Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Prologue:

The door was closing, and Jughead's mind was racing desperately - but he was unable to form any thoughts aside from: 'Don't leave. Don't leave. Please don't leave me here.'

Archie looked back at him with a smile. "I'll see you Monday!"

The door banged shut, and Jughead felt his adrenaline-fueled internal monologue stop dead as barely suppressed panic morphed into something stronger, and closer to shock. The car outside started, and his friend drove away without him.

When a strong pair of hands dropped onto his shoulders, Jughead looked up without expression at the man who had complete power over him. There wasn't any pleading left in the teen, and at this point he knew that there had never been any possibility of a bargain.

Chapter One:

There was a pervasive sense of relief throughout Riverdale.

Families were resting more easily not only because the murder of Jason Blossom had been solved and his killer arrested, but also because the plot that was coming out in snippets of gossip indicated that the whole situation had been elaborate, half-cocked, and ultimately the death itself an accident - a combination that made it quite unlikely that this sort of tragedy could reach anyone else's loved ones. The more details were revealed, the easier it became to feel distant from the events that had seemed to lurk behind every corner in town just days before, when a random murder victim could theoretically have been anyone's child - and when anyone's child could still have been targeted by the unknown killer.

Even Archie Andrews couldn't help feeling some of that relief, despite feeling conflicted about the fallout for his circle of friends - and particularly Jughead, whose father awaited trial after his confession. No, even so, Archie had high hopes of life returning to normal. As he walked home from football practice, it was fantastic to have his greatest frustration be that he had not yet convinced his father, Fred Andrews, to let Jughead stay with them permanently. There was the secondary frustration of having to talk down Jughead for hours after his roommate of several weeks overheard Fred's initial refusal to let Jughead stay permanently; however, Archie had smoothed that over with Jughead, and was beginning to hope that Fred would be embarrassed enough about his words that it would give Archie's pitch some additional traction.

As Archie bounded exuberantly up the steps of his house, he was optimistic that, after a productive practice on a beautiful day, nothing could stop him. His request could not be refused; it was unthinkable. It was only as Archie pulled the door open to his home that he fully registered the extra car in the driveway, meaning there would be a delay before he could have that conversation.

"Dad?" Archie walked inside. He found Fred in the kitchen, alone. "Who's here?"

"It's a social worker, Archie," Fred motioned Archie further into the kitchen. "They're in the living room, so let's give her and Jughead some privacy."

"You called a social worker?" Archie felt a shock of betrayal as he realized the ramifications of this. "We only talked about Jughead staying here two nights ago! I thought you would take some time before-,"

"Archie, no. I didn't call social services," Fred interrupted, putting out a hand to quiet Archie. "Let's keep it down so they can talk. I'm not sure of all the details, but it sounds like Jughead has a godfather who is going to take him in."

Fred stepped toward Archie and gave him a meaningful look, correctly assessing that his son was not done objecting. "This is good news, Archie. I know you were hopeful that he could stay here, and I did give that some thought since we talked the other night, but you need to realize that this is good news for Jughead."

"You were thinking about it, then?" Archie felt his hopes surge again. "So if things don't work out with this godfather, then he might be able to stay here?"

"I was thinking about finding a long-term arrangement for Jughead," Fred clarified firmly. "A godfather having custody is a long-term arrangement."

Sympathetic as Fred Andrews was to Jughead's position, he did not want to reopen what had been a very tense disagreement on a fraught subject. "There is other good news, too. Jughead's new guardian is moving into FP's trailer, so Jughead can continue going to school at Riverdale High."

"Wait - Jughead's not moving to Toledo?" Archie blinked, and then pumped a fist in the air. "That's fantastic! You really should have led with that, dad."

Fred laughed quietly before shushing Archie again. He started pulling out ingredients for homemade pizza. "I'm sure we'll get the whole story after Jughead gets all of the information. Let's get some dinner going so we can invite the social worker to stay if she would like. Want to watch a movie tonight, too?"

Archie hadn't seen his father make homemade pizza in months, and movie nights had become scarce under all of the pressure of the last few weeks. In some ways, Archie suddenly realized, it had actually been somewhat stressful just having Jughead around. Maybe this really would be the best solution - and Jughead wouldn't have to leave school or anything. Things really could get back to normal, and maybe even better than before if the godfather was better than FP.

Well, with such a low bar, that was practically inevitable.

"You're on. What movie?"

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Late that night, Jughead was still trying to wrap his head around everything that had occurred. He was lying silently on his mattress while Archie snored on the bed nearby. Texting Betty the highlights of his news hadn't helped him make any more sense of the situation; instead of focusing on Jughead having a guardian, a plan, and the ability to stay local and in school, she had endless questions about Brandon, the godfather he had never met or even heard of until now.

Jughead had tried to be patient, but when Betty asked about the godfather's highest level of education, he had finally stopped the inquisition by reminded her that he didn't exactly have people lining up to interview for the position of legal guardian.

Somehow that comment had seemed to make everything more awkward.

Seriously, though - as far as Jughead was concerned, the only question that needed to be answered was whether this godfather could stand to live with him in the Riverdale school district for the few years remaining between himself and adulthood. Then he could go to college and start his new life, hopefully with Betty if things were still good, far away from all of the people who had made decisions on his behalf for so long.

It certainly seemed unnecessary to ask those kinds of questions about Brandon, the godfather FP had apparently arranged for Jughead years ago. Beggars can't be choosers, after all.

All the same, it was kind of interesting that this godfather had portable work. Telecommuting sounded exotic and important in comparison with the manual labor jobs Jughead was more familiar with. With a rueful smile, Jughead realized that Betty had succeeded in making him curious about his godfather after all.

Pushing away all painful thoughts about his father, who was sitting in jail awaiting the "speedy trial" that was likely months away from even being scheduled, Jughead instead summoned a mental picture of himself sitting in the trailer, working on college applications on a modest laptop. His godfather might telecommute, typing away on a high-end laptop while sharing stories about his college experiences. Maybe Brandon had even graduated from one of the schools on Jughead's application list.

'Aw man,' Jughead thought as he turned over on his side on the mattress he used on the floor of Archie's bedroom. 'Now Betty has me hoping, too.'

Hope seemed like it was getting to be contagious in Riverdale these days, and it suddenly seemed right to Jughead that he should get a share (perhaps even a larger share than most) of the relief that had been spreading in the wake of his father's devastating confession. The suspense over the last several years regarding whether FP would be reliable or if he would disappoint Jughead was finally over; even if that meant that the worst was confirmed, it was a weight lifted just to finally, at long last, know for sure where he stood.

Maybe that worst finally happening would make space in Jughead's life for this godfather, and maybe having a guardian who kept food on the table and the wolves away from the door would be another weight lifted.

Jughead sighed as he reluctantly admitted it to himself: he was starting to hope.

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"What does proof of life even mean? Nobody's got enough extra body parts lying around for two or three years of that, and I think someone would eventually notice - even at a school like Riverdale High," Brandon craned his neck, causing Justin to stop cutting his hair yet again. "And how much haircutting do I really need? I'm not working in an office; apparently I just go to work every day on a computer."

"I haven't even finished the back," Justin positioned the clippers again as Brandon straightened his posture.

"Don't cut off the kid's fingers, Brand," Roy offered with a shake of his head. "Just send me a photo that is clearly proof of life once a week and monitor that work E-mail I set up for you in case I need anything else. Grow his hair, cut his hair, put a mark on him - just make it clear that you didn't take them all on the same day. That way, FP stays motivated."

"Oh." Brand considered this. "No kidding this is an easy gig."

"Make it work, and it's an easy few years," Roy agreed. "Blossom is paying us so well because he thinks you might have a challenge on your hands. He doesn't know you like I do."

Justin began shaping the sides of Brandon's haircut, but smoothly pulled back his scissors when Brand laughed hard enough to jostle him again and grabbed his beer.

"Ah Roy, and you don't even know me the way that Jones is going to know me. Raising teenagers gets a bad rap, but it doesn't have to be hard. He's going to get a quality education from me on that." Brand set his beer back down and motioned for Justin to hurry up with the rest of the haircut. Justin cautiously sheared off some uneven stragglers around Brandon's right ear, and observed with satisfaction that a business-like profile was finally starting to emerge.

"You should write a book." Roy rolled his eyes.

"I plan to have enough free time to take other jobs, not write a novel," Brand scoffed. "By the time Blossom wants Jones cut loose, I fully intend to have things fully lined up for the future. If the kid plays his cards right, he'll do okay too. I've got a lot to teach, and I'm guessing he's got a lot to learn."

"Proud Papa Brand," Roy smirked.

"As long as he toes the line, there's something in it for him." Brand shook his head impatiently, brushing away an itching stray hair that had fallen into his shirt collar. "Some things can only be learned through living them, and he'll be getting as firsthand an experience as there ever was."

Justin finished the haircut and began sweeping up silently, wondering if he should be so sympathetic for someone he'd never heard of before today. Whoever Jones was, having Brand take an active interest in him wasn't something Justin would wish on anyone.

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Betty met Veronica for lunch on Friday, and was disappointed but not surprised to see that Jughead and Archie did not show up in the lunchroom. Ever since Cheryl had responded so violently to Jughead's apology, Fred Andrews had encouraged the boys and Principal Weatherbee to look into another lunch location at least through the end of the quarter.

"So what do you know about Jughead's new guardian?" Veronica asked right away. "Have you met him?"

"Jughead's only meeting him this afternoon, so not yet." Betty slid her lunch tray onto the table across from Veronica and Kevin, who was smiling as he texted but looked up to join their conversation.

Kevin had been a little tentative with his friends since Joaquin's gang affiliation had become public knowledge - and his father had agreed to Kevin's proposal that he and Joaquin continue to see one another, albeit only at prescribed locations and times. FP's confession had at least done the good of clearing Joaquin of any involvement in the kidnapping, drug running, and murder, but Sheriff Keller's response had been surprisingly generous, especially to Kevin.

His friends had tried to be as supportive, but Kevin could tell that none of them understood why he was trying to work things out with Joaquin - least of all Jughead, who regarded it as something of a betrayal now that he had cut ties with his father and, by extension, the Serpents. Kevin was still making an effort to bridge the divide, though, and recognized that his friends were doing their best with the situation.

Kevin held up his phone. "What's the guardian's name? We can Google-stalk him."

"I don't know." Betty shook her head. "Jughead knew hardly anything when we texted last night and it doesn't sound like he was really interested in getting the details before meeting his godfather."

"Men!" Veronica patted Kevin's shoulder in apology even as she maligned him.

"That's not usually Jughead," Betty said uncomfortably. "It's... odd."

"Well, we should definitely cancel our girls' night so you can help Jug move and get some information about this guy. Then you can call me and tell me all about it." Veronica was brusque as she laid out the plan, but she smiled warmly.

Betty stared at her food for a moment. "Well, that's actually why I asked about a girls' night," she admitted. "Jughead wants to get settled in alone and have some time just one on one with his guardian this weekend. I'm trying to give him space, even though it's killing me how little I know about all of this. Everything is going to change for Jughead, forever, and I just have no idea if this is a good thing or a bad thing. And it sounds like he has no idea either."

"As opposed to living with a murderer?" Kevin felt the words slip out and immediately regretted how harsh they sounded. "I'm sorry to say it quite like that, but, you know..."

"But he has a point," Veronica said slowly, watching Betty's expression carefully. "Wouldn't literally anyone be a step up from FP for him? It's not like Jug has long before he heads off to college, anyway, so this is just for a couple of years. It's not even like having a college roommate."

"That's exactly what Jughead said." Betty was frustrated that her concern wasn't shared, seemingly by anyone. "But - I don't know - shouldn't the bar be just a little bit higher for a legal guardian? This could be a huge deal for Jughead. This guy is his new family."

"It might actually not be that big a deal," Kevin interjected. "My dad works with plenty of foster parents, and there are lots of great ones, but basically someone who keeps up the trailer and accesses FP's money for Jughead would be better than some of the situations those kids have." Kevin hesitated, wondering if he should add any more. Seeing the set of Betty's jaw, though, he decided to make his point a little more clearly: "And Betty, seriously, I don't think Jughead's looking for a dad - and I highly doubt that some guy he's never met is looking for a serious father-son experience."

Kevin saw Betty begin to speak and hurried to finish his point. "It's totally cool of him that he's willing to move here, and that's great news for Jughead, but maybe don't push things. Having a more distant relationship with a guardian is not always a bad thing, especially if that guardian doesn't know what he's getting into. Too much pressure on this whole situation could always end up with Jughead alone again."

Betty frowned, horrified by this new perspective. "Kev, do you actually think that could happen if I pushed them to be close?"

"No. Of course not. Just... maybe?" Kevin winced at how incoherent he sounded. "I guess I think that it's complicated, and you should let them figure it out on their timetable." Kevin thought for a moment and then tried to explain further. "Look, just try not to make Jughead overthink it if that's humanly possible. And definitely don't make this guardian into some sort of savior or hero and put on all kinds of pressure. We don't know: he might already be iffy about the whole thing."

Veronica nodded in agreement, thinking of her relationship with her own father, which tended to go most smoothly when it involved a minimum of sustained interaction. "That makes sense, Kevin."

Betty seemed less than convinced. "So, what, basically don't do anything?"

"Let Jughead come to you? And let his godfather set the tone for whether you interact with him, maybe." Kevin shrugged. "I'm no expert. I just know that if this guy doesn't work out, Jughead's probably moving to Toledo. Just saying."

"First do no harm!" Veronica warmed to the idea. "Things will probably be more normal for him than they ever have been. Honestly, the biggest challenge will probably be for us to break the habit of worrying so much."

Betty was still uneasy, but she had to admit that Kevin had given her a lot to think about.

The last thing she wanted was for Jughead to seem high maintenance and scare off his best chance at a normal life in Riverdale.

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Chapter Text

Chapter Two:

Brandon had arrived at the trailer around 1 pm on Friday, and immediately begun assessing the damage done by the police's search of the premises. It looked like quite a mess, but the trailer itself was largely undamaged. He then inspected the bedroom and its windows and closet. Determining that the trailer had probably been a teenager's dream for sneaking out at night, Brand was nevertheless reassured that just a few additions would secure the quarters without any issues.

After dropping his bags on the couch, Brand made a pretty good dent in the cleaning over the next several hours. He was inventorying the cupboards in the kitchen when the door to the trailer swung open. Since there was no knock, he assumed it was Jughead - and made a mental note to address this breach of etiquette later on.

"Brandon?" Jughead lowered his pack to the couch, next to his guardian's bags.

"Right here, and it's usually Brand," Brandon stood up from the lower cupboards he had been going through. "Jughead?"

"The one and only."

Brandon absorbed Jughead's sardonic reply and his uninspiring appearance, while Jughead likewise looked over his new guardian. Brandon was tall, which could sometimes mask his muscular build, but both noticed in a glance that they had that in common - and neither would underestimate the other in that regard.

Jughead then looked around and saw that Brandon had clearly spent quite a bit of time setting the trailer to rights. "Hey, I'll help you clean the rest of this," Jughead reached for the broom that was leaning against the kitchen counter. "Sorry about the mess; I haven't been staying here and didn't have time to clean this up."

"Put your stuff in your bedroom first," Brandon instructed. "I'll go pick up some provisions while you clean."

"Oh, uh, there's only one bedroom," Jughead gestured toward it apologetically. "Don't worry, though. I don't mind sleeping on the couch. I used to do that all the time."

"I bet you did," Brandon's expression didn't change from his cool assessing stare. "I'm a little more protective than FP, though, so you'll be in the bedroom. I've got some plans for fixing it up around here, and the couch will be comfortable enough for me in the meantime."

Jughead wasn't entirely sure what to make of this exchange, but weeks of crashing with Archie and Fred had gotten him more accustomed to having someone monitoring his whereabouts and activities. The bedroom was also a lot more comfortable than the couch. He decided not to object further, and merely hefted his pack into the bedroom. When he came back out, Brandon was watching him closely and holding a cellphone.

"Let's get a 'before' picture of you here, for motivation," Brandon held up the phone.

Jughead crossed his arms, looking disconcerted by the strange suggestion. The camera made a shutter sound, and Brandon smiled at the image on his screen.

"Perfect. I'll be back soon and we can compare then."

Brandon strode out of the trailer, pocketing the car keys he had palmed from Jughead's possessions. No sense in giving the kid too much rope to hang himself with on the first night, he reflected as he climbed into his car. Not that Jughead seemed like the sharpest person he'd ever looked after in this manner. In fact, Brand thought, with a job this easy it might be fun to make it a little interesting - as a personal challenge.

Pulling up his E-mail on the phone, Brandon sent the photo as a first 'proof of life,' with a suggestion: "How much you want to bet I can keep Jones out of trouble and in the dark for a full week?"

The reply was immediate; Blossom was paying for everyone in the chain that laundered these photos to be very attentive and timely, since the pictures were meant to take a very circuitous route to FP, but do so as quickly and efficiently as possible.

"You would actually play guardian? Convincingly? Make it a month and I'll bet a grand that Jones figures it out before then."

Brand considered for a moment; that sounded like more work than it was worth. It also sounded like Roy didn't believe he could do it. "Make it four grand and you're on."

This time there was a delay, and Brandon was halfway to the local grocery store when his phone delivered Roy's response: "Deal."

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Jughead's phone kept buzzing on the counter, but he had stopped looking at it after the first six texts from Betty, each one asking for more details about Brand. Instead, Jughead slipped on his headphones and used music to help him focus solely on cleaning the trailer up as quickly as possible; his godfather didn't seem like a particularly chatty guy, and Jughead was not at all sure that he was capable of making a good first impression just on the basis of personality and sparkling conversation.

And if Jughead wanted Brandon to stick around, a good first impression seemed like a sound investment.

After getting everything more or less back in its place, Jughead finished scrubbing down the kitchen counters and was considering the floors. He was facing away from the trailer door, music pulsing loudly in his headphones, and he didn't hear Brandon come in with an armload of groceries.

Brandon set the bags down and, when Jughead still didn't notice his arrival, he slipped agilely up behind the teen. He gave Jughead just a few seconds more to sense his presence, and when Jughead didn't react, Brand grabbed him from behind. The older man wrapped one long arm around Jughead's arms and chest while his other formed a practiced chokehold. Jughead's feet were lifted off the floor, and his headphones cracked sickeningly when they fell.

"Lesson one, Jones," Brandon laughed as Jughead's whole body bucked in panic against his strong grasp, but failed to get even a little purchase or wiggle room for his efforts. Brand's hand quirked up to tighten the chokehold, and Jughead's thrashing stilled abruptly as he felt the threat not just to his air supply, but also to his survival in that movement. For a few long moments, the trailer was silent apart from the strained whistling of Jughead's attempts to get a deep breath into his lungs. "Situational awareness. At all times."

Jughead finally placed the voice, and realized who had jumped him - just as he was dropped back onto his feet and slapped companionably on the back.

"Good instinct for when to fight. Good instinct for when to stop fighting." Brandon turned to pick up the groceries again, ignoring Jughead's shocked attempt to come up with any sort of response. "Get the rest of the bags from my car and lock it up when you're done. I'll make dinner."

Jughead stared at him mutely, breathing deeply and trying to calm his racing heart. He found his voice when Brand picked up his cellphone. "Hey, man - that's my phone."

"And teenagers use phones for everything these days," Brand shrugged. "If we're going to make this work, I'll have to at least keep something of an eye on you. Clean up your headphones, too, and don't bother replacing them. Losing one of your senses like that is dangerous."

Jughead stared at his guardian for a few seconds longer before dropping his gaze to assess what remained of his headphones and was dismayed to see that they were clearly beyond repair. He still had the presence of mind to weigh his options, though, as anger began to rise in him, replacing his panic and fear response - particularly when Brand smirked down at his phone, at what had to be the text messages from Betty. The satisfaction of lashing out in response to Brand's aggressive and unprovoked attack had to be balanced against the hell that would surely break loose in his life again if Brandon left before even twenty-four hours went by. However, the decision not to seriously lay into his godfather didn't preclude Jughead from knocking his shoulder angrily into his mirthful guardian as he went to retrieve the groceries and then pick up the pieces of his shattered headphones.

Brandon simply patted Jughead's back as he went past, no more disturbed than he might have been by a cat rubbing against his leg. "You can get better at that sort of thing. Staying aware, staying alive. I can answer some of the twenty questions when you get back, too."

Jughead looked back from the trailer door, irritation warring with confusion in his expression. Brandon held up Jughead's phone. "Betty has some questions and we should get the lady some answers, don't you think?"

"Oka-ay," Jughead replied cautiously. His heartbeat was beginning to slow down, and while this was far from the evening he had pictured with his new guardian, he did suddenly want answers about Brandon and was even curious about the offer to teach Jughead to defend himself. FP had been unpredictable, but over time Jughead had learned to read him, anticipate him, and understand him. Whatever Brandon's relationship had been to FP, and suddenly Jughead was searingly curious why this man of all people had been named his godfather, there was a certain resemblance in attitude that was becoming apparent. Jughead suspected he could handle Brand with the same strategies he had used on FP, but that required gathering information - as much information as possible - so that Jughead could predict when things were relaxed, and when things could get out of control. Then he would do his best to stay out of the line of fire, by any means possible.

Jughead gathered the remainder of the grocery bags from Brand's car and locked it up. He glanced at his own car, the instinct for flight not totally gone yet, and took a deep breath before releasing it slowly. 'I had better make this work,' Jughead thought. Storming off like a child would not endear him to his guardian, and while the loss of his headphones was painful and made him angry, Jughead honestly couldn't imagine using them again anytime soon anyway, after this evening. 'He isn't used to living with anyone,' Jughead realized, 'and he probably doesn't dream of winning Guardian of the Year, so it's not surprising that he has no idea how uncool that was.' Somehow he couldn't imagine Fred Andrews jumping Archie in the kitchen to teach him life lessons.

All the same, as his breathing returned to normal and he walked back to the trailer, Jughead couldn't shake the feeling that this new and foreign person who had just stepped into his life did have something to teach him that he couldn't learn anywhere else. Maybe it had to do with the similarity in their builds, and how entirely helpless Jughead had been in those moments when he was suspended in Brand's arms. A chokehold specifically wasn't an approach Jughead could picture himself using, but there was a confidence and power in Brandon's movements that seemed every bit as potent as that of the jacked guys who threw their weight around at school, or on the construction sites Jughead had worked. It could be nice to learn that.

Opening the door to the trailer, Jughead was relieved to see his phone replaced on the counter and Brand opening a can of spaghetti sauce.

"So," Jughead began, "How do you know FP?"

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Betty was surprised to find a series of lengthy texts on her phone when she woke up on Saturday morning. Jughead had a writer's flair for informative texting that was very efficient - and therefore usually brief. There were eight substantial texts that had come in during the wee hours of the night - not unusual timing with Jughead, and Betty had finally gotten into the habit of turning her ringer off at night so she could sleep undisturbed during the odd hours when her boyfriend tended to get inexplicably chatty - and Betty accepted their number and length as a reconciliation effort after their strained conversations about Jughead's new guardian. The offer of detailed information during the weekend when Betty was respectfully keeping her distance, even though she was also making sure Jughead knew she took an interest via text message, seemed like a generous peace offering.

Hungrily skimming the messages for details, Betty was surprised to learn that Jughead's godfather, Brandon Davies, had known FP when Jughead was born. Apparently FP didn't maintain a close relationship with Brandon over the years, but the two had vaguely kept track of one another over the years, and FP had never seen a reason to change Brandon's godfather status. Brandon had worked with undisclosed (classified?) paramilitary efforts for years and never had a family, and was just nearing that early retirement age that catches up to athletes and highly trained men in those sorts of fields - his late thirties or early forties. Brandon had been between jobs when FP was arrested, and as he was making the decision about whether to begin contracting more sedately by cashing in on his experiences from the comfort of home, or whether to take on one last highly physical job before retiring from that way of life, Jughead and Brandon's promise to FP had been a convenient tipping point on the scales in favor of trying something totally new.

This sounded very promising to Betty, and the only basis for worry came when Jughead described Brandon being "clueless about teenagers," and having "some strange ideas about guardianship." If Jughead thought that, even with his incredible tolerance for arrangements that would horrify almost anyone else, then Brandon must be coming from a really odd place. Betty decided to delay that judgment, though, recalling Kevin's advice to let Jughead and Brandon figure out their relationship on their terms and their timetable.

It was also quite possible that Brandon was perfectly normal, and it was Jughead who was bringing an odd perspective to things.

After sending an upbeat response that acknowledged how much she appreciated the details and shared some thoughts about the movie she and Veronica had watched together the previous night, Betty offered to come by and cook for Jughead and Brandon sometime during the next week if they wanted some company. She tried to keep it light and hoped none of it came across as nosy or insistent.

Betty was rewarded for her efforts when Jughead promptly accepted, saying that Brandon really wanted to meet her.

'I guess Kevin was right,' Betty smiled as she began to plan a menu and began to Google recipes on her phone. Veronica was still asleep, and experience told Betty it would be another hour before she stirred. 'I just need to give them some space and they'll let me in when they are ready.'

It was uncomfortable for Betty to realize that she was also relieved that Jughead had a more traditional parental figure in his life now. As much as she had tried to accept his quasi-homelessness, not letting that become a problem for their relationship, it had been stressful to feel like Jughead had almost no firm ties in Riverdale, and no support or protection aside from Archie and Fred Andrews. It had even been a challenge to navigate, again and again, Jughead's total freedom and implicit expectation that Betty would have similar freedom to make all of her own decisions about how to spend her time.

Betty's parents had proven themselves to be far from saints, but she had no doubt at all in her mind that they cared about her future and her safety, and also that they viewed even their overly strict boundaries as an expression of love.

Archie had also mentioned some struggles Fred had had with Jughead about a nightly curfew in particular.

The more Betty thought about it, the more it seemed natural and perhaps even inevitable that Jughead would chafe against a new guardian who gave him real boundaries for the first time in his life - and she couldn't help but hope that a new guardian who was more involved in Jughead's life would bring her boyfriend that much closer to understanding not only Betty, but also her family and why she loved them, in spite of their faults.

That would certainly be a relief and a helpful dynamic for the long run, Betty reflected. Even if, as she suspected, it might be a rocky transition while Jughead got used to living in a structured household.

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Chapter Text

Chapter Three:

"So, things will be a little more structured around here-,"

"No pun intended?" Jughead gestured toward the stack of two by fours leaning against a wall in the living area of the trailer. Brandon had made an early morning run to the local hardware store, and as wary as Jughead felt about his new guardian, the boards were a reassuring sight. Construction bespoke permanence.

Brand raised an eyebrow. "You will be home by eleven pm unless we prearrange a later curfew, and I need to know who you are spending time with, and where."

"How detailed do you want this to be?" Jughead cocked his head to one side as he started pouring some cereal into a bowl for breakfast. "My English class has quite a few people in it."

"Before school, after school, and overnight - who, where, and a rough itinerary for when you change locations. Text me whenever there is a deviation from the current plan."

Jughead gave a low whistle and reached into the refrigerator for the milk. "Do I get a special flashlight in case I get into trouble? This is Secret Service level coverage."

"Betty's a good start, but I'll want to meet anyone else you're spending significant amounts of time with," Brand continued without acknowledging Jughead's commentary. "Their parents, too, but I'll work that part out. Just invite your friends over at some point this week. They can all come to the dinner Betty's making, if you like."

"Uh, I'm not sure she'd like that," Jughead mused, reminding himself he really had no option but to follow the new rules, and setting his mind to smoothing Brandon's transition to living in Riverdale. "Are you sure you want to jump into the deep end like this? I really appreciate your staying here with me, and I can definitely meet you halfway on all of this. But you don't have to, like, parent me."

"Just start with that," Brand smiled distantly. "If it works, that's enough parenting for me. I'm guessing it's enough for you, too."

"Don't get me wrong. It's cool," Jughead raised his hands in a show of willing acquiescence. "It's not like I had a lot of options before you got here, and I seriously appreciate you moving here for me. So if you need me to cook some meals and do some work around here, just say the word."

"That sounds promising. It also sounds like the kind of offer I should get photographic evidence of," Brand raised his phone and clicked on the camera app.

This time Jughead laughed and flexed a bicep toward the camera. "I'll help you with the construction, too. It's been a while since FP fixed things up around here, so you might need another set of hands."

"I won't say no to that," Brandon saved the photo for the next proof of life message. After all, he reflected, it was tradition to have a condemned man dig his own grave. Jones building his own cage was really a whole lot less ironic in the grand scheme of things.

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Jughead spent the morning following Brand's directions and hauling materials around the trailer for expert assembly by his godfather. Brandon had pretty much made the trailer break-in proof, something that FP had never been overly concerned with; there had never been a whole lot to break in for, and nothing that outweighed the repercussions of being caught breaking into the Southside Serpent king's abode.

It did become apparent that the bedroom was a source of some consternation to Brandon, as he didn't like the access those windows gave to any passersby and there was not an easy way of fixing that without blocking the windows themselves.

Jughead was reminded uncomfortably that his guardian's concern would have made a lot more sense in the wake of a local teen's murder... if the killer hadn't been Jughead's own father.

Rather than have that conversation, though, Jughead took a break to make some sandwiches while Brand surveyed the problem of the windows on that side of the trailer.

Jughead found a jar of peanut butter, smiling wryly at the well-stocked cupboards. Their bounty looked downright foreign here in the trailer, even though they didn't begin to compare with the pantry at the Andrews' home. He found a knife and started spreading the peanut butter, and had just finished assembling one sandwich when the trailer door slammed open.

The events of the previous evening had been mostly shrugged off by Jughead as an eccentricity of an overly trained ex-military guy who was not only unfamiliar with teens, but also going through the process of facing his own retirement - and therefore bound to be at least a little more aggressive than he needed to be.

Nevertheless, the sudden noise made by the trailer door slamming caused Jughead to startle much more dramatically than the sound and movement strictly warranted. He found himself several paces back from where he had been making sandwiches, against the far side of the trailer, his back literally against the wall.

Feeling his hands shake ever so slightly, Jughead took a deep breath and, admonishing himself to stop acting like a crazy person, he inclined his head at Brandon to acknowledge his presence before turning back to where he'd been making the sandwiches.

"I'll make mine." Brand brusquely stepped forward. He was surprised and pleased to see Jughead's skittering startle response to his abrupt entrance. Once again, he was reminded how easy this job was turning out to be.

Jughead surrendered the knife, stepping back with the first completed sandwich in his hand. "I can, uh, get the food next week. I have some money saved, even though I'm between jobs at the moment - and I'm planning to get another job as soon as I can find one."

"Not necessary," Brandon dug peanut butter out of the jar and began making a sandwich for himself. "I think buying food falls under the job description. You should be focusing on your studies for now, too. Colleges want to see some focus during your last years of highschool."

This made Jughead feel even more silly about being ill at ease with Brandon, who was being more generous than FP had been about providing for Jughead. He simply nodded and took a big bite of his sandwich - in part to distract himself from the thought of FP and how little his father had considered Jughead when making plans.

Jughead would cross the bridge of getting a job later, since he had no intention of being without an income and wholly at anyone's mercy for funding essentials such as his vehicle.

"Where are you planning to apply?" Brandon began eating his own sandwich, leaning comfortably against the counter.

Reminded of his earlier fantasy of having a guardian who took an interest in his education and helped him with college applications, Jughead swallowed his bite of sandwich - and his surprise. "Um, actually I've been looking up writing programs, and I'm starting to think about mechanical engineering. That way I'd actually have a job while I write. I'd have to do five years of courses to fit in both, though."

"Big plans, kid," Brand drawled. "You'll have options. As long as you keep your nose clean."

"Yeah," Jughead gave Brandon a small smile. "That's certainly the plan."

"I'll see what I can do to help you out with that." Brand finished his sandwich in one large bite. He grabbed a beer from the fridge and left the trailer to continue his examination of the bedroom windows.

Jughead chewed on the rest of his sandwich, considering the whirlwind twenty hours or so he'd had to get to know Brandon so far, and reflexively noting how many beers had disappeared since the night before. Only two. There was a lot about his new guardian that wasn't quite normal, and Jughead certainly wasn't going to let his guard down around his godfather anytime soon after the aggressive male bonding the night before, but drinking to excess didn't seem like one of Brand's vices.

The man's habit of ordering Jughead around like he was a military grunt would probably get old fast; however, there was a lot to be said for knowing exactly what to do to placate his guardian effectively and completely. On balance? 'I can handle him. I can handle this.' Jughead nodded, as if to reassure himself, and grabbed a bottle of water before he followed Brandon outside to continue working on the trailer.

Brandon was typing on his phone, and hit send on a message with a photo attached as Jughead emerged from the trailer. 'Roy, I've got this well and handled.'

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Saturday afternoon passed quickly once Brand made the decisions about how to work with the windows. Jughead had a feeling they were breaking fire code, since he was only left with one point of egress (through the bedroom door) when they finished, but that seemed unlikely to come up as an issue. They worked side by side without incident, Jughead willingly passing tools and materials to Brandon and following directions to build parts of the strengthening adaptations to the trailer himself.

Jughead was beginning to get used to the companionable silence, punctuated by terse directions that weren't cold or mean - just abrupt. He was also pleasantly surprised when a truck pulled up from the local cable company.

At first, Jughead thought that the cable installer had the wrong address; when Brandon instead greeted the man and explained his plan for high-speed internet, Jughead lit up with a grin. This was a game-changer, and while it had probably been inevitable, given the nature of Brandon's telecommuting job, it was still something of a surprise to see it happening that very day.

Returning from his directions to the cable installer, Brand responded to Jughead's obvious elation: "I'm turning it off when you shouldn't be on it, so don't think you're gonna be on it all the time. But it's for you, too."

With that added incentive, the two finished off Brandon's vision for the trailer improvements for that day and then retired to the trailer for the evening.

Brandon pulled his laptop out of his luggage and booted it up at the table. Noting this second powerful reminder of his vision of his godfather, Jughead followed suit and was soon online and typing away on his own computer at the table. He spread his homework out as well and alternated between schoolwork and his personal writing project.

They both lost track of time, working until Jughead's stomach made a noise loud enough to call Brand's attention to him.

"You hungry?"

"Always," Jughead looked up with a rueful grin. "Want me to make something for dinner?"

"Eh, let me check on something and get back to you on that-," Brand clicked through to his E-mail and scanned a few messages. He found what he was looking for, and considered briefly. "Let me make dinner tonight. You can do it tomorrow night, when I have more work to do. Go clean your room, and get ready to hit the sack. You look tired."

Jughead shrugged, going back to his typing. "That sounds good to me. I'm not really tired, though. Let me finish this paragraph off and I'll get my stuff back in my room."

"Do it now," Brand commanded firmly, arresting Jughead's gaze with a challenging stare. Brandon's abrupt change in affect startled the teen, and Jughead found himself off balance and nervous under his guardian's icy gaze.

"Oka-ay," Jughead hit save quickly on his writing and closed his laptop. He returned Brandon's stare with a questioning look as he began stacking his books swiftly on top of the laptop.

Brand broke off the stare without another word, apparently satisfied that Jughead would follow through. He turned to the kitchen and opened the fridge to begin preparing dinner.

Jughead paused as he headed toward the bedroom with his computer and schoolwork, noting that all of the remaining beers were in their place. That should have been a comfort, and really Jughead knew that Brandon hadn't had an opportunity to drink anything without him noticing. Nevertheless, blaming beer would have been something Jughead understood, and could predict - and right now he had no idea what had changed his godfather's demeanor.

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Brandon considered his plans for the evening as he began to cook. An old friend had a job lined up for him that would mean four or five guys spending some hours at the trailer - likely most of the night. Brandon cracked open a couple of cans of soup and assembled some cheese sandwiches for grilling in the oven. Jughead was lingering in his bedroom, no doubt gathering his courage to come back out after his minor rebellion about bedtime, Brand reflected. No matter; Brand had long since mastered the art of getting someone to sleep through meetings that were none of their business.

When Brandon slid a bowl of soup and a grilled cheese sandwich into place at Jughead's seat at the table, the teen came out of the bedroom. He'd accurately intuited that delaying dinner might irritate his godfather.

Jughead was surprised by how appetizing he food looked.

"You really know how to grill." Jughead spoke hesitantly, watching Brandon for a reaction, but also appreciatively - the sandwich really did look good, and it wouldn't be a bad skill to master for himself.

"People don't know the half of what they can do with an oven." Brand waved away the compliment modestly, and sat down with his own food. "Dig in."

Jughead ate quickly, reassured that he would not be considered impolite when he saw that Brand matched his pace easily. He had finished the soup in record time and was wondering what had happened to the snack cakes he had seen in the cupboard when he realized he was suddenly feeling the full day of construction work catch up to him.

"You know," Jughead put a hand to his forehead as if to steady his suddenly spotting vision, "I may go straight to bed after all, Brand. Thanks for dinner."

Brand watched as Jughead got up and stumbled as he carried his dishes to the sink. "You okay?"

"Fine," Jughead trailed a hand along the refrigerator for stability as he made his way toward the bedroom. His vision was getting dark around the edges, and nothing sounded better than bed at that moment.

Brandon had to stifle a laugh at Jughead's response, knowing that it was taking a monumental effort to fight the drug even as much as he was managing.

Jughead struggled with the doorknob to the bedroom, embarrassed when it took him a second try to grasp and turn it. When the door opened, though, his vision swam and it felt like the trailer had suddenly tipped onto its side. Jughead's equilibrium was lost entirely, and he dropped to his knees in an effort to keep his balance as if he were on the pitching deck of a ship - and suddenly he was retching up the soup and sandwich.

"Crap." Brandon leapt up from the table and was next to Jughead in a moment. This was not supposed to be a side effect unless Jughead was allergic, and allergies could be very, very bad. "Hey, buddy, let's get you in the bathroom and get all this out of your stomach."

Jughead felt only slightly more alert after being sick on the floor. He looked up helplessly at Brandon as his guardian shifted his mostly limp form into his arms and then carried him to the small bathroom in the trailer.

"What happened?" Jughead managed to ask, watching his vision begin to tunnel again as he was positioned carefully over the toilet by his godfather.

"You're sick, I guess," Brandon braced the teen's back against the wall. "Stay here, and keep leaning forward so you keep breathing. I'm gonna grab something."

Jughead tried to focus on the water in the toilet, but its movement seemed to make him nauseated again and he was even more wretchedly sick while Brandon tore through his supplies in the living room and then dashed back to his charge with an epi pen in his hand.

"Okay, just keep breathing and we won't need this," Brandon muttered. "But we've got it here if you do, so you can relax. Just get it all out." The last thing he needed was to answer to Blossom for killing his hostage in an attempt to take on a side job.

The ill feeling finally started to recede for Jughead, and Brandon let him slump against the wall when it seemed likely that he would not be sick again. Brand stood up and surveyed the bathroom, which had actually fared well all told, and then stepped out to look in the bedroom. That was a bigger mess, but it could have been far worse.

Looking back at Jughead, Brandon estimated that he was out for the night and the end result of drugging him would end up being the same - Brand could take his meeting without being concerned about what the teenager might overhear.

Brandon left Jughead in a heap while he cleaned up the trailer, working to scrub the smell out and replace it with the scent of soap. When he had finished, Brandon returned to grab the teen and carry his limp form to bed.

"Thanks," Jughead murmured vaguely as Brand tucked him in.

"Sure thing, kid," Brandon shook his head, relieved and a bit shaken. "We'll be getting your medical records on Monday, I think."

He walked out of the bedroom, stopping only to slide the new deadbolt into place on the outside of the bedroom door. Odds were that Jughead wasn't that great an actor, but this was clearly not a night for Brand to be playing the odds.

Brandon grabbed a beer, settled down with his laptop, and with a deep breath to expel the last of his tension from the last half hour of worry, he began preparing for the meeting he would be hosting later that night.

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Chapter Text

Chapter Four:

Betty eagerly went to meet Jughead at lunchtime on Monday. She hadn't heard from him since Saturday, and was dying for an update on Jughead's guardian. It helped that Principal Weatherbee had deemed the issue with Cheryl sufficiently "cooled off" for the time being, and everyone was expected to eat their lunches peacefully from then on.

Jughead was sitting at the table in the lunchroom when Betty got there; she was surprised to see that he was leaning heavily on one arm while slowly eating the meat out of a turkey sandwich by hand. Archie was giving Jughead curious glances, but being careful not to attract his friend's attention to his concern. Truthfully, though, it didn't look like much could get Jughead's attention today - he looked wiped out, and the fact that he wasn't wolfing down his food was downright unnatural.

Betty sat down cautiously, peering at Jughead as she did so. "Jug, are you feeling all right?"

"I don't have a fever," Jughead pulled a piece of turkey out of his sandwich and ate it. "So that means I'm good for school. Just a rough weekend. I think it was food poisoning."

Archie caught Betty's eye and shrugged, tipping his head toward Jughead to indicate that he was not convinced this was the whole story.

"You look really... gray," Betty ventured. She had almost gotten used to the deep circles under Jughead's eyes over the last few months, as stress and lack of sleep had weighed him down on top of his usual odd sleep schedule, but his ghostly pallor today looked entirely different. There seemed to be thick black smudges beneath his eyes, and the eyes themselves seemed somehow less focused - all of which was underscored by the fact that his beleaguered attitude was so unlike his usual hypervigilant monitoring of his surroundings.

"Thanks, Betts," Jughead nodded with a wry smile. "Coming from you, that really means a lot."

"I don't mean that you look-,"

Archie cut Betty off with a quick shake of his head. "Dude, food poisoning sucks. Can't your godfather cook? Or did you do the cooking and poison him too?"

"He didn't even get sick," Jughead lifted his head with a burst of aggrieved energy. "I was down for all of Sunday, and he didn't even blink."

Both Betty and Archie unconsciously leaned forward, eager for news of Jughead's godfather.

"Okay, I texted you about Brandon, but what else do you want to know?" Jughead was more exhausted than he thought was possible with food poisoning, but he was also resigned to satisfying his friends' curiosity.

"Hang on!" Veronica arrived just in time to hear Jughead's words. "Kevin's right behind me, and he wants to know, too."

She sat down next to Betty and took a bite of her own sandwich before she got a good look at Jughead. When she looked up and caught the full effect of his wan appearance, she dropped her sandwich to her plate. "Jughead, are you on drugs?"

"Oh, wow. Thanks, Veronica," Jughead rolled his eyes.

"Food poisoning," Betty said quietly to her friend. "He got really sick yesterday. What did you even eat, Juggie?"

Kevin arrived, taking a seat next to Archie and hearing just Betty's final question. "And was it legal? You look like a raccoon."

"Food poisoning, Kevin," Betty repeated.

Jughead shrugged. "You want the whole food diary? Spaghetti from a can. Peanut butter. Soup, also from a can. Grilled cheese. Then nothing, because I couldn't keep anything down after Saturday night."

"Not food poisoning, then," Kevin dismissed the idea as he opened his milk. "Flu maybe, but it really doesn't sound like food poisoning to me." He waved his hands impatiently. "But more importantly - when are you going to tell us all about your godfather?"

"He goes by Brand," Jughead began to fill them in, now that they had all arrived, "and he's kind of intense. We talked about colleges and he bought groceries, though, so he's basically June Cleaver compared to FP."

Betty wanted to ask more about Brand's 'kind of intense' attributes, but Jughead saw her expression and headed her off. "Seriously, if you want to get to know someone quickly, get disgustingly sick the second night you're living together. He was really cool about it."

Kevin caught Betty's eye and gave her a small smile. "Someone who is good at nursing people back to health and was special ops? He sounds like a Renaissance man, Jughead."

"If I had a more reliable source than you, I'd ask if he's cute," Veronica smiled teasingly when Jughead winced and shook his head at her in mock exasperation.

"Also, not to brag, but we got high-speed internet installed at the trailer, too." Jughead smiled at Betty. "Maybe now I can be in a little more touch with the outside world."

Betty returned his smile. She still had questions, but admitted to herself that Brand was sounding better all the time.

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Veronica and Betty headed to cheerleading practice that day, after their shared World History class.

"So, is it just me, or does Mrs. Cardell really dislike you?" Veronica kept her tone low, as they were still in earshot of a few classmates as they made their way toward the gym. "I never thought I'd see the day when a teacher didn't like Betty Cooper, but she has that tone. And that expression." Veronica pulled a very dubious, arch-eyebrowed face at Betty, mocking their teacher. "Mizzzzz Cooper?"

Veronica's imitation of Mrs. Benton was wildly inaccurate, yet it was still eerily reminiscent of the teacher's pointed attention when she was irritated.

Still, Betty couldn't laugh. Her grade was lower than she wanted it to be, and perhaps needed it to be, and she had started to suspect the same thing about their teacher's attitude toward her personally - and hearing her suspicions seconded was not encouraging. "Honestly? I don't know. I really thought my last paper was strong, but then I got a C+ without a lot of feedback. I don't know what happened."

"Wait." Veronica stopped walking and Betty followed suit a couple of steps later when she realized her friend was no longer beside her. "You got what grade? On our most recent 'research' paper?" Veronica made scare quotes with her fingers derisively. "That was a total joke - even I got an A, and I learned everything I know about papyrus from Wikipedia the night before."

Betty tried to school her expression, but this news frustrated her deeply; guilt set in a moment later, since she really didn't like her gut response to hearing about Veronica's higher grade, either. It suggested that Betty saw Veronica as an inherently less worthy student than herself - which seemed like it should make her a bad friend, if not a bad person. She didn't think of herself as smarter than her classmates, and certainly not smarter than Veronica specifically, but Betty had gotten used to having more success academically. It seemed only fair, since Veronica had a lot of success in other areas of their friendship. Nevertheless, it made Betty uncomfortable to think so directly about this aspect of their friendship.

"Look, if even I got an A," Veronica clearly shared no such discomfort, "we should figure out what her deal is. These are the years that count for college, and a C+ in a writing-intensive class is-,"

"Yeah, I know," Betty cut her off, embarrassed to hear her grade spoken aloud again. "I probably should have worked harder, but maybe there is something off about her and me. We have the next paper due on Monday, so I'll just put in some extra time on it this week-," Betty thought of the dinner she planned to make for Jughead and Brand and bit her lip, "and if it still seems like my grade is weird, we can compare notes then." Betty started walking briskly toward practice, adding with a lightness she did not feel, "Maybe you're doing something in your papers that I'm missing."

"Maybe," Veronica repeated skeptically. She hurried to catch up with her friend. "We can work on the paper together, too. Compare notes before, during, and after."

"Okay," Betty was already regretting that the subject had come up, and was feeling an unfamiliar combination of self-consciousness about her scholastic abilities and embarrassment about not meeting her friend's expectations. "Maybe I'll meet with Mrs. Cardell this week, too, and ask for some pointers."

"Want me to go with you?" Veronica offered. "Give you some buffer against the eyebrows?"

This time Betty did laugh. "No, thank you. I think I can handle that part on my own. Let's work on the paper together, though. Another set of eyes would be great." If Betty wanted to become a writer, she needed to have a thicker skin about negative feedback and second opinions, she thought to herself.

Veronica smiled encouragingly. Her suspicion was that Betty was being picked on by a jealous teacher, for who knows what reasons, and it was not a question of hard work or writing ability - but she also realized that Betty's approach to conflict was to try harder to please and smooth over the issues, and Veronica respected that. She would try to be there for her while trying it this way. If Betty wanted advice later about managing catty power dynamics with authority figures, Veronica would be there for that as well.

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"Dad!" Archie bounded into the house exuberantly. He knew his father had come home early from work to grill and watch the game with him, and Archie couldn't wait to fill him in on Jughead's godfather, his successful football practice, and his 94 on a pop quiz in Literature class. "Did you get propane yet, or do we need to go pick some up?"

"I got propane, Archie," Fred grinned when his son arrived in the kitchen. "I also thought we could try firing up the ice cream maker. I froze the bowl piece this week, and got some junk to throw into the ice cream."

"Popcorn too?" Archie referred to their favorite tradition of making ice cream and eating popcorn while they waited for the ice cream to solidify fully in the freezer.

"Sure - the air popper is above the fridge. None of that microwave stuff," Fred Andrews had tried to stay conscious of his health over the years, not only because his livelihood depended on his mind and body being strong, but also because his son's athletic ability and aspirations required some care in the food Fred kept around the house for both of them. They both had a weakness for ice cream, and the concession of making it at home with known, curated ingredients was certainly outweighed by the amount of oreos, chocolate chips, malted milk powder, and similar junk food they managed to cram into their magical concoctions. Adding air-popped popcorn would be a healthy option to make both of them feel a little better about the indulgent splurge.

"I'll get the vegetables onto the grill," Archie knew there would be a foil-wrapped packet of seasoned vegetables, and he also knew that they took forever to grill fully. House rules, though - they ate all of the vegetables before they touched the meat, and while they had that timing down to a science, Archie was ravenous after his full day.

"All right. Five minutes until kickoff," Fred moved quickly with the ice cream ingredients while Archie jogged the vegetables out to the hot grill.

By the time the popcorn was just giving its last gasp pops, and Archie was adding one last shake of salt over it, Fred had the ice cream churning and the television on. "Choose two things you want in the ice cream, Arch," Fred called from the living room. "I've got oreos and walnuts. We can add them in about fifteen minutes."

"Malt and chocolate sprinkles," Archie didn't have to think about it as he recited his favorite additions to their vanilla ice cream recipe. He joined his father, holding out the popcorn bowl.

"Oh, it's been too long," Fred sighed happily as he grabbed a handful of popcorn and they leaned forward eagerly to enjoy the beginning of an exciting game.

"Way too long," Archie grabbed a handful of popcorn as well. "We've got to do this more often."

Both of them reveled in the feeling that their unit of two had been restored.

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Jughead was finally starting to perk up a little as he got ready for bed - which was inconvenient, since he needed sleep after being so sick. He found himself lying awake in his bed, staring at the ceiling in his room for a while, before he gave in and booted up his laptop.

The wifi was on, in spite of Brand's threat of restricting it at night after certain hours, so Jughead decided not to turn on his room's light and alert Brand to the fact that he was awake. Illuminated by his computer's light, he pored over a lengthy article profiling a murder victim in New York City, admiring the writing and taking stock of some of the techniques used in the piece. Jughead was sprawled on his bed, his legs kicked up in the air to keep his feet off of his pillow, and when he reached the end of the article he debated whether he should use his newfound inspiration to write a bit himself, or if he should make another attempt at sleep. It was past two am, and he knew that after being sick it would be painful to have an extremely short night of sleep and then a full day of school, but he also knew that he would be kicking himself if he missed out on a productive hour or two of writing.

Jughead's internal debate was cut off when he heard a car pull up outside the trailer. There was a rustling sound as someone made their way to the door, and when the door itself swung open Brand seemed to hesitate before letting whoever it was into the trailer. It all happened so quickly and quietly that it would not have awoken Jughead had he been asleep. He might even have missed it had he been engrossed in his reading or writing. Jughead was intensely curious now, and closed his laptop to go investigate.

As Jughead slid his laptop to the side and was about to get up from his bed, though, he heard a metallic click as the new deadbolt slid into place outside his door.

Jughead remained silent, but got to his feet and moved to the middle of his darkened room, slowly absorbing the reality of his situation. He was now locked in his bedroom. Because of the renovations there really was no escape, even if there was a fire, since Brand had secured the windows. Jughead honestly wasn't certain that he could force his way out if he had to, and, while it was wildly unlikely that a fire would erupt in the trailer, this seemed like something Brandon should have considered when deciding whether to deadbolt a teenager into his room.

Not certain what to do with this new information, Jughead padded silently to the door on bare feet. He sat down in front of it and leaned his head against the solid wood to hear what he could from the living room and kitchen. While it was tempting just to call Brandon out on this bizarre behavior, something told Jughead that he shouldn't call attention to the fact that he was awake, and aware of the situation.

There was no way he was falling asleep now.

Jughead could hear low tones from a conversation, but he couldn't make out any words.

Thirty minutes went by, and then sixty.

Jughead continued to lean against the door, wondering what would happen next, and whether Brand would keep him locked in all night. It seemed vital for him to know, and not to sleep through whatever took place.

Around four am, still alert and focused on what was happening in the rest of the trailer, Jughead stiffened and held his breath when he heard footsteps approach his door once again. The visitor was opening the door of the trailer to leave, and only after a car door opened outside did the deadbolt ease back with a second click.

Jughead didn't hear the footsteps when Brand walked away from his door, and so he didn't dare move and risk making any noise. He resumed breathing, carefully and shallowly, and waited with a feeling of near certainty that Brandon was poised on the other side of the door, waiting for any sound.

'This is silly,' Jughead lectured himself, mustering up the courage to return to his bed. 'Brand is clueless, and obviously just thinks guardians lock teenagers in when the adults want privacy. I just need to talk to him about fire codes, and all of that respect for authority I've been meaning to work on getting, and this will turn out to be nothing.'

Despite his brave thoughts, forty minutes passed before Jughead moved. Even then, when he finally dared to shift his position to get off of the floor, he immediately froze to listen for any reaction on the other side of the door. In that moment, he realized that he was never going to have this conversation with Brand - and he wasn't entirely sure why that was the case, except that his instincts were screaming at him to never let on that he had been awake this night. Jughead had long since learned that he should have a very good reason before going against those instincts.

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Chapter Text

Betty was growing increasingly excited about making dinner at the trailer, which paradoxically made Jughead feel even more uneasy about having Brand and his girlfriend together for an extended period of time. 

The day after the mysterious nighttime visitor to the trailer, when Brand had surreptitiously deadbolted Jughead into his room, Betty had met Jughead at school with talk about dinner, the menu, and the fact that she had very little experience cooking - but a whole lot of enthusiasm for the project.

Jughead appreciated it, he really did, but Betty's steadily climbing enthusiasm throughout the school day made him more and more concerned that her energy might become a problem in close quarters with his godfather.

"I'm thinking stuffed chicken now. Or beef tacos. Which do you prefer?" Betty had invited Jughead, Archie, and Veronica to Pop's after school, and was still debating the menu.

"I think... that it will be amazing, whatever you make," Jughead smiled at Betty, trying to quash the feeling that her expectations might somehow make everything even more confusing at the trailer. "Are we set on tomorrow, though? I know you have that paper you're working on together," Jughead gestured to include Veronica in this statement. "Will you have enough time for both?"

Betty glanced at Archie uncomfortably, since he was the only person at the table who did not know the whole story of Mrs. Cardell, the low paper grade, and Betty's plan to remediate the situation. She didn't need to worry, though, since Archie simply said "Betty is super organized, Jughead. You know she's got it under control. I'm just not sure why I'm not invited to this dinner." Archie grinned playfully.

"You would all be welcome," Betty said primly, "but I don't want to presume."

"Ahhh, actually," Jughead tried to think this through even as he spoke, sensing a glimmer of possibility. Maybe he could make sure Betty had some buffer with Brand after all. "I think you can presume if you want to: Brand asked about meeting all of my friends. I just didn't know whether you wanted to cook for a bunch of people, Betty."

"Seriously?" Veronica lit up. "I'm up for slaving away over a hot stove if it means I get to meet the famous Brandon. If we both cook, it won't be hard to make dinner for five people."

Betty was almost as relieved as Jughead to hear this new plan offered. Truth be told, she had begun to feel like the whole event was turning into an audition. Whether it was her auditioning for the role of Jughead's girlfriend, or Brandon auditioning for the role of guardian, things had begun taking on a life of their own in Betty's mind as the plan had become firmer. Having Archie and Veronica around would take the pressure off, something that Kevin would no doubt condone, and also save Betty from having to carry the conversation if Jughead was in a quiet mood that evening.

"Yes!" Archie exulted. "It's been torture hearing about this menu for two days - I can't believe I finally scored an invite. Can I help cook, too?"

"Why not?" Jughead smirked. "I always thought the trailer would make a great backdrop for a cooking show."

"Julia Child!" Veronica and Betty interjected in unison, breaking into giggles.

As Archie began imitating the famous cook's accent, Jughead smiled and felt himself begin to relax. This suddenly felt a lot more normal, and perhaps simply having numbers on his side - a weird way to put it, but somehow precisely how he felt - would help to smooth the undercurrent of anxiety he was feeling about Brand.

00000

"See you tomorrow!" Jughead waved as he left his friends. He reached his car, and as he opened the driver's side door he noticed his cellphone where it had fallen out of his pocket earlier in the day. It was lying on the driver's seat, and even at a glance Jughead could see that he had missed a number of messages.

Jughead climbed into his car, shutting the door behind him, and unlocked his phone with a growing sense of dread as he realized that he had not updated Brand when he had agreed to go with his friends to Pop's after school. Before he could read the texts or see what calls he had missed, though, his car door swung open again, startling him.

"I really don't have a lot of rules." Brand stood over Jughead. "But I like to think they mean something. Let's go." Brandon jerked a thumb at his own car. "We'll just leave your car here for a day or two while we figure out this misunderstanding."

"Hey, Brand, I'm really sorry-," Jughead was embarrassed and kicking himself for forgetting to update Brand with a text when his plans had changed. Archie would never have forgotten to update Fred if he was going to stay out late, and Betty's parents would have a fit if she ever went missing for an hour. Not that Jughead had been missing, exactly.

"You can be sorry at the trailer."

Despite everything about Brand that seemed so foreign, in that moment he sounded a whole lot like Fred Andrews, based on Jughead's limited experience seeing Archie in trouble with his father.

"Yes, sir," Jughead knew exactly the response Archie would give, and delivered it quickly, while getting out of his car to comply. "Sorry. It won't happen again."

Brand appraised the teenager. "You worried me."

Now Jughead felt even worse. "I didn't mean to worry you. Really." He moved toward Brand's car. "We can go home, and you can ground me or whatever you think is appropriate, but I really won't do it again. My phone slipped out of my pocket - I'll be sure to check for it in the future."

Brand watched Jughead walk toward the car, his head hanging slightly, and wondered how he had gotten so lucky with this job. Sure, it had been jarring to realize that Jones was not home on time, and that Brandon had no idea where the teen had gone, but it was simple work to find the teen's cellphone signal on the computer and track him down. Brandon had spent enough time with Jughead's cellphone to make sure that function worked easily enough.

This submissive response, though, was incredibly satisfying. Jones had turned tail instantly, and seemed genuinely concerned about having worried Brandon.

'I am seriously growing to like this kid,' Brand thought with a smirk. 'He's been well trained by somebody.'

The two rode home together in silence. Jughead sneaked a few glances in Brand's direction but didn't say anything until they had reached the trailer and climbed out of the truck.

"I'm really sor-,"

"We're done with that," Brand cut Jughead off. "Apologies are only as good as your actions. I'm grounding you next weekend, and you can make sure this doesn't happen again."

"Yes, sir," Jughead nodded meekly.

They went into the trailer, and Jughead began pulling out ingredients to make some dinner for them both. He started an omelette, hoping that Brandon would be at least partially appeased by his attempt at cooking.

"Uh, Brand," Jughead got his godfather's attention once the omelette was assembled and starting to cook. "Betty offered to make dinner for us tomorrow. Archie and Veronica are interested in coming. Is that still okay?"

"Sounds good," Brandon was settling in at the table with his laptop. "When will I meet Kevin?"

"Uh, Kevin and I aren't actually that close," Jughead frowned slightly. "I can invite him if you really want to make this a party, but-,"

"If you're not close, don't worry about it," Brand responded without looking up from his new E-mails.

"Okay," Jughead turned his attention back to the omelette and shook some pepper onto it.

"Don't forget that you're grounded next weekend," Brandon added absently, still absorbed in his reading. "I'll have a lot of work then, so we need to be real clear on how that's gonna go. Come straight home from school on Friday."

"Yes, sir," Jughead sighed, but was resigned to serving the time without complaint. He was surprised to realize that all of his anxiety around Brandon had disappeared now that it had to compete with his embarrassment at having worried and upset his godfather.

"Oh, man," Brand said aloud in response to an E-mail he was reading.

"Work stuff?" Jughead asked politely as he pulled out plates for their dinner.

"Just one extra hassle," Brand replied. He reread the E-mail and settled back in his chair to think this through. 'Now how do I get a proof of life picture that clearly shows time has elapsed?' Brandon had plenty of ideas, but none of them seemed likely to leave him in a good position to win the bet with Roy. Four thousand dollars was a lot of money, so Brand decided to puzzle this out over dinner, and then take action one way or another before they turned in for the night.

As Jughead brought over the first plated omelette, Brandon had an idea.

"Want me to start teaching you how to fight?"

00000

Jughead's thoughts were confused as he cleared up after dinner before his first lesson with Brand. He had been on edge about Brandon's late-night activities, was now grateful that Brand was not angrier about Jughead's hours-long disappearance that afternoon, and it was frustrating that these two feelings would not resolve in his mind into one coherent picture of his godfather. Sparring with Brandon sounded like the one activity that might be able to resolve all of this - perhaps once and for all. All of the tension between them had begun when Brand jumped Jughead in the kitchen, after all, so maybe they just needed to have it out and then things could return to an even keel for both of them.

Jughead hoped so.

Brand was moving furniture out of the way in the trailer, which seemed odd.

"Aren't we going to go outside?" Jughead didn't have much experience fighting, but he was taking off his long-sleeved shirt so he would have as much mobility as possible. "It would be easier to practice with more space."

"Easier, yes," Brand slipped his laptop into a protective case before sliding it under the couch - and then pushing it at least eighteen inches beyond that.

Jughead's internal battle between gratitude and anxiety suddenly swung back in the direction of anxiety.

"You won't always get easy." Brand straightened up and nodded his approval at the state of the trailer. "Come over here and I'll show you a few basics before we see what you've got."

Jughead cautiously stepped toward his godfather, who was shedding his own long-sleeved shirt.

"Want me to take it easy on you?" Brand's smile was just mocking enough to signal that he noticed Jughead's hesitancy. It was also just mocking enough to irritate Jughead.

"Nah," Jughead feigned nonchalance and relaxed his stance as he closed the distance between himself and Brand in the small space. "Gotta learn sometime, right?"

"Good boy," Brand grinned, and Jughead was surprised to feel a small flare of pride in response to the unexpected praise. Brand patted him on the shoulder companionably. "Here's how it works."

Jughead had only a moment to register that the hand on his shoulder had moved before he found himself bent forward awkwardly, as his arm was captured in Brand's grip and his elbow strained painfully. Jughead stooped further, trying to relieve the pressure from Brand's hold on his arm before it bent his elbow the wrong way.

"Hey, man, don't break anything," Jughead gasped as Brand only caused his elbow to extend further, forcing Jughead to his knees. Brand released the hold.

"Pressure points," Brand gripped Jughead's forearms and pulled him to his feet. "That's where we'll start."

Jughead took a deep breath, shaking out his sore arm. He looked at the elbow, which looked none the worse for wear.

"Okay, Brand," Jughead gave his godfather a half smile. "How do I do that to you?"

"You don't."

"Then how will I learn to do it?" Jughead cocked his head to one side.

"You're going to learn how to do it, but not in order to use it on me," Brand elaborated. "You'll also learn how not to let anyone else do that to you."

"Okay," Jughead was increasingly energized by the process. "Show me."

Brand showed Jughead a number of joint manipulating holds, and a few basic techniques for avoiding getting trapped in one during a fight.

After about forty minutes of practice and corrections, Brand declared the lesson to be at an end.

"Thanks, Brand," Jughead said, turning to retrieve his shirt and go do his homework before bed. "That was-,"

Jughead's body suddenly pitched forward, and his forehead smacked into the edge of the coffee table before he realized he was not tripping over his own feet; Brand had swept his feet out from under him. The attack was so rough and unexpected that Jughead's fall was far harder than gravity alone would have made it.

"Last lesson for this evening." Brand towered over Jughead's sprawled body. "Never fight fair."

Jughead's face was pressed to the thin carpeting, and as he felt his anger and all of the tension from the last few days boiling back up, he simply eased his arms under him to avoid telegraphing his move to Brandon. This time, whatever the fallout, Jughead was going to fight back - and see if what he'd just been taught was any good.

A boot lowered onto the back of Jughead's neck, immobilizing his spine and pinning him to the floor.

"Not tonight, Jones." Brand sounded amused as he leaned a little more weight on the back of Jughead's neck. "It's time for bed."

Jughead immediately recognized that he was trapped and forced his muscles to relax slightly - while he waited for Brand to shift and give him an opening. He was vaguely aware that this was not entirely rational, nor was it a good idea, but as his head throbbed and blood dripped into his left eye, Jughead couldn't think of anything but taking a swing back at the guardian who had attacked him, broken his headphones, and locked him in his room.

Jughead's plan was thwarted, though, when Brand reached down and pulled him to his feet.

"Let's get a look at that." Brandon reached over to the coffee table with one hand and grabbed his cellphone. He took a photo of Jughead's forehead with a flash, and examined the picture critically. "Eh, I think you're gonna live. Now go do your homework."

Brand became abruptly cheerful as he released Jughead and pushed his head forward with a playful motion. "We can practice again tomorrow."

"Brand-," Jughead immediately backed away from his guardian as he touched his forehead cautiously. He was already cooling off slightly from his initial rage response at being tripped and then pinned, but knew he needed to convince Brandon to stop attacking him - because life was going to become extremely uncomfortable if Jughead was left always waiting for the next 'lesson.'

"Homework," Brand repeated, an edge creeping into his tone.

Jughead stared at Brand for another long moment, his fingers still tracing the gash on his forehead. He took a deep breath. "You've got to stop jumping me, or someone's going to lose an eye."

"You've got to learn how to defend yourself," Brand countered.

"Could we maybe do that without bodily injury?" Jughead gestured toward his forehead. The conversation somehow felt just as intense as their sparring had.

"I'll see what I can do," Brand shrugged dismissively, "but that's combat sports for you. If you really want to learn, this won't be the last bump you take."

"Could you at least not attack me when we're not practicing?" Jughead was silently seething at Brand's demeanor. "I want to learn. I don't want to be jumped whenever I turn my back to you."

"We'll just make sure that anyone who ever wants a piece of you signs on with your rules of engagement, then, huh?" Brand was quickly losing interest, and reached under the couch to retrieve his laptop. "Why didn't I think of that? My career could have been a whole lot easier if I'd only met you."

Jughead sighed. He was convinced that his hitting the coffee table had been an accident, and Brand actually raised a good point about training Jughead for real life scenarios, but something still felt very off about the whole thing. "Look, can we just have a moratorium on the attacks when we're not actually practicing? Take a break until the weekend?"

"Sure thing, kid," Brand pulled the coffee table back into place and opened up his laptop. "A moratorium. We'll train again this weekend, if my work doesn't get too busy. Now go do your homework and get to bed."

Slightly mollified that he'd gotten Brand to agree to that much, Jughead went to clean the cut before he started his schoolwork.

Brand watched Jughead's door close before he pulled out his cellphone and texted the photo to Roy. 'I'm sure you worried, but I'm still winning the bet,' he texted with the image of a pained, disoriented Jughead with a line of blood dripping down his forehead.

00000

Chapter Text

Dinner preparation was going better than anyone had expected.

'He is SO HOT,' Veronica mouthed to Betty as they prepared ingredients for homemade macaroni and cheese. Betty motioned for Veronica to stop, shooting a quick glance at Brand to make sure he hadn't noticed, but instead catching Jughead's wide-eyed shake of the head cautioning them not to try too much right in front of Brandon.

"This essay," Brand declared from where he had been quietly reading from Betty's laptop, "is not bad. Do you want a few suggestions, though?"

Betty handed Veronica the block of cheese she had been cutting into small pieces and hurried over to Brandon. She leaned over his shoulder to look at the computer screen with him.

"What do you think I should change?" Betty smiled, enjoying that she felt genuinely interested in the constructive feedback and not even slightly defensive about criticism of her writing. Working with Veronica had been really helpful so far, and she hoped to continue collaborating with others on her writing in the future. "I was a little worried about my third paragraph. The transition sounds a little confusing to me, and I'm not sure what to do about it."

"Eh, that's an easy fix," Brand pointed instead to her analysis of burial practices in Egypt. "This paragraph is the one I thought might need a little more attention."

Jughead eyed the two of them at the table, trying to be glad that they were getting along so well. 'This is good. Brand is behaving; Betty is having fun. They're both smiling. This is what I wanted.'

"Dude, I reeeally don't think he's trying to steal your girl," Archie intoned quietly to Jughead, after Veronica shooed him away from the cooking and toward the salad preparation. "So you can probably relax and stop aiming your laser glare at them."

"What? Oh," Jughead tried to relax his intense expression and return Archie's smile. "No, it's just... weird."

"Having a dad figure to approve of your girlfriend? Not all it's cracked up to be," Archie used tongs to fluff the lettuce halfheartedly in the salad bowl. "I have no clue how to toss salad, for the record," he shot teasingly at Veronica. "If it ends up shaken, or God forbid, stirred, you have only yourself to blame."

"A stirred salad?" Jughead raised his eyebrows and this time had no trouble smiling at his friends. "That I'd like to see. Let's get this cooking show started."

"Honestly," Veronica turned to survey the guys' renewed attempt at evenly distributing salad components in the large bowl and put a hand on her hip, "I was told I'd have a sous chef tonight, and this is what I get?"

Archie left Jughead to continue with the salad and reached past Veronica to where a mixture of butter, flour, milk, and spices was simmering. "I'll be your sue-chef, but does that mean I need to be a girl? Change my name? Wear an apron?"

"Learn to cook, maybe?" Veronica couldn't hide a small smile as she grabbed a dish towel and swatted Archie away from taste-testing the food.

Jughead laughed at their antics and then returned his attention to where Brandon and Betty were deep in conversation about paragraph structure. His smile faded, even though both Betty and Brand were smiling as they rearranged sentences and tweaked word choice.

"You're gonna have to let me know how this does. I'm invested now," Brand told Betty as they wrapped up his review of her paper for Mrs. Cardell. "If it doesn't earn an A, I'm calling foul."

"Thanks; I'll definitely update you after we get them back," Betty smiled. "I really appreciate it. This class has been brutal, and I really need my grades consistent for colleges."

"Ahh, college," Brand grinned and leaned back, stretching his neck. "Going to pledge a sorority?"

"What do you think?" Veronica picked up on Brand's teasing tone, leaving the stove for a moment to interject into the conversation. "Would we not be the top pick of any sorority?"

"Wait, don't tell me you're planning on going to college together?" Brand laughed appreciatively at the idea. "You certainly would rule the campus. You are such lovely ladies, not to mention talented athletes and writers."

"And cooks. I think," Veronica shot a nervous glance back at the stove.

"Thank you so much for your help, Brand," Betty caught Veronica's cue and moved toward the kitchen. "I'd better actually help cook the dinner I planned."

"Seriously, dude," Archie leaned toward Jughead's ear again, "I think he just approves of your girlfriend. Nervous much?"

Jughead looked down and realized he had pulverized a leaf of lettuce. It was beyond salvaging, so he quickly threw it away with a mental note to stay focused on what was going well. Which was everything. 'I need to chill out,' Jughead thought. 'Everything is just fine.'

Betty and Veronica managed to get the macaroni and cheese assembled and into the oven, and so the group sat down together to enjoy the salad while the main course crisped for a few minutes.

"So, Brandon," Veronica turned her full attention to Jughead's godfather, "we have been dying of curiosity about you. We hear you've started teaching Jughead your top secret fighting techniques."

"With mixed results so far," Brand shrugged modestly, "but we've only had one lesson."

Jughead felt Archie's nudge and knew that his scowl was back, but this time he really couldn't tell himself that everything was going well. "Except for my header into the coffee table," Jughead interjected, trying to direct the conversation and to keep his tone light. "I'm certainly learning what things to avoid next time."

Betty leaned over to Jughead to examine the cut for what had to be the dozenth time that day. "Definitely. It should heal without a scar, but you should probably practice outside from now on."

"We'll take it under advisement," Brand gave Betty a warm smile, and she returned it happily - which somehow made Jughead even more tense.

"Will we?" Jughead's tone darkened. "That might have been good to think about before-," Jughead stopped himself, seeing his friends' surprised and concerned expressions in response to his tone and sudden anger. "Sorry. Uh, I've got a headache - I'm not really feeling great. Sorry."

Archie raised an eyebrow. Certainly he had noticed that Jughead was tense, but from what he'd noticed it seemed like that was about Brand, and not because of a headache.

"Well, with a battle scar like that one," Veronica was a natural hostess and she smoothed over the moment masterfully, "of course you have a headache."

Jughead tried to stay quiet through much of the rest of the evening, until Betty drew him into a conversation discussing the school paper. Brandon took a keen interest, and Jughead bit back his irritation and intentionally relaxed his shoulders periodically. He could see Archie shooting him glances throughout the conversation, and was determined to act normally enough to allay his friend's concerns.

Finally, after dinner and dessert, Jughead's friends headed home for the rest of the school night.

"I'll do the dishes. Go say goodnight to your girl," Brand prompted when Jughead hesitated as his friends exited the trailer. "Ask one of them to help you pick up your car tomorrow, too. It's time we got it back here."

Grateful, if still on edge around Brand, Jughead shot him a tight smile of thanks and hurried out the door after his friends.

"Hey, wait up, Betty," Jughead ran to catch up to his girlfriend and grinned when Betty turned around, her face lit up with surprise and pleasure. He scooped her into a hug. "Thanks for this. Dinner was great."

"I just found the recipe online," Betty ducked her head shyly against his chest.

"The whole thing," Jughead smoothed Betty's hair affectionately before resting his chin on the top of her head. "Coming out to the trailer, meeting Brand, letting him read your paper - you were a champ, and I really think it's going to help."

"Help what?" Betty looked up, confused. "Is something wrong?"

"No, I just mean-," Jughead winced. He hadn't meant to clue Betty in that things were so tense for him at home. "It's just... adjusting. It's hard; it hasn't even been a full week. But you made it seem almost normal for a few hours."

Archie and Veronica were waiting at a discreet distance, by Archie's car. The three had driven over together, stopping to buy ingredients at the grocery store, and Archie planned to drop both girls off at Betty's for the night.

"You think those two are okay?" Veronica asked quietly. "Jughead seemed really tense about Betty and Brandon."

"You noticed it too?" Archie was momentarily surprised, but then reflected that Veronica was usually perceptive when it came to interpersonal dynamics. "Jughead is seriously wound tight about something."

They let the conversation drop as Jughead and Betty broke apart for the evening, but not before exchanging concerned looks that suggested neither was willing to let this drop entirely.

Jughead gave them a brief wave before heading back to the trailer, and the three drove away.

0000

The next few days passed relatively uneventfully. Betty completed the final touches on her paper, having both of her parents go over it and then sending the final draft to Jughead for one last read-through. She felt neurotic, but also accomplished, confident, and expectant as the weekend approached - and the Monday due date.

Veronica had a slightly rockier week, struggling with a new cheerleading routine in which her role was a great deal more challenging than the other Vixens'. She had also texted Archie about Jughead and Brand the day after the dinner party, wanting to chat more about their shared observations, and had not received a response. She tried not to overanalyze relationships and make herself crazy, but she did wish she could retract that particular text. The longer it stood with no reply, the more it felt like an overstep into Archie's close friendship with Jughead.

Archie was enjoying a great week of football practices where his feet found the right marks, his hands found the ball, and his throws seemed always to find his teammates. He thought about Veronica's text a few times, but he could never figure out quite what to say about Jughead. After all, things seemed a lot less concerning the next morning, in the bright light of day. Jughead seemed happier at school after the dinner party, too. Archie just wasn't sure how to respond to Veronica, so as the week went by he simply let it drop.

Jughead was indeed happier. Brand had not done anything to worry him since the dinner party and, true to his word, he had allowed Jughead to pick up his car with Archie, even though the grounding was still in effect for the upcoming weekend. The talk they'd had after sparring seemed to have gotten through, and Jughead tried to relax more with each day that passed with no surprises. The only dark spot in the week was when Jughead woke in the middle of Thursday night and rolled over in bed - and heard a car start outside the trailer. He couldn't be certain that it was a visitor to Brand, though it seemed likely based on its location, and Jughead had no way of knowing if his door had been deadbolted for this most recent visit. It made him think more about that, though, and it was difficult to shake his unease even though he wanted to accept Brand as his guardian and godfather.

Even when Brand surprised Jughead by bringing home new bedding for them both - matching deep blue sheets and heavy blankets and a down comforter for Jughead's room because it tended to be cold in the winter - Jughead couldn't suppress a wary reponse.

"Do the blankets seem like they'll be enough when the weather changes?" Brand asked companionably on Friday afternoon, after Jughead had taken the new bedding and put it in his room. "I want to insulate this place some more, but there are limits."

"They're great," Jughead said honestly. "A lot better than what I had, and I always managed in the winter before."

"Good," Brand nodded decisively. "I'll buy some towels next week. We need to do a little better around here than we have been."

"You don't have to-," Jughead caught himself before he started the same conversation they had been repeating for almost a week now about whether Brand should pay for things, as Jughead's guardian. "I mean, thanks. That sounds great."

"Part of the job," Brand quirked a half smile at his charge. "Your forehead looks just about healed up. Let me get one more picture so I have the whole progression."

"Proud of your work?" Jughead smiled ruefully. "Betty was right that it wouldn't scar, at least."

Brand took the photo and squinted at it. "I've got work tonight, and you're grounded for the full weekend, but we can practice some more tomorrow. As long as you feel recovered enough since last time."

Jughead felt a small stab of anxiety about resuming training, but even that reaction only made him more resolved to continue training with Brand and gain the confidence that being able to defend himself would bring. "Sure, Brand. Tomorrow works. Do I need to stay out of the way while you work tonight? You've been talking about this all week."

"Yeah," Brand had swapped over to texting, and answered Jughead absently, with his eyes on his phone. "I'm going to be working closely with some clients, and it will be easiest if they don't even know you're here."

"Can do," Jughead was determined to make the grounding go as easily as was humanly possible for Brand, in part to avoid having it happen a second time. He also had a vague sense that a grounding might mean turning off the the wifi, and he hoped to keep Brandon from thinking of that possibility if he had not already. "I'll stay in my room the whole time you're on the computer."

"These clients are coming to the trailer," Brand corrected Jughead. "You'll stay in your room, and keep quiet."

"Oh. Okay." Jughead looked around the trailer critically. "What kind of clients are you entertaining here?"

"You know, I didn't take you for a snob," Brand cast a sidelong look at Jughead. "Is that Betty starting to rub off on you?"

Stung, Jughead set his jaw. "Betty is not a snob. I just figured your work was really white collar."

"Not all of it," Brand said matter-of-factly. "You've got a lot to learn. But for this weekend, just steer clear."

"Not a problem," Jughead shrugged. "I'll be invisible."

0000

That evening, just after dinner, Jughead washed up the dishes and watched with interest as Brand cleaned the living room area of the trailer. It wasn't going to look like an office anytime soon, but it did clean up surprisingly well.

"Give me a hand?" Brand was maneuvering the vacuum cleaner, and motioned for Jughead to shift furniture so he could reach all of the carpeting.

Jughead pitched in willingly, then returned to the dishes.

"You can leave the rest of those," Brand finished vacuuming and wrapped up the long cord. "You should get set up in your room for the night. Stay in there, and don't let on that you're here."

"Sure thing, Brand," Jughead gave him a playful grin. "I'll be a ghost."

"Not a poltergeist, either," Brand teased with a hint of an edge to his tone. "I'm serious. No noise. It will just be easier that way."

"Okay," Jughead shrugged. "I won't go all Amityville on you."

Brand raised an eyebrow and watched Jughead settle into his room. The teen got a glass of water and finally closed the door, relaxing on his bed with his laptop to write for a while. Jughead listened for the deadbolt, despite feeling slightly embarrassed about his own paranoia, but he didn't hear the telltale click.

0000

Brand was a lot less thrilled with the job than he had been a couple of days earlier. He had previously been interfacing with a smart, reasonable man who wasn't interested in taking any risks. The whole plan had been simple, and the trailer would just be a holding area for twelve days for a stash. Easy work, relatively safe work, and yet important enough that there was some decent money involved.

Then the point person had changed.

"So I had to take a look here myself," Joe was the new point person, and he had three men with him as he visited with Brand to check the trailer out - and Brand knew his reputation well. The man was physically unassuming, but extremely unpredictable. His men tended to be in perfect lockstep with his wishes because Joe kept everyone on their toes by compensating extremely well - and meting out extreme violence from time to time, often in response to very small slights. If there were people likely to regard Jughead's wry sarcasm as profound disrespect that needed to be stamped out, Joe was certainly a likely candidate. "This is going to be a lot of merch. What's your contingency plan?"

"I've got another property on the other side of town," Brand explained. "The lot is wooded, and the structure isn't really livable, so it's even less conspicuous than here if it comes to that."

"And where in the trailer will you store things?" Joe moved around the kitchen, opening cabinets. "Crawlspace?"

"No," Brand recognized a trick question when he heard one. "First place the cops'd search. There is a hidden storage room under the kitchen."

"No kidding?" Joe seemed impressed, and his three friends took this as their cue to find seating on the couch in the living room. Now that it looked like the arrangement was likely to work out, they settled in for the longer version of this visit. "Did you install it?"

"A former owner did," Brandon explained. "He's doing some time and I'm overseeing things here."

"Anyone else know about it, then?" Joe wasn't pleased with this information.

"Nope," Brand responded briskly.

"I hate bringing in more people than is absolutely necessary," Joe narrowed his eyes, thinking over this information. Finally he relaxed slightly, sighing as he made his decision. "It's not perfect, but it will work. Let's go over the timeline."

0000

An hour later, Jughead was reading on his bed, wondering when the business meeting would end. His room hadn't been deadbolted, so it didn't seem like anything mysterious was going on, but Jughead didn't like being told to stay put in his room indefinitely. He reached over for his phone, knowing there would likely be a text or two from Betty to distract him from his slight claustrophobia with the situation.

'How's the grounding going? Are you planning your revenge as the Count of Monte Cristo yet?' Betty had texted, riffing on his Yellow Wallpaper joke from when she had previously been grounded.

Jughead smiled at the allusion to his joke - and also the memory of their first kiss. He texted back 'I'll need a little longer in here before I look so different that nobody recognizes me. I hope.'

Setting the cellphone back on the small side table, Jughead didn't think of it again until Betty's response came in with a loud buzz and his phone vibrated from the table to the linoleum floor with a clatter.

'Some poltergeist I'm turning out to be,' Jughead thought, diving for the phone. 'Hopefully nobody even noticed.' Jughead had heard voices vaguely through the door for a while, and he figured the buzzing would go unnoticed.

0000

"Something you need to check on?" Joe gestured toward the bedroom door. "That sounds like a phone."

"No," Brand inwardly cursed Jughead's teenage addiction to texting, though he knew that was not the real issue. The whole plan had been smooth and simple until Joe had gotten involved, and now this side job was becoming a serious liability for the far more important job of overseeing Jughead for Blossom. Brand's best hope was for Joe not to find out that Jughead existed, let alone lived here. Since Joe's typical style was to visit a place once, assess it and the associated people thoroughly, and then use that location as he needed, sometimes for years without another check-in, this would hopefully be a one-time risk. Brand just needed to get through this evening. "My work is right here in this room."

"Why don't you get it," Joe insisted. "I wouldn't mind knowing who calls here at night."

It was clearly not a request, and Brand's mind raced as he watched Joe walk toward the bedroom door. There were two priorities: first, keep Jughead out of sight. Second, failing that, he needed to make it clear that Jughead was not valuable in any way, or he would fast become a target.

0000

Chapter Text

Chapter Seven:

Brand moved in front of Joe to open the door, quickly making the decision that keeping Jughead out of sight as much as possible was the safest approach. "I've got my godson in there. He doesn't know anything about my work."

"Are you kidding me?" Joe blinked a few times, and then burst into uproarious laughter. "Brand, that's rich. That is some seriously bad genes at work right there if he's as dumb as all that."

Brand waited out Joe's good humor, knowing it would turn quickly, and likely viciously.

"Let me have a look at him, and then we are leaving," Joe said firmly. "Since you've been so incredibly forthcoming, I'm sure you understand why we'd like to lay eyes on what's been going on in this dump while we were here. I wouldn't be surprised if we found a wire - or a sheriff."

Brand had expected no less, and the prospect of Joe leaving and never returning was fast becoming the best possible outcome of the evening. Brand would make it fast with Jughead, demonstrate that the presence of his teenage charge was his only lie of omission, and everyone could move on as if the whole meeting had never happened.

Brand opened the door to reveal Jughead sprawled on the bed, texting. Jughead looked up, startled, and gave a sheepish wave. "Uh, hi, how's the meeting going?"

"Jones, they're just leaving," Brand coached everyone with his placating tone. "They wanted to say good night."

"Good night," Jughead responded automatically and stood. Thinking to himself that it was something Archie would do, he took a step forward and extended his hand awkwardly to Joe. "Thanks for coming."

"My pleasure," Joe looked at Jughead thoughtfully as he clasped Jughead's hand. "Jones?"

"Yeah," Jughead smiled fleetingly, hoping he was being charming in some measure.

"How exactly are you two related?" Joe asked curiously, gesturing between Jughead and Brandon.

Brand's grip tightened on the doorknob to Jughead's bedroom. "He's my godson."

"Huh," Joe released Jughead's hand after a firm shake. "I'm sorry we won't be working together, Brand. It's real good to meet you, though, Jones."

Jughead's eyes darted nervously to Brandon's as he absorbed this new information. "You won't be working with Brand? I thought-,"

"It's not a great fit," Brand cut Jughead off. "We always want the best fit possible."

"Good night," Joe smiled again at Jughead, his eyes lingering on the teen's green eyes and then his beanie before he turned and left. His companions followed him out of the trailer.

Brand closed the door with a sigh of relief. It felt like every muscle in his neck had turned to stone, he was so tense.

"What happened?" Jughead stood in the doorway to his room, watching Brandon. "Why aren't they a 'great fit' for working with you?"

Brand turned to regard Jughead. He made his decision and lied smoothly. "Jones... how much do you know about your father's reputation?"

Jughead didn't need Brandon to say anything more. "Are they important clients?" he asked.

"They're all important," Brand shrugged. His expression was unreadable.

Jughead gave Brandon a long look, wishing he could more easily assess Brand's reaction to this new turn of events. He waited for a few moments, but his godfather didn't say anything else. This was certainly not good, but exactly how bad the situation was remained to be seen, and Jughead decided that his priority for the moment was not to make things worse than they already were. He quickly got another drink of water and then went back into his bedroom for the night.

Brand sat down on the couch that he used as a bed and massaged his forehead. This had almost gone very badly, and he didn't like the way Joe had looked at Jughead. Brandon had intentionally obscured Jughead's identity as much as possible, since there was every likelihood that Joe had some sort of connection to FP, the Serpents, or perhaps to someone who had a beef with them. There was an outside chance that Joe had a beef with the Blossoms, but in that case there was almost nothing more potent that Brand could have done to keep Jughead from becoming a target - if the reach of the Blossoms didn't scare Joe, there was little that would effectively deter him.

Brandon heard a buzz from the bedroom as Jughead's cellphone signaled a new text arriving. He shook his head in frustration and got ready for bed.

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Saturday morning was clear and beautiful, with just a few wispy clouds to contrast the sharp blue of the fall sky. Archie decided to go for a run, and to swing by to see Jughead and Brandon, and as he got ready he noticed out his window that Betty was also up and about. She waved when she saw him peering across the street from his bedroom window.

'What are you up to?' Archie texted companionably. 'I'm going running.'

'Want company?' Betty was a cheerleader and very fit, though she did not go running as often as Archie.

'Sure. Meet you outside in five.' Archie smiled. He always preferred exercising with company, and suspected that his route would not be objectionable to Betty.

Betty got dressed quickly, and was stretching on her porch when Archie met her outside their houses.

"I was thinking of running down near Jughead's, and catching up with him. He doesn't think Brand's grounding includes there being no visitors," Archie was not disappointed when Betty's dimples joined her already-wide smile.

"Sounds good," Betty tucked away her cellphone and they set off at a jog.

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Jughead slipped out of his bedroom in the morning to get cereal as unobtrusively as possible. Brand was working at his laptop in the kitchen and didn't look up when Jughead poured his cereal, grabbed a spoon, and left the kitchen area again.

Just as Jughead was closing his bedroom door, though, Brand called after him. "Jones? Training. In an hour."

Hesitating, his door nearly closed, Jughead winced. The truce for the week was apparently over.

Veronica had texted her schedule back to Archie and Betty when they extended the offer to run together. It was far too busy a day for that, but she was free to pick them up from Jughead's at the end of their run, and then she and Betty could do homework together back at the Coopers' home.

Veronica was glad for the casual opportunity to do Archie a favor, see Jughead briefly, and to make sure everything was still okay. Her concerned text asking about Jughead and Brand remained unanswered, and while she worried about intruding on Archie's friendship with Jughead, that did nothing to reduce her concern about Jughead and Brandon. To be perfectly honest, it would be reassuring just to see that Jughead was doing okay during his first grounding with Brand.

"Mom?" Veronica had been doing homework in her room, but needed to get moving to run all of her errands before giving Betty and Archie a ride. "I'm going out. Do you want me to pick up the dry cleaning?"

"Oh, yes, that would be great," Hermione Lodge was drinking coffee in the kitchen while she worked on her computer. "I may drop by the construction site later today, so text me if you don't get to it and I'll pick it up. Where are you going today?"

"Shopping for the Vixens, I need to get a book from the library, and I have to meet with a choreographer who thinks he has some ideas I'll be interested in. I'm going to pick up Archie and Betty from Jughead's," Veronica ticked each stop off on her fingers as she listed it. "We'll probably study at Betty's for a while after that, and I might stay overnight."

"Text me if you do." Hermione paused for a moment. "Also, I've been meaning to ask you: what do you think of Jughead's godfather? You'll see him today, right?"

"I guess so," Veronica shrugged. "Jughead's grounded, so if I see one I'm likely to see them both. Why?"

"He's been connecting with parents, trying to get to know the families of people Jughead spends time with. It's refreshing, actually," Hermione smiled. "I was curious, since I haven't had a lot of people reach out to me in the community, even if they are parents of your friends."

"With the notable exception of-,"

"Veronica," Hermione cut her off mock-scoldingly. "Shouldn't you run along now? It sounds like you have a lot to do today."

"Uh-huh, whatever you say, mom," Veronica laughed to herself as she gathered her purse and jacket before heading toward the door. She hesitated before leaving, though. "What exactly did Brand ask about?"

"He just wanted to know where Jughead spends his time. Who his friends are," Hermione replied. "Like I said, it was refreshing. It's really nice to hear that someone's taking an interest in Jughead."

"Yeah, we're all relieved about it after what happened with FP," Veronica replied. The idea of Brand contacting her mother to learn more about Jughead bothered her, though. Something about it seemed less 'refreshing' to her, and more 'controlling.' But then, Jughead was obviously still getting used to Brand, and Veronica might be keying off of Jughead's reactions more than anything Brand had actually done or said. Still, she filed the detail away for future reference.

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Jughead came out of his room after an hour had passed. He was still off balance about the clients leaving the night before, and he was nervous about how Brand regarded the whole situation. Hopefully Brandon initiating another training session together was a good sign. Maybe Brand was not upset about the clients and they could move on as if nothing had happened - but Jughead suspected that was not likely to be the case.

Carrying his now-empty cereal bowl over to the sink, Jughead nodded to Brand, who was sitting at the table with his laptop. He began to fill the sink with water for the day's dishes, having learned quickly that soaking them made the washing a lot easier later.

"So, I practiced what you taught me before," Jughead offered when Brandon did not get up, though the guardian did look up from his computer to watch Jughead enter the kitchen.

Several seconds passed in silence.

"What are we learning today?" Jughead forced a false cheer into his voice. Too late, he realized it sounded more sarcastic than upbeat.

"Well... I think you could stand to learn a little more about situational awareness," Brand finally spoke, his tone cold as he leaned back in his chair and continued to stare at Jughead.

'I guess Brand is upset about the clients,' Jughead thought with a sinking feeling. The extended eye contact was beginning to unnerve him, and he unconsciously took a step back when Brand finally stood up.

Just then, there was a knock on the door of the trailer.

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Archie and Betty were feeling a runner's high by the time they neared the trailer. They were both athletes, but it had been quite the run and they were glad that Veronica planned to pick them up in about twenty minutes. The long run home sounded entirely unappealing, even on such a beautiful fall day.

Archie jogged up to the door of the trailer, giving a resounding series of knocks to the wood. Betty smoothed her hair discreetly as she halted a few steps behind Archie, and they waited for the door to open.

"Hi," Brand opened the door halfway. "Were we expecting you?"

"We figured that since Jughead is grounded, the mountain needed to come to him," Archie declared with a grin. "Here we are!"

"We ran the whole way from our neighborhood," Betty offered with a smile, noticing Brand's reluctant body language and trying to disarm him by giving more details. "It's a really pretty route, and Veronica is going to drive us back in less than half an hour. Is it okay that we stopped by?"

"Sure, that's fine," Brand stepped back, opening the door wider so that they could see Jughead in the trailer behind him. "We were planning to practice together, but that can wait."

Jughead couldn't stop the slump of relief in his shoulders when he heard that Brand was letting his friends stay, and that whatever new fighting techniques Brand had in mind, and whatever aggression his godfather needed to work out, would be delayed at least for the duration of this visit. In fact... "Hi guys. Hey Archie, I wanted to ask, could I stay with you next weekend?"

"Uh, sure," Archie was surprised by the abrupt request, but willing enough to have Jughead over. "I'll have to run it by my dad, but I think that's fine."

Brand looked from Jughead to Archie and then back again, and Jughead was careful not to meet his eyes as he slipped past his godfather to exit the trailer and join his friends.

"Hi Jug," Betty approached her boyfriend shyly, knowing her running gear was a look that Jughead had not seen before.

"Cute shorts," Jughead couldn't suppress a small grin as he took in the outfit. "Does Veronica have you in serious training mode these days?"

Brand closed the trailer door behind Jughead, causing him to snap his head around at the sound. When he realized Brand had gone back inside to leave them to talk, Jughead relaxed slightly and returned his attention to Betty.

"Sort of," Betty smiled when she realized that Jughead was anything but put off by her sporty look, even after a lengthy run. "I also needed to blow off some steam this weekend after all the pressure with my history paper. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to see you while you're grounded."

"I'm glad you did," Jughead gave Betty another small, warm smile before including Archie in the conversation, "I'm glad both of you did. And thanks for letting me crash with you next weekend, man. Brand lost a client last night, and I think it's because of me. Well, because of FP. Apparently that's the same thing to some people."

"That's terrible!" Betty was horrified. "People shouldn't think- you shouldn't have to-," Betty wasn't sure how to phrase what she meant, so she gave up and asked the other question bothering her. "Did Brand say you should leave next weekend?"

"No," Jughead shook his head. "I just think it would be easier that way. I don't think he disagrees, though. Things are a little... tense."

"What do you mean, Brandon 'doesn't disagree'? Your godfather wants to hide you from his clients?" Betty seemed to be working herself up for battle on Jughead's behalf, and this immediately signaled both Jughead and Archie to try to calm her down.

"Actually, Betty," Archie had more sympathy for Brand's position, "back when my mother left, my dad had to set a lot of boundaries to keep the gossip from affecting everything we did. Brand is probably thinking more about protecting Jug, and not about hiding him."

"That's my read," Jughead noticed that Betty's hand had found his shoulder. He leaned into her touch, enjoying this element of the conversation at least. "But thanks for having my back."

They all turned at the sound of a car pulling up. Veronica parked and hopped out to join the trio.

"Hi! I know I'm early, but I've got a million things to do and I really didn't have a lot of control over the timing," Veronica entered the conversation like a whirlwind, coffee cup in hand. "How is the grounding going, Jughead? Is your hot godfather home?"

"Veronica!" Both Archie and Betty chorused at her, shocked at her boldness but still amused. Jughead just raised his eyebrows at her, wondering if Brand had overheard that comment from within the trailer.

"He's right inside, Veronica," Jughead gestured toward the trailer with a smirk. "You can go say hi if you want."

"Maybe later," Veronica seemed already to have lost interest in Brand as she returned her focus to the many commitments she had for the day. "We should get going for real, guys, sorry. I'm on the hook for picking up dry cleaning for my mom, and apparently she does need one of the outfits this afternoon after all. Sorry, Jughead, I know this was your one time for human contact with the outside world."

"Ohhh," Betty pouted, reaching to hug Jughead when she realized she wouldn't see him again until Monday. "This was too short. Don't get grounded again, okay?"

"I'll see what I can do," Jughead looked down affectionately at Betty's blond head as he wrapped his long arms around her in return and savored her warmth against him. "Maybe we can all hang out next weekend, at Archie's."

"Sure thing," Archie nodded. "I still have to ask my dad, but he might be willing to grill something up for us. Are you in, too, Veronica?"

Veronica grinned happily. Not only was this an invitation she was happy to accept, but it was coming from Archie. It looked like everything was fine after all, in spite of the unanswered text. "I wouldn't miss it. It will be nice not to be the one cooking, too."

"Hey, I helped," Betty protested. "You were just so good at it!"

"I helped too!" Archie objected with a mock-offended tone. "Does nobody remember the salad?"

"Don't forget that I helped with that salad," Jughead corrected Archie, releasing Betty from the hug so that he could reach over and push Archie's shoulder playfully. "No hogging all the credit on me."

"So, you say that your dad will be cooking," Veronica repeated loudly, pretending to ignore their protestations. "That sounds delightful!"

They joked together and made plans for the next weekend until Veronica finally insisted that they were late, and had to go right away. Jughead waved as they drove off, and then turned back toward the trailer. He was still dreading going inside, but at least he knew that for the following weekend he had a place to be.

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Chapter Text

Chapter Eight

Jughead walked back to the trailer door. He knew he had attempted something of a power play when he invited himself over to Archie's for the following weekend, but it seemed likely that Brand would agree that was the best approach after what had happened with his clients the night before. Jughead was also painfully aware that resuming training with Brand meant that the unexpected attacks were likely to resume as well.

Jughead opened the trailer door slowly and cautiously, making sure he located Brand sitting at the table with his laptop, a familiar posture, before daring to step inside.

"Ready to practice now?" Brand asked, closing his laptop. "Or are we expecting more visitors?"

"I didn't know they were coming," Jughead's first instinct was to be defensive, though Brand had not actually sounded accusing when he asked the question.

"So, situational awareness," Brand ignored Jughead's response. He stood up and gestured to the space around himself. "Do you see good options for improvised weapons? Take a minute and think this through."

Jughead's forehead knit as he looked around the kitchen. Come to think of it, a lot of things in the kitchen looked pretty dangerous. Not entirely sure what Brand wanted him to do, Jughead started a mental list in case this was heading toward a quiz of some type.

Brandon watched Jughead's gaze travel around the kitchen, taking in glassware, silverware, lingering on a beer bottle, and hesitating on a soda can. Not a bad start, Brand thought to himself. He waited another minute or so, which seemed interminably long to Jughead.

"What do you want to make off limits?" Brand asked at last.

"What?" Jughead's eyes widened. "You want to fight with improvised weapons from our kitchen?"

"Only the ones you want in play," Brand held up his hands to cut off the next round of protests. "I'm guessing anything glass or metal is out. What else?"

"Oh," Jughead was surprised that Brand had willingly eliminated almost everything of concern. "Okay. Uh, let me see. Nothing like a rope or string, or anything else for choking." Jughead had awoken abruptly a few times in the last week, unable to recall much about his dreams but fairly sure that they were related to having his air supply cut off by Brand. He didn't need any more fuel for the nightmares, even if he wasn't able to remember them in detail.

"Sure," Brand agreed easily.

"Okay, then," Jughead warily looked around the kitchen, feeling a lot more confident that their sparring would basically be hand to hand once again. "That's fine."

Brand moved to the middle of the tiny kitchen and waved Jughead over to join him. "Let's warm up by trying a few of the holds and escapes you've been practicing."

Jughead shook his shoulders out as he walked over, loosening them up. He hadn't been stiff from their last practice session, but the activity gave him a moment to collect himself without looking nervous or hesitant - two things Jughead had seen Brand notice in him before, and wanted to hide as much as possible.

Brand walked through a few of the holds and positions slowly, allowing Jughead to respond to his moves and block them and free himself each time. "Not bad. You have certainly been practicing."

They practiced some more at speed, Jughead feeling more and more where his body weight should be to make his movements most effective. He was slowly being able to identify by feel what was right and what would work, and sensed that would serve him as well as any specific techniques he learned from Brandon.

Brand showed Jughead some new techniques, cautioning him against assailants on drugs who would be immune to any defensive movements that were meant to inflict pain. "You have to do actual damage, and then you run," Brand counseled Jughead. "You've seen that knight in Monty Python who just keeps coming? That's the kind of attitude PCP will give to anyone coming after you, so just get clear and stay clear."

Jughead smirked, wondering whether anyone currently in Riverdale had ever interacted with someone on PCP. "Ooookay, Brand."

"That's funny, huh?" Brand gave Jughead a smirk of his own. "Okay, let's spar and see how funny it is when you're up against someone with no chemical enhancements."

Jughead felt a spike of adrenaline as Brand stepped back and visibly dropped his center of gravity to square off against him.

"Improvised weapons?" Jughead was nervous, but kept his tone even as he asked the question.

"You can use whatever you want," Brand spread his hands in a gesture of generosity. "I'll follow the guidelines you gave me."

"I'm not going to-," Jughead stopped talking when Brand reached playfully toward him. Jughead jerked backward out of reach before lowering his own center of gravity to match Brand's ready stance.

"Don't let me get ahold of you," Brand coached as he feinted left and saw that Jughead recognized it as a feint. "I outweigh you, I've got at least an inch or two of reach, and you know I have more practice at this."

"So what - run?" Jughead was confused by this line of discussion.

"Mess me up," Brand's playful smile suddenly turned into a menacing grin that looked almost feral.

Jughead had just enough time to wonder if Brandon might be working out some pent-up aggression before he had to dodge his godfather with every ounce of speed he could muster. Jughead's desperate duck had him landing in a heap on the floor, and he continued into a roll to regain his feet. The kitchen suddenly seemed barely larger than a coffin.

The movement had brought Jughead's back against the kitchen cabinets and the sink, and he scrabbled over the counters with his hands for anything that would work as a defensive weapon on the counter - but was unwilling to turn and look at the counters with Brand eyeing him the way a predator might. Jughead's right hand closed on a heavy, manual can opener. Its best features as a weapon were its weight and that it fit easily in his hand, and Jughead hoped it would inspire Brand to back off.

"Okay, good instinct; that's got some heft," Brand approved. "What else?"

Confused, Jughead watched Brand's posture straighten up and relax. His godfather seemed to be abandoning the training fight to discuss improvised weapons again.

"What else, Jones?" Brand repeated.

Jughead looked back at the counter this time, to see what other options he could find.

Jughead didn't see the movement behind him, but he felt his right hand suddenly trapped in Brand's larger grip and thrust out away from his body so his arm was straight, fully extended, and pinned in place. The can opener he'd been holding in that hand fell to the floor of the trailer, bouncing noisily, and Brandon's body weight slammed Jughead's hips up against the counter and sink that were now in front of him. Brand's left hand gripped Jughead by the back of his neck, his fingers weaving tightly into the teen's hair.

"What else, Jones?" Brand asked, his voice inches from Jughead's right ear. Jughead felt Brand pull his head backward, exposing his neck, and he tried to relax so his tense muscles wouldn't cause him injury in the uncomfortable position.

"Uh, there's-," Jughead's eyes searched frantically, hoping that a satisfactory answer would calm his guardian down and he'd be released. His gaze rested on the sink full of water, and the cereal bowl he'd left there to soak. "The bowl?"

"Lesson for today," Brand's voice was still uncomfortably loud since he was so close to Jughead's ear. "Everything's a weapon."

Jughead felt the grip on the back of his head shift slightly, and Brandon's words were ominous enough that he fought the movement automatically - but it wasn't until his face was being forced under the water that Jughead realized what was happening.

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Archie was getting ready for bed when he picked up his phone and scrolled to his messages from Veronica. He still hadn't responded to her query about Jughead, and it had seemed less relevant with each passing day. All the same, as he got into bed he stared at his phone thoughtfully.

Everything had been going really well since Jughead moved out, and having his dad all to himself had been a relief for Archie. It hadn't been obvious to him before just how stressful it was to have another presence in the house, and it was really enjoyable regaining the freedom and privacy of life without a third person around.

Having Jughead ask about spending the weekend had reminded Archie of other things, though, including their late nights playing video games and their fraternity-like interactions with his dad. Sure, having a live-in brother meant losing a lot of his "territory" as a son, since attention and resources were naturally split - not down the middle, but definitely split - but losing Jughead wasn't the goal either.

This line of thinking brought up some of Archie's impressions from the dinner party, too. Archie knew he needed to ask Jughead more about the dynamics he'd witnessed, and that realization had drawn him back to Veronica's text message. Veronica might have some ideas about what might be helpful, depending on what Jughead said about Brand.

Archie finally set his phone down on his bedside table, resolving to talk to Jughead first. He'd find out what was going on, and then ask Veronica for advice later. Veronica was consistently good at predicting others' behavior, and also at coming up with plans when someone needed support, and Archie had come to depend on her reads of situations when he was unsure of what was going on, or how to contribute.

Making that plan seemed to resolve something that had been weighing on Archie's mind, even though he hadn't realized the emotional weight was there until it disappeared. Feeling suddenly more relaxed even than he had over the past week, which had already been something of a relief after the stresses of the weeks and months before, Archie fell asleep quickly and soundly.

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Jughead had thought he was fighting with all of his strength and ability before, but when he realized Brand was attempting to drown him, it became apparent that he'd had no idea what his body was capable of. He instinctively held his breath, knowing that would buy him precious seconds, but Jughead never let himself hope for a moment that Brand would release him. He had to assume this fight was to the death - in case it was.

Jughead couldn't see anything, his face held down in the sink as seconds ticked by, but he felt Brand's position very acutely since his godfather's body weight was holding his hips and upper body immobile. Realizing it was his only method of fighting back, Jughead snaked his left leg behind Brand's left leg, then jerked it forward against Brand's knee with all of his panic-fueled strength, and used Brand's hold on his neck and right arm to give him additional leverage as he felt Brand stumble slightly. Jughead knew it was probably only the element of surprise that placed Brand off balance, something he would not have twice, and in that moment he twisted his torso and hips violently to the right and into Brand's groin.

The almost-flip sideways didn't quite get Jughead's face above the water, and Brand managed to keep his death grip on Jughead's neck and hair. Jughead saw black spots start to swim across his vision as he opened his eyes underwater, and he had to release some air from his burning lungs. He wondered how long it would take for him to drown. At that moment, however, he realized that Brand had only managed to maintain his grip on Jughead's hair - his right arm was freed, which allowed him a lot more range of motion. Jughead drove his elbow back blindly, aiming high.

This time Brand let go entirely.

Jughead gripped the counter as his head finally came above the surface of the lukewarm water, bracing himself against any attempt to push him back under while he gasped for his first breath of air. Then, as soon as he felt oxygen fill his lungs and his vision started to clear, Jughead took Brand's advice: he ran.

The trailer door didn't stick enough to slow him down much, but even as Jughead yanked it open, he felt Brand's hands grab his shoulders and jerk him back from the exit.

"You're okay, Jones," Brand was saying. Jughead fought wildly for escape, not comprehending the words that had no bearing on what had just happened - and what was still happening. "You're okay. You need better lung capacity, and more imagination for improvised combat, but-,"

Brand was cut off when Jughead landed a blow to his gut and tried to wrench himself free to get away. Brand's grip didn't loosen, though, and Jughead could feel his own adrenaline failing him and his strength turning to shaking as a now-familiar feeling of shock started to overtake him.

"We're done, kid," Brand thundered. Instead of his typical reaction of pride when Jughead managed to get past his defenses, Brand was angry this time. "Sit down."

Brand threw Jughead onto the couch, where the teen landed in an awkward seated position with a thump. This time Jughead didn't try to bolt, since Brand was between him and the door, but he continued gasping in air and looking for any opportunity to make a run for it.

"You need to calm down. This isn't healthy," Brandon stayed between Jughead and the door, but slid a duffel bag out from under the couch. He rummaged in the bag without breaking eye contact with his charge, and pulled out a bottle of pills. "This will help you breathe easier... and calm you down. You're not allergic to this, either."

Jughead was confused by Brand's last comment, but was not confused by what was happening: he was about to be drugged. "Why are you doing this?" Jughead coughed hard, still painfully aware of every ragged breath he took.

"I'm taking care of you," Brand responded, his tone cold. "I'm teaching you to defend yourself, and right now I'm making sure you don't hyperventilate. You, on the other hand, sucker punched me and are trying to run off while you're grounded."

This was all technically true, Jughead knew that, but water was still dripping from his hair, his lungs still burned as he pulled in as much oxygen as he could with each breath, and every muscle was still tensed to run if he could only get one good shot at making it out of the trailer.

"You won't remember much of this clearly," Brand shrugged, shaking a pill out into his hand. "The muscle memory will be good, though. Your training is going to keep moving forward, and you'll get better at defending yourself."

"Don't. Please," Jughead felt troublingly like he was begging. The idea that his memory could be altered scared him beyond the point of caring about that humiliation, though - he desperately needed to remember what had happened. He also needed to be awake in order to defend himself.

Brandon didn't hesitate. Ten minutes later, Jughead was unconscious and being tucked into his bed.

Brand's phone camera captured Jughead's drugged slumber and wet hair, and the photo was sent along with a quip about waterboarding before the deadbolt was turned and Jughead was left alone for the night.

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Monday was a rainy, sleepy morning for Betty, and she felt like she was racing the clock at every turn as she prepared for school. She had hoped to be fresh and early, finishing off the last of her homework so she could take the free minutes before school to catch up with Jughead after the remainder of his grounding, but since her limbs had moved more slowly in the gray, dark morning, she was now worried she might miss her bus - and perhaps not even have time to complete the last of her homework.

She did, however, have her history essay tucked in a position of pride in a folder. It might be wet, dark enough that it felt like the sun had not yet risen, and chilly enough to make her start thinking more seriously about winter, but she still hoped that this Monday would represent a fresh start with her teacher and also the start to an easier week as Jughead would be more used to Brand - and no longer grounded.

Betty was very glad Jughead would be spending the upcoming weekend at Archie's, just across the street once again. After Betty's run on Saturday, Jughead had complained via text that he was exhausted for most of Sunday, and it sounded like he had slept through most of that day. Betty hoped he wasn't sick again, but was glad that Jughead was able to rest and didn't have to scramble to get food for himself when he was ill like he had to when he lived at the drive-in.

Betty did manage to catch the bus, and Veronica teased her as she spent the bus ride working through the homework assignments that she had neglected in favor of focusing on her history paper.

"After all that, you still have homework?" Veronica laughed. "Ms. Cardell had better be so impressed that she exempts you from the final."

"That would be amazing," Betty smiled at the idea, but didn't lift her pencil as she completed another math problem.

"How was your Sunday?" Veronica asked as she fluttered through her own homework, confirming it was all where it should be. She always felt a little more paranoid about her own school work when she witnessed Betty's intense productivity. "Did you do anything other than work on that paper... maybe with a certain grounded young man?"

"I didn't see Jughead, and we only texted a little," Betty resisted the urge to chew on her pencil eraser as she considered the next math problem. "He slept most of the day, and I didn't want to give Brandon a reason to ban visits if Jughead is grounded again sometime."

"Very smart," Veronica snapped her notebook shut decisively, having confirmed that all of her homework was where it belonged. Then she paused for a moment, giving Betty a confused look. "Wait, Jughead slept most of Sunday? Is he sick again?"

"I hope not," Betty shrugged. "I guess he might be."

"That's really weird," Veronica was starting to feel a nagging anxiety, but couldn't put her finger on what bothered her about this. "Do people usually have immune responses, or, like, illnesses when they live with someone new?"

"No," Betty laughed at the idea. "At least, Jughead never got sick when he moved in with Archie. I guess in dorms and at camps a lot of people get sick if someone who goes there is sick. But then Brand would be sick too."

"Yeah," Veronica was still concerned, but filed it away for consideration later, when she had more information. "Jughead's meeting you before school, right? He's not out sick?"

"As far as I know," Betty nodded. "I need to finish this up, though, or I can't talk to him."

"Shutting up," Veronica smiled, and focused her attention outside the window as she considered this new development. Maybe Jughead was very stressed, and that was making him sick more often. Maybe he was just worn out this time, and not sick at all. Veronica wanted to know more, though, because something seemed increasingly strange about everything at the trailer.

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Chapter Text

Chapter Nine

As it turned out, Betty did not get to meet with Jughead before school began, but that was just as well. Jughead was not in the mood for talking, or for school. He was not in the mood for being out of bed, upright, or conscious this Monday, and everything seemed to rub his nerves raw.

"Hey, man!" Archie slung an arm around Jughead's shoulder as he met him at lunchtime as they walked toward their usual table.

"Get off of me!" Jughead slammed Archie's arm off, taking two defensive steps away from his friend.

Archie blinked at Jughead. "Okay."

"Hey, sorry," Jughead could hear how insane he sounded, and was immediately embarrassed. "I just had a rough weekend. Didn't get a lot of sleep."

"It's cool," Archie could see that Jughead was pale, and the very dark circles under his eyes were not quite as bad as they had been the last time he was so sick – but they were close. "Everything okay with Brand?"

"Sure," Jughead shrugged. His expression was dark, though. They sat down at their usual table. "He's still teaching me to fight, and I still suck at it."

"Is everything going okay with that?" Archie was having a hard time picturing Jughead sparring with Brandon and it being anything but a terrible idea. "You two are still getting to know each other, and you were kind of intense at the dinner party. Is waling on each other really helping?"

"Juggy!" Betty ran up, sparing Jughead from having to defend Brand any further.

Jughead clearly remembered being overpowered and nearly drowned when fighting with Brand, but after that, very little – Brandon hadn't brought it up, and Jughead had a terrible suspicion that he'd had his very first rage blackout or similar. Whatever Jughead had said or done, though, Brand was letting it be. Jughead wasn't sure he ever wanted to know what had occurred, based on the freakishly vivid nightmares he was already having after their "improvised weapons" practice session.

"Sorry I missed you this morning! Homework has been crazy," Betty smiled apologetically. She slid her tray alongside Jughead's, and leaned into his arm affectionately as she greeted him.

"Hey, Betty," Jughead gratefully focused on the approaching whirlwind who was his girlfriend, appreciating the change of subject. "Did you finish that essay for Ms. Cardell?"

"Of course," Betty nodded firmly, as if confirming this fact to herself as well as her friends. "It is finally perfect. I'll let everyone know how it goes," Betty included Archie in this offer with a nod in his direction. "You're all a part of this now."

Archie laughed and agreed, but his eyes slid past his friends, looking for Veronica. He wanted to try talking with Jughead one more time before discussing a plan of attack with Veronica, but Archie was getting a strong sense that his talk with Veronica would need to happen, one way or another.

Veronica didn't turn up for lunch, though, which was not unusual – she was very busy with extracurriculars these days – but it was inconvenient for Archie. Jughead seemed intentionally to be keeping the conversation light, and Betty was clearly distracted by her academic concerns.

Archie decided to corner Jughead after school for a real conversation. After that, he'd have to track down Veronica as well and figure out whether they needed to intervene in some way with whatever was going on between Jughead and Brand.

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Veronica caught up with Betty just before their shared History class, and they shared a grin as they walked in together.

"Whatever happens," Veronica told Betty, "just let me know. If she doesn't recognize your genius at this point? Well, let's just say I've got your back."

Betty was somehow even more nervous because of the effort she had put into her essay, so this wasn't the encouragement she'd expected or wanted, but she smiled anyway. Veronica always tended to be a lot more combative than Betty, and she knew this was her way of lending support.

"Hopefully I won't need any more help than you gave me this week, but I appreciate it. You were amazing." Betty pulled the essay out and deposited it on Ms. Cardell's desk with a shy smile at the teacher, who didn't seem to notice her as the students all filed into the room.

Veronica saw Ms. Cardell 'not notice' Betty, and how the teacher's expression had seemed to tighten slightly, and Veronica had to restrain a sigh as she deposited her own paper on the stack. Somehow she was certain this was not the end of this particular saga, though she still hoped for the best for Betty.

They took their seats and class began just a few moments later.

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Archie waited on the steps outside of school for Jughead. He'd texted his friend, asking for a ride home after practice so that they could go to Pop's together and talk. Jughead had put him off at first, claiming that he needed to check in with Brand about the change in plans, but eventually he'd confirmed that Brandon had signed off on the outing.

Archie leaned back on the steps and was surprised to see Veronica come out of the school doors. She was in a hurry, skipping down the steps in her heels, with her hair bouncing lightly in the afternoon breeze.

"Veronica!" Archie couldn't help noticing how lightly Veronica moved on her feet as she changed direction when she heard his voice. Her hard work as a dancer could become obvious at unexpected moments.

"Hi Archie," Veronica didn't sit down with him, but stood a couple of steps below him so they were eye to eye. She had a slight bouncing energy that suggested she was still in a hurry to get somewhere. "Do you need a ride?"

"Jughead's giving me a ride in a few minutes," Archie shook his head. "I wanted to ask you about your text, though." Archie considered for a moment how to broach the subject, and then just cut to the heart of it: "I'm worried too."

Veronica's energy seemed to disappear at his words, and she hesitated thoughtfully – and then climbed the steps that separated them and sat down beside Archie.

"You know we can't do much about whatever's going on, right?" Veronica had intentionally sat right next to Archie, so she didn't need to make eye contact with him as they spoke. Instead, her eyes scanned the parking lot and the few cars that remained now that school was out and even football practice had ended for the day. "If something is weird between Brandon and Jughead, that might just be the way it is from now on. At least until Jughead turns eighteen."

"Yeah, I get that," Archie replied, taking his cue from Veronica and staring into the middle distance as he spoke. "But I want to help if I can."

"Me too," Veronica admitted. "Has Jughead said anything to you about Brandon?"

"Just that he's better than FP-," Archie paused when Veronica scoffed, echoing his own feelings on that subject, "and that Brand is teaching him how to fight."

"Do you think… maybe Brand is beating him?" Veronica leaned back on her elbows, still avoiding eye contact with Archie even when her right elbow edged up against his left arm. This was not an eye contact sort of conversation.

"God, I hope not," Archie winced and shook his head as if dislodging an unpleasant image from his mind. He continued hopefully. "I think he'd tell us, don't you? And I think Brand would be different. He wouldn't have had us over for dinner; he wouldn't have helped Betty with her paper."

Veronica shrugged her shoulders, once again brushing against Archie's arm, and not bothering to respond with the obvious: they had no idea what Brand would or would not do if he were hurting Jughead.

They were silent for a couple of minutes. The late afternoon sun was weak, as they were getting further into the fall. The chill made Veronica want to get up, but she stayed still, waiting. She sensed that they needed some sort of plan or resolution, or this new idea would haunt them both.

"Do you think I should ask?" Archie finally spoke again. "Just… ask Jughead?"

"I don't know," Veronica answered honestly. "Maybe. Worst case scenario, what will Jughead think if that's not what's going on?"

"I don't think that's the worst case scenario, actually," Archie sighed in resignation. "I'll ask him today. I'll text you tonight, so you don't have to be worrying about this."

"Thanks," Veronica leaned forward, shifting her arms as she did, and they lost physical contact. "See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Archie mustered a smile. "Tomorrow, Ronnie."

Veronica stood up, brushing her hands over her skirt with a self-mocking smile as she smoothed her outfit. "I'll be waiting for that text."

Archie waved as she left, and then settled back against the step to wait for Jughead. He assumed his friend had gotten caught up in his writing but would be along shortly, and was rewarded for his patience when the door to the school banged open a few minutes later and Jughead jogged out.

"Sorry!" Jughead was still slinging his bag over his shoulder as he took the steps two at a time. "Ready to go?"

Archie was uncharacteristically quiet as he grabbed his own bags and hurried to join his friend. He was not looking forward to their conversation, and already just seeing Jughead acting so normally – late, carrying his bag, brusque but friendly – made Archie feel like such a serious conversation wasn't necessary. However, he had promised Veronica, and this had all seemed very important during their conversation. Archie steeled himself as they reached Jughead's car and got in.

"I'm writing this article," Jughead began as he put the car in gear. Archie settled in; this was usually the start of a lengthy description of whatever Jughead was currently working on, and it was usually interesting. In this case, it was also a welcome delay.

Jughead was describing a cost-benefit analysis he was struggling to word clearly as they drove toward Pop's Diner. The sun was setting and had begun streaking red across the sky, and Archie watched as they navigated Riverdale, and began driving parallel to Fox Forest. Despite Archie's initial relief at Jughead's dominating the conversation, it suddenly seemed like a better idea to raise any questions of Brand and abuse in the car, and not in a public place like Pop's.

They pulled up to a stop sign and Archie took a deep breath, ready to raise the subject.

Before he got a word out, though, the car lurched forward as a large truck rear-ended them at the stop sign.

"I hate this stop sign!" Jughead hadn't seemed to notice Archie's uncharacteristic silence, and now he was worked up and distracted by thoughts of insurance and potentially someone trying to pin blame on him for this accident. Jughead was agitated and ranting as he threw the car into park and turned it off. "It's in the middle of nowhere, on a three-way intersection right by the woods, and I have literally never seen cross traffic here. That guy had better have insurance."

Archie hoped the same, but he also hoped Jughead took a deep breath before talking to the driver behind them – road rage could be super intense. He threw a quick glance back at the other vehicle as Jughead thrust his door open angrily. There were two large men in the truck, both of whom also seemed to be getting out quickly. Archie scrambled to follow suit, in case anyone had any idea of taking their aggression out on one another, but the door stuck and he was left jiggling the handle and trying to make it catch as Jughead stalked around the car to confront the other drivers. At this point, Archie was not entirely sure who he'd be protecting from whom, but he sensed that he needed to be quick about it.

Archie didn't end up needing to get the door open, though, since one of the men from the truck pulled his door open from the outside and hauled him out bodily.

"Hey!" Archie pulled back against the large hands that hoisted him upright and then slammed him backward into the car. The man was bigger than Archie, and overpowered him easily. "Look, it's a stupid place for a stop sign, but-,"

Archie was cut off when the man buried a fist into his stomach, causing him to double over in pain. 'Seriously?' Archie thought as he fell to his knees and tried to pull in a deep breath. The man who had yanked him out of the car hurried back to where his friend was, behind Jughead's car. 'Oh man, Jughead,' Archie thought, realizing that his friend was likely in even more trouble. He began pushing himself up to get over to the fight.

Archie grabbed the side of the car and managed to stand up despite his continued inability to draw a deep breath. From this position he could use the car for support as he moved toward the others – and he could see what was happening.

It wasn't what he'd expected to see.

The two men had teamed up against Jughead, but it was immediately obvious why the second man had abandoned Archie to help his friend: Jughead had badly bloodied the much-larger man's nose, even though his arms were pinned behind his back by the driver of the truck, who seemed to be dragging Jughead backward toward the large pickup. The second man was closing with the other two, and was telegraphing a swing toward Jughead's midsection.

Archie finally managed a deep breath, in spite of his protesting stomach muscles. Straightening up, he had just decided to throw himself on the second man, come what may, in hopes of preventing him from taking a swing at Jughead, when he realized that was not going to be necessary.

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Jughead saw Archie pulled from the car and dropped by a sucker punch, and was deeply regretting having gotten out of the car to confront the men about rear-ending them. His arms were pinned, and Jughead felt like he was having both a panic attack and an out-of-body experience simultaneously. His breathing and heart rate seemed to be racing each other to see which could make him pass out first, yet his mind was deadly clear as he felt the man who had his arms pinned start dragging him bodily toward the truck.

Jughead had dropped his body weight slightly to get the leverage and position to pitch his head back into his assailant's face, and he could tell it had done some damage based not only on the reaction of the man holding onto him, but also the immediate response of the other man, who closed in on him to drop him the way he'd dropped Archie.

Archie was hauling himself up on the side of the car, but Jughead desperately wanted to keep him out of this fight that he'd so foolishly brought crashing down on the two of them. He lowered his stance slightly, so he could kick viciously at the man who was approaching him. He connected solidly with the man's knee, and was surprised but gratified when the man fell heavily with a yell of pain.

"Get back in the car, Archie!" Jughead shouted, feeling the man behind him hesitate after seeing his friend seriously injured. Jughead managed to break the man's hold on his arms, pivoted slightly, and kneed the larger man with all of his strength. 'And then you run,' Jughead repeated Brand's words in his mind as he followed the instruction.

In seconds, the two teens were in the car and had the doors locked as Jughead put the car in gear and sped toward the trailer.

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Chapter Text

Chapter Ten

"This is mortifying," Fred Andrews shook his head, but couldn't suppress a small smile as he cupped his mug of cocoa in his hand. Sheriff Keller and Brand sat at the table in the trailer with him, listening to Archie hoot with manic laughter in Jughead's bedroom and describe the blow-by-blow of the car accident and altercation yet again to Jughead, who had become very quiet and calm – but who also could not hide a small smile whenever Archie slapped his shoulder and described what he had termed his 'heroics.'

"They're teenage boys who were hit by a truck and then fought off two grown men who attacked them," Sheriff Keller smiled indulgently. "This is as normal as it gets. The fear and nightmares will come later – and those will probably come, so be prepared. The boys are still in shock, so let's let them come down easy."

"Thanks again for coming out, Sheriff," Brand had made the call when the boys had pulled up in front of the trailer and dashed inside to tell Brandon what had happened. "I didn't know what to do. This is new to me – wanting to find those guys, and needing to protect my godson. I appreciate your backup, keeping him safe."

"This is my job," Sheriff Keller reassured them for what must have been the tenth time since he had taken the boys' statements and sent the other officers along. His staying behind to help the fathers cope with the fallout was less standard, but he knew and liked the boys. He also had a nagging feeling about the whole situation. With everything surrounding the nexus that Jughead had unexpectedly become, at the epicenter of the Blossom murder, the Southside Serpents' activities, and now the most dramatic case of road rage he could recall happening in Riverdale, the sheriff had taken the opportunity to stick around for cocoa after his shift ended; nobody felt like consuming caffeine at this late hour (except for Archie, who had been firmly denied any coffee), and the chocolate was comforting.

Fred smiled wanly at Brandon. "Brace yourself; parenting never quite gets easier, Brand. Thank you for taking care of my boy when he came to you for help. Whether or not Jughead engaged in 'heroics,'" the three laughed as Fred made air quotes around the word, "I owe him a debt of thanks, too. I would hate for either of them to have caught been alone by those guys in the truck."

"I'm real proud of Jones," Brand said quietly.

Jughead had appeared in the doorway of his room, and heard Brand's statement. "I remembered what you taught me."

Brand nodded at his charge, glad for an opportunity to praise him again for what had been an incredible save, both for Jughead and Archie – and for Brandon. "Fast learner."

Fred Andrews and Sheriff Keller watched this exchange with approval. Both Brandon and Jughead were unusual people, and it seemed like they had really found each other, even under trying circumstances.

"Wait, wait – I thought of something else weird," Archie leaned around Jughead, still animated by the excitement of the day. "If they had road rage because they were so protective about their truck," an explanation offered by Fred when the two had been hyped up with righteous indignation about the extremity of the men's road rage, "why was the driver pulling Jughead toward the truck?"

"What?" The three men chorused, and their chairs creaked as everyone turned to stare at Archie.

"What exactly did the driver do, son?" Sheriff Keller leaned forward.

Brand's knuckles turned white as he gripped the edge of the table and waited for Archie's response.

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Brand texted the latest proof of life photo to Roy during the wee hours of the morning, after the sheriff and the Andrews men had finally left the trailer. The range of suspects still seemed too diverse and numerous for him to sleep peacefully, even after deadbolting a docile and grateful Jughead into the bedroom. Brand had decided that Roy wouldn't have made any attempt to kidnap Jughead to win a bet – even a four thousand dollar bet – when the Blossoms would sooner kill them than ask questions if the arrangement with FP was jeopardized.

This didn't mean Brandon wanted to discuss the day's events with Roy.

Instead, Brand sprawled out on the couch, going over everything in his mind. While he certainly had enough enemies, and he didn't know Jones well enough to have a bead on all of the teen's particular vices and beefs with people, there were still just two prime suspects: one was Joe, who had seemed to take a predatory interest in Jughead during his visit to the trailer; the other was at Southside Serpents, who might have caught on to the fact that, under the circumstances, there might be a reason why FP had confessed to murder at the same time that Jughead had a mysterious new guardian come out of the woodwork.

Honestly, Brand wasn't sure which was the worse option. If Clifford Blossom found out about his taking another job that jeopardized the plan, there would be no rock he could hide under to escape massive repercussions. If the Serpents got ahold of Jughead, Blossom's plan could fall apart and the end result might well be exactly the same for Brandon.

It was very strange being on the same side as the sheriff, trying to keep Jughead in the trailer with Brand, but Brandon was grateful for the backup in any event. He knew well the limitations of the police, but he also knew they had access to resources that might come in handy if things heated up any further.

Brand did have to smile wryly as he recalled how impressed Sheriff Keller and Fred Andrews had been when they discussed methods for keeping Jughead safe from any further abduction attempts; many of their suggestions were already in place, and Jughead confirmed that he kept Brand updated on where he was and who he was with.

Fred was naturally worried about Archie as well, but both Sheriff Keller and Brand were persuaded that Jughead was too obvious a flash point for recent events for this to be random – or something that was likely to spill onto Archie more than it already had.

Brand was determined to step up Jughead's training, too, since it sounded like that had saved the day. Jughead seemed willing as well, and much of his hesitancy with Brand seemed in tension now with gratitude to Brandon for giving him the ability to escape the attack. Brandon didn't want to lose the edge of fear he had over his charge, but he did like the new determination he saw in the teen. He would work to cultivate both more and more.

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Fred Andrews had been very grateful to Brandon, and was glad that Jughead and Archie had watched out for one another, but there had been one suggestion he was very hesitant about that kept nagging at him: that Archie and Jughead stick close for a while, so neither was caught alone and vulnerable. There was no question in Fred's mind that the unknown men had been targeting Jughead, based on what had happened and the fact that trouble did seem to have been haunting Jughead for some time, though Fred really didn't understand what possible motive anyone might have for kidnapping him. FP was locked up, Jughead disdained the Serpents, and Brandon seemed like a hapless bachelor who had really stepped up and was doing an impressive job under the circumstances. There was no apparent motive for messing with the status quo that Fred could see.

Nevertheless, none of that made Fred any more willing to risk Archie's safety by appointing him Jughead's personal bodyguard, despite Archie's enthusiasm for the task.

"Can I get a gun?" Archie's non sequitur in the car pulled Fred out of his thoughts.

"What? No!" Fred glanced over at his son and then returned his attention to the road. "You haven't even had any training to shoot. How exactly would that enhance anyone's life?"

"It could deter people," Archie was still hyper, but was finally starting to calm down, perhaps out of sheer exhaustion. "I wouldn't need to have it loaded."

"It would up the stakes, whatever the situation," Fred sighed as he turned the car down their street. "Think of it like this: anyone coming after you would act like they were up against a loaded gun, even if you never intended to shoot it. Only carry one if you are willing to shoot it – if someone calls your bluff."

"So… training, then?" Archie grinned when his father shot him a look. "I'm just kidding; I get it. I just think that if Jughead and I are going to have each other's backs, we need to be serious about it. I need to be able to do what he did, at the very least."

Fred didn't visibly shudder at the thought, not wanting to betray his feelings to Archie. However, the idea of a repeat performance of adults attacking his son, let alone his son doing the kind of damage that both boys maintained Jughead had done to the unknown men, did not make him feel any better about the whole situation.

"We'll talk later about self defense classes, okay?" Fred figured that at least was safe enough. He parked the car in front of their house.

"Maybe Brandon could teach me, like he's teaching Jughead!" Archie was excited about the idea, and his resolution to the problem also seemed to satisfy him as they headed inside and then to bed.

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'Are you okay?' Betty's concerned text message woke Jughead the next morning. He sighed, assuming that Archie had filled her in on the fight, and began mentally composing a response text while he got up and started getting ready for the day.

'I'm fine. Despite what Archie may have said, the fight was no big deal. Hardly a scratch on me.' The last part was mostly true, and since a T-shirt would hide the spots where he was a bit banged up, Jughead figured it was close enough.

'You and Archie were FIGHTING? What happened between you two?'

Huh. So much for Archie filling her in. Jughead checked the time: 5:43 am. Archie had gone home late the night before, and likely was not yet awake.

Typing as quickly as he could on his phone, Jughead tried to explain as reassuringly as possible that he had been hit by a truck and then jumped by two grown men, but somehow that was proving difficult – and then Betty just called him, anyway, making the text message unnecessary.

"Do I need to speak to Archie?" Betty demanded, already fired up on Jughead's behalf without any information at all. "What did he do?"

"We weren't fighting each other," Jughead hoped she could hear him, since it sounded like she'd already worked up a full head of steam – and occasionally she didn't listen very well when her mind was racing. "It was just a misunderstanding. Some road rage. We got rear ended at a stop sign, and when we all got out to discuss insurance… things got a little heated."

Betty hesitated for a few moments, and Jughead wondered what she was thinking. Then he realized she was likely rereading his text to be sure she had the whole story straight. "Is that the story Archie would have told me?"

Jughead smiled, hearing this as confirmation that he was correct about the reason for her delayed response. He was getting to know Betty's quirks and habits well. "More or less, but with an 'Archie' flair to the whole thing," Jughead tried to lay groundwork for dismissing Archie's likely more violent retelling, since that was sure to follow at school. "Wait, why did you text me if you didn't know about the car accident?"

"You didn't call last night. I fell asleep, but when I woke up and hadn't missed a call from you, I was worried," Betty said sheepishly.

"Ohhh, Betty, I'm sorry," Jughead did feel badly; he should have at least texted at some point the night before, but had been entirely distracted by everything that had happened. "Sheriff Keller was here for a while, and Mr. Andrews. It got crazy, and then I fell asleep really quickly. I totally forgot."

"Oh good, you talked to Sheriff Keller already," Betty seemed focused on making sure the incident was resolved, and not particularly miffed about being blown off, under the circumstances. "See you at school?"

"I wouldn't miss it," Jughead smiled as they wrapped up the conversation so they could each get ready.

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Sheriff Keller had qualms about visiting the Southside Serpents to question them about the attack on Jughead Jones and Archie Andrews, and among those qualms was the connection that his own son, Kevin, had with one Serpent in particular.

Tom Keller had worked out a grudging arrangement with Kevin, based on two facts: that he trusted his son and that Joaquin had been cleared of his associations with the murder of Jason Blossom when FP confessed. It had worked well as a system so far, but it was a grudging arrangement all the same, and both father and son were on edge about it from time to time.

One of those 'times' had been when Tom Keller told Kevin that morning that he would be questioning the Serpents about the incident.

As he drove toward the Whyte Wyrm, Sheriff Keller mentally reviewed the conversation he'd had with Kevin, thinking through what he might need to do or say to help things go back to an even keel between them – and to restore the close relationship they had always shared.

"You don't have any evidence to suggest they were Serpents, Jughead didn't recognize either man, and it could just have been random road rage – and you're still automatically questioning them as suspects?" Kevin's loaded question had been delivered in a very reasonable, calm tone, which made his annoyance even more pointedly obvious. "I guess that makes perfect sense, since they are the root of all evil. Tell Joaquin I said hi."

Tom sincerely hoped he would not have any opportunity to tell Joaquin anything. Things were awkward enough without mixing the fraught relationship between sheriff and his son's gang-affiliated boyfriend with the official investigation of a criminal attack. He also wondered if he needed to take a few days off in the near future to take Kevin on a weekend trip out of town to spend some quality time in a different context. Getting time off was always a challenge, but one that he had been devoted to overcoming regularly since Kevin's mother was not around to nurture and connect with Kevin meaningfully.

Sheriff Keller pulled up in front of the bar and climbed out of his clearly marked vehicle. He pushed open the door to the Whyte Wyrm, and his heart sank when Joaquin immediately looked up from his seat at the bar.

"How's Kevin?" Joaquin stood up and approached Tom, extending his hand with such friendly tone and body language that Sheriff Keller was surprised into silence for a moment.

"Um, he's fine, thank you," Keller recovered quickly, and scanned the bar's occupants swiftly before accepting the handshake. "Did you know I was coming down here today?"

"Kevin would never interfere with an investigation," Joaquin raised his eyebrows at the sheriff, clearly making the connection between the sheriff's presence in uniform and his official capacity, though it was unclear whether the younger man knew what the investigation was concerned with. "You probably know that about Kevin even better than I do."

Keller didn't feel like he knew a lot anymore when it came to Kevin, but he believed Joaquin was telling the truth – and it was what he'd believed of Kevin before his son had begun dating a Southside Serpent. Perhaps not everything had changed, much though Tom had feared that might be the case.

"Can I find someone for you?" Joaquin had also noticed Keller making his visual sweep of the bar.

"Anyone who witnessed a fender bender yesterday, or was involved in one," Keller nodded gratefully. "Any ideas where I might start?"

"Whose fender?" Joaquin's typical cagey, somewhat ironic attitude seemed to resurface and replace the unusually friendly tone he had taken so far with the sheriff, but it seemed to be more force of habit than any sort of response to the conversation itself. Joaquin seemed a little more tense, though, and Keller had a guess why that might be.

"It wasn't Kevin," Tom gave Joaquin a sympathetic look. "He'd have told you if it had been, I'm sure. He loves a good story."

Joaquin relaxed then, breaking into a wide smile when he heard that Kevin was safe, and at the altogether accurate description of his boyfriend. "He really does. Come sit down; you and I can talk here, and I'll try and point you in the direction of anyone who might know more."

"It was Jughead Jones and Archie Andrews," Keller elaborated as he took a seat across from the young Serpent. He was very aware of their audience of bar patrons, but suspected that would keep Joaquin safe as they could verify precisely what the young man had (and had not) said to the sheriff. "That's why I'm asking around here. FP's confession has rocked a lot of boats, including the Serpents', and I need to make sure this was just a fender bender and not someone going off half cocked after an alleged murderer's innocent relatives."

Joquin quirked an eyebrow at Keller's emphasis, correctly reading the multitude of meanings there, from warning the Serpents generally all the way to the diametrically opposed suggestions that a Serpent might either believe FP was innocent and be wreaking havoc – or might believe that Jughead was at least partly guilty and in need of punishment or a warning.

"Those are very deep games," Joaquin shrugged. "You'd have to have individuals speak for themselves... but Jughead is not disliked."

Keller heard the implied other statement: that the Serpents, generally speaking, believed in FP's innocence. He would file that information away for the future, but unless a Serpent had gone rogue, it sounded like the road rage had not been something that the gang would plan or even condone.

What Keller did not notice was that his audience of Whyte Wyrm patrons exchanged glances when they heard that Jughead had been the person affected by the "fender bender" that apparently required the sheriff's personal investigation.

"Well, let me know who I can talk to today," Keller replied. "If anyone heard or saw anything, it might be useful."

Joaquin nodded and beckoned to one of the men seated at the bar, even as several others took that as their cue to leave together. They had things to discuss.

00000

Chapter Text

"Once more," Jughead demanded.

Brand checked the clock, "Two and a half hours wasn't enough? You are a glutton for punishment, Jones. I like it."

Both were sweating, despite the chill that had steadily invaded the trailer over the last few days. Either a cold snap had come through Riverdale, or the weather had turned and they would have to begin regarding the season as winter instead of autumn. In either case, the extra blankets had come in handy and the trailer had become increasingly comfortable for their strenuous training sessions.

Brandon had been correct about Jughead's response to the unprovoked attack on the road; the teen had thrown himself, quite literally in some cases, into his training. It seemed to be an outlet that he hadn't fully explore for his tension and emotions, too, and Brand had been observing Jughead's increased calm and confidence over the past several days since the attack had happened.

"Don't pass this one along to Archie," Brandon raised his eyebrows conspiratorially and Jughead smiled eagerly at his guardian, intrigued.

Archie had asked about joining their training sessions, a change that Brand was not about to countenance. They were valuable bonding sessions with Jones, and his best opportunity to mark up his hostage without arousing suspicion and losing the bet with Roy. There was also likely to be a periodic need to reassert dominance if Jughead grew any more self-possessed, and Brand would just as soon have no witnesses for those exchanges. Instead of including Archie, Brand had countered with the idea of Jughead training Archie for additional practice – as long as specific techniques were omitted, since Jughead was not as well trained as Brandon and might get both teens hurt if he attempted them incorrectly.

Brandon and Jughead closed with one another energetically, though Jughead jerked back when Brandon reached for his right shoulder. Both grinned, circling each other cagily and playfully. Jughead tried to track Brand's posture and movement to predict what the new technique might entail, but after a few more seconds of tense movement, Jughead impatiently swiped at his godfather to provoke him into tipping his hand.

Brand smoothly grabbed Jughead's hand and pulled him forward. Jughead swept a kick under Brand who simply took the opportunity to slam Jughead onto the floor, first onto his back with a resounding thump, and then wrenching him around so he ended up on his hands and knees with Brandon standing over him – with only his feet in Jughead's view.

Jughead felt the wind knocked out of him when his back hit the floor. He was relieved when Brandon didn't follow up by going after his vulnerable midsection, but he could only wheeze for air from the position that Brand dropped him into, on his hands and knees. Hoping more oxygen would make it in eventually as he continued to gasp, Jughead realized he couldn't wait for that to happen. Instead, ignoring the feeling that he was suffocating, Jughead twisted his whole body to the left, bracing himself for leverage and position to take Brand out at the knees.

Brandon waited for Jughead to get that far into the escape he'd taught him, and then bent forward to feint with his left hand into Jughead's field of vision.

Jughead was startled to see Brand's hand reach down, and his body instinctively dodged back to the right, and he reversed the escape as violently as he could, swinging his head to follow as his spine curved the opposite direction and his neck caught the momentum – and then his face caught Brandon's waiting elbow.

Brand grabbed Jughead by the shoulders, lifting him forcibly to his feet and locking him into a tight hold against his chest. He was pleased to note that Jughead didn't protest or cry out in pain, a lesson they'd been working on so that the teen would not advertise weakness whenever he was injured in a fight.

"First, breathe." Brandon could hear that Jughead hadn't recovered from hitting the floor, and the wheezing was starting to border on hyperventilation as Jughead jerkily tested how firm Brand's hold was on him. "Second, try not to act like you're right handed every time you fight."

"I am… right-handed," Jughead's breath still came in whistling gasps, and he gave up on breaking the hold and just pushed his hands weakly up against Brand's arms to express his displeasure. "Every time."

"Don't act like you are," Brandon repeated, turning Jughead and then pushing him onto the couch to recover. "Head between your knees if you still can't breathe."

Jughead followed Brand's directions and was relieved when his throat seemed to reopen and a deep breath finally, painfully, filled his lungs. "Do I have a black eye?" Jughead didn't lift his head as he asked.

"Let me see," Brandon sat down next to Jughead and waited for Jughead to suck in a couple more breaths of air and then lift his face for inspection. "Oh, yeah."

"Picture time." Jughead had gotten used to Brand's habit. He mugged for the phone camera, flexing his bicep and pointing ironically to his black eye, the hard-won flush of blood starting to recede from his face as he continued to breathe deeply.

"I'm taking two, because you are ridiculous," Brandon shook his head with a grin. The second one caught Jughead's frown, and made it look more like an involuntary beating than a Norman Rockwell rendering of a sports injury. Roy had begun complaining that FP would become less cooperative if the photos looked too staged, and Brandon had to admit that Jughead's sense of humor was growing on him – and making his job somewhat more of a challenge.

"Want to go again?' Jughead stretched cautiously, but his lungs seemed to be cooperating at that point and his only injury was the rapidly darkening eye.

"No," Brand laughed. "Let's go out for dinner. You've earned it, kid."

Jughead shrugged in mock modesty. "I barely even need to shower."

"I may need to check you for brain damage if you really believe that," Brand gestured dramatically toward the bathroom. "After you, Jones. Leave some hot water for me."

Jughead was still grinning as he retrieved his towel and disappeared to shower.

Brand knew he'd have to wipe the grin off of his face, but figured he had plenty of time to do that tomorrow, before he sent Jones to the Andrews' home for the weekend. For now they'd just enjoy a nice dinner on the town.

00000

"Hi Brandon," Sheriff Keller was at Pop's Diner, with a reluctant-looking Kevin in tow. "It's good to see you," Tom gestured to include Jughead. "Both of you. Care to share a booth?"

Jughead and Kevin exchanged looks, momentarily united in their desire not to share the evening. They both dropped their eyes in response to their "jinx" moment, both too annoyed to express any humor about the situation.

"You got it," Brand smiled generously, but his eyes were sharp. He knew there was no way this request was purely social, if for no other reason than Keller's lack of comment on Jughead's eye – which was becoming increasingly dramatic as it continued to darken.

"What happened to you?" Kevin asked rudely as they made their way to a booth at the end of the diner, where they would have a little more privacy to talk. His question was clearly directed at Jughead, but Kevin didn't look in his direction as he spoke.

"Kev," Tom's voice had a warning edge.

"Walked into a fist," Jughead smirked; he didn't know what was wrong, but responded readily to the challenge in Kevin's voice. "What happened to your face? It finally freeze that way?"

"Jones," Brandon groaned. He and Sheriff Keller exchanged glances and shrugs behind the boys' backs as they reached the booth. Neither had any idea why there was a low-grade antagonism between the two, though Keller assumed it had to do with the connection between FP and Joaquin.

The four sat down, the teens facing each other where they sat beside the window. Brand and Keller were clearly taking their time warming up for whatever their main purpose was in their conversation, and were discussing the weather and recent sports.

Kevin looked so uncomfortable and miserable that Jughead finally sighed and relented. He wasn't sure what was up with Kevin, and as willing as he was to accept the fight Kevin seemed to be instigating this evening, things would go more smoothly if he could get a conversation going. "Hey, Archie and I are probably spending most of the weekend with Betty and Veronica at Archie's place. Want to come over and hang out on Saturday?"

Kevin shook his head. "I have plans."

Jughead waited for Kevin to elaborate, counter with a different plan, or even change the subject. They lapsed into silence instead, and Kevin eventually turned his head to conspicuously tune in to the conversation between his father and Brandon.

"I don't think there's a lot you need to worry about from the Serpents," Keller was intoning to Brand quietly. "Stick close to Jughead, though, and we'll see what I can come up with over the next week or so."

Jughead watched Kevin's pained expression curiously; he clearly regretted joining the adults' conversation. Jughead hadn't had a chance to spend much time with Kevin lately, but the unusually tetchy attitude seemed to relate to the attack and the sheriff's investigation of the Serpents, which made a lot of sense.

There wasn't enough generosity in the world to induce Jughead to clear the air by bringing up Joaquin, FP's murder of Jason, or the Serpents, though.

They ate, Brandon and Sheriff Keller obviously enjoying the company and conversation, while Jughead relaxed and enjoyed eating something he had not prepared in the trailer. Kevin pulled out his phone and began texting, keeping his screen carefully angled away from his father as he did so. Jughead was surprised when his own phone vibrated, and even more so when he saw that the text was from Kevin.

'Joaquin offered to look into things for you. It's some sort of Serpent honor thing.'

Jughead looked up at Kevin, who didn't return eye contact and who looked increasingly uncomfortable. This must be the cause of his annoyance.

'You look like a cat in a bathtub,' Jughead texted back. 'I'm guessing you want me to decline?'

'Yes.'

'Done.'

Kevin jammed his phone back into his pocket, finally making eye contact with Jughead.

"Are you texting each other across the table?" Sheriff Keller caught the tail end of the exchange and put it together instantly – and with horrified amusement.

"You just wish you'd thought of it first," Kevin smiled beatifically at his father. "Can we be excused? I'll protect him. We'll be right outside."

Jughead rolled his eyes at Kevin's offer of protection, but pushed Brand's shoulder to urge his guardian out of the way so he could leave the booth.

Brand and Keller stood up to let them leave.

"Stay in sight," Sheriff Keller waved a hand at the large picture windows. "Get milkshakes, too, eh?"

"Aye, sir," Kevin mock saluted his father, and stopped at the counter to order shakes for all four of them before the boys took theirs outside.

"What happened?" Kevin demanded as they settled against the hood of Brand's car with their milkshakes.

"The car accident?" Jughead asked.

"The fact that you even need me to specify means you should probably think long and hard about what exactly my boyfriend just offered to get involved in," Kevin shot back.

"Just have Joaquin stay out of it, and by all means please keep the Serpents away from me. Brand and I are dealing with everything."

"You do mean the guy whose fist you 'walked into,' right?" Kevin was tentatively appeased that Joaquin was not about to be brought into another fraught situation, and his lowering tension was replaced by concern for Jughead. "I'm not trying to be mean. I mean – I was trying to be mean before," Kevin admitted, "but only because of Joaquin getting involved in more crap."

"Brand and I were sparring and I pulled a bonehead move and literally put myself face-first into his elbow," Jughead said flatly. "Feel better?"

"That you could do this to yourself without anyone's help?" Kevin's usual sarcastic humor seemed to be returning. "That is completely reassuring to me, yes, Jughead."

Jughead rolled his eyes, but smiled as he returned his focus to his milkshake.

"Look," Kevin focused on his own milkshake as he spoke, "just because I don't want my boyfriend anywhere near trouble doesn't mean I want you in the middle of it either. Just… call me before you call him or the Serpents, okay?"

"That I can positively guarantee," Jughead assured him. "Let's get back to your dad and Brand, though. They're becoming a little too good of friends."

"Agreed," Kevin and Jughead both looked into the diner's large windows to observe their respective guardians laughing together. "I only pray we're not too late."

00000

Betty had waited long enough for Jughead to come to her.

Having assembled a full care package, Betty headed over to the trailer to surprise him with snacks along with her findings on who could have been responsible for the hit and run.

It had been a complicated week, from less-than-satisfying texts to missed calls and phone tag, to Jughead's newfound and time-consuming focus on his training with Brandon, but Betty was patient.

To a point, anyway.

Betty fully planned to surprise Jug and Brand. The following night Jughead would be staying over at Archie's, and Betty wanted a chance to talk this all through before hearing Archie's version of events again. Something wasn't adding up about this being random road rage, and she had a sense that there was something that either the guys weren't sharing with her, or that they themselves had not fully realized was important about the incident.

Feeling only slightly guilty about ambushing Jughead and Brand with no warning, Betty reflected on the times her intuition had been correct. Minor details had been the key to everything. Hopefully she was up to this new challenge.

00000

Brandon was surprised about a few things, which distracted him a bit as he and Jughead drove home from the diner. The first surprise was that he genuinely got along with Sheriff Keller. The second was that Roy was dropping by that evening. Apparently Jughead's girlfriend had been asking some questions publicly enough that it had gotten back to Roy, though apparently not to Blossom, and there was to be a discussion about how to proceed.

Brand had figured that word would get out about the hit-and-run, but that the situation would be regarded as a random accident. Apparently Betty's questioning methods were the issue more than anything, and Roy wanted to talk more about her stirring the pot than the actual altercation. That suited Brandon just fine, since he didn't want Roy perceiving Brand as losing control of the situation – and he honestly could not picture Betty creating a real issue, beyond raising some hackles.

It did mean getting Jughead to bed a bit early, but Brand figured he'd just pull out some of the expensive ice cream and Jughead would eat whatever he put in front of the teen, even after their milkshakes with dinner.

"Hey, Brand," Jughead had been quiet in the truck, but finally spoke.

Brand had observed that Jones seemed to warm up to his friend Kevin after they had texted across the table and held a little secret meeting outside of the diner. Brandon couldn't pretend to understand that sort of complicated relationship drama between two guys, but anything that smoothed things with the Keller family seemed like a good investment, so on the whole he approved.

"Yeah, Jones?"

"What do you know about the Serpents?" Jughead didn't meet Brandon's eyes when he looked over at him.

Brand raised an eyebrow. "I know a little bit. Why?"

"Kevin's dating one. I just wondered."

Brandon had to take a few beats to absorb that piece of information. This might complicate things with Keller, since he could be biased on the subject in all sorts of ways, and certainly this meant there were more avenues for information to mix than Brand had previously realized.

"If FP hasn't shown you all you need to know about them…" Brand trailed off judiciously, knowing Jughead wasn't willing to discuss his father, and also knowing that what he had said would be enough.

"Yeah. Sure," Jughead's sullen tone was precisely what Brand had calculated for, and he hid a smile. Teenagers weren't so hard to figure out. "I just wondered for Kevin's sake."

They pulled up in front of the trailer.

"He's got his father to wonder for him, too," Brand reminded Jones. "I'm guessing everything's been pretty well vetted for him."

They walked in, Jughead considering how much Sheriff Keller likely had control over Kevin and Joaquin's comings and goings, and how much he likely knew about the Serpents, based on his conversation with Kevin this evening.

"Ice cream?" Brand pulled the expensive stuff out of the freezer.

"Heck yeah," Jughead forgot his musings with a grin. "I've been staring at that stuff all week."

"I'll dish it up; go get ready for bed now." Brandon smiled. Not hard to figure out at all.

00000

Betty arrived at the trailer and knocked firmly. She had an old-school picnic basket on her left arm, and was beginning to realize why she didn't see them around very often as her shoulder already protested the weight - and she had only just gotten out of the car.

There was a delay, and then the door opened a crack. Brandon peered out, his shirt conspicuously half-unbuttoned.

"Oh, are you training again?" Betty smiled, but bit her lip in concern. It looked like a bad time to have shown up unannounced. "Could I maybe just talk to Jug for a few minutes?"

"Uh-," Brand hesitated. It was getting dark, but that was primarily because the days were getting shorter. It was still early, so saying Jones had gone to bed wouldn't work. "He's indisposed."

"Again?" Betty's eyes widened.

"We ate at the diner today. Either he ate something that didn't agree with him, or he just plain had too much ice cream," Brand was relieved as he hit solidly on a story that Jughead would corroborate without any trouble.

"I don't think anything at Pop's could have-," Betty's concern was not allayed, though she had seen Jughead eat and could well believe he'd devoured his weight in ice cream. He'd always seemed to have a stomach of steel, though.

"He'd probably prefer if you come back another time." Brandon hadn't moved the door any further open.

Betty considered the situation. She dearly wanted to see Jughead, and to comfort him if possible since he was sick yet again. She could also see that Brandon was not about to let that happen, and he was implying that Jughead was sick enough that he would prefer Betty not see him so ill. She could understand that, too. There was still something off about Brandon's body language, though, and the fact that he'd kept the door mostly closed for the duration of their exchange.

Realizing she would get no further with Brandon, Betty nodded her acquiescence.

"At least take this care package," Betty offered the picnic basket with an apologetic smile. "I wanted to have a little picnic with you both, but that sounds like the last thing Jughead needs right now."

"Thanks, Betty," Brandon reached forward to accept the basket, but had to creak the door open just a bit further to fit it into the trailer. Betty watched eagerly for whatever it might be that Brandon hoped to shield from her view, but she didn't see anything at all. "I'm sure you'll see him this weekend, since he'll be staying at the Andrews' place."

"That's the plan," Betty tried not to look like she was trying to see into the trailer, and waved with a pleasant smile as Brandon closed the door on her.

Betty took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She turned from the trailer and got back into the car. She pulled out, and drove just out of sight of the trailer, before pulling over.

It was dark enough.

Betty started doubling back toward the trailer, not sure what she was looking for, but trusting that she needed to start looking for more information about Brandon and what was going on in the trailer.

00000

Chapter Text

Chapter Twelve:

Betty wasn't sure what to expect as she doubled back to the trailer, but what she saw as she perched just outside, peering carefully into a window, warmed her heart.

Brandon was scooping a sleeping Jughead up from where he was leaning on the table, head resting on his arms. Brand carried him off to the bedroom, reappearing a few minutes later with a small smile and shake of the head as he began to clear up the dishes from the table.

For a little while now, Betty had been wishing for a 'fly on the wall' view of Jughead and Brand, and how they interacted without the pressure of an audience, so that she could gain some insight into the strangely intense bond that had developed between them so quickly.

This moment seemed so perfect that it could have been scripted.

Betty watched Brandon settle onto the couch, just a few feet from where she was hiding at the window, and when he reached forward to open the picnic basket she had left for the guys, she began to feel self-consciously like an intruder on his private evening - and no longer like she was observing merely out of concern for Jughead's well-being – and pulled away from the window.

As Betty walked back to the car and then drove home, she found herself near tears in her gratitude that Brandon was working out so well as guardian for Jug. She wanted so much for him, and seeing someone take such care of her beloved after he'd had such a hard time for so long - it felt like a strong connection that she and Brand shared, and she was indescribably grateful to him for caring for Jughead in those times when she herself could not be there for him.

00000

FP had once asserted that Jughead was scrappy, and could hold his own even in very tough situations.

He hadn't expected the universe to take that bet, and to attempt to find out precisely how far FP's son could be pushed before breaking.

The latest photo had been held in his view just long enough for FP to get the full effect of the damage to his boy's face before it was taken away - almost as if he had imagined the smooth, palming gesture from the guard. There seemed to be no end to the people on Blossom's payroll, and no end to the murderer's paranoia that FP might stop valuing Jughead's life sufficiently if there was not a steady stream of photographic evidence of the ongoing abuse that the teen was suffering at the hands of Blossom's mad dog, Brandon.

FP knew more than he cared to about Brand, and his qualifications for holding Jughead hostage. A man like that garnered a reputation in certain circles, and while FP would pit his son against Brandon in any game of wits, this had clearly been a game of brute force right from the outset.

FP was also aware that the Serpents' tempers were short, and that they had caught wind of something having to do with Jughead and Brandon. The story had become inexplicably garbled, and after a no-doubt fascinating game of 'Telephone,' the story FP had received involved a car accident and Jughead singlehandedly taking out multiple unknown assailants and then fleeing to Brandon for backup. FP had to admit that he preferred that version, with his son defending himself viciously and successfully against all comers, but he didn't dare believe that it resembled anything that had actually happened. More importantly, as much as it went against the grain, FP had to soothe the Serpents and back them down from defending Jughead - and inadvertently getting him killed in the process.

He would get the word out that day to the Serpents, and hope that appeased Blossom - and perhaps FP's message could be delivered with enough emphasis that Brandon would feel like he could skip a few proof of life updates. FP was not suicidal enough to make threats, but he also was unwilling to leave Jughead in his current position long-term if it meant his son would be beaten regularly for the sake of threatening his father. Presuming the trial dragged on for years, as was overwhelmingly likely, FP couldn't see what the endgame was for freeing Jughead.

Blossom might just be hoping that FP reached the conclusion that was presenting itself to him now, though: suicide could speed this all up, and see Jughead freed.

Or get Jughead killed.

At least FP knew there was a reason to keep Jughead alive, as long as there was a chance that FP could recant his confession and finger Blossom. He'd hold onto that. For now.

00000

Joe was no fool. He was certain of two things: Jones was valuable in some way to Brand, and the boy was a lot more of a force to be reckoned with than he appeared.

It was by no means certain what the benefit of securing Jones might be, but Joe figured he could count on Brandon to tip his hand fairly swiftly, if his behavior during Joe's visit was any indication. Brand was seriously protective of Jones; whatever he did in response to the kid's abduction would clue Joe in quickly enough on how Joe could leverage Jones.

"Is it clear this time?" Joe ground out at the men he'd been briefing. Another failed attempt would not end well for anyone involved.

"Yes, sir," Tommy responded immediately. He always had been a guy for getting things done.

"Good," Joe nodded once, sharply. "I'll see you when it's done, then."

00000

"Essays!" Ms. Cardell exclaimed brightly, as if it were an announcement that she was giving out candy. "Pick them up on your way out."

Veronica returned Betty's expectant grin with a quiet laugh as they gathered up their books. "You are way too excited, girl." She couldn't help but feel some of that excitement herself, though, and looked forward to celebrating a high grade with Betty soon.

"I just hate having anything unresolved, in relationships or schoolwork," Betty shrugged her bag onto her shoulder and got into the line for the essays. "It's silly, but I'll feel worlds better once I know for sure things are back to normal. You know?"

Veronica shrugged at the unfamiliar sentiment. "I'm not sure I ever feel like everything is resolved, Betty. I do think you're in for an A, though, for what it's worth."

They shifted forward as their classmates filed out the door. As the stack of essays waned, each student located theirs more and more quickly.

"One thing," Ms. Cardell's voice commanded attention from the few students who did not yet have their essay. "I don't want to hear anything about grades for at least forty-eight hours. And then, any complaints must be in writing."

Betty seemed to shrug this off, but Veronica raised an eyebrow suspiciously at Ms. Cardell, who was now pointedly avoiding eye contact as she swept up her own class materials.

Veronica wished she was more surprised when she heard Betty's dismayed gasp.

Grabbing her own essay from the stack, Veronica tugged Betty out of the classroom, even as her friend rifled swiftly through the essay for written comments.

Veronica didn't stop moving them both until they were halfway down the hall. "What is it?"

"A D+, and only one comment – that I am forty-one words over the length requirement!" Betty was whispering loudly, hoarsely, in a vain attempt to hide her distress from the other students in the hall. Tears were welling up in her eyes, and she leaned heavily against the wall.

"She has literally never said there was a word limit, let alone taken points off for that," Veronica was blinking in disbelief. "Are you sure it's not a... B+?"

"There's a number, too—" Betty stabbed the paper with an accusing finger, nearly tearing the page and beginning to drop the paper.

Veronica scooped up the paper as it began to fall from Betty's grasp. "Oh. Uh, yes, that's a number all right."

They both stood silently in the emptying hallway for a few beats.

"You know that this is total crap," Veronica attempted.

"I know," Betty was still fighting tears. "It's still… shocking. I've never gotten such low grades. Certainly not on my writing."

Veronica brushed off her skirt decisively. "The grades won't stand. We're fighting this."

"Just... let me think about it," Betty sighed deeply. "But I think you're right. I tried so hard."

"Not just you," Veronica reminded her. "We're going to have a number of people on our side."

Betty took a deep breath and pushed away from the wall she'd slumped against for support. "Yeah. That's true too. I'll think it over. Talk to Jug."

"We can strategize tomorrow, then," Veronica rubbed Betty's shoulder reassuringly.

"Yeah," Betty took back the paper, smoothed it, and placed it into her bag. She felt a lot more calm suddenly, though no less angry. "Tomorrow."

00000

Jughead parked outside the trailer, heaving a deep sigh. From the look of his text messages, Betty had received bad news on her essay. Kevin had let things settle for the time being, but was still tense around Jughead. Classes had been difficult to concentrate on. Archie had been in a good mood, and somehow that had been the most exhausting thing of all.

It was beginning to seem like Jughead might have contracted mono.

After sleeping through much of the previous evening, Jughead had gotten up before dawn to try to catch up on homework. The morning had begun as a blur, only to get clearer and more difficult to endure in equal measure with each passing hour. At this point, nothing sounded better than another homework marathon to catch up on the last couple of subjects he lagged in – and an early trip to bed.

Swinging open the car door, Jughead hauled himself wearily to his feet. He leaned back into the car to grab his bag, only to sense Brand approaching him from behind.

Jughead didn't hesitate, and simply drove his elbow back hard as he pivoted – Brand would dodge his elbow, he'd be free in a moment, and then Brandon would probably laugh it off and let their training go for the remainder of the evening.

He only realized that something was wrong when his elbow connected, hard, with someone's midsection, and his pivot planted Jughead face-first into the very large chest of a second person.

"What—" Jughead dropped his body, instinctively locking his right hand's grasp on his bookbag, and tried for an escape below the tall man's immediate reach. He also sucked in all the air he could while executing the athletic maneuver so that he could shout. "BRAND! Get out here—"

The second man managed to catch Jughead's armpits before he dropped, lifted him off his feet and slammed him backward, halfway onto the hood of his car. A third man grabbed Jughead's right arm, locking it into a hold and forcing him to drop his bookbag before the first man grabbed it from the ground. The second man wrapped a hand over Jughead's mouth and the three made short work of pulling Jughead into the woods against his will.

They stumbled along on the leaves, crunchy with frost even in the late afternoon, heading deeper into the darkening woods. Jughead was forced forward, so he couldn't see if Brand had heard him and come out to investigate. As they continued to move through the trees, he cursed the shortening days that would make it difficult to see very soon. He also wished they'd stop moving or slow down to give Brand a chance to catch up if he had come outside. Or that there was snow, so he'd be able to follow their tracks. Jughead slumped in his kidnappers' grip and began to drag his feet as he realized that might serve the same purpose as prints in the snow – as well as slowing them down.

"Here's good enough." One of the three men sounded exasperated with Jughead's maneuver, and he dropped Jughead's right arm roughly.

"We're just visiting with you," the first man grabbed Jughead's jaw to force eye contact with the silenced teen. "We're friends of your father, and we would like you to tell him that we checked in. Please."

"And that everything is all right with you," the exasperated man added.

Jughead wished the man with a death grip on the lower half of his face and a firm lock on his left arm would let go as well, but it seemed like these men really wanted him to listen and not respond.

"Things don't seem quite right with FP, and we can't have him thinking we're falling down on our duty."

Jughead wasn't quite ready to roll his eyes at the three men, but he did exhale forcefully through his nose in protest of this interaction being anything approaching 'duty' to FP. Then his eyes fell on a Serpents tattoo, and he was glad he had not rolled his eyes; instead, he widened them with incredulity as the pieces fell into place for him.

"Let him talk; he's listening now," the first man instructed.

Jughead was abruptly released, and he let out a short, bitter laugh. "You're Serpents? What are you thinking? I just told Joaquin not to-,"

"You already spoke with Joaquin?" The second man sounded murderous. "When I get ahold of-,"

"I talked to Kevin," Jughead interrupted. The last thing he needed was to cause trouble for Joaquin and to have that get back to Kevin. "Just the other day. Joaquin probably doesn't know yet. I don't need protection from you. I don't want you around me. Or my father."

Jughead realized as he spoke that his words could be taken to mean that he didn't want the Serpents to be around his father – or that Jughead didn't want his father around. He let the ambiguity stand, since he wasn't sure how he would clarify that in any case.

"The special guardian from nowhere? Not to mention the truck that hit you? Nothing's going on with all that?"

"The guardian who helped me after I beat up the road rage truck guys on my own?" Jughead shook his head derisively. "Get a clue. Get better intel. Better yet, stay completely out of this. I'm fine, and if I'm not, it's seriously none of your business."

The three men exchanged looks, hesitating for a few moments longer.

"I think that's all we needed to hear," The second man gestured to the other two. "FP can't ask for more than we've done."

Jughead frowned, waiting to see what that meant for their treatment of him; he was still alone, surrounded, and waiting for an opening to run. He also strained to hear any sound that might indicate Brand was coming after him in the woods.

He heard running footfalls.

Without turning to confirm it was Brandon hot on their trail, Jughead took his last moment of surprise and punched the man to his left in the gut while throwing his body weight into toppling the larger man. He was gratified when he heard the first man grunt heavily as well, when Brandon reached him at a full run.

The second man was almost certainly fumbling for a weapon when Brand swept his legs out from under him with a kick.

"Come on, Jones," Brandon pulled Jughead away from pummeling the man who had hand-gagged him and hauled him through the forest. "They're done."

The first man had already taken off running, and the second was gaining his feet to do the same.

"Let this guy catch up with his buddies." Brandon slung an arm around Jughead companionably as they watched the third man run off into the woods. "The rule is that you get away from muggers. Don't try to teach 'em manners."

"Uh-," Jughead was about to correct Brand about them being Serpents, but realized that might be one of those details that made him a high-maintenance ward. Maybe leaving it just at 'muggers' would make it easier for everyone. It wasn't likely they'd be back again, based on what they'd said. "Yeah. I know. It's just my laptop-,"

"Right over here?" Brand spotted Jughead's bookbag where one of the men had dropped it.

"Thanks," Jughead seized it from his guardian. "Thanks for coming after me."

"You kidding?" Brandon shook his head. "Best exercise I've had all day."

The two walked back toward the trailer, Jughead breathing heavily and starting to calm down from his short-lived ordeal.

Brand went over and over the details in his own mind: from hearing Jughead's yell for help to realizing his ward was not injured, but was instead being abducted. The chase through the woods with hunting knife bared in his grip was not one Brand wished to relive, and he was very glad he'd been able to slide it into only the first man he'd attacked, and then sheathe it before Jughead saw he'd brought lethal weapons into the fray.

'I hate when these things happen on a Friday,' Brand thought heavily, even as he brought his hand down on Jughead's shoulder once again, reassuring himself that his charge was still here and still in one piece.

00000

Chapter Text

Chapter Thirteen:

Jughead was getting tired of Sheriff Keller, and was vaguely irritated that Keller's friendship with Brand kept him at the trailer longer than he otherwise might have stayed. The sheriff had interviewed Jughead with concern, but then relaxed as he and Brandon transitioned from discussing 'the situation' as Jughead was now apparently called, to chatting amiably about their respective teen charges and the strange forces at work in Riverdale.

It was strangely shocking to hear both incidents referred to as 'abduction attempts,' though, and Jughead retreated to his room to think about the events of the day – and hopefully to get through at least some of his homework before he passed out for the night and then began his weekend of concerted hanging out and catching up with Archie. Of course, he knew that the Serpents had just been trying to get him alone to talk – and also that Jughead himself had landed the first blow in their altercation and yelled for Brandon before they could explain themselves. Hearing the hit and run described that way, though, made him wonder more about what had precipitated so much interest among the Serpents that they hadn't waited for Kevin to relay his message back through Joaquin. Also, hearing from the Serpents that his father was acting strangely had given him a jolt of surprise.

Everything appeared to have a very simple explanation, Jughead reflected. And yet, there was an awful lot of 'everything' to explain.

His instincts felt like they were ringing in his ears, making it difficult to focus on his reading and homework. After three study questions, Jughead felt exhausted and not even a little receptive when there was a knock on his bedroom door.

"Jones?" Brand had been audibly talking to Sheriff Keller moments ago, so it didn't seem likely that he'd left yet. Jughead winced, hoping they didn't want him to rejoin the conversation. "You awake?"

"Yeah," Jughead yawned, noting that it was only seven pm and he should really be awake a while longer. He was so tired, though. "What's up?"

Brand opened the door a crack. "Betty's here to see you. Should I send her in? Tom and I will be in the kitchen."

"Betty?" Jughead scrubbed at his eyes blearily, wishing he was not trashed from the day and could enjoy the unexpected visit. "Sure. She can come in."

A few moments later, Betty made her way tentatively into the room. She closed the door behind her, and watched Jughead carefully as she approached him. She took in the new bruises, filing them away as more souvenirs of the now-familiar training bumps.

Jughead smiled encouragingly. "Hey, Betty. What are you doing here?" His friendly tone made it clear he was glad to see her, even as he stifled a rogue yawn.

"Is everything okay?" Betty waved a hand toward the kitchen area behind her. "Sheriff Keller was here when I pulled up."

"It's fine," Jughead figured that was true enough at this point. "Just… some Serpent activity in the area."

"Oh," Betty frowned slightly, biting her lip. "Well, I'm glad he's checking it out. And that he's friends with Brand. I know the Serpents do hang around this area sometimes."

Jughead's smile tightened as his thoughts skittered guiltily to the incident earlier in the day. "Yeah, I try to stay out of their way. Everything okay with you?" Betty was almost wringing her hands, and he was getting nervous that something else might have happened that afternoon – to his girlfriend.

"Not exactly," Betty sat down next to Jughead on the bed and leaned into him slightly, turning her head away from him. Jughead looped an arm around her and waited patiently, but with growing concern as her breath hitched. "I got my essay back today."

Jughead released a deep breath. "Oh! Is that all?" He let out a short laugh of relief. "You had me worried there, Betty. How did you do?" Jughead could tell it hadn't gone as she'd hoped, but he'd lay even odds on that meaning a B+ for the paper.

"Juggie," Betty turned to face him more directly in his light embrace. "It's not funny. I got a D+."

"That… doesn't seem right," Jughead shook his head, squinting his eyes as if that would help this new information make sense. "Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure!" Betty slipped out from under his arm now, and faced him fully from a foot or so away on the bed.

"Yeah, I know, sorry," Jughead sincerely wished he was more alert for this conversation. "Um, then – I don't know – what does that mean for your grade in the class?" He felt like he was stabbing in the dark and hoping to blindly hit upon the topic she wanted him to raise or the words she wanted him to use.

"That's really not what I'm worried about," Betty shrugged helplessly. "How am I supposed to work with Ms. Cardell now? How can I trust her feedback? And, regardless of my current grade, just a few more papers like that one will ruin everything."

"Everything, huh?" Jughead stalled for time as he tried to run through the options for appealing the grade. He wasn't sure of any, actually; teachers held a lot of the cards, and paper grades were notoriously subjective.

"Don't make fun of me."

Uh-oh. Betty was looking less distraught and more angry. Jughead backpedaled, trying to get back to 'supporting and helping' territory. "Were there any comments on the paper? We all read it; it was good writing."

"Just that I was over the assigned length," Betty spat out bitterly. "But she never specified a maximum length!"

"Maybe you-," Jughead stopped before finishing the speculation that Betty had missed part of the assignment details. He didn't always do well without sleep, but he was a fast learner. "Maybe you could ask about having another teacher review the paper? Get another perspective?"

"I'm going to talk to Veronica about those sorts of options tomorrow," Betty nodded and slid over next to Jughead once more.

Jughead nodded against her hair, feeling it slide smoothly against his cheek. "So, then… why did you come over?"

This time Betty couldn't help but smile. "Just for support. Just to talk."

Jughead eyed the stacks of homework on the foot of his bed. "Well, much as I hate to lose quality time with you-,"

Betty sighed heavily. "I'm sorry. I should go. You're probably busy," Betty nodded toward the obviously half-done homework spilling over the bed.

"It's okay," Jughead reassured her. "I'm glad you came by. If it had been something serious, I'd want to know."

He knew immediately that he'd said the wrong thing.

"I mean, you know, if it was something I could help with, or-," Jughead backtracked.

"This sort of thing is important to me, Juggie," Betty tried to keep her temper in check, but it was really starting to seem like Jughead was mocking her academic goals. "I know you and Brandon are focusing on a lot of new and exciting things right now, but I at least still need to keep my grades up. Things haven't changed for me."

"I know that, and I didn't mean-," Jughead cut himself off. "Look, you're right that Brand and I are working through some stuff. Important stuff. I'm learning a lot, but I'd like to keep up with my classes, too. So, can we table this until tomorrow? At Archie's?"

"Okay," Betty didn't want to stand in the way of his study and homework time, much as she would like to see this resolved right away. "We can talk then. I'll try to have a plan with Veronica, so that my paper is a non-issue by then."

"Sure. Or I can help tomorrow," Jughead tried to offer.

"No, you're clearly too busy to keep up with your own work," Betty's tone had an edge of barely veiled anger. "You might talk to Brandon about that. He shouldn't be keeping you away from your homework."

"Hey," Jughead suddenly felt fiercely protective of Brand, "I'm not talking to Brand about anything. He's gone way above the call of duty. Let's talk tomorrow, but don't bring him into this. Not tonight."

Betty remembered what she'd seen the other night and ducked her head in embarrassment. "I know. Sorry. I just worry about you."

"You don't need to," Jughead hoped his tone was reassuring, and not cold. He couldn't tell, though, as he stood up and began walking Betty to the door.

They parted awkwardly, both Keller and Brandon letting their conversation drop to watch as Jughead waved and Betty disappeared into the night.

00000

Jughead had left for the weekend at Archie's place when Brand was surprised by a text from Betty. She wanted to meet with him to talk about the paper he'd read for her, and about Jones' study schedule. Whatever that meant.

Brandon was not sure he wanted to be colluding with Betty to ensure Jughead's academic success, or anything else for that matter, but he was curious about her perspective on recent events. Perhaps Jones had confided something in her that would be useful as Brand got a handle on the sudden rash of attacks on his godson.

'Pop's in an hour, before you meet your friends. Happy to talk.' Brandon hit Send thoughtfully.

00000

Archie and Fred had a tense breakfast of waffles.

"I'm just saying be careful," Fred tried to smooth over the last hour's discussion. "Jughead's a good friend, but sometimes getting too involved can throw fuel on the fire when things are… complicated."

"Don't you trust me to figure out what 'careful' is, Dad?" Archie stabbed a piece of waffle with his fork. "Because that's all I'm saying. I've got this."

"Hypothetical, then," Fred raised his hands placatingly when Archie shot him an irritated look. "Just hear me out, and then we'll let this drop. Someone goes after Jughead and you have a chance to run. Several of them. Say four guys for some reason are taking on master fighter Jughead Jones. You can get away. What do you do?"

Archie hesitated. "I would run. Get help. Call you and Sheriff Keller. Sheriff Keller first."

"Do you know why that's the right answer?" Fred correctly interpreted that he was being told what he wanted to hear.

"Because there's four of them?" Archie shrugged, smiling weakly as he gave what he knew was an incorrect answer.

"Because even one person might have a weapon. Getting backup is the first priority, and your best chance at keeping a bad situation from becoming worse."

"Okay, dad," Archie dropped his eyes, devouring another large bite of waffle to forestall any further comments that might get him into trouble.

"Don't just 'yes' me, Archie," Fred sighed heavily. "I'm really worried that Jughead might be headed for trouble, and that you won't be the friend who gets him out of it. You'll be the friend who makes it twice as bad, by trying to help in all the wrong ways."

Archie swallowed hard. He'd been training devotedly with Jughead, but the fact was that he feared the same thing. "Then that's what I'll do. If something happens, I'll run and get help."

The two Andrews men regarded each other soberly.

"Okay, then," Fred stood and returned to the waffle iron to make the final batch. "Jughead can still spend the weekend. Just don't forget what we discussed."

"I won't."

00000

Brand left the diner quietly, and without raising any eyebrows as he did so. Inside, though, he was well and truly churning with agitation.

Betty hadn't had a lot of information to share, between her admonishments about 'homework these days' and 'Juggie's time management,' but a single detail had made it all worth enduring: Jones' girlfriend was under the impression that the Serpents had been sniffing around the trailer the day before, precipitating Keller's visit.

It was just disturbing enough to be true.

Brand was glad that the Serpents' name was mud with Jones, causing the teen to fight and call out for help, but if that was indeed what had happened – then something along the way had caused Jones to keep that all-important detail from both Brand and from Sheriff Keller, and that was not good.

Brandon had a few calls to make before he followed up with Jones about this, but he fully intended to be at the Andrews' house within the hour.

00000

"The girls will be here soon, but we can practice until then," Archie's grin was contagious, and Jughead couldn't help but feel energized. The exercise would help him fully wake up after his short night of sleep, too.

Jughead had finished his homework, but it had been slow going after Betty left, and kept him up well past when he would prefer to have gone to bed.

"Sure, Arch," Jughead led his friend into the backyard, out the kitchen door. "What do you want to practice?"

"Something new?" Archie shrugged with exaggerated nonchalance. "Or... we could spar."

They hadn't sparred before. Jughead had been following Brand's orders: his godfather insisted that it was too dangerous to try more than basic practice holds until both Jughead and Archie were more experienced. However, after the previous day's events, Jughead wondered if the practice itself might be valuable enough that it was worth going against Brand's wishes on this.

"We can spar," Jughead decided. "I declare you officially ready."

"Cool, man!" Archie immediately accepted, before Jughead could consider retracting the offer. Archie assumed a fighting stance. "Let's do it!"

00000

Ten minutes later, Archie wasn't sure what had hit him, but it had hurt. And Jughead was already poised to go again.

"Hey, slow down-," Archie rolled to his feet again, but his protest was for naught as Jughead came at him immediately. "I mean it!"

Jughead feinted left and then stood up to laugh shortly. "I'm just messing with you, Arch."

"Oh, you were messing with me. That's what all that was." Archie rubbed his left shoulder painfully. "You got something to prove, man?"

"I thought you wanted to spar," Jughead shrugged. He wasn't using his full strength, and Archie had reach on him. Maybe it was high time they started sparring, if only so that Archie could really learn.

"That was a lot more than sparring," Archie shot back. "Show me what you did. Let's just go back to practicing for a while."

"Once more," Jughead gestured for Archie to get into position for another round. "You'll learn faster this way, believe me."

"Is this how Brand teaches you?" Archie suddenly began putting the details together into a worrying mental picture. "Is this how you learned?"

"You have no clue about Brand," Jughead's expression darkened slightly. "He's got my back."

"I do too, Jughead," Archie protested the obvious implication of Jughead's words.

In that moment Jughead feinted again, and Archie jerked back away from him. Jughead followed up with a hard left and landed a punch to Archie's right shoulder that had the redhead spinning away from the impact with a cry of pain. Archie cradled his right elbow, trying to avoid the weight of his arm pulling on the now searingly painful shoulder.

"What's going on out here?" Fred thundered, coming out from the kitchen door with Veronica and Betty on his heels. They had clearly just arrived.

"Jones!" A fourth person followed them out of the Andrews' house. "What have I told you about picking on someone weaker than you are?"

Jughead turned away from the training exercise, stunned by the reactions he saw on everyone's faces: the girls' shock and horror, Fred and Brand's anger, and Archie's wounded surprise.

"I think it's time to go home, Jones," Brand jerked a thumb toward the house, and beyond it to the truck he had just driven up in. "We're going to have a chat, and I think it's time we try out another grounding. No visitors this time," Brand made eye contact with each of Jughead's friends, who nodded their assent quickly.

"Come on, Archie," Fred went to his son. "Let me see that arm."

Jughead didn't have time to attempt an apology before Brand was hustling him through the Andrews' house and away from his friends.

00000

Chapter Text

Chapter Fourteen:

Jughead wasn't sure why everyone was so angry, but when Brand opened the door to the truck, pushed Jughead into the passenger seat by his shoulder, and then literally buckled the seatbelt around him as if he was a toddler, it was obvious that he was in very big trouble.

Brand got into the driver's seat with his characteristic silence, and they drove off immediately.

Jughead twisted in the seatbelt so he could look back, regretfully, at the Andrews' home as they left his friends behind. His neck flushed hot with embarrassment and shame over hurting Archie and pushing the sparring far past what his friend had been comfortable with – he'd done it without thinking, or realizing it would be a problem. The expression on Fred's face had been shocking to Jughead: a mix of anger and revulsion. Betty's horror was too painful for Jughead to contemplate just yet. One thing at a time. Jughead turned to face forward again and to focus on navigating Brand's anger, hopefully without gaining any new bruises in the process.

"Serpents?"

Brand broke the silence with a single word, his tone almost casual, and Jughead's hot feeling of mortification turned to ice in his veins so abruptly that he felt dizzy.

When in doubt, he thought, keep silent and wait for more information.

The silence stretched for minutes as the truck navigated the turns toward the trailer. Brand's question was not a question, then, Jughead concluded. He knew what had happened. This really was big trouble.

When the truck pulled up in front of the trailer, Jughead had at least the beginnings of a plan. First, he needed to get clear of Brand until his godfather had a chance to cool off and there would be no chance of a sparring session going wrong. Jughead was still having nightmares about being choked and drowned, and his sense that Brandon took out frustration in their sparring sessions seemed to be borne out by experience. Just a few hours away might take the edge off, and let Brandon calm down. The rest of the plan was unclear in his mind, but the chill in Jughead's veins pulsed faster as Brandon turned off the truck and pulled the keys from the ignition.

Jughead slipped out from under the seatbelt and tried to yank open the truck door to make a run for it.

The door didn't open.

Jughead yanked at the door again, his blood pressure skyrocketing as he realized he was trapped in the truck.

"Sit tight, kid," Brand hopped out of the truck and began to walk around it toward Jughead.

Jughead sat frozen for a moment, considering his options. 'Child safety locks,' he finally realized, even as Brand opened his door. Scrambling back, Jughead dove for the driver's side door.

"I literally just said 'sit tight,'" Brand's unnaturally calm tone accompanied a brutal jerk as the older man grabbed Jughead's right ankle and hauled back on it. "Let's go."

Jughead had almost made it over the center console and out the driver's side, but Brand's grip yanked him backward about a foot, and his abdomen slammed painfully onto the console as he lost his balance.

It occurred to Jughead then that his guardian might have been pulling his punches, so to speak, for the weeks they had been sparring. Brandon seemed totally unconcerned by the fact that Jughead was attempting to run away, and stopping Jughead seemed more like an afterthought than a task that required serious effort. Chastened, though still fighting his instinctive panic, Jughead clambered out of the truck and looked up at Brand to gauge his expression.

Brandon looked downright cheerful as he raised a hand as if to backhand Jughead.

"You haven't grown out of that cower response yet," Brand observed when Jughead ducked. Brandon grabbed Jughead by the shoulder once more and steered him roughly toward the trailer. "That's good. We can work with that."

Jughead looked around the empty trailer park for help, as he was suddenly aware that inside the trailer there would be no witnesses. Anything could happen.

00000

"What just happened?" Betty asked in the silence that had fallen over Archie Andrews' backyard. Her voice quavered as she tried to process the evidence in front of her that things were really not okay with her boyfriend.

"Dad," Archie ignored Betty, his heart racing, "Brand's been doing this to Jughead. I know it. This is what their training is; he beats up Jughead and calls it teaching. We've got to go after them right now."

"Wait, what?" Fred Andrews was nearly seeing red, having heard his son yell in pain and now seeing that Archie's shoulder was very badly bruised and already turning black where Jughead's fist had made contact. It was difficult to focus on anything other than his anger. "What exactly do you mean, you 'know it,' Archie? Did Jughead tell you that?"

"I just know!" Archie repeated, raising his voice in frustration that his father didn't understand him immediately. "It explains everything!"

"Mr. Andrews," Veronica interjected, "Archie and I were just discussing the other day whether Brand might be beating Jughead."

"I'm sorry; this looked a lot more like Jughead beating Archie," Fred disagreed in a mildly sarcastic tone, looking from Veronica to Archie. "He doesn't look like someone who willingly takes a beating. Not anymore."

"What do you mean, you were discussing this the other day?" Betty interrupted, a slow expression of horrified realization crossing her face. "You think Brand is beating Jughead? And you didn't think to include me in this conversation?"

"This is really not about you," Veronica snapped, pointing out the obvious, but regretting her words and tone instantly. "Wait, no – I'm sorry, Betty. I'm just saying… let's focus on Jughead for now. We weren't sure of anything before, but it all makes sense now with what's been going on."

"He's really weird about Brand, and so jumpy and tired-," Archie tried to explain again.

"He's sick all the time," Veronica added.

"That doesn't sound like abuse, guys," Fred saw how serious the teens were and tried to control his own fury with what had just happened to Archie in order to address their worries. "That sounds to me like a whole lot of stress and a major adjustment period for a troubled kid. Remember, I've spent some time with Brandon. I just can't see him hurting Jughead."

"Me either," Betty spoke again. She was still horrified by the very idea of her friends' speculations, but now her anger echoed Fred's. "I've talked to Brandon. I've seen him with Jughead."

"I know! We all have," Archie threw his hands in the air in frustration, regretting the gesture as his arm screamed in pain. "He's a liar. I know he's lying."

"I met with him today," Betty protested.

"What?" Veronica asked, as all three stopped to stare at Betty. "Why?"

"I was worried about Jug's schoolwork. Brandon was too. We talked about schedules, and stuff that Jughead is too shy to share with him. He was glad to hear another perspective, and he's going to help ease up on his schedule."

"Really?" Veronica had been so ready to finally put her finger on the dynamic that had been bugging her for a couple of weeks now, and Archie's theory had fit perfectly. That wasn't adding up with Betty's experience, though.

"When you got in the car accident," Fred held Archie's gaze steadily, "where did Jughead go first for help?"

Archie hesitated, suddenly unsure of himself as well. "Sure, he went to Brandon... It explains everything, though."

"So… I take it that Jughead's not the only one adjusting, huh?" Fred felt like he had suddenly stumbled across a Twilight Zone that only the teens had known about up to now. His head was reeling as he absorbed the enormity of what they had been thinking, fearing, and dealing with since Brand had arrived weeks before. "Let's go start some grilling and talk this through. From the top."

"Yeah. Okay." Badly shaken, Betty was the first to turn and walk toward the house. The others followed, mildly embarrassed by their outburst, but hoping that Archie's dad really could take their worries and the events of the past weeks and frame them into something innocuous – a mundane story that made more sense than the nightmare scenarios they'd come up with.

00000

Jughead was wrong about there being no witnesses in the trailer. Five very serious looking men were sitting around the living room area and kitchen.

"Uh, hi," Jughead stumbled into the trailer when Brand shoved him through the doorway. His fearful obedience after Brand dragged him from the truck shifted to a potent combination of relief and anger as he realized they would not be alone in the trailer. This change of mode did nothing to improve Jughead's attitude, though, as he glowered at the unfamiliar group in his home. "Surprise party? Aw, you shouldn't have, Brand. It's not even my birthday."

"Jones," Brand snapped. He had been entirely unfazed by Jughead's escape attempt, but somehow the cheeky attitude in front of this group seemed to bother him. Jughead's eyes narrowed in response to this new information.

"What? No introductions to your friends?" Jughead gestured at the men, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Seriously, where are your manners, Brandon?"

"Everything... under control, Brand?" One of the men asked, a note of humor in his tone.

"Sit down, Jones," Brand's voice went back to being flat and emotionless, and Jughead couldn't stop his pulse from racing once again as he considered his options. Brand was gesturing to a kitchen chair that was in the living room. He was still between Jughead and the door. There were now a number of witnesses to whatever happened next. Sitting down might be the best option for the moment.

Jughead spun the chair around to straddle it backwards, leaning his arms on the back of the chair and looking expectantly from one man to the next in the trailer. "So? What's the occasion? I really hope there's cake."

"Roy," Brand sounded frustrated again, "is the bet off? We can prorate it, or whatever you want."

"Oh, it's off," another man spoke up vehemently. "I'll pay up in full if you'll please just deal with him so we don't end up dead by the end of the week."

Jughead's head snapped up at that. "Why would you end up dead?"

"Come on, Jones, it's time for bed," Brand stepped over to Jughead's chair. "Pit stop first; let's go."

"Brand, come on, it's..." Jughead glanced at the clock on the stove, "noon."

"You want a sandwich?" The amused man spoke up again, this time laughing shortly before his tone turned cold. "Hurry it up, Brand."

"Pit stop," Brand pointed firmly at the bathroom.

Jughead's reluctant acquiescence found him in the bedroom a few minutes later, eyeing the closet Brand was swiftly emptying onto his bed. "What are you doing?"

"You aren't the toughest kid I've babysat, and you're certainly not the brightest, but you are the one I've trained the most," Brand replied enigmatically as he pulled his duffel bag over to himself with one foot, while throwing the last of Jughead's stuff out of the closet with both hands. "Come here; I'm going to have to be thorough, and you're going to want to cooperate."

Jughead crossed his arms defiantly, but the ice had started circulating again in his blood with a vengeance as the situation began to compute for him. "Brand-,"

Brand unzipped the duffel and pulled out a large roll of duct tape. "We don't have a lot of options right now, Jones, but trust me: you don't want to find out what they are."

His stomach turning, Jughead reluctantly moved toward Brand when his guardian gestured impatiently to him a second time. "Brand, please don't-,"

"No options, Jones," Brand interrupted. With practiced moves, he guided Jughead firmly onto the floor and made quick work of incapacitating him with just a few strips of tape. Brandon then slowly worked through a more thorough process, to make sure Jughead wouldn't be able to free himself.

"You'll be uncomfortable, but nothing will get too bad. I'll be back for you in a few hours." Brand chucked Jughead under his heavily duct taped chin. "You'll be grateful I know what I'm doing when we have to get all that off and it doesn't take your skin with it."

Jughead blinked back tears of helplessness.

"Get some sleep. It will go faster. Little POW trick for you," Brand winked.

Jughead glared through his tears as Brandon closed the closet door. He concentrated on breathing through his nose and trying to calm down and think through what had just happened - what Brand had just told him - what was likely happening in the trailer.

But he was at a loss.

Jughead flexed his bound hands in the pitch darkness of the closet. His arms were long enough that, just as Brand had promised, nothing felt like it would cramp or become too painful in this position – but with his limbs taped so securely, he couldn't change position without that reality changing as well.

Left with two undesirable things to reflect on, (his friends' horrified response to his overly rough sparring with Archie, and his apparently more-abusive-than-he'd-realized guardian), Jughead bumped the back of his skull against the floor several times in frustration with himself for the missteps that had landed him in a closet until someone had the time or the will to deal with him. When even that pain didn't dislodge his realization that he was trapped between a rock and a hard place, Jughead decided to follow Brand's instructions and try to sleep through the ordeal.

Jughead closed his eyes and felt two tears escape as he settled in for a long wait.

00000

Chapter Text

Jughead jerked awake when the closet door opened. He fought with his position for a few moments before remembering where he was. Then, as he blinked his eyes into adjusting to the light that was blinding him, Jughead saw that Brand was taking a photo of him with his phone.

"Time to talk," Brand assessed the photo on his phone, typed briefly, and then placed the phone in his pocket. Jughead watched him, painfully aware that he was helpless and had lost all opportunity to escape - or to defend himself. "I'll untape you in a minute, but you've been trying to run. We need to discuss why that's a bad idea before I let you get your sea legs back."

Without the ability to voice agreement or disagreement, Jughead could only wait nervously.

"First, my work can be unpredictable," Brand gave Jughead a significant look. "If you and I have disagreements, I might have to relocate for a job, and look into enrolling you in an online school."

Jughead hadn't realized until that moment that he was only scared, and not yet terrified; the change in scale was so strong that he felt like he might be sick.

"Second, my colleagues are even less predictable, and they have some demands." Brand sighed. "And those are the nice colleagues. The less nice ones want to take custody of you, and they don't have my talent with duct tape. You won't be able to walk after a few hours with them, and they'll think that's a feature and not a bug."

Jughead's nostrils flared as he tried for a deep breath. He wondered if it was possible to hyperventilate while gagged, since he was decidedly lightheaded.

"Calm down, Jones," Brand reached down to grasp Jughead's chin and direct his gaze back up. "We won't let that happen. We're making a plan right here and now to get you to eighteen, off to college, and away from all of this. A real comeback kid story."

Brand grasped the duct tape over Jughead's mouth, slowly working off a sticky portion before it released easily where he had double-sided the tape to avoid too much contact with skin. "Don't yell, and don't hyperventilate."

Jughead cleared his throat once the tape was fully removed from his mouth. "Untie me, Brand." Both he and Brandon were surprised when the command came out forcefully.

"You got it, kid," Brand started to work on the tape wrapped around Jughead's long sleeves, holding him immobile without catching on his skin there either. "Good nap? It's almost five."

Deciding not to fight with Brand while he was still being untied, Jughead simply glared at his godfather.

"We can have a nice, easy weekend," Brand continued as he finally got enough tape unwrapped for Jughead to bring his arms up to his chest defensively. "You'll go back to school on Monday. The only change is that you need to have a sleepover with your friends if I'm working here at the trailer, or else I'm going to need you in here."

Jughead didn't realize he was reflexively pushing away from Brandon until his godfather reached over and pinned him down onto his back again.

"Hey, that is not my decision," Brand used his weight to press Jughead to the floor. "If you prefer, I can put you to sleep for those meetings. I just thought you'd want a break from that."

"You've been drugging me?" Jughead jerked his body under Brand ineffectually. "Who are you? Why did you come here?"

Brand continued to hold Jughead down, waiting for him to calm down so Brand could finish releasing his legs from the duct tape. "I'm in a very dangerous line of work, and you've gotten yourself right into the middle of it."

Jughead gave Brand an accusing glare. "No, Jones, I did not get you into any of this. That was all you." Brand spoke truthfully. "I'm just figuring out what I need to do to keep you alive until you are out of the crosshairs. Then you can go on your merry way."

"You think you're... protecting me by tying me up?" Jughead was shocked to feel tears well up in his eyes at even the remote possibility that Brand was still on his side, protecting him, helping him - and that he wasn't trapped with a dangerous madman. It was so tempting to believe that Brand was just a special ops guy turned criminal, who was ineptly trying to protect his godson from a life of crime.

By duct taping him in a closet.

"Do you recall what happened last time I told you to be quiet in here?" Brand laughed briefly. "That's still biting us both, believe me. The guys I met with today won't take so kindly to you overhearing anything."

"What..." Jughead felt like he was losing his mind to even consider cooperating, and believing Brand, but he asked the question anyway. "What are their conditions? For me staying here with you in Riverdale, and there not being any trouble?"

"That's all," Brand shrugged expansively, releasing Jughead and allowing him to sit up. "Let me finish untying you now."

"Just... stay with someone else when you have a meeting? Nothing else?" Jughead warily repeated. "And if I can't stay with someone, I can, what - get a motel room?"

"Hell no," Brand shook his head as he peeled back layers of tape from Jughead's knees. "You're with one of your friends or you're here. I lose track of you even once, and you're going to be homeschooling from this closet until you're physically moving into a dorm room."

Jughead cautiously stretched his legs out straight in front of himself. They were sore, and they protested the last few inches as his knees extended, but Brand was as good as his word; nothing was damaged.

Brandon started unwrapping Jughead's ankles. "I'll be locking you in your room at night, too. That's primarily to protect you, since I need to be able to account for your whereabouts at all times or I will lose custody of you."

Jughead shook his head in denial. "Nobody can take custody away from you for not knowing where I am."

"I don't mean legal custody, kid," Brand peeled a few layers of tape off of Jughead's shoes. "You and I are on very thin ice with very unforgiving people."

Jughead watched as Brand pulled the last pieces of tape free. Brandon stood and then offered Jughead a hand up. "Take it slowly."

"Brand?" Jughead groaned as he got onto his feet, and grabbed the closet doorframe to steady himself. "Can't you just leave town? I'll move back in with the Andrews family, and we'll figure something out from there. It doesn't have to be like this."

"I'm not leaving you to deal with this on your own," Brand sighed. "It's too late for a break that clean, anyway. If I left you here alone, they'd assume I made a run for it with a guilty conscience, and it would be open season. On both of us."

"Oh," Jughead repeated, at a loss. "We need each other, then."

"You bet," Brand clasped Jughead's shoulder, happily noting that he seemed steadier on his feet already. "We're in this together now, for better or worse."

00000

Kevin didn't particularly mind Mondays. He was a good student, and always enjoyed the chance to catch up with friends and to participate in activities as he looked ahead eagerly to college. He did dread this particular Monday, though, and he was in the uncomfortable position of wanting to blame Jughead for that - but knowing that he really needed to blame Joaquin, his boyfriend.

Apparently Kevin had to deliver a message to Jughead. Apparently it was urgent. Apparently Kevin was the only person who could do this without 'arousing suspicion.'

Kevin wasn't entirely sure what the message meant, but he was under incredibly strict orders (something he really didn't like introduced into his dating relationship) not to text or E-mail Jughead. It had to be delivered in person.

Kevin pulled his shoes on with a frustrated yank, irritated that this was involving him and Joaquin once again. He hoped Jughead would be as cool about it as he had been at Pop's, but he had his doubts. Even though the cryptic message didn't make sense, it sounded ominous.

00000

"So we grab him tonight and just see what happens?"

Joe raised an eyebrow at Perry, who was a decent enforcer but tended to overthink things from time to time. "Yes. Brand will make a move, and then we'll know what to do from there."

"Oka-ay," Perry shrugged. He caught Joe's expression and straightened up quickly, though. "We'll have him here by midnight."

"See that you do," Joe nodded briskly to the four men he'd tasked with this job - since two had failed so miserably. "I won't be asking a third time."

The four men hurried on their way with the clear threat ringing in their ears.

00000

Betty headed into the lunchroom with Veronica, chatting about her scheduled meeting with Mrs. Cardell later that day, planned for right after classes ended.

Betty, Veronica, and Archie had briefly attempted to clear the air before school, when Jughead gave them a shame-faced apology for Saturday. There hadn't been time for much discussion before classes began, but the girls had both heaved a sigh of relief when Archie had matter-of-factly shown off his bruised arm and explained that the bone was bruised as well - but that nothing was fractured or broken, so no real harm was done. Jughead appeared to be his usual exhausted self, dark smudges standing out under his eyes, but everyone noted with relief that he looked nowhere near as sickly as he'd appeared on other occasions over the past few weeks.

It seemed like Fred had been right after all.

"Hey, do you want to come along to the meeting for backup, and maybe get burgers after?" Veronica asked Archie and Jughead as she and Betty reached their usual lunch table. "Betty's been really picked on by this woman, so we're braced for a fight. I'm thinking victory milkshakes are totally going to be called for."

"What's going on?" Jughead shot a confused smile up at Betty.

"Her paper," Archie nudged Jughead. "You know. The history one we all read."

"Oh! Yes!" Jughead seemed to shake himself a bit, recalling the whole story. "Yeah, sure. I'll, uh, text Brand and make sure that's okay."

Jughead looked from one friend to the next, noticing everyone else hesitating at the mention of Brandon. The subject now seemed incredibly awkward in light of their previous suspicions and now Jughead's apparent return to normalcy.

"Look, I'm not grounded any more, as long as I apologize to Fred too," Jughead glanced at Archie. "Also, can I stay over tonight?"

"Uh, I think so," Archie blinked. "I can ask my dad."

"Thanks," Jughead focused on his sandwich. "That would be great. Brand's got a business meeting, and I want to steer clear. Stay out of the way."

Betty looked from Jughead to Veronica, her expression telegraphing confusion to her best friend. Veronica shrugged. It was weird for Jughead to want to stay over with Archie on a weekday, and after the rough weekend this seemed particularly out of the blue.

"Yeah, that sounds boring," Archie accepted the explanation easily. "I'll ask."

00000

Joaquin didn't like the scrutiny from the four older, much-larger Serpents as they waited for word from FP, and for word from Kevin about Jughead. Joaquin was hunched over the bar at the Whyte Wyrm while the other four surrounded a table and drank whiskey.

"Ah, but you didn't hear his tone. FP is going to see people buried for this if we don't move quickly," Sark intoned darkly to his companions at the table. "He is livid. Wants Jughead extracted by the end of the day or he'll know the reason why."

"You sure you got the message through?" Barlow addressed Joaquin across the room. "School should be out by now."

"Kevin knows what to tell him, and he'll do it face to face," Joaquin assured the heavily scarred man, hoping that was the truth. "I talked him through it."

"Huh," Barlow's grunt was far from satisfied. "FP has questions for you, boy."

Joaquin had already been made well aware of that. "I wasn't even with you when you pulled Jughead aside to chat," Joaquin had repeated this several times as well, to no avail. He was clearly going to be scapegoated if FP did indeed want blood in response to whatever had caused him to go nuclear the night before, setting all of this into motion.

"You're the one who has the connections with the Northside," Sark spoke with finality. "You'll answer his questions, Joaquin, and he better like your answers. But first we follow this through until junior's here where FP wants him."

"I know," Joaquin grimaced as he turned away from the men toward the bar. "I got that much loud and clear." He sank back into his dark musings about the bleak future of his relationship with Kevin - a safer topic than musing on the bleak future he himself might be facing if FP was as angry as the others believed. This was not what anyone had signed up for, let alone expected.

They resumed waiting for word in silence.

00000

"Hey, Jughead, can I talk to you for a minute?" Kevin was upbeat, but his expression was clearly strained as he caught Jughead in the hall with Archie, heading to meet Veronica and Betty in the History classroom.

"I said I'd show up for a meeting Betty's having," Jughead replied lightly. Then he got a good look at Kevin's dark expression, and sighed. "Can you call me later to talk?"

"I kind of need to talk to you now. Here." Kevin looked like he could feel his own skin crawling as he admitted that, and Jughead's unhappy suspicions were confirmed: this was about the Serpents, and Joaquin.

"Archie, I'll be right there," Jughead turned to his friend and gestured for him to go ahead to the classroom and meeting with Mrs. Cardell. "What's up, Kev?"

"Lucky me," Kevin said, adopting a sarcastic tone of faux brightness, "I have a message for you. I'm a messenger now for the Serpents, special delivery. I just can't tell you how excited that makes me."

"Kevin," Jughead was losing patience. "There's no love lost here either, believe me. What's the message already? I've really got to get to that meeting."

"Ahem," Kevin cleared his throat theatrically, to underscore his annoyance one last time. "You'll sleep at the worm or else someone will be food for it."

"Are you serious?" Jughead rolled his eyes. "What kind of asinine code is that?"

"Look, I'm just the messenger," Kevin was already moving away. "Joaquin said you should pack."

"Oh," The pieces fell into place for Jughead as Kevin disappeared down the hall. 'The Wyrm. They want me to stay there for a while.' Jughead reflexively looked at his cellphone, where the notification for Brand's texts agreeing that he could go to the meeting with Mrs. Cardell and then to burgers at Pop's were still visible. 'Maybe they know more than I thought,' Jughead was still hesitant to trust the gang, but he had to admit that the Whyte Wyrm was more appealing than going back to the trailer. There was still the problem of going to Archie's, though, and Jughead wasn't sure how to get a message back that he couldn't meet with the Serpents for another day or two.

This was getting complicated quickly.

Jughead jogged in the direction that Archie had headed, his mind racing as he worked through the options. None made sense just yet, but it seemed like the right combination had to be there somewhere. He just had to figure it out.

00000

The meeting was not going well when Jughead arrived at the classroom.

"I really do not appreciate your making this meeting an event, Elizabeth," Mrs. Cardell was gathering up her books and papers from the desk and she eyed Archie's large frame nervously as he stood between her and the classroom door, beside Veronica. "The grade is final, and I think it might be time to arrange a meeting with the principal about your persistent questioning of authority in this classroom. It is getting disruptive," Mrs. Cardell gestured in frustration when she saw Jughead round the corner and enter the classroom. "Exactly! One more, why not? Private meetings really aren't respected by girls like you, are they?"

Betty seemed to be shrinking under the barrage of condescension and disdain, and she felt lightheaded with shock at the way the confrontation was playing out.

"Um, no, I don't-," Betty attempted.

"Really, you expect me to believe you aren't trying to intimidate me? Gang up on me after school hours?" Mrs. Cardell brushed past Archie, making her way to the door of the classroom. "This only confirms-,"

"Wait a minute," Jughead stepped up into the doorway, blocking it with his stance. "She came to you to talk. If you want to talk to Betty privately, do it in the classroom. We'll wait in the hallway. Will that work for you?" Jughead stared down the teacher, an eminently reasonable expression on his face. "I know I'd want to have that conversation behind me before I went to Principal Weatherbee about a student like Betty."

Mrs. Cardell stopped, and for a few long seconds she was silent as she weighed her options. Finally she spun around, and slammed her bookbag back onto her desk. "Fine. Leave, and I'll talk with Betty alone in here."

Betty shot a look at Jughead that suggested this was the very last thing she wanted, but Jughead gave her a reassuring nod and a small smile of encouragement.

"We'll see you after, then," Veronica shot Betty a tight smile as well, and she and Archie joined Jughead in the hallway to wait.

"What did Kevin want?" Archie leaned against the wall after they closed the door to the classroom. "Everything okay with him?"

"It was weird," Jughead shrugged. "Did your dad say I could stay over tonight?"

"Oh, um," Archie fished his phone out of his pocket. "I haven't heard back from him yet. I might have to come pick you up later, since he's working late tonight. Is that okay?"

It would have to be, Jughead thought. "Sure, man. Just let me know."

The classroom door burst open as Mrs. Cardell left in a hurry.

"That... was fast," Veronica said.

"She's letting me rewrite!" Betty sang out from the classroom, her expression conveying her surprise. "Jughead, I think it was because of what you said. That Principal Weatherbee would look into this more carefully. Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Betty gave Jughead a hug, half hopping into his arms.

"That was very smooth," Veronica agreed with a smile. "Nice going, Jones."

Archie grinned as well. "You want to talk to my math teacher?"

"Celebratory milkshakes!" Veronica started to steer the group down the hall toward their cars.

Jughead leaned into Betty, and watching Archie loop an arm around Veronica's waist as they scurried down the school steps, he felt a heady rush of relief. The Serpents checking in on him wasn't what he'd expected, and not what he'd prefer, but beggars can't be choosers - and let's face it, he'd take backup wherever he could get it at this point. Moreover, with his friends together like this, he suddenly felt like he really would be okay.

Jughead and Betty shared a laugh at their boisterous friends as they followed suit and joined hands while they hurried to catch up and head to Pop's Chock'Lit Shoppe.

00000

Later that evening, Jughead struggled to remember what that satisfied, happy feeling had felt like. Archie had dropped by the trailer to let him know that Fred had declined the request for a Monday night sleepover.

"I swear it's not about this weekend," Archie said with a sympathetic grimace and gesture toward his injured arm. "It's just the school night thing, and he's out late tonight. He actually wants me to get home right now, or else I'd hang out here for a while."

Brand was clearing up dishes in the kitchen area of the trailer, and Archie's eyes started tracking him as the movement caught his eye.

"Uh, will you show me the homework for math before I go, though?" Archie gestured toward Jughead's room.

"The what?" Jughead's mind had begun racing as he tried to come up with a backup plan - any backup plan - that could get him out of the trailer for the evening while still meeting the requirements of Brand's 'colleagues.'

"Come on, I'll show you," Archie lowered his eyes as he pulled Jughead past Brand and into his bedroom. He pushed the door closed and dropped his voice. "Look, Jug, is everything okay? You look... kind of upset that you can't come over. And Brandon is hovering."

Jughead's eyes flew to the bedroom door, where he was suddenly certain Brand was listening. "Archie-,"

"It's okay; you can tell me what's going on. I've been worried, and things are clearly off," Archie cocked his head to one side, waiting. Something caught his eye as he did so, though, and distracted him as Jughead made the usual protestations about adjusting and Brandon not being familiar with teenagers. There was a roll of duct tape lying on the floor by the closet, and several long pieces discarded on the floor nearby. The closet was completely empty, and a brand-new deadbolt had clearly been installed in its door.

"Um, okay, Jughead," Archie didn't fully tune in to what his friend was saying. He backed up to the bedroom door, and as he opened it he noticed the second deadbolt. On the outside of the door. Archie had to fight to keep himself from scrambling out of the trailer and taking his friend with him, but he sensed Brand behind him as he tried to calmly bid Jughead a good night.

"I'll see you Monday!" Archie called over his shoulder with an overly enthusiastic smile as he tried not to let on that anything was amiss.

Jughead watched the door to the trailer shut, and his heart sank as he heard Archie's car leave. Brand walked up behind the teen, dropping his hands heavily onto Jughead's shoulders, and Jughead merely looked up at him expressionlessly. He knew better than to try to resist as Brandon ushered him back toward the bedroom.

"Isn't today Monday?" Brand mused with a shake of his head. "Bright friend you've got there."

Jughead's mind was racing with barely contained panic as he watched Brandon retrieve the duct tape from the floor.

"Pit stop?" Brand offered.

00000

Archie drove until he was out of the trailer park, and found a safe place to hide his car for a few hours. If there had been any doubt left in his mind about Brandon, the expression on Jughead's face as Archie left would have erased it. Archie had not seen that expression since Jughead's father had been arrested for murdering Jason Blossom.

Something was very wrong, and Archie was going to get to the bottom of this, once and for all.

Archie doubled back through the woods, heading for the back wall of the trailer and the window to Jughead's bedroom.

00000

Jughead took Brand up on the offer of a stop in the restroom, and as he washed his hands he took the opportunity to splash some water on his face and try to calm his breathing. He'd been positive that Archie would let him stay overnight, and that he would miss this evening's meeting at the trailer without any trouble.

'You just have to sleep,' Jughead coached himself, looking into his own eyes in the mirror, and scowling at the raw fear he saw there. 'Just relax and get through this.'

Brand knocked once on the door.

Jughead startled so hard that the bar of soap on the side of the sink clattered to the floor noisily. His hands were shaking visibly as he retrieved it.

'Brand can't hurt you without getting himself in trouble,' Jughead didn't know this for sure, but tried desperately to convince himself of this as he tried to still his shaking hands. He moved to exit the bathroom. 'You just need to work together and things will be fine.'

"Jones, let's get a move on. I've got to go to them tonight," Brand ordered.

"You're leaving me here?" Jughead walked into his bedroom and folded his arms tightly, trying to hide the tremors that betrayed his panic at the thought of being left tied up in the closet a second time. "Then you don't have to-,"

"Look, I'm not messing around. I'm in a hurry, and this is not a discussion," Brand's eyes were cold and his tone was flat. "I can make this painful without doing any permanent damage, so why don't you avoid giving me any reason to do that?" Brand waved Jughead over to him.

Jughead willed his legs to move, and to comply with Brand. He found himself shaking his head, though, unable to move toward Brand despite his threat. "Brand, I can't-,"

"No skin off my nose," Brand replied dismissively, moving toward Jughead with the duct tape in one hand.

There was no thought process between Jughead quivering in fear and his sudden, smooth drop into a fighting stance. Instinct took over, and Jughead would later be unable to recall where he'd first heard the phrase that suddenly echoed in his mind: 'Fight now or die later.'

"You do not want to do this when I'm on the clock, Jones," Brand growled, matching his stance and waving one frustrated hand in the air for emphasis.

Jughead didn't have the wherewithal to tell Brand that he didn't have a choice. He had to defend himself.

00000

Chapter Text

"You do not want to do this when I'm on the clock, Jones," Brand's gesture was frustrated, but his expression was murderous.

Jughead was operating on pure instinct, and had no way to explain that he no longer had any control over what his body was doing. He'd experienced his flight instinct before with Brand, but this was his first introduction to a visceral fight response - and it overcame all rational thought as it swept through Jughead.

"We won't be doing this twice," Brand promised as he reached to grab Jughead.

The training did its job.

A few tense minutes passed, in which Jughead's room was summarily trashed and Brand was given a demonstration that his lesson on improvised weaponry had not fallen on deaf ears.

Jughead fought like his survival depended on it, but could only manage to stay one step ahead of his guardian - and both of them knew that would not last long.

00000

Archie had made his way back to the trailer, and slowed his pace to make sure his approach to Jughead's window was quiet. As he got close, though, he realized that his stealth wasn't necessary. At first he thought he was hearing a loud television show or movie, but a horrifyingly heavy thud against the side of the trailer startled him and he realized that Brandon and Jughead must be training inside.

Abandoning his goal of remaining quiet, Archie instead tried not to be visible to anyone inside of the trailer as he climbed up to peer carefully into Jughead's room and find out what exactly was going on.

Archie's eyebrows shot up as the first thing he saw was Jughead grasping his beloved laptop and bringing it down onto Brand's shoulder and neck with all of his strength.

Brand absorbed the blow with remarkable implacability, grabbing the broken laptop in one hand and grabbing the scruff of Jughead's neck with the other hand.

Torn between wanting to distract Brand from hurting Jughead and wanting to wait for the conflict to end and then sneaking Jughead out of the trailer as soon as there was an opportunity, Archie was still frozen in shock and indecision when Brand threw the laptop aside and pulled Jughead's hair and scalp backward, hard.

00000

Jughead felt his spine arch back painfully, and he had just enough time to wonder if Brand had broken his neck before Brandon jerked him forcefully off his feet and slammed him face first down onto the floorboards. Jughead felt his nose gush blood and his eyes bruise painfully as he impacted the floor.

The duct tape had ended up on the bed, and Jughead choked on the blood running freely from his nose and down his throat as Brand forced his arms behind him and began trussing him up quickly and, as promised, painfully.

"Gonna need a picture of this," Brand muttered to himself, his expression oddly satisfied as he noticed Jughead's rapidly blackening eyes. "Feet first, though..."

Jughead knew in theory what a hogtie was, but he was shocked to learn how excruciating the position could be.

"Brand, you can't leave me like this," Jughead was already gasping in agony at the strain on his joints and muscles, and Brandon was still reinforcing the tape around his legs. "Please-,"

Brand carelessly slapped a strip of duct tape across Jughead's face, shoving the teen roughly onto his back and pulling his legs awkwardly to one side as he completed his work of making sure the tape would hold.

It took a few moments for Jughead to realize that his nose was still filling with blood - and that the position and the tape made it impossible to breathe. Brand was still holding Jughead in place, causing him to drown on his own blood, and his frantic efforts to break out of his guardian's grip were fruitless.

Jughead was dimly aware that he would use up his oxygen more quickly by fighting, but he was beyond logic and his body had clearly made the decision without his input: this time he was going down fighting.

"Stop thrashing," Brand dropped his left elbow sharply into Jughead's gut for emphasis before Brand noticed the blood bubbling from his nose and realized what was happening. "You see? See what happens when I'm in a hurry and you make things difficult?" Brand lectured the teen as he slowly peeled back the painful strip of tape from Jughead's face, ignoring the desperation in the teen's eyes in favor of not taking a layer of skin off with the heavy tape. As the gag came free, Brand flipped Jughead onto his stomach and watched as he spat blood onto the floor between harsh, sobbing gasps for air.

"If you keep quiet and don't move, I'll find something breathable so you don't die while I'm gone," Brand looked around and grabbed one of Jughead's plaid shirts. He tore off a sleeve of the soft material and, after knotting it into a substantial mass, pulled it firmly into Jughead's mouth. "Behave yourself and I'll loosen all of this a little before I go," Brand relented as he saw the intensity of the strain Jughead was under. He patted Jughead's ankles and shook his head ruefully at the teen's wince and muted whimper. "This is why you don't pick fights you can't finish, Jones."

Brand took a photo with his phone, and then spent a few moments removing the worst pieces of tape forcing Jughead into a painful position. Once it was clear that Jughead was uncomfortable but no longer being tortured by his forced position, Brand nodded in satisfaction before locking him into the closet and leaving for his meeting.

00000

Archie was glad he had decided to wait for Brandon to leave. The more he'd seen, the more convinced he was that Brandon could have taken him in a fight, and then he would be no help to Jughead after all. Recalling his father's advice, Archie hesitated a second time. It seemed like he should just untie Jughead and leave, but his dad had lectured him on the importance of going for help first and not risking getting caught in a bad situation - and making things worse.

Deciding to split the difference, Archie crouched and pulled out his cell phone. He froze, waiting silently when the trailer door slammed open and then shut, and he heard Brand get into his truck. Once the truck drove away, though, he dialed his dad's number.

00000

Perry eyed the front of the trailer, noting that the lights were off even though they had clearly seen only Brand emerge.

"He may have made our job a whole lot easier," Perry broke the silence in which the four had been waiting. "Let's go get the kid."

They invaded the trailer quietly and systematically, leaving the lights off and using small flashlights to explore the space speedily. They were surprised when they didn't find Jones right away.

"Closet," Mike hissed triumphantly from across the bedroom after a few minutes of tense searching. "I guess he's some kind of a hostage, because he's tied up. The closet was deadbolted shut."

"Huh," Perry was surprised. "Convenient." He considered this for a few moments. "Let's torch the place, then. If he's a hostage, there's someone else involved. That's probably where the money is. We might as well cut Brand out at this point so we don't have him coming after us too."

The others didn't hesitate, and began soaking down the trailer with the kerosene they'd brought in case of this eventuality.

Jughead could only wonder what new hell this would turn out to be. He was hoisted awkwardly over one man's shoulder in the dark, and he wasn't surprised when his bruised face made painful contact with the doorframe when exiting his bedroom. He wondered where Brand was, and also wondered whether he really wished Brand would show up or not. Could things really get any worse? He had a feeling he was about to find out.

00000

Archie was on the phone with his dad, trying to explain where he was and what had happened, when the flames roared up behind him, engulfing the trailer with startling speed.

"Oh my God, Dad," Archie's jaw dropped as the trailer transformed into an inferno before his eyes, "The trailer's on fire. It's bad. I've gotta get Jughead out."

Archie dropped the phone, ignoring the tinny shouting that was audibly coming from his father's side of the conversation.

Running to the front of the trailer, Archie barely noticed a car roar to life in the night and speed away from the trailer park, even as a few curious folks came out to see what was going on. Archie ran to the door at the front of the trailer, but when he opened it he saw that the fire had already engulfed the bedroom and much of the kitchen.

"Don't be a fool, boy!" A Serpent who had come to investigate the flames ran up, colliding with Archie, who was poised to enter the trailer in search of Jughead despite the flames and the harsh coughing which he abruptly realized was coming from his own burning throat and lungs. The Serpent held onto Archie, preventing him from going after Jughead.

"He's in the bedroom! He's locked in the closet and he can't get out!" Archie tried to make the Serpent understand what was going on. "Jughead Jones is in there!"

"He what, now?" The Serpent holding Archie shoved him away from the trailer and reassessed the burning structure swiftly. "Well, if you're right, he's done for. FP is going to kill us all."

"Who started the fire?" Another Serpent Archie didn't recognize demanded. "Did you see?"

"We have to get Jughead out!" Archie shouted in response. "Who cares how the fire started? Just get him out!"

Sirens became audible in the trailer park, and everyone started moving back to make space for the fire trucks.

Fred Andrews' truck beat them there.

"Archie!" Fred barely got the truck into park before he was out and grabbing his son. "You're okay, thank God, you're okay."

"Jughead's inside," Archie repeated, tears starting to course down his face now that his father had arrived. "We have to get him out; he's locked in the closet, dad."

"Oh, Archie," Fred took one look at the trailer, which had clearly been doused with a whole lot of accelerant and seemed like it might already be starting to burn down. "I'm so sorry, Archie."

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Brand was summoned back by the panic surrounding the trailer park, and he had to admit that he was almost unsurprised to find that the excitement centered around his own trailer. This job had taken on an aura of being cursed, and as much as he had hoped Jones would be a success story, things had admittedly gotten out of control.

Now he had to figure out what to do about Blossom, before Blossom came after him. Brand returned to his truck, knowing he had some tools stored there that could make it look like a suicide. Striking first wasn't the way to make a great reputation for future jobs, but he could be careful and nobody would connect the dots unless they knew a whole lot more about the arrangement - and those were all people who would support his actions fully, as they had just as much to lose.

Having made his plan, Brand drove off. He took just a few moments to consider how horrifying Jones' death must have been, and then shook off the mental image with a cold shudder. Brandon could only imagine that Joe had been the culprit, and he mentally added him to the list - just after Blossom.

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Chapter Text

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Jughead had never given much thought to the shape of a car's floor before, but since he'd been thrust down behind the front seats and two men had climbed into the back with hushed instructions to 'keep him down,' he'd become intimately acquainted with the fact that the car floor was not level. And that when two sets of boots were pressing down on the back of his knees and neck respectively, his abdomen was bruisingly crushed against the raised portion in the middle.

Jughead wondered if the trunk would have been more comfortable.

The car drove for quite a while in the night, with all occupants silently waiting for whatever would come next.

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Fred was still standing outside of the trailer, watching the structure reduce from burning ruins down to glowing embers and ash, when the news came: Clifford Blossom had committed suicide. If he had not been in the trailer park, it was likely that the information would not have been immediately accompanied by news of FP's exoneration - but there were dozens of Serpents gathered around the dying fire, and every one of them seemed to have insider information that the suicide would lead to FP's eventual release.

Archie stood beside his father in a state of shock, and Fred was not sure he'd heard the men nearby talking loudly about Blossom and FP. Sheriff Keller walked over again, offering Fred a grim nod before turning his attention to Archie yet again, no doubt with still more questions about what he'd witnessed.

"Archie," Keller spoke reluctantly, "do you think you could sketch me a floorplan of the trailer?"

Archie looked sharply at the sheriff. "So you can find…" Archie's voice trailed off, and a moment later the reason for his hesitation became clear when he took a quick few steps away and was violently ill on the ground.

"I was wondering when that would happen," Fred intoned very quietly to Keller. "I've been inside the trailer a few times; I can probably tell you what you need to know."

"If he was in the closet…" Keller shrugged helplessly as they both looked over at the dying fire. "Do you know exactly where we can look, to confirm that the worst has actually happened here?"

Fred sighed deeply. Archie was coughing and rubbing his hands over his face, but seemed to be done retching for the moment. "I couldn't be sure."

Archie walked back over, this time running his hands through his hair in agitation. "I can show you."

Keller handed Archie a pad of paper and a pen. "Try to get the scale as close as you can. I'm going to ask an investigator to suit up. We can at least confirm that we don't have a missing person case on our hands."

"You don't, Sheriff Keller," Archie's bleary eyes and soot-smeared face hardened in anger.

Fred rested a hand on Archie's shoulder as his son began to sketch.

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FP was still stewing over the photo of his boy, restrained with duct tape and lying in a closet with tear streaks on his face and squinting into the light like he'd been left in the dark for quite some time. He knew what was at risk, mobilizing the Serpents and sending them in to retrieve a hostage, but that photo had shaken him into taking that risk.

His agitated pacing continued, and FP slammed his hands against the wall, kicked against the side of his bed, and lashed out at anything else that came into range. Even the guards were giving him a wide berth today.

"If you took just five minutes to reason with him, talk to him…" FP's ranting slowly increased in volume as he paced. "He's not a fighter, not a runner." FP clanged his bed violently against the wall. "Why don't you just come for me? I'm the one you want!"

"Yeah, we know." Apparently not every guard was steering clear of FP's rage. "Just found out, actually." The guard stood before FP's cell with his hands on his hips. "What kind of monster would let his own son be taken hostage and killed?"

"WHAT?" FP roared, grabbing the bars. "What happened to him? Who hurt him?"

"Clifford Blossom," the guard shrugged. "I assumed you knew. Why would you have confessed if you didn't know?"

FP fell silent for several long moments, his mind racing and his eyes tracking wildly as he tried to absorb the fact that Jughead was dead and the whole plot unraveling.

"Nobody hurt him, though," the guard looked confused as he reflected on FP's words. "He committed suicide. His wife found him."

"His wife?" FP's horrified confusion turned into a desperate hope and he gripped the bars tightly. "Wait a minute. Who exactly is dead?"

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Jughead was feeling more and more like a backseat kidnapper. Maybe this was one of the skill sets Brand had meant when he talked about teaching him, he thought with a grimace.

He'd been allowed to use the restroom, which had necessitated untaping him. Jughead was actually relieved when they left the thick cloth gag in place - he didn't want the risk of someone making the same mistake Brand had, and not paying enough attention - or caring - if he suffocated due to the now-dried-but-terribly-swollen bloody nose he'd been given.

Jughead was less relieved when he returned from the restroom and was re-tied with rope that cut painfully into his wrists, behind his back. He suspected that he could work his hands past his feet, which would allow him to remove the gag, but made no move to try that while there were four men in the room with him.

"So, what was Brand's interest in you?" One of the men asked.

Jughead raised his eyebrows and tipped his head to one side questioningly. If they didn't remove his gag, he certainly wasn't going to tell them anything. Or reveal that he might be able to remove the gag.

"I think he's playing dumb," another man offered with a grin. "He doesn't look real chatty to me."

"That's really too bad," the first man addressed Jughead again, this time his tone clearly indicating that he was being facetious. "It's not surprising to find out that you're trouble, given the look of your face, but you could have learned something from the last person who beat you."

"Slow learner," the second man agreed. "Needs some reinforcement."

That was when Jughead recognized, embarrassingly late, that this was not actually questioning, but some sort of sick preamble to something he really didn't want to experience.

"Mmmm," Jughead vocalized through his gag in an attempt to indicate his willingness to speak up, and stop the conversation's ominous direction.

The men began to circle him in the small room.

"That wasn't what he asked," a third man spoke to Jughead. "Let's try this again."

Jughead decided it was time to go for broke when the man reached out to grab his shoulder. He dropped to the floor and, sure enough, he could slip his arms around his legs and was able to pull his gag down around his neck in one swift movement.

Lying on the floor wasn't the strongest position to start from, but Jughead's muscles tensed as he waited for one of the four to step too close. Brand had certainly attacked him while he was down often enough, and he was more than ready to make this seemingly inevitable beating a two-way fight.

"What do you want to know?" Jughead asked, glaring up at the men.

He was surprised when the four broke into loud laughter.

"All right, then," the first man continued chuckling. "I like the spirit of cooperation. Let's talk."

The four stepped back out of threatening proximity, which allowed Jughead to scramble to his feet.

It was clear he couldn't escape while he was outnumbered four to one, but Jughead scanned the room swiftly for threats and opportunities. The moment the odds changed, he planned to be ready.

"Tell us about Brand."

Jughead shrugged. "Not a lot to tell, since it's classified. I'll tell you everything he told me, though."

The men's laughter this time did not indicate grudging respect, but mockery.

"Oh, this should be rich," one of the men snorted. "What exactly did Brandon have you convinced of, kid?"

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At this point Joe was sure of only one thing: Jones truly did not know why he was being held hostage.

This was just one more disappointment in a night full of them. Blossom was dead, Brand had disappeared and not given away so much as a hint about Jones' purpose or value as a hostage, and now even Jughead himself had turned out to be useless as a source of information - or leverage.

Joe had briefly considered ransoming Jones back to the Serpents, but knew from reports that the teenager was already presumed dead. Kicking that nest without necessity would mean inviting some long-term trouble, and it might just be better to make that rumor a reality rather than give any indication that Jones had not died in the trailer fire.

This would take a little more consideration, Joe decided, but so far it was not looking to be worth the time or risk to keep Jones alive.

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Brand had caught wind of the location of Joe's local base for dealings a while back but, not being suicidal, he had never had any reason to act on that information.

It was unclear to him whether he was now at least slightly suicidal, but the resounding success with Clifford Blossom had certainly emboldened Brandon and he abandoned his vehicle to approach Joe's unassuming rural house just a few miles outside of Riverdale through the woods.

Running fully on adrenaline after a sleepless night, Brand didn't hesitate to approach the house despite his lack of a firm plan. He had options; burning it down suggested a certain symmetry that appealed to him, but he wanted to know exactly what he'd be torching and how much inconvenience that would represent for Joe. He wanted to savor it. That meant a little exploration first, and probably a few of his other options being exercised in the process. Brand unzipped his backpack and hefted a lethally heavy wrench as he determined precisely which entrance to the house would feel the most satisfying to smash through.

He was ready to do some damage.

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Jughead was dismayed to find that the men made sure at least three were in the room with him at all times. He'd worked up enough nerve to take his chances with two, even with his hands tied in front of him, but they seemed to sense that.

It was also disturbing that they had been so alert for hours. At this point Jughead was exhausted from his vigil through the night, watching for any opportunity to escape, and he figured the men had to be at least tired from the hours they had spent eyeing him and talking among themselves. They hadn't tied him up further and left him alone, though, and as they all stood there in the same standoff they'd begun with, it seemed like they were waiting for something to happen.

Jughead didn't think he was going to like whatever came next.

"Hey," the door to the room opened slightly and one of the four men who had abducted Jughead appeared. "We're going to make a run to the swamp. Need a hand?"

When the four turned to appraise Jughead, he figured this was what came next. He'd been right: he didn't like the sound of it at all.

"Uh, guys," Jughead raised his bound hands in front of him, "I can probably help. I've worked some construction, and you know, if it's something you need a local to direct you on-,"

"I wouldn't mind a hand," one of the men in the room addressed the one in the hallway. "He's been tougher than he looks, and Brand clearly had to hurt him pretty badly to get him in that closet."

Jughead swallowed hard as the four men advanced on him. 'Fight now or die later,' his thoughts shouted at him.

"What are you waiting for?" Brand's voice suddenly boomed from the doorway, startling everyone. "I thought I taught you better than this, Jones."

"Brand?" Jughead was shocked by his guardian's unexpected appearance, but apparently he was more focused on the imminent altercation - he landed a swift kick to the back of one man's knees before anyone else had recovered.

"Attaboy," Brand launched himself into the fray as the other three began to react without a coordinated plan.

Brand was indeed deadly with a wrench, and had violently dispatched each of the men to unconsciousness or worse before he turned to Jughead.

"You're alive," Brand observed, pulling out a knife and cutting Jughead's bonds. "That's going to surprise a lot of people."

"No thanks to you," Jughead responded darkly.

"None?" Brand grabbed Jughead's shoulder and started hustling him out of the basement. "No thanks at all? That's cold; they were going to dump you in a swamp before I showed up. They aren't alone in here, by the way, so let's go before this turns into a gunfight."

Jughead had begun trying to free his shoulder from Brandon's grip, but at those words he decided his best bet was to at least get clear of these people before trying to get free from his abusive godfather. "Okay. Where are we going?"

"Been to Mexico?"

Jughead's jaw dropped.

"Fresh start, kid. For both of us." Brand hurried Jughead into the woods toward his car. "I'll get you back here after things cool down."

An explosion lit up the house behind them.

"Literally." Brand shrugged at Jughead's shocked expression. "I've still got some surprises for you, Jones."

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