Spoilers for episode 405, since this is kind of like that episode in reverse. I'm also delving back into the Annie's mom well, despite already writing about Annie having a rotten mother in the "Oedipal Wreck" series that launched my Community fic career. But Annie's mom in this one isn't Carol Edison – although it doesn't mean she's more pleasant.

Annie didn't have to tell Jeff what she was doing before Christmas. After all, he didn't willingly tell anyone what he was doing for Thanksgiving. He wanted to keep that a secret, and if Annie wanted to keep her own plans secret, telling Jeff would make it harder.

But she had already worked out how to keep it from Troy, Abed and Britta. Getting Jeff not to get involved in someone else's business would be easier.

Besides, now that the last day of the semester was over, Jeff wasn't an official Greendale student anymore. He'd probably be too busy celebrating his upcoming freedom to tell anyone. That was for the best.

After their last Christmas adventure in Greendale ended, and all the tinsel and giant toy body parts were cleaned up, Annie found Jeff alone in the parking lot just in time.

"Jeff? Um, listen," Annie stumbled at the start. "If you or anyone else needs me on December 23, or early on Christmas Eve….I won't be there, okay?"

"Wow, that explains so much," Jeff quipped. "How could that be any clearer?"

Annie was foolish enough to think Jeff would be so happy today, he'd make this easier. Well, she'd have time to miss that like crazy when he was gone.

"I'm serious, Jeff. I told Troy and Abed I was going on a pre-Christmas road trip. They were too busy suggesting Christmas road trip movie parodies to ask where. Which was the point," Annie smirked before getting serious again. "If Britta hears about it like that, she won't ask questions or bug me like she bugged you."

"Okay, you mentioned me. That's a sure fire way to keep my interest," Jeff kept joking.

"I'm going to mention you again, but give me a few minutes, okay?"Annie insisted. "The truth is….I'm going out to see my mother."

Jeff didn't say anything, which likely meant he didn't get how important this was, or couldn't make another joke. Instead, he answered, "Your mother? The one who disowned you when you wanted real help for your pill problem? That mother?"

"You remember she did that?" Annie gasped. "Wait, I never remember how much I told you guys about her."

"All I know is I heard enough," Jeff said grimly. "I figured you visited your family on your father's side on Thanksgiving. At least he kicked himself out and didn't kick you out too. Your mom went the other way, so I didn't think you wanted to see her again."

Annie was amazed Jeff got all that right – and paid attention to her comments about Thanksgiving. But if she wondered any more about that, she'd never get through the rest of this.

"I haven't seen her in person in a long time, Jeff. But I thought it was time to change that. So I arranged to see her on December 23 at my old home. I'll stay the night, try to get some closure, and see if she's sorry now. If it goes bad, at least I'll recover on Christmas Eve before you guys make me happy again on Christmas. The math works out," Annie reasoned.

"Why would you want to work it out with her?" Jeff asked, without any sarcasm, accusations of Annie being naïve, or his usual bitterness about family.

"Because you inspired me to, Jeff," Annie dropped the bomb.

"What? I know I'm an inspiration, but…." Jeff seemed too stunned to finish.

"Jeff, you have worse hang-ups about being abandoned than I do. You had 26 years of that. But you faced them on Thanksgiving anyway, and it's made you so much better. For the most part," Annie jabbed. "If you can finally face your father and be better for it, why can't I do that with my mother?"

"Well, you already did that at rehab, right?" Jeff answered.

"But I've been too afraid to ever since. And she hasn't given me a chance to try," Annie admitted. "I stood up to her after the worst day of my life. Now that I'm so different, I should have faced her again a long time ago. But I didn't, and it's still an open wound for me. One way or another, I have to close it."

"And I made you want to sow it up?" Jeff double checked.

"Jeff, you were braver with your dad on Thanksgiving than I've been with my mom for the last four years. Even if Britta forced you most of the time. That's enough of a wake-up call for me," Annie said.

"So if it goes the wrong way, I'll be the bad guy? Is that why you're warning me?" Jeff wondered.

"I'm not warning you, I'm thanking you," Annie answered. "I can't live in fear from my mom anymore. You made me see that without even trying. So no matter how it goes, before I do anything, I thought you deserved a thank you."

"A private thank you. Since you're not telling anyone else but me," Jeff realized.

"If anyone understands, it's you, right?" Annie tried to say jokingly. "If it goes well, I'll tell everyone then. If not….I'd rather not be reminded of it. You get it and you have other things to celebrate right now, so I can trust you. Right?"

"Uh, sure, of course," was all Jeff had to say.

"Good. Okay, so thanks again, and….I'll see you back here when you graduate," Annie stated, trying not to let any awkwardness at that – or any other feelings – get in the way. But she got away before Jeff's face could do that to her.

In truth, Annie hadn't exactly called her mom and offered to come over yet. But talking about it out loud with Jeff, and reminding herself why she had to do this, was meant to give her the strength. It finally made her strong enough a day later.

Off and on phone calls over the next week finally yielded an accord, with a few days to spare. This gave Annie time to prepare and make sure none of her roommates – or their psych major girlfriends – suspected anything.

It all seemed to work out by Christmas Eve Eve morning. Troy and Abed let her go without any questions – and only a few more pitches for Christmas road movie spoofs. Britta hadn't bothered her and Jeff hadn't talked to her, so all was going according to plan.

However, Annie's plan didn't include Jeff standing outside her apartment building when she came out. Yet there he was.

"Why didn't you ask me about Thanksgiving?" Jeff blindsided her further.

"Jeff, what….huh?" Annie asked without proper grammar for once.

"Why didn't you talk to me when you heard my Thanksgiving plans? Why didn't you ask me about what happened that night? Or any night? You didn't bother me at all, and that's kind of….not like you. Especially with our shared history of rotten parents," Jeff laid out.

"Wait, are you mad because I didn't bug you?" Annie asked incredulously. "Because I wasn't trying to be like Britta?"

"Well, as stomach churning as her means were, the ends did kind of work out," Jeff acknowledged as reluctantly as possible.

"The means were still kind of rotten, Jeff," Annie frowned. "She got away with it because she's your shrink. And because the only way she makes things work is by total accident. That doesn't mean I could do that to you. You're right, we have a shared history of bad parents. So why would I ever force you to face it like she did?"

"Because you know how it feels? Because you thought you could have helped better?" Jeff predicted.

"I could have, if that's what you wanted. But you clearly didn't want anyone to know. Like I don't want anyone else to know about today yet. It wouldn't have helped to nag you, and I knew way better to do it on that issue," Annie revealed. "So I stayed out of it like you wanted."

"But you didn't even ask about it afterwards," Jeff said.

"I figured your Greendale dinner said everything you wanted to. They were beautiful words. Not to mention turkey legs," Annie smiled. "I figured there was no point in making you say any more."

"You weren't mad at me from keeping it from you? Or not reaching out to you?" Jeff asked.

"Jeff, you weren't singling me out. You didn't reach out to anyone. Not on purpose, anyway. And I know why," Annie reminded. "I couldn't be mad at you for that. Sure, I was worried about you, but it wasn't my place to say or do anything."

"And you were fine with that?" Jeff kept pressing,

"You wouldn't have wanted my help, and it turned out you didn't need it. It worked out for you and that's all that matters," Annie capped off.

Jeff didn't answer right away. He was making the same curious, unusually open and thoughtful face he made at the parking lot. The one Annie tried not to think about while she negotiated with her mother. Yet he was leaving her no choice but to face it now.

"I'm sorry, Annie," Jeff began. "You thought I was a good person all these years. But I'm about to finally prove you wrong."

"Jeff, you don't need to make me more confused," Annie warned.

"You understood me and cared about me enough to stay clear on Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, I can't be that considerate for Christmas," Jeff explained.

"What does that mean?" Annie asked.

"You're the forensics wiz. I gave you enough clues to solve it," Jeff retreated.

Annie frowned at Jeff closing himself off again now, before he really explained anything. He did say the clues were all there, however.

All those questions about why Annie didn't help him with his dad issues….the comments about her staying out of the way and him not being so considerate….his Lexus being right there with him….him being here before she went to see her mom….

The evidence had to be wrong. Solid, incorruptible evidence had to be wrong one time, so it might as well be now. It had to be.

"Okay, I know the answer isn't….I mean, it couldn't be," Annie tried to argue, but really couldn't. Jeff stayed perfectly still, but he wasn't denying anything or backing down.

That left no doubt, as improbable as it was. "You want to come with me and meet my mother?" Annie whispered in shock.

"You said I inspired you, so I might as well see my handiwork," Jeff said with somewhat fake nonchalance. "At least it wouldn't be all my fault if it goes south. Besides, I already faced my dad and bumped off Pierce's, so why not go for the hat trick?"

"You're not killing my mom, Jeff!" Annie called out before she caught herself.

"I wouldn't dream of taking that job from you. I mean, if it comes to that," Jeff corrected.

"What am I supposed to think, Jeff?" Annie said. "This is my mother. Facing her is something I should probably do alone. Like you would have done if it wasn't for Britta."

"But by some impossible miracle, I did better with her there. If she can do it, just imagine how I'd kick ass at it. Especially for someone who's way better without parents than I am," Jeff added. "I figure that earns you some extra support."

Annie had too many questions about why he wanted to give that support. Him willingly giving support like this was a 50/50 possibility, on good days. When it came to stuff involving parents of any kind, it was usually 1/99.

Facing his dad couldn't have changed him that rapidly. If it didn't, why would he do this for her anyway?

If Annie got into issues like that, she'd be here all day and be super late. Therefore, she'd have to rush this a bit. "What if I said no?" Annie checked.

"Then I'd be the opposite of Britta and stay away. It wouldn't be my undisputed first choice, but I'd do it," Jeff conceded.

"I'm going to stay the night there, Jeff. You can't honestly want to be there that long," Annie got risky in pointing out.

"Not if I don't have to," Jeff asked with less awkwardness than Annie expected, given her choice of words. "I'll see how it goes to start off, and once you say you can take it from there, I'll go. Again, opposite of Britta," he bragged.

"How would you even act around her?" Annie wondered.

"I sucked the withered life out of Pierce's dad, then I let my dad live. I'm getting better with parents as I go along, so I should be fine with this one," Jeff predicted.

"It has to go more than fine, Jeff. She can't have new reasons to be disappointed in me," Annie pleaded.

"And I'd be a reason?" Jeff asked with a somewhat odd tone.

"She can turn anything into a reason. She did it for 18 years. And part of me still wants her to take me back," Annie lamented. "I know that sounds stupid to you, and it kind of does to me too. But I haven't had a real parent for over half my life….if I ever really had any at all. But I still want one so much," she finished as her voice broke.

"You're right. It's easy for me to think that's stupid. Still, I'm pretty good at helping people dumb down. Even you sometimes," Jeff admitted.

"I guess I can't really argue with that," Annie said, kidding as best she could.

"This time I want to help you do something dumb on purpose," Jeff offered. "Reconciling with terrible parents isn't my jam. But if that's what you want, I promise I'll try not to screw it up."

Despite that promise, Annie still felt like she'd be a hypocrite for allowing this – to say nothing of Jeff. This would be hard enough by herself, let alone without worrying about him. Did he really have a more legitimate reason to intrude on this than Britta had?

Yet Jeff got the guts to face his dad on his own, whereas Annie wouldn't have faced her mom if it wasn't for Jeff. In a way, didn't that make it more fitting for him to be here? More right, even?

Still, this was her issue, not Jeff's. Albeit one he understood better than anyone she ever met.

She tried to show her understanding by staying out of his business, no matter how worried she was about him. She went out of her comfort zone by not giving into her instincts to help. But he was going out of his comfort zone by actually helping.

Maybe if Annie wanted her mom to swallow her pride and reach out, she should set the example. Especially towards someone who'd earned it.

"1217 Harmon Lane, Jeff. That's where we're going. I'm sure your Lexus can keep up," Annie challenged.