Chapter Text
That night, the trailer park had an almost unreal quality. The tents that once populated his backyard were know thrown in between the cars, people circling barrels with open fires. Close to his trailer, looking down at one of the said barrels and surrounded by other dark figures, FP could almost make Fred forget that the title of king was only a symbolic one. Then, someone close said something that made him laugh, and suddenly the illusion was broken, reality shifting back into focus. Fred tapped the roof of the truck and finally got up and waved. FP took a while to look up, and gestured for him to come closer. The other serpents gave him a diverse array of looks, ranging from recognition, to strangeness and even some hostility, while he waited with an inquisitive expression.
"Do you have a minute? I wanted to talk to you about something."
"Oh, sure," FP leaned towards the door, "do you want to go inside or—?"
"Actually I wanted to show you somewhere, do you think you can leave for a bit?"
He considered for a bit, then asked if a man close by could keep things under control while he was out and call him if anything went awry. Tensions had not completely gone away since the election. When the man agreed FP reached for his jacket in the back of a folding chair and nodded. "Okay, let's go then."
The radio was on and catching a signal from out of town, playing a somewhat cheesy mid 80s song. The only radio station that still survived in Riverdale was critically understaffed and played mostly news and local ads, resulting in a thoroughly miserable listening experience, so they didn't even bother trying to change the current one.
FP knocked rhythmically in the window with his knuckles, the car still sounding uncomfortably silent even with the glossy synths in the background. "Couldn't take the election, huh."
Fred sighed. "Well, most of the Northside was very invested in the Lodges and the Southside didn't have that great' a turnout."
"Sorry I didn't shill for you enough" he grinned. Fred chuckled back.
"I'm sure you did your best."
"So are you going to tell me where we're going or is it a surprise or something?"
Fred turned down the volume of the radio. "I've been talking to Mary, and she suggested that if we can prove there were people relying on the White Wyrm to survive we could maybe take legal action against Hiram. Get him to pay some form of compensation. And it gave me an idea."
"How is she, by the way? Mary."
"She's good. Been considering moving back here for a while, we think it'd be good for Archie."
"For a bit it looked like you'd give up on the divorce."
"Oh no, we didn't... She's seeing someone else already."
Not that this was a very good rebuttal. The city was not exactly known for its stable marriages, dating someone on the side was a hobby so common sometimes both parts of a couple took part in it. It still peaked FP's interest, though. "Is it serious?"
A slight discomfort showed through Fred's demeanor. "It is, I think so. Pretty sure she was living with her girlfriend back in New York."
"Oh." FP repressed a laugh. "Oh." If Fred noticed the amusement in his tone he didn't show it. Not that Fred had ever been anything but accepting, but he still had that particular discomfort when it came to the subject, the slight over-politeness that kept him safely distant from it. Even if his high school and early 20's experience was bizarre in any other area, his love life had been anything but adventurous. FP could not say the same thing, exactly. It was an open secret that the Serpents were the closest thing to a safe haven in the fairly conservative little town that was Riverdale. Being raised between them meant the idea was never as absurd as it might seem for the other kids in Riverdale High, and he had a thing with some other guys from the gang. Nothing lasting, but then neither were his flings with women. Nothing truly lasted until Gladys came along and, well, even that didn't really end neatly. He looked up at the rearview mirror and saw Fred staring at him, only then realizing his smile had faded without him noticing. He cleared his throat.
"Have you met her?"
Fred looked away suddenly. "Who, Brooke..? No, she only told me about so I could prime Archie."
"Brooke..." FP repeated quietly. "What is this place you want to show me, anyway?"
Fred's relief to change the subject was palpable. "As I was saying, we think we can get Hiram to pay a decent amount of compensation and — Oh wait, we're are." He took a sharp turn into a badly paved road. "I remember seeing a posting for this lot and it being very cheap. It's not much, but it also isn't that bad for some emergency housing."
They didn't get out of the car, both stayed looking through the passenger seat window. The place wasn't ugly, but was decidedly small. Slightly smaller than the trailer park, actually, smacked between a truck stop and a farm. But still, it was bigger than a biker bar.
"Fred, that's..." FP sounded stunned, "that's great but surely there wouldn't be money enough. Maybe for the lot but not for the houses."
"But what if Andrews Construction did it? Charged only for the materials. I'm sure we could find some volunteers and I'd give the guys some bonus at the end of the year. What'd you say?"
FP sighed and rubbed his eyes with his fingers. "You already did so much for me and the boy, and the campaign for sure costed a lot, I can't accept it Fred. I just can't —"
"And who said I'm doing this for you?" Fred's tone had just the slightest teasing edge to it, "I only want you to shill for me."
FP lowered his hands and slowly looked up. "Already gunning for the next election, huh?"
"Gotta start early." Fred put the truck in reverse and backed out of the narrow road.
FP shook his head and broke into laughter, Fred soon following. On the rest of the way back Fred explained the minutiae of the plan, occasionally stopping to ask questions about the families who were displaced. FP gladly answered, humming the radio tunes in-between topics, and looked at the other, eyes still always glued to the road, but his head somewhere else, the calculations and materials almost made palpable by his concentration. He had always liked that part of the business: costs, materials, schedules. Neat little diagrams, axes of time and personnel and space. For the not so long time FP worked with him, he mostly avoided the numbers, always kept to organizing the team and designating chores. Fred was charismatic and the workers liked him, but never really enjoyed being the Leader; the one to order people around. In the beginning, the mere presence of FP was commanding, convincing guys double his age to bend to his will, keeping even the most rowdy of sites in schedule, and God, they were young. At the time Fred was sure half of the team would let concrete get poured over them if FP just asked them to. When he left, no when he was thrown out, the team didn't rebel or anything, but the drop in efficiency was more than noticeable. Even at his worst FP still had an unmatched talent for dealing with people.
When they arrived back at the trailer park, a good chunk of the people already gone, but still a lot of Serpents talked through the night, the chatter and warmth of the fire giving an almost baroque aura to the otherwise bare lair. Through the side view mirror, Fred could see the barely restrained affection for them in FP's expression and for a second could almost forget he was looking a gang.
"Hey," he waited for FP to look back, "I was thinking... Maybe you could get back to Andrew's Construction. It hasn't been the same since you're gone and... I don't know, maybe it would be good to have some Jones back. If you want to."
He seemed to consider it for a minute, but then he placed his hand on the back of Fred's neck and kissed him. He tasted like the smoke coming from the barrels outside. "I don't," he pulled his hand away, "but thank you." He propped himself against the door and got out of the truck.
FP didn't look back, but if he did he would've seen Fred rest his head in his hands on the wheel and chuckle. He shook his head and started the car, pulled away from the trailer park and got on the way back home.