Going to Lane was a last ditch attempt, but after hearing how serious Sweet Pea and the others were about bombing the Riverdale Register Jughead didn't know who else to turn to. Because even though Toni was against it she wasn't trying to stop them. But Lane was level-headed and as unflappable as a corpse, if anything she could force them to hold off.

"Need something?" Tall Boy asked when he spotted the kid standing at the edge of the garage looking around.

"Yeah I was looking for Lane."

Staring him down Tall Boy finally nodded and jerked his head to the office behind him. "She's in the back."

With a quick thanks Jughead moved along the wall til he found the door to the back office, and he paused in the doorway at the sight of her sitting in front of a laptop and a stack of papers with Fangs and Sweet Pea on either side of her.

"Come to try to talk us out of it again?" Sweet Pea demanded through his teeth.

Glancing up at Jughead briefly she turned to address the volatile boy beside her. "Twenty minutes without you being mean, I think that might be a record," she said seeing him roll his eyes but he sat back with an unhappy smirk glaring up at Jughead, which was mildly better. "Hey," she greeted simply, offering Jughead a small look before she turned back to the disorganized books she was trying to balance.

"Hey," he said in return, feeling two untrusting pairs of eyes heavy on his face. "How are you?"

Removing the top page from the pile in front of her she set it on the one in front of Sweet Pea. Without looking up at Jughead she said, "that's not why you're here."

He laughed quietly at how much that was like her and stepped further into the office seeing the way Sweet Pea shifted in his seat as though ready to leap to his feet. "Did they tell you what they were planning?"

"She knows about the bomb, if that's what you're asking," Sweet Pea said not giving her a chance to respond. He was tired of Jughead choosing his precious Northsiders, even Lane was sticking up for the Serpents and she didn't share blood.

She still wasn't paying attention to him, her eyes were on the paper as she entered something into the calculator, then she was putting that into the computer and setting the paper aside. "How do you feel about that?" Jughead asked her, looking for any sort of reaction. She was logical if nothing else, she'd be against this.

"Is that really what you wanna ask me?"

What little patience he had was quickly lost as she still didn't look up, she was being difficult for the sake of it. "Cut the crap Lane," he told her firmly.

"Hey," Sweet Pea barked in a loud rough voice that startled Jughead but made Fangs grin as he quietly watched the show eating the cheetos he'd gotten from the vending machine. "You came to her not the other way around. Don't look at me like that, your old man would tell you the same."

With a sigh Lane said, "what he's trying to say is you can come here asking for a favor, but don't try to cover that by pretending you're here for anything else. Now what do you want?"

He looked between the two realizing she might be more help than he'd first thought, if Sweet Pea listened to her as much as he came to her defense she might talk him down. "I was hoping you'd convince Sweet Pea to hold off on blowing up the Register until I can talk to Archie and figure this out."

She blinked steadily up at him before turning to Sweet Pea and telling him in her perpetually expressionless monotone voice, "don't do it, it's a bad idea." She held his stare for several long moments, because he now thought she could make do anything she wanted, before she asked, "are you convinced?"

"No," was his quick answer.

With a small shrug she turned back to Jughead. "I tried," before she picked up another paper and began adding the numbers. Beside her Sweet Pea nearly smiled; she could make, and he really liked that she didn't.

Jug laughed again though this time it wasn't out of fondness for her, and he found none of it funny. "You know out of everyone I really thought you'd care more." This time she turned to him with a displeased look and he sighed wilting. "Yeah I heard it as I said it," he gave in, knowing if she could she'd stop caring entirely. It left him with only one option, because Sweet Pea was right when he'd said earlier that he couldn't be half a Serpent.

It was settled then, so Sweet Pea half turned back to Lane. "How long are you gonna be?" he asked for the third time since they got there an hour ago.

"I told you to let Tall Boy take me to the Wyrm," she said, her attention once more on the job Tall Boy asked her to do.

Jughead watched him sulk back still looking at her, and on her other side Fangs tossed a cheeto at her that missed and instead hit the table sliding closer to where Sweet Pea sat. She didn't seem to notice as she added several different receipts on the calculator before inputting the data. The next one he lobbed at her stuck in her hair, and Jughead watched the unbothered way she picked it out of her hair and ate it. It'd only taken her two weeks to integrate herself, he was still struggling.

"Do you need anything else?" Sweet Pea asked when he looked up to see Jughead still there, and his tone wasn't offering help.

"He means we'll see you later," Lane said before either boy could say anything further.

Releasing a warm breath Sweet Pea sat back again with his head turned toward her. "That's not what I meant," he told her, catching the way her mouth pursed. He noticed it did that a lot.

"And that's why I didn't clarify," she said casually, without enough bite for him to get mad about. But her mind caught a thought and she looked up at Jughead who'd stepped back. "We'll see you later," she told him again.

This time his scoff of a laugh was more genuine, finding that these kinds of bickering conversations were familiar. "Stay out of my head, Lanie," he told her seeing a flash of her wicked grin before she turned back to what she was doing.

This time when the cheeto Fangs launched at her caught in hair Sweet Pea gently pulled it out and was the one to eat it.

…

There was a faint almost unnoticeable lull in the loud bar when Lane walked in with Sweet Pea and Fangs in tow. But it bounced back quickly, and as she walked away from the boys a few people even greeted her in passing. Word about what she'd done for them had spread fast, and as Tall Boy told her several days ago loyalty went a long way there.

Toni smiled when Lane climbed onto a stool beside her. "Is that Tall Boy or Sweet Pea's shirt?" she asked always finding it amusing when Lane came in almost drowning in one of their overlarge button downs.

Lane looked down at the plaid shirt trying to remember but ended up shrugging. "I don't know. I've been staring at numbers for the last three hours, and trying not to kick Fangs for throwing his cheetos at me for the last two. My brain's done for the day."

Laughing lightly Toni ordered her a drink thinking she looked like she needed one. "Did he at least pick them up?" she asked knowing the kind of mess Fangs was capable of making.

"No, Sweet Pea ate them." She quickly downed her shot, not noticing the way Toni grinned, and while wincing pointed at the glass telling the bartender, "I'll have another."

The two sat for a while turned toward each other quietly talking, sharing a plate of food, laughing – or rather Toni laughed and Lane sort of smiled because Toni had decided Lane had an emotional range the size of a toothpick. Fangs eventually came over bringing a few other Serpents their age, one of whom had been arrested and heard she was the one that helped get them out. She might even have gone far enough to say they were friendly, and she returned their smiles as they introduced themselves.

Though after a few minutes of somewhat polite casual conversation Lane turned to Toni and asked, "do I have to keep smiling?"

"No," Toni told her watching her face quickly fall as she muttered, 'oh thank god.' Shaking her head with an amused smile Toni said, "you're an odd one Lane Vivian."

Lane looked over to see her holding up her shot glass and she hit her empty one against it. "I'd have joined you if you hadn't cut me off." Toni wisely decided not to comment on that, knowing Lane wouldn't stop herself.

"I think this Northsider's lost."

Their little group turned at Sweet Pea's exclamation, usually that applied to Lane but on this occasion they saw Jughead donning a Serpent's jacket. The quiet was deafening, like the calm before a storm, and Lane realized this is what it'd been like for them with her – what it still was like – and beneath the hostile glares was a sense of unease, a need to defend. She understood it better.

"I'm not," Jughead told him stepping closer, people filling in the gap behind him. "I'm over being half a serpent."

She watched Sweet Pea stalk slowly around the table toward Jughead, shouldering him aside easily. A display of power, she thought. "Wow, you'll do anything to protect your Northsider buddies."

But Jughead wasn't backing down because he'd gone through all possible options and this was the best one, and whether or not he wanted to admit it it felt right. "My father was a Serpent, he led you. I wanna stand with you guys." He looked around him seeing disbelieving and untrusting faces, even then he found Lane's sweet fairytale face comfortably surrounded by snakes. "Tall Boy was the one who gave me this jacket, it's finally time I start wearing it."

It was so quiet now in the crowded bar when Tall Boy took his shot at the pool table the pop of the balls as they struck each other seemed amplified. "So," Tall Boy growled as he came around the table toward him, "now you wanna be a Serpent, huh?" He stared him down, sizing him up, not seeing even a little give. "Lets see if you survive the initiation first."

Sound finally seemed to fill the empty spaces when Tall Boy turned away from him and the tension slowly eased. His gaze stopped on Lane noting the shirt he guessed Sweet Pea let her wear. "You two," he pointed to her and the now wide eyed boy behind her, "come here."

She slid off the stool and moved to stand in front of him, blinking up at him curiously in a way that reminded him of when she was younger. She'd always been a smart girl, easy to adapt. "I heard your request this morning and I thought it over, I'll send you with one of your boys tomorrow night to get more clothes." He watched her green eyes brighten in a way that made her look kind of sweet. "I'll leave it up to you who you want, Fangs or Sweet Pea."

"Is that even a question?" Fangs asked coming up behind her and slinging an arm around her shoulder.

She looked up at him sharing a mirrored bemused look before she turned back to Tall Boy. "Obviously Sweet Pea," she told Tall Boy and behind her Fangs nodded.

The older man took that in stride not the least bit surprised, and as he turned pack to the pool table Sweet Pea stepped into her line of sight forcing her to look up. "Obviously?" he questioned, not knowing how to take that.

"You do his job better," she answered with blunt honesty, and again the boy with his arm around her nodded. While Sweet Pea gave a short laugh she leaned into Fangs as a thought occurred to her. "I'll get to wear cardigans again, I love a good cardigan."

Curling his arm so that it was wrapped around the front of her Fangs said, "that might be the most rich white girl thing you've ever said."

Tipping her head back to look at him she cocked a brow. "Say what you want, I look damn cute in a cardigan," she told him sounding very matter of fact.

"I'll drink to that."

The two turned to where Jughead stood behind them with Toni at his side. "No," Toni said raising a finger at Lane, who blinked innocently at her. "No more."

"He offered," Lane said with a shrug that had Fangs finally letting her go. "And it'd be rude to turn him down, he doesn't have any other friends here." Seeing Toni's stern face Lane walked around her with a mildly confused Jughead to enjoy what would sadly be her last drink for the night. And the next night, because Tall Boy dutifully informed her the Whyte Wyrm was off limits to all non-Serpents for Jughead's initiation.

.^.

Lane sat next to Sweet Pea in the car parked under the long shadow of a tree outside of the house he and Jughead had driven her to last week. "This is your boy's house," he said glancing at the windows of the surrounding houses to see all but two were dark; it was well after midnight, most everyone was asleep.

"Mine's behind his," she told him remembering Tall Boy's order to use every precaution: park a street down, Sweet Pea stays in front of her, no lights, anything seems off Sweet Pea was to get her out of there, and finally he asked if he should be the one to take her. She'd told him no, that she and Sweet Pea would fine. And she was telling herself that now as she stared at the dark expanse of trees behind Reggie's house, only this time she was convincing herself.

"Ready?" he asked hearing her deep breaths and knowing she was trying for calm. He watched her raise a hand to the light switch above them and push it to off – she was smart if nothing else. The lights in the car stayed off when they climbed out, and they shut the doors as quietly as they could but it still sounded loud as thunder in the quiet sleepy neighborhood.

He walked ahead of her leading her around Reggie's house and through the thin patch of trees seeing the shape of her house from the streetlights. They paused at the edge of her yard and he looked around them knowing anyone could be around and at that time of night he'd never see them.

This was his life too, Lane thought as she looked up at him, and he'd been risking it the moment she stepped into his side of town. It felt like too much. "I know what Tall Boy said but you don't have to go with me."

He looked down at her seeing only the shape of her and the shine of her eyes. "This is why I'm here," he told her on a quiet breath. "And as much work as you've been I'll be damned if I back out now." With a hand around her arm he pushed her in front of him deciding the biggest threat was someone being in the trees behind them. "Is there an alarm?" he asked when they made it to the back window.

Reggie had taken her home that day and walked her to the door, she'd been too distracted to realize she never had to turn it off. "No, the first guy cut it when he broke in," she said sliding the window she knew would be unlocked open. Feeling strong arms around her waist she found herself lifted into the air and she curled her legs to her chest to better fit in the window he shoved her in through.

She stood for a moment in the dark house hearing only her slightly shallow breathing. It was eerily quiet. At Sweet Pea's quiet urging she unlocked the sliding glass door and let him in, and he paused the same way she did to listen.

It was too quiet, he could hear his own heartbeat, something felt out of place. When he turned to find her no longer standing next to him he startled feeling his heart leap to his throat, and it only settled when he saw she'd moved a few feet in the kitchen. Catching his breath he stepped to her and saw she was staring at the tile, not knowing it's where Tall Boy has found the body. "You okay?" he whispered.

"Take off your shoes," she said instead of answering.

Looking down he realized she'd pulled hers off at the back door, and he nodded realizing she'd noticed how quiet it was too. Leaving his boots beside her almost laughably small keds he turned to see her reaching for the light switch. "What the hell are you doing?" he hissed charging for her. And he stopped when she flipped it and looked up at the dark ceiling confused.

She'd really wanted to be wrong. It was the hum of the fridge, that's the sound they weren't hearing. Looking through the glass door behind them he half expected to see someone in a black hoodie with a gun, and he released a breath when there was no one. Grabbing her arm he pulled her out of the kitchen and pushed her against the wall, she was hidden by the door frame to the kitchen and the wall to the den across from her. "Stay here."

She watched him circle around the den back through the kitchen and then into the living room, and she stood with her back to the wall breathing steadily as he climbed the stairs to check those rooms.

His search ended with his knife in one hand and his phone in the other lighting up every dark corner a person could hide. When he was satisfied there was no one there he took a moment to catch his breath having not realized he'd been holding it, and when his heart stopped feeling like it'd beat right out of his chest he quietly climbed back down the stairs and stopped at seeing Lane's small figure standing by the door. He moved to her side to see the deadbolt was unlocked.

"How likely is it Tall Boy would've locked up after he left?" she asked without turning to him.

She was trying to figure out how worried to be. Sweet Pea added up the pieces she'd already gathered: the power was out, the alarm had been cut, the door was unlocked. "He probably would've locked it," he said teaching the same conclusion she had. Someone was waiting for her to come back.

She nodded as though she'd expected it and turned for the small hall leading to the kitchen. "Help me move this."

Without question Sweet Pea took one end of the long thin hall table and helped her place it to the side of the door, and he curiously watched her move some glass figure to the edge. Smart. Anyone opened the door it'd hit the table and break the figurine: she'd made her own alarm.

He followed her up the stairs and stood holding his phone as she pulled the black out curtains over the windows in her room before he turned the flashlight on. And he stepped back when she walked past him to the master bedroom, which was bigger than anything he'd ever lived in, and came back with a suitcase. "Where are your parents?" he asked realizing for the first time that no one other than her friend was checking on her.

Laying the case on the bed she walked to the closet and came back with a bunch of sweaters. "Well my dad's dead and my mom walked out when I was five." She said this as she did everything else, without emotion. And she walked back into the closet grabbing different shirts before throwing them in the suitcase too.

He felt like an idiot when he knew both of those things, and for making her say it. "Who do you live with?"

"No one," she answered walking to her dresser to grab more pants. No more than five minutes and she'd be done, she could handle five more minutes without falling apart. But something broken in her had shattered further when she'd stood over the place she killed that man, and not even ten feet away from that was the place her father died. She didn't know if she could put herself back together this time.

"Have you been on your own since you were ten?" he found himself asking even though he didn't want to. At this point he knew the only person who actively cared about her was the one who'd been calling.

With a faintly trembling hand she rubbed at her brow and zipped up the suit case not caring if there was anything else. She couldn't be here anymore. "Do you see anyone else?" she snapped not meaning to sound so harsh. She was grateful for the dark because he couldn't see her crumbling face or the way she pressed her lips together to keep her chin from quivering. "Get out."

"What?" he asked thinking he heard her wrong. He raised the phone to her but he saw nothing more than her dark hair as her small hands began pushing him.

"I don't care what you do just get of my room." When he was far enough back she shut the door and she held her breath trying to keep from crying.

Standing on the other side of her door he scowled heavily, his hands balled into fists, wondering why he bothered when it was clear she thought she was too good to want anything to do with him. He was about to leave her when he heard the broken breath she took, and he hesitated hearing nothing but his own soft breathing before he heard her sniff. With a sigh he slowly unwound resting his head on the door trying to convince himself to walk away. "Open the door," he told her quietly. Turning off the light and stuffing the phone in his pocket he couldn't see a damn thing in that dark hallway. "Lane, I'm not gonna leave so you might as well let me in."

She stood with both hands on the door to keep herself from falling to the floor, and her head hung feeling her nose start to run. Whether it was him actually using her name or that she was so tired of being alone she pulled the door open. The dark was so thick she couldn't see any part of him, nor him her, and that made it feel safer.

Almost timidly he reached for her catching her thin collar bone, and he moved his hand up feeling her wet cheek. When he was sure she wasn't gonna fight him he pulled her to him feeling her shoulders shake as she finally let go.

He didn't know how long he stood there, he'd have staid there as long as she needed so long as by the end of it she wasn't crying. But she eventually settled with her arms around his waist no longer feeling like she was suffocating, she could finally breathe. With her eyes closed she breathed steadily feeling his mouth and nose pressed against the top of her head and she thought, just one more minute.

The sound of glass breaking cut through their quiet sharp as any knife and she opened her eyes to the dark around them feeling his arms tighten around her.