Thank you again for the very kind notes letting me know that you continue to follow the story (and I love the energy, TazTaz!). They are a lot of fun, and also a helpful encouragement when I get writer's block. Slytherclaw16, I thought it was so funny when you apologized for a "late" review. I see you as a fairy godmother reviewer to newbies in the genre! You always ask the tough questions, too, and I am not certain how long this will end up being... 15 chapters? 25? (probably closer to 15 than 25, with an option for "the next fine story"!)

I hope you enjoy this new chapter as well!

Also, to those who celebrate, Happy Easter! Or Passover! (to those who do not celebrate, I certainly hope that you have a very lovely time as well!)

-Button

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.

00000

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.

00000

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.

00000

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.

00000

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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Aaaand that's a wrap on Chapter Seven! I hope you enjoyed, and I hope you are all doing well!

-Button