Disclaimer: The Office and its characters do not belong to me.

His brain is mush, basically, and he knows it. It’s not his fault (that goddamn Texan) but that doesn’t change the fact that he forgets, that he can’t stop himself, that he feels like he’s watching a really boring movie and it happens to be his life - a life that wasn’t supposed to go like this. (have you ever had a piece of metal ricochet in your skull like a pinball?) He was groomed for bigger, better things than a warehouse casino night and for some reason he claims he’s never owned a refrigerator when they announce him as the winner. Hell with them, he thinks, let them believe in crazy old Creed for another night.

He’s just finished loading his prize into his car when he sees the lanky guy amble past, head down and shoulders slumped in telltale defeat. And he can’t stop himself from calling out to the man, from jogging as much as his way-too-old body can stand to catch up to him.

“Hey, Jacko!” he calls out. The guy turns around so Creed figures he at least got his name right. “What’s got you down, man?”

He sighs. “Have you ever loved someone you can’t have?”

Creed nods. “Sure. Plenty of times.”

The guy raises an eyebrow. “I can’t believe I’m saying this but…what do you do about it?”

Creed’s not stupid, he knows he’s talking about Paula the receptionist, and despite the conditioning and the surgeries and the years and years of surveillance to make sure he doesn’t even brush up against his old life, he quotes:

“A man does what he must - in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers, and pressures - and that is the basis of all human morality.” Creed laughs a little bit. “I wrote that, once.”

“Right,” the guy says, more than a little skeptical.

“Just go right for the kiss, man,” Creed says finally. “It’s how I got Jackie.”

“Yeah.” And the guy walks off, holding his head a little higher.

This is how Creed does what he does best now, but he wishes it were different. He wishes he still could do what he used to do how he used to do it, with the crowds and the speeches and the waving. God, he loved the crowds.

He just wishes that he could go back in time, back to November 22nd, 1963, and duck.