My Mother Was a Serpent?
A/N: Thank you so much to my loyal readers, especially the ones who requested that I write a legit Sweet Pea story in the first place. I hadn't planned on it but this might honestly be my favorite multi-chapter fic I've ever written.
To tell or not to tell. That was the question.
You'd only been in Riverdale for a month, and though you adored the people you'd come to know thus far, you weren't sure if you could trust them with this kind of information. You also felt like a burden, dropping a bomb like this, and you weren't sure they'd want to know.
When your mind blanked and you didn't know what to do, your body worked on auto pilot and carried you to the Wyrm. It had become your safe haven, and right now, you needed to feel safe.
You were a block away from the bar when footsteps sounded behind you. Before you could turn around to investigate, a filthy hand clapped over your mouth to stifle your protests. You dropped your jaw to scream, but it was horribly muffled behind the palm of your captor. An arm wrapped around your torso, holding your arms at your sides. Your entire body wriggled and struggled, but to no avail. Whoever had grabbed you was far stronger than you, and your body was delicate now. You couldn't fight back too hard.
An unknown figure emerged from the shadows, a sinister smirk directed towards you. His hair was dark and unkempt, his face dusted with dirt and stubble. His clothes were black and torn, but the expression on his face told you that he didn't care how he looked. There was an air of authority to him, as though he thought he owned the world. Fear stabbed your heart like an icicle, your heart pounding in your ears. You tried to scream again, but the hand on your mouth only pressed harder, limiting your breath.
The man before you grinned. "Good job, boys. Take her back to the House."
Your captor dragged you towards a car and called for another man in black to open the back door. Once it was open, the man holding you threw you inside, and you coughed as you finally caught your breath. Your hand subconsciously rested on your belly as the two men crawled into the driver's and passenger's seats and started the engine. You didn't bother protesting as they drove you to "the House." No one could hear you from inside the car, and you weren't sure what they would do to a noisy captive.
"Where is she?" Toni wondered aloud as she wiped down the bar. You were supposed to meet her there to talk, but as she glanced at the time on her phone, she discovered that you were too hours late. Every phone call went straight to voicemail, and no one else had heard from you all day.
"You haven't seen her, Pea?" the brunette inquired of her tall friend.
Sweet Pea shook his head as he sat at the bar. "Haven't even texted."
Toni exhaled a groan. "She's never once stood me up. Why didn't she show?"
Fangs settled onto a stool beside Sweet Pea. "I'm getting concerned. She's always here. You should be concerned too, Sweet Pea."
Before the tall Serpent could question why he should be concerned about a girl he'd slept with and most definitely did not have feelings for, FP's deep voice answering a phone call silenced the patrons of the Wyrm.
"What do you mean, you have her? What the hell did you do to her?"
All eyes turned to the Serpent King, waiting silently, desperate for news on your whereabouts.
FP growled audibly. "If you touch her… What the hell do you want? She hasn't done anything to you." A pause. Another growl. "This is about Tobias, not (y/n). She has nothing to do with what happened to your father."
Realization settled in amongst the Serpents. The Ghoulies had found you, and Malachai was using you to settle the score between his father and yours.
"The quarry at dusk. We'll be there." FP hung up his phone and resister the desperate urge to throw it into the nearest wall.
"Dad?" Jughead murmured carefully.
"Malachai has her," FP stated through gritted teeth. "He wants revenge against Tobias and he's using (y/n) to get it. We're meeting him tomorrow night at the quarry."
"For a fight?" Sweet Pea questioned, a sense of protective anger washing over him.
"If it comes to that," FP nodded. "We have to be smart, and careful. I don't want her getting hurt in the crossfire. But if Malachai wants a war… he'll fucking get one."
Your hands were bound behind your back by harsh ropes, scraping painfully against the skin of your wrists. A dirty bandana had been tied around your head as a gag, and your ankles were secured together with more rope. Once at the quarry, you were thrown violently onto an old couch, where you curled against one arm. Malachai himself sat beside you, an arm around your bruised shoulders to ensure that you couldn't escape before the Serpents arrived.
"Your snake friends will be here soon," he growled, winking at you. "Do you think they can save you?"
You should have been flooded with relief at the news that the Serpents cared enough to fight Malachai, but you worried for their safety. You had no idea who this guy was or what his father and yours had fought about, but he had turned it into a vendetta against you, and you knew there was no way you were getting away from him without help.
The roar of a dozen motorcycles sounded in the distance, quickly growing closer until you saw several bikes line up at the entrance to the quarry. They parked, and a dozen leather-clad bikers made their way towards you. The two men who had kidnapped you jumped in front of you and Malachai, blocking the Serpents' view of ensuring that you were alright. Your heart leapt in your chest as you noticed Sweet Pea standing in front of the group, hands clenched into fists, brass knuckles gleaming in the setting sun.
"You here for the whore?" one of the Ghoulies, as you learned they were called, sneered, attempting to stand up to Sweet Pea's height to intimidate him. You would have laughed had you not been bound and gagged – the scumbag still stood a full head shorter than Sweet Pea.
The tall Serpent growled, and only FP's hand on his arm kept him from launching a right hook at the Ghoulie's face. You were surprised to see how angry all of them looked – had they really been so concerned for your safety? Were they all so protective of you? Or was it simply their hatred of the Ghoulies causing their bad moods?
"Let her go, Malachai," FP called, turning to the creep sitting beside you. "Your battle isn't with her."
"My father's battle was with Tobias," Malachai sneered. "Word on the street is that Tobias is dead. So, I'm taking his daughter instead. I see nothing more fitting than recruiting her for the Ghoulies. My boys would love to share her."
You curled into yourself in disgust. You watched the expressions of the Serpents grow darker and angrier, and Sweet Pea seemed to be having a hard time holding back.
"She's already pledged herself to the Serpents," FP stated, and a couple of his boys nodded proudly. "You can't have her. Now let her go."
Malachai rose from his seat and stood toe-to-toe with FP. "Try and take her, old man."
FP turned to Sweet Pea and nodded once. A dark grin crossed the tall Serpent's lips as he stepped forward, drawing his arm back. His right hand, equipped with brass knuckles, launched forward, catching Malachai's nose. A sickening crack was heard as blood flowed down his face, and then the brawl began.
You watched in horror and fear as Serpents and Ghoulies tore each other apart. Your eyes squeezed shut at the sound of every punch, every crack, every break. More Ghoulies littered the ground, unconscious and too weak to fight, as the battle went on. The Serpents were victorious, but not without injuries of their own. Your heart broke at seeing so many cuts and bruises on their faces. Guilt fluttered inside you, knowing that they had gotten hurt rescuing you.
Sweet Pea knelt before you, large hands resting on the back of your head to untie the gag. You coughed before inhaling greedily, finally able to breathe comfortably.
"Thank you," you whispered as he clutched his switchblade and sliced the ropes around your wrists and ankles. A growl sounded in this throat as he lifted the sleeves of your jacket to reveal deep red marks on your skin from how tightly your wrists had been bound.
"I'm sorry," he sighed, taking your hands in his and helping you stand. "I'm so fucking sorry they got to you."
"It's not your fault," you told him. "There was nothing you could have done. They took my phone so I couldn't call anyone. Fuck, I don't even know-"
A smirk crossed Sweet Pea's lips as he held up a familiar device. You gratefully took your phone back from him and tucked it into your pocket.
"(y/n)," FP called, shuffling over to you. "We need to talk."
You nodded. "Yeah, we do."
Once everyone was back at the Wyrm, you sat at the bar in between Sweet Pea and Jughead. Fangs sat on Sweets' other side, and Toni on the other side of Jughead. FP stood behind the bar, resting his forearms on it. For reasons he didn't feel like sharing, Sweet Pea had decided that he needed to protect you, keeping a hand on your lower back and scooting his bar stool as close to yours as he could without suffocating you.
"Do you know what happened between my dad and Malachai's?" you asked FP as he exhaled a sigh.
He nodded stiffly. "Yeah, I do. Long before any of you kids existed, Tobias was a Ghoulie."
Your brow furrowed. "But he told me he was a Serpent."
FP nodded. "He started as a Ghoulie. He only joined out of desperation. Then he met your mother – she was a Serpent."
"My mother was a Serpent?" you repeated in surprise. "I never knew that."
"It was forbidden, of course," FP continued with a chuckle. "A regular Romeo and Juliet story. But they loved each other, and when your mother got pregnant, that was the final push your father needed to leave the Ghoulies. Unfortunately, Tobias was second-in-command, and Malachai's father wasn't as accepting as the Serpents about Tobias wanting to leave. They got into a fight, and Malachai's father threatened not only your mother, but you as well. None of us wanted Tobias and Marie to leave Riverdale. We swore we could protect them. They managed just fine until you were about seven years old."
"That's when we left Riverdale," you remembered, your voice barely above a whisper.
FP nodded again. "Malachai's father got stronger. He recruited more Ghoulies. He… He sent Ghoulies after your mother."
Dread settled in your belly. "What happened to her, FP?"
He gazed down at the bar before lifting his head to meet your eyes. "They drowned her in Sweet Water River. Tobias was done after that. Heartbroken and afraid for your life, he packed you up and fled town. That was the last we heard of him until you came back."
You stared down at the bar, hands fallen limply in your lamp. There was so much information to take in. You hadn't known how your mother died, only that she loved you and that she'd been in an accident. You mused that your father hadn't wanted you to know the ugly truth; he'd wanted to protect you.
"Thank you, FP," you murmured. "Thank you for telling me. And thank you everyone else for coming to my rescue tonight."
"We always will," Jughead promised, resting a hand on your shoulder. You could have sworn that Sweet Pea tugged you closer.
"You're spending the night at my trailer," the tall Serpent stated. "No way are you staying alone anymore."
"She's not a child, Pea," Toni protested, eyeing you carefully out of concern.
"It's okay, Toni," you countered, looking up at Sweet Pea. "I actually have to talk to you."
After bidding everyone goodnight, Sweet Pea led you outside to his bike. Strapping on the helmet, you sat behind him and wrapped your arms around his waist.
Arriving at his trailer, you left his helmet with his bike and followed him inside. You shuffled into the living room and sat on the couch, toying with the sleeves of your jacket.
"You want something to drink?" Sweet Pea offered, holding up a six-pack.
You shook your head. "No, thank you."
He shrugged, sitting beside you with a single bottle and popping it open. Leaning back against the cushions, he took a long sip of his beer and rested his free arm on the back of the couch. "What did you want to talk about?"
With a sigh, you turned in your spot to look at him. "I…" You inhaled deeply, closing your eyes for a moment. Opening them, you gazed into Sweet Pea's chocolate brown orbs. "I'm pregnant."