the night before. A part of her told her to say what had happened. Drugs were bad, if anyone knew that it was Annie. But she'd feel like a giant hypocrite.

"I haven't heard anything. Sorry."

"Nothing?" Bennett squeaked. "Because we know you were at the Hawthorne mansion last night, and the owner has been known to have his hand in the drug business."

Annie frowned. "I was there visiting a friend," She said firmly. "I didn't even meet Mr Hawthorne."

Bennett raised her eyebrows. "And what did you and this friend do?"

"We played Mario Kart," Annie said. "And I don't see why you were following me in the first place. I haven't done anything wrong."

Bennett nodded, still smiling. "I'm gonna have to take you in," She said.

"Why?" Annie asked, suddenly panicking.

"I can't say just yet, Miss Edison. Not to worry though, you're in no trouble," She said, her voice saccharine sweet.

Annie seriously doubted this was no trouble. When a cop says they have to take you in, it's almost always trouble, especially in this neighbourhood.

Still Bennett didn't ask to cuff her, she just opened the door, smiling and nodded for Annie to follow.

Annie was cautious, but her life had been very odd lately, and somehow a strange cop taking her in wasn't as frightening as it normally would have been.

Bennett let her sit in the passenger seat of the cop car, never once dropping her unsettling smile. They drove in silence for the entire ride, as the cross hanging on the rearview mirror, danced between them.

Annie realized soon that they weren't going to the police station, but rather, to the Hawthorne mansion.

Bennett drove her right to the front of the porch, and got out, expecting Annie to follow.

Annie trailed behind as Bennett walked right in the home as if she lived there. Once inside, Annie saw Jeff, Troy, and Abed all waiting in the foyer. Troy was grinning proudly, Abed was staring at her blankly, and Jeff just looked as annoyed as always.

"Jeffrey, you should really have that gate fixed. You know anyone can just drive right in," Bennett said.

"We've been busy recently. Forgive me if a gate is the least of my problems," He said, but thanked Bennett anyway.

Bennett smiled, giving them all a wave before leaving again.

"Congratulations," Jeff said, not congratulatory at all. "You've passed the test."

"Test?" Annie asked.

"That was one of our cops. Her name's Shirley," Abed explained.

"You guys have cops?"

Jeff smirked. "Kid, this is so much bigger than you can even imagine," He said.

Annie gulped. "Shirley mentioned that this was the Hawthorne mansion. As in Pierce Hawthorne?"

"The one and only," Troy said giddily.

The Hawthorne's were one of the oldest crime families in Greendale. They owned half the police force and kept their hands in almost everyone's back pocket. They even took money from Annie's father sometimes. She'd seen Hawthorne men drop by the office, demanding their share for protection.

Any time a body showed up dead somewhere around Greendale, it was nearly always connected to Pierce Hawthorne, though nothing had ever been proved. And if it wasn't him, it was Laybourne's gang, who had had a rivalry with the Hawthorne's for years.

This wasn't just a random job, Troy had recruited Annie for. This was the mafia. Troy wanted her to sell drugs for the mafia. Troy was in the mafia.

"We wanted to see if you would remain loyal to us, or let your morals get the better of you," Jeff said. "So we sent our cop to give you a little scare."

"I wasn't scared," Annie said defiantly.

Jeff took a step forward, coming right up to face her. "You do realize, if you do this, there's no going back. This will be your life, and you'd better be prepared to live it."

Annie tried not to let him intimidate her. He had a cocky air about him, one that probably worked in his favour when he was trying to scare people. But he was still a normal man. He styled his hair like a normal person, and he wore fancy suits, like normal business men.

He may have been far from normal, but he looked it - they all did - and for Annie, that was enough.

"I'm ready," She said,trying to be as assertive as possible. "I can do this."

Jeff didn't look convinced, but he nodded anyway. "Then welcome to the family, Annie. Troy and Abed will debrief you."

He turned to Troy and Abed, who both looked extremely excited to have some one new to show around.

"I have to go deal with Chang," He said.

He gave Annie one last nod, before walking out of he mansion.

Once he was gone, Troy jumped up excitedly and pulled her by her arm. "I am so glad you passed," He said. Abed walked along the other side of Annie, patiently watching them both with a thrilled sparkle in his eye.

Troy and Abed showed her all around the mansion, although they didn't stay anywhere for longer than five seconds. Then they led her to their bedroom. Apparently, there was enough rooms for everyone, but Troy and Abed were always going into each others' rooms anyway, so they knocked down the wall between them, and just made it one big room

None of the newbies and lesser workers like Annie got their own place. Troy and Abed were apparently very important to Pierce's operation. As well as Jeff, who was Pierce's consigliere, and Britta, whose job they kept vague, but from the look in their eyes, was very exciting.

They explained what her job was going to be. Apparently, Laybourne was running a drug business in most of the local colleges. Since the two crime families were in the middle of a turf war, they both wanted to take as much from each other as possible, so that they could keep more money. Pierce already had City College, but GCC was still Laybourne's.

Pierce had told Jeff he could run an operation to get some one in there and steal all of Starburns' customers, so Laybourne would lose GCC as well.

It sounded easy enough. Greendale wasn't exactly known for having Ivy League schools. It would be easy to pretend to go there, Annie could even sit in to some classes if she wanted to, that was what Troy told her.

All she had to do was find a client-base, and make better business than Starburns so that Pierce could take back GCC and all areas surrounding it.

Troy said, Pierce would even provide her with a room on campus, so that it would be easier for customers to find her, and they already had a supplier who was bringing in the good stuff.

They didn't want her to sell anything heavy. It was mostly just pot and some pills, which Annie could do easy enough.

She assumed like most crime syndicates, if she did this well, she'd move up in the food chain, and she really wanted to. She wanted to prove to Jeff that she wasn't just some girl scout in over her head. She wanted to prove to her mother that she could do something with her life. Most of all, she wanted to prove to Troy that she was still the amazing girl he was so inspired by.

This was her life now and, if Annie Edison had any say in it, by the time she was done here everyone would know who she was.

XXX

"Chang!" Jeff exclaimed as he walked in the bar. It was mostly empty apart from a few kids playing pool and ditching school, and an old biker drinking alone in a corner. Chang was playing with a coaster, in boredom.

He jumped up at Jeff's entrance. "Winger, what brings you around these parts?"

"You know why I'm here Chang. Pierce wants his money."

"What, he's too lazy to come for it himself?"

Jeff wasn't in the mood for this. Chang was possibly the most annoying human being on the planet, and he just wasn't in the mood.

"We both know you're not worth the boss' time."

Chang smirked. "But I'm worth yours. What does that say about you?"

Jeff bit back his anger at the tiny Asian man, and sighed wearily.

"You know, Laybourne's given me an offer. A pretty good one. A raise if you will. I think I might drop the double agent shtick and just stick with him."

"You don't wanna do that Chang," Jeff warned.

"Well my price has gone up. You want info on Laybourne, you're gonna have to give me a little extra."

"And you still owe us protection money for the last two weeks so consider us even," Jeff spat. "Next week, you won't be so lucky."

"You think you're so tough," Chang shot at him with a smirk. "You need me, Winger. And it kills you."

He was right, of course. Pierce insisted on keeping Chang around to spy on Laybourne. Laybourne's men always dropped by Chang's bar, and he picked up information every now and then. If it were up to Jeff, Chang would have died a long time ago, but then again, a lot of things would be different if it were up to Jeff.

Jeff just hated that the idiot never got in trouble for not paying when there were perfectly sane people Jeff had to torture for the money.

"Things will change one day," Jeff said quietly. "And when they do, I am going to really enjoy coming after you."

Chang looked skeptical, and not at all afraid of Jeff's words. That was okay, it would be more fun when he caught him off guard.

"You better have your cut ready for next Tuesday," Jeff called back to him as he left the bar. It was a lost cause. Chang wouldn't have the money, and Pierce wouldn't let Jeff do anything about it.

Jeff felt the frustration sinking in deep. He needed a drink.

That, and he needed to talk some damn sense into Pierce.

XXX

Annie spent the rest of the afternoon with Troy and Abed. Britta dropped by briefly, before disappearing into her own room to work on something for Pierce.

Abed and Troy played videogames for most of Annie's visit. They let her join in whenever they could, weirdly excited about having some one new around.

It was strange that these two were part of one of Greendale's biggest crime families, yet they could act like ten year olds all day. Annie wondered if they'd ever killed some one.

She didn't think so. People who murdered didn't look like that. From the sparkle in their eyes, they'd probably never even seen dead bodies before.

Annie saw one once, at her grandmother's funeral. All she remembered about it was how much it smelled. She could probably handle a dead body if she ran into one, but from what Troy and Abed told her, she'd mostly be staying on the light side of business.

Troy had explained to her how he got into the family, while he and Abed kickpunched houses into smithereens.

Troy had gotten a football scholarship. He figured seeing as his tuition was free, he might as well take advantage of the student loan system. He scammed three different schools, out of a lot of money, using it to buy videogames, and a car. They eventually caught him, and he got kicked out of college and thrown into prison. Pierce had heard about him, though. He bailed him out and recruited him for business.

Apparently, Jeff didn't really like Troy when they first met either. He thought Troy was too clumsy with the way he did things, but as it turned out Troy's quarterback arm was good for more than throwing footballs. Now, whenever Jeff needed extra muscle, he called Troy for the job, although, Troy seemed to want to do more than an occasional scare with Jeff.

It was clear from the way he talked about it that he wanted more responsibility.

Abed kept his mouth shut the entire time. He watched Troy and Annie carefully, but only ever reacted when Troy looked over at him expectantly.

After that, Annie came over every day, after work. She'd handed in her two week notice to her boss, and had already started packing up to move into the Greendale dorms.

She was really excited. There was a foreboding feeling in the pit of her stomach every now again, that made her feel nauseous, but she ignored it for the most part. This was good for her. She'd get to learn new things, and experience the world, and get to spend time with Troy.

This was gonna be a good thing for her. She could tell.

XXX

When Jeff entered Pierce's office, the old man was standing in front of a white background getting photographed. He was wearing a sombrero and an eyepatch, and he was smiling like the powerful man that he was.

Jeff rolled his eyes. It wasn't the worst thing he'd walked in on, but he just wished for once he could walk in on Pierce reading, or doing anything that wasn't weird in some way.

As soon as Pierce noticed Jeff, he waved away the photographer, and sat himself behind his mahogany desk.

"Jeffrey, you have news for me I'm sure," He smiled politely.

Jeff knew it was all false pretense. Pierce and Jeff had been having issues for a while now. It was little disagreements here and there, but they were growing more and more frequent with each passing day.

The issue was simple, Pierce wanted to stick to his usual way of doing things, and Jeff wanted to screw that plan and go with the practical, smart way of doing things. Pierce somehow always won that argument, mostly because he was the boss.

"I found a dealer for the Greendale project," Jeff informed him.

"Oh really, who?" Pierce asked.

"Her name's Edison. Troy knew her in high school. He claimed she was the best of the best," Jeff said. He kept it impersonal when he gave Pierce these updates. He liked it better when he knew more than Pierce did, even if Pierce was in charge. Pierce didn't understand his people, and over all, everyone was just happier when it was Jeff handling them, and not Pierce.

He nodded with understanding. "But that's not why you're here, is it, Jeffrey?"

Jeff shook his head. "I want to talk about our retaliation against Laybourne."

"I told you. We go after Slater."

Jeff sighed. "Look, I know you think taking out Slater is gonna get him back, but she's nothing. We need to show that they can't disrespect any of our people, even people as low on the food chain as Pavel. If we go after some one as weak as -"

"Jeffrey," Pierce said, holding up a hand to silence him. "I know, you think you understand this, but I know what I'm doing. Remember, I taught you everything you know."

"And I'm forever grateful for that," Jeff said. "I just really think -"

"Enough, Jeffrey. This isn't a discussion. We're taking out Slater."

Jeff sighed back into the squishy chair he was sitting on.

"If we don't stick up for ourselves, Laybourne will think he can screw with any one of us. The next attack isn't gonna be one of our drivers," Jeff told him honestly.

"And we'll take the next attack as it comes. I have this under control."

"With all due respect, you have no idea what's going on. You've been to immersed in campaigning for re-election, even though we already know you're going to win. We have half this city paying protection, there's no way any of them would vote against you."

Pierce shrugged. "I'm not gonna make a half-assed job of this, Jeffrey," He said, pouring himself some whiskey from the bottle he kept in his drawers. "And you're gonna drop this retaliation issue."

Jeff sighed. There was no winning with Pierce. It didn't matter how sound his arguments were, Pierce always had the final say in this, and as long as Pierce was in charge, Jeff wasn't going to get his way.

He hated to admit it, after everything Pierce had done for him, but Jeff kind of wanted the old man to retire already. He wasn't what he used to be, and honestly, Jeff had a better grip on how the business worked these days.

As soon as Pierce retired, Jeff would be in charge and then they could move on to better things instead of sticking to Pierce's way. The only problem was the old man was stubborn as all hell. He wouldn't give his seat on the criminal throne for anything, which meant Jeff would be second best for the forseeable future.

"Is there anything else?" Pierce asked.

"Chang hasn't payed his cut," Jeff said. "And he's raising his price. Again."

"Give him whatever he wants," Pierce said dismissively.

Jeff rolled his eyes. "He's not worth it."

"He's worth what I say he's worth," Pierce said. "That it?"

Jeff nodded.

"Good. I need to finish my portraits."

"A sombrero?" Jeff asked.

Pierce shrugged. "I'm going after the Mexican vote."

"Are you also going after the pirate vote?" Jeff asked, gesturing to the eyepatch.

"Jeff, just because they speak Spanish, doesn't mean they're pirates."

Jeff rolled his eyes. This was the man he had to answer to, ladies and gentlemen.

XXX

Annie was nervous on her first day. It had been over a year since she'd last done this, and she was worried she might have forgotten how it worked, or lost her touch. She didn't want to screw this up and disappoint everybody, not to mention make a fool of herself.

Plus, she just knew if she failed Jeff would give her some sort of smug look that she'd want to punch away.

However, despite her anxiousness, it was surprisingly easy to get back into the groove of things.

Abed had given her a list of names - people he knew who definitely wanted to buy already, (apparently, Abed took a film class at Greendale), so Annie didn't have to go on a scavenger hunt for new customers. It was mostly just stressed out students looking for some weed to help them relax, or performance enhancers to help them work better, and pull all-nighters. Why anyone at this school would want to pull all-nighters, was beyond Annie.

She got herself a nice little reputation going within the week. Abed's friends spread the word about what she had, and how much better quality it was than Starburns' crap, so she had new people coming up to her soon enough.

Th drug trade, it turned out, was even easier in college than it was in high school. Back then everyone was nervous and twitchy; In college though, everyone was relaxed.

Annie figured out a way to make her business work pretty quickly. She had a schedule. Cafeteria and library on Mondays and Wednesdays, the quad and the main building on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and on Fridays, she floated around the gym area since that was when most sporting teams practiced.

It only took her a week and a half to get a system, a regular client-base, and become the best supplier on campus.

After three weeks of success, she finally met the one they called Starburns.

He looked exactly like you'd expect a college drug-dealer to look, like the opposite of Annie. His hair was curly and greasy; He wore a top hat like a mad man, and his sideburns were shaped like a star. The nickname suddenly made a lot more sense.

"This is my area," He said, as he marched up to her.

"I don't see your name on it," Annie countered.

She'd grown confident with her business, over the last few weeks. She'd spent enough time with Troy and Abed to know that if anything happened to her, they'd defend her, and she knew she was pretty well-liked around here. If Starburns even tried to get rid of her, Greendale's tokers and pill-poppers would have an uproar.

"You don't wanna play this game with me, princess. I've been doing this a lot longer than you. I will crush you," Starburns threatened.

"What are you gonna do, call the cops?" Annie teased. She was getting cocky, she knew, but she couldn't help herself. Things were going good for her. She was happy for the first time in a long time, and she wasn't afraid of a guy with constellations on his face.

Starburns glared at her, and walked away, but from the look in his eye, this wasn't over. Annie was kind of giddy about it actually. It turned out, making a fool out of greasy drug-dealers was pretty fun.

XXX

Jeff was right about the hit on Slater. It did nothing for Laybourne except cause a minor inconvenience. Plus, she'd gotten feisty since the last time he'd seen her, so now Jeff was sporting a black eye that hurt every time he blinked.

Slater may have had a lot of faults, but if there was one thing she was flawless at, it was throwing a solid punch.

Now Jeff was waiting for Laybourne's attempt to get back at them, which was sure to come, and was sure to be a hundred times better than whatever Pierce had in mind. This was ridiculous, they shouldn't be going after simple soldiers like Slater, they should take it to the big leagues. Like Rich.

Jeff really, really, wanted to kill Rich.

It didn't help that Britta laughed at him every time she saw him. Or that Troy and Abed re-enacted the whole scenario whenever Jeff entered the same room as them. Or that Annie was always around, always laughing along at his misery like she was part of the team.

Sometimes, the only thing that kept Jeff from shooting her, was the fact that she was brilliant at her new job. That, and she had impressively large eyes. They did something to him, although he'd never admit it.

Jeff felt the stress catching up to him. Pierce was as unbearable as ever, and Jeff was getting a little tired of doing all the work for no reward. He wasn't expecting a cake every time he did something right, but it wasn't like it would kill Pierce to actually listen to him. Or maybe it would, he was pretty old after all.

Jeff sat himself down in the kitchen they all shared. He'd cracked open the liquor cabinet, and was more than a little tipsy on his best scotch. This scotch was the best alcohol in the entire mansion, even better than Pierce's crap.

What Jeff loved most about it, was that it was all his. Everything in this house had to be shared on some level, whether it was information, or a bedroom, or dinner, or bullets, or just time. Jeff didn't get a lot for himself, but what he did get was scotch.

Everyone knew it was his scotch. If anyone touched it, they'd get their head blown off, and Jeff wouldn't regret it for a moment.

It wasn't like it mattered. Troy and Britta didn't drink scotch, Abed didn't drink period, and Pierce had his own stash stored away in his office, he didn't need to mooch off Jeff.

He filled his glass again and swallowed the contents down easily, loving the way it burned his throat.

As he set the glass down, Annie came in in her usual flurry of legs and giggles. Why was she even here? Pierce had given her a perfectly good room at Greendale, and that was like a ten minute walk. A walk she should be taking home. Right now.

She looked surprised to see him there, but gave him a polite nod anyway, opening up the fridge.

"I thought I sent Troy and Abed out on a job," Jeff said. He was positive there was some uncooperative bartender he'd sent Troy out to beat up, and Abed was collecting information from all of Pierce's worker bees.

"You did," Annie said, taking a yogurt and peeling of the top, licking the lid innocently.

Jeff swallowed and stared at the half empty bottle of scotch, suddenly feeling very guilty for no reason.

"So why are you here?" He asked, not looking at her face.

She leaned across from him, on the kitchen island. "Troy said I could come over whenever I wanted; Plus, you guys have cable."

"Yeah, I think the sole purpose of that is so Abed can watch Inspector Spacetime," Jeff said. He was being conversational. Why the hell was he acting like this? He didn't even like Annie. He didn't want to spend any time in her company. Ever.

Annie dipped the spoon in, taking some yogurt. "Well at least now there's two people in this house that use it."

Jeff finally looked up at her. "Except that you don't live here."

She nodded. "Ten minute walk." She shrugged.

"I take it business is good?"

Annie nodded, smiling. She was enjoying her job. Jeff could tell. She was wearing the same look Jeff had worn when he was first starting out; That giddy excitement in knowing you're doing something bad and getting away with it.

"Have you had any run-ins with Starburns?" Jeff asked.

"We've met," She said, vaguely.

Jeff filled his glass again. "Is he gonna be a problem for you?"

"I can handle it," She said.

Jeff nodded. "Good."

They stayed in silence, Jeff staring at the amber liquid in his glass, with no intention of drinking it, and Annie standing in front of him, eating her yoghurt.

"Is everything okay, Jeff?" She eventually asked him. "You seem..." She trailed off.

"Business," Jeff said simply. "It's hard work, what I do."

Annie gave him a hesitant look, then leaned forward a little. "What do you do?"

Jeff met her eyes, curious at what it was she was getting at. "I told you," He answered carefully. "Business."

Annie nodded, and scraped up the little leftover bits of yogurt at the bottom of the cup. "Have you ever killed anyone?"

Jeff smirked. She reminded him of himself a little, curious and eager, no idea what she was getting into.

If Jeff could go back, he probably wouldn't change anything, but he certainly would have sat himself down and told younger Jeff to stop acting like he'd seen it all. He still had a lot to learn, and he didn't need to act like a little snot while he learned it.

Jeff spent most of his years learning the tricks of the trade from Pierce. Jeff's dad was a dirty cop, who took off when Jeff was still a kid. Or at least that was what his mom told him, Jeff had a sneaking suspicion that Pierce had killed good old Bill Winger. Not that he cared much for the man. He was only Jeff's father by blood.

After that, Jeff's mom had asked Pierce for financial help, offering Jeff to do any jobs around the house that Pierce had wanted. It was all very Goodfellas, but slightly more PG. When Jeff was fourteen he found Pierce's gun, and asked him how to use it. Pierce gave him small jobs instead, like the drug things that Annie did, but for Jeff's eighteenth he took him to the shooting range.

From then on, Jeff was always around to learn from Pierce. Pierce was like a second father to him, and Jeff owed him everything.

But he still hated Pierce most of the time.

"Have you?" Annie repeated.

"Edison, I'll be glad to tell you all about that when you're ready, but right now you're still a ball of fluff in the well-oiled machine that is this operation. I, on the other hand, am the electricity that's running it, and therefore do not have time to share my life story with rookie drug-dealers."

"I'm hardly a rookie," Annie scoffed. It was almost cute the way she thought she knew so much.

Jeff smirked in amusement. He swallowed down his scotch, just so it wouldn't go to waste, and gave her a look of finality.

"Goodnight, Edison. Go home."

Part 2b