This story. I just keep writing. It just keeps rolling. Enjoy!

-Button

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Jameson had listened to Brand's complaints and Jones' account of what had happened both in their home and then while making deliveries. He knew exactly which four men had come after them long before Jones gave him descriptions of the three he'd seen in daylight. Not that Jameson would share that information with a vengeful Brandon.

A vengeful Brandon who had said far more of his piece than Jameson thought entirely appropriate, and done so right in front of his impressionable young associate, Jones. It had all been quite offensive, though Jameson held his peace during their visit.

Instead, Jameson summoned Daniel the following evening to help plan and execute his next moves.

"It's time to deal with our Bennington rogues," Jameson told Daniel first. "They've had enough rope, and I think they've fashioned quite the noose out of it."

Daniel thought that was long overdue, and his nod was firm. "I'll have that done tomorrow."

"Good, because tonight I have a different job for you," Jameson frowned now. "As long as we're breaking up problematic factions, I want Brandon and Jones separated. You can keep Jones with you, right? Your daughter went home early, so you've got the house to yourself?"

"I'm really not much of a babysitter," Daniel objected. "Just ask my daughter. She left early for a reason."

"You have a dog," Jameson seemed puzzled, as if he truly could not see the difference between housing Jones and keeping a dog. "Well, no matter - bring him here. I can have a kennel brought in."

Ah. That explained the dog comment.

"You know, maybe I could manage Jones for just a little while. My daughter is coming again before too long, so I'll need everything in place for that visit, but that still gives us some time to deal with Brandon." Daniel knew he wouldn't win any points with Brand or Jones for this selfless act, but he had a conscience he had to live with.

"Perfect," Jameson spread his hands as if a major rebellion and a minor one that both required squelching over the next twenty-four hours really was 'perfect.'

Daniel waited until he was leaving to roll his eyes.

00000

"Hey Brand, can I go to the bookstore?" Jughead asked from the bunk above his godfather. Boredom and claustrophobia had made him bolder, and Brand had been noticeably friendlier since the attempted kidnapping the day before. Jughead was relieved, though he knew better than to count on this new truce surviving any serious conflict arising between them. "Roy doesn't have a very wide selection of reading material." Jughead dangled a gun magazine down for Brand to inspect.

"You might learn something from that," Brand grunted. "We'll go to a bookstore tomorrow morning, okay kid?"

They had not gone home after meeting with Jameson the previous day. Roy had been as good as his word in setting up a safe house for Brand and Jughead, and so they'd gone first for a drive around the city to be sure they were not followed - they'd parked their car in a long-term lot near a tourist area - and then they'd taken a cab to this apartment.

Jughead still wasn't sure what had happened to make Brand think they needed these kinds of maneuvers at precisely this moment, since Jameson had assured them that he'd deal with the would-be kidnappers, but apparently they were suddenly high-risk targets and needed to 'take matters into their own hands.'

No longer doing jobs for Jameson sounded good to Jughead, so his only complaint was the lack of reading material in their one-bedroom crash pad.

Jughead launched himself from the bunk to the floor and began doing push-ups.

"We have neighbors below us," Brand said mildly.

"Sorry," Jughead made a mental note: no jumping. "Can I go for a run?" Being without their in-home gym to blow off steam was making him restless.

"No," Brand closed his laptop to give Jughead his full attention. "We are officially in hiding. Think Anne Frank."

"That would be a good book to have right now," Jughead mused.

"I will kill you if you complain one more time about being bored." Despite his threat, Brand's tone was light and indulgent. He got up from his bunk to investigate exactly what reading material was in the tiny apartment. Brand returned from the main area of the apartment a moment later with a paperback. "Take this… three-hundred page quiz, wow... to see if he's just not that into you."

"This isn't a quiz," Jughead accepted the book reluctantly, holding it away from himself as if it was repulsive. "This is… a dramatic read-aloud!"

"What did I just say about killing you?" Brand flopped back onto his bunk with a longsuffering sigh.

"Just as long as you do it softly," Jughead quipped, opening the book with demonstrative relish. "We have neighbors, you know."

"I'm trying to work, kid," Brand warned.

"Ahem. 'If he likes you-,'"

"Do not finish that sentence, Jones!" Brand rolled off of his bunk onto the floor with a thud and made a grab for the book.

"Brand! The neighbors!" Despite things having apparently returned to what passed for normal for them, Jughead immediately submitted when Brand began playfully roughhousing - he didn't want to risk escalating the lighthearted interaction into something more fraught. Brand pinned him easily and took the book away from Jughead.

Upon further perusal, Brand had to admit that the book really did look awful.

"Fine. We'll go to a bookstore before you self-destruct from boredom. Get your jacket," Brand relented.

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Daniel was not entirely surprised to find the row home empty, though he was sure he did not know what had tipped them off. Brand sometimes seemed like he had a sixth sense. Maybe a seventh as well.

Sitting on the stoop of the house, Daniel reflected on the unusual pairing of Brand and young Jones. Usually when these sorts of duos turned up in the city they were strategic power pairs with complementary abilities. In some instances there might be a clear apprenticeship taking place, but only rarely did that work to their advantage if trouble arose. In those cases there was the unenviable combination of an easy target and a distracted professional.

Brand had so far broken the mold: he'd been much more cunning than most, and Jones didn't seem to be slowing him down one bit. In fact, Daniel was beginning to suspect that Jones, instead of representing a weakness, held some innate value that made Brand even more dangerous. Jameson might be right to split them up for that reason alone, but the splitting up process itself might be trickier than they had anticipated.

Daniel was going to need some time to track them down anyway, but he decided he'd also call in some favors for cleanly extracting Jones. The last thing they needed was some sort of Rambo reenactment in a residential area - they'd come close enough to that the other day with the very public rogue attempt to kidnap Jones.

Thankfully Daniel lived just a few blocks away from the row house, so it would be simple enough to get that process started.

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The bookstore wasn't as large and well-stocked as Jughead's favorite one, but it was more than sufficient for his need to have something to read while they kept their heads down in the apartment Roy had arranged for them.

"How long are we going to be holed up?" Jughead held eight books and eyed another on the shelf.

"Unless you're expecting a miracle where the books don't run dry," Brand picked up the ninth book, '"get a few more. Maybe some of those Russian books over there. They look long."

"Or just get a copy of Sun Tzu so we can speed things up, maybe?" Jughead accepted the ninth book but declined the Russian books as being too dark for current reading circumstances. Except War and Peace. That was always worth a reread, and Brand was not wrong: it would occupy him for quite a while.

"If there's a book on the care and feeding of teenagers in small spaces, let me know," Brand raised his eyebrows at Jughead.

Jughead shook his head mock-woefully in response and his hair fell into his eyes. With both hands full of books he couldn't push it back effectively - which was probably why he missed most of what happened next.

Brandon caught only a glimpse of a broken nose, taped up but clearly in nasty shape, before he wrapped one hand tightly around Jones' face while dragging him to the floor behind the nearest bookshelves. He knew Jones' first instinct was always to make noise, so he waited for the initial muffled yelp into his hand before trying to communicate with his charge in a harsh whisper: "Shut up and stay down. Do not let yourself be seen, and get out of here through the back as soon as you have a clear shot."

Jughead pushed Brand's hand off of his face, but he didn't make another sound as Brand stood back up to assess the situation more fully.

It was not Jameson's guy.

"Huh. Never mind; it's just a weird coincidence," Brand offered Jughead a hand since he was now sprawled on the floor of the bookstore, his book selections strewn around him.

"Are you kidding me?" Jughead grabbed his hand and hopped lightly to his feet. "You couldn't have confirmed that before tackling me?"

"All right, we're done discussing this here," Brand directed. "Get your books; we're heading back."

Jughead wished this was the craziest thing that had happened to him this week. His life was getting so weird that he had a feeling he was losing perspective on exactly how messed up it was.

Unlike the woman two rows over.

She was glaring at Brand like he was a purse-snatcher or something, and must have seen his maneuver just now. Jughead's face started burning with embarrassment, though he could not decide what exactly he had to be embarrassed about. He just wanted to leave, now, before anything else happened in public.

It wasn't until they'd purchased the books and begun heading back toward the apartment that a question suddenly occurred to Jughead: "Why did you want just me down, and not both of us?"

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Fred didn't like Dominic Rose. This seemed like it should be a relative thing, considering he'd presumably been meeting primarily criminals and gang members while traveling with FP. Nevertheless, when they managed a sit-down with Rose in Toronto after FP had dropped Archie off successfully in New York state at a bus station, Fred felt a very different kind of dislike for the man he'd met briefly before being barred from the discussion between Rose and FP.

Waiting in an overly ornate room for the meeting to conclude, for the first time Fred found himself hoping that Jughead had not somehow made his way to Toronto. There were worse things than being dead, and this man reminded him of that in his every gesture and turn of phrase. If Brandon had brought Jughead here and handed him over to Rose, there was a chance that FP might find him alive - but Fred couldn't imagine they'd bring home a Jughead they recognized. This was a man who had humans devoured, body and soul, for profit.

FP seemed to feel much the same way about Rose generally, but nothing could make him hope Jughead was not in Toronto.

To be fair, Fred acknowledged, FP had been clear-eyed from the start about the possibility that someone like Rose had gotten ahold of Jughead. Fred was operating from a position of shock as he was only just now confronting the full, disturbing range of possible outcomes for a missing teenager. And it wasn't that he didn't want to learn the truth: certainly the worst option possible would be to leave Jughead to fend for himself with a man like Rose.

After more than an hour of waiting, Fred was rejoined by FP and they left the cold marble mansion and the 'audience' with Rose. Fred waited for FP to speak first with his impressions.

"Blossom sure could pick 'em," FP said darkly. "It sounds like the codger got his, though."

"FP," Fred spoke in a warning tone. This sounded suspiciously like information he did not want to be privy to.

"Right, right," FP shook his head absently. "Dom was vague, but I think we're on the right track. My guess is we're walking into the middle of a turf war and Rose hasn't decided which side he's on yet. He might even be waiting to see how we manage before he throws in with one faction or another."

"FP, I can't be hearing any of this," Fred's tone went from warning to scolding.

"I really can't be any more vague than that!" FP gestured in frustration. "Look; I can leave you in the motel while I catch up with people, but that's the best I can offer if you won't at least try to keep up with the broad strokes of what's going on."

"That might be for the best, then," Fred was still shaken, just from his brief meeting with Rose, and wasn't at all certain he'd be capable of helping in any other circumstances in the city if this was the tenor of the people they'd be interacting with.

"Fine," FP bit out. He was clearly disappointed, but after a few moments of silence he spoke more gently. "Will you keep your cellphone on and handy?"

"I will. Of course I will."

"Dom talked about Blossom," FP's tone became hopeful, but his expression made it clear that he was painfully tentative about that hope. "Then he mentioned a courier. He didn't say anything definite, but..."

"You think Jughead's working as a courier for Rose?" Fred's eyebrows shot up. This seemed like far more than they could have hoped for in such a short timeframe.

"Not for Rose, no; Jameson's the more likely person around here," FP shot Fred an apologetic look. "Sorry, I know. No information."

"No, it's okay," Fred frowned thoughtfully, too caught up in the excitement that they might actually have a lead to shut down the sharing of random details he might later be called upon to testify about. "Do you really think Rose has seen Jughead?"

They could be so close. This was starting to feel possible.

"I don't know," FP glared into the distance. "Rose certainly wants me to suspect that, but he didn't give me enough to be sure. If I knew what he wanted, I'd know what to think."

"Maybe," Fred was skeptical about that; he felt like he was going to get a headache from these deep games and honestly wasn't sure he'd ever know what to think of the few details he'd reluctantly picked up along the way from FP. Nevertheless, 'maybe' was more than he'd dared to hope a week prior.

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Daniel had called in his favors to locate and retrieve Jones. He was waiting for their update, and found himself pacing in his office. That was always a sure sign that he was at his wit's end.

Daniel had been surprised when there was no immediate indication of where the two men had gone to ground, and Jameson was right to be increasingly upset by this as days passed with no news. Apparently it was one thing to show a rogue faction the door, a move largely applauded by everyone they had ties with, and quite another to do so when all witnesses of the stated cause for finally taking that action (their invasion of Brand's home) were conspicuously missing.

They were so conspicuously missing, in fact, that Daniel had to give Brand props: he and Jones had holed up masterfully and they had obviously committed to disappearing for as long as it took to destabilize Jameson. The sharks were circling with more energy every day.

Daniel reluctantly found himself more sympathetic to Jones than he'd ever expected to be, too, as he learned more about the youth. First, Daniel was very surprised to learn that Jones was his daughter's age and not eighteen as was believed by everyone in Jameson's network. Second, the teen was apparently not just the flashpoint for a controversial missing person case (his hometown was inexplicably divided on whether or not he had died in two separate fires), but he was also apparently well-liked and had left behind family when he'd thrown in with Brand. Daniel had assumed that a kid like Jones had no family or support network, and he wondered if the youngster would make the same decisions again, given the choice.

Not that he'd be offered a choice. Poor kid.

Daniel's pacing picked up speed as he suddenly wondered if there might be another option here.

Jameson was not a good bet any longer. Rose was the kind of man Daniel could only work with if he gave up on all scruples - and any hope for his own soul. If Brandon was seriously considering walking away from Toronto, permanently, there might be another way to salvage the situation and to rebuild elsewhere: turning state's evidence.

It would only work with Brand's cooperation, and they'd have to get so far clear of Jones that they could never be connected to the kid's fate. Not probably a difficult task with Jameson ready to put the kid on ice; he didn't have the best track record for keeping prisoners alive for long. Brandon would have to be on board, though, or the deal would never fly.

He might be losing his mind, or cracking under the stress, but the more Daniel thought about it, the more he wondered if this new, crazy plan might just work. It was messy, but it was suddenly the only way he could see of getting entirely free of the downward spiral his work - his life - had become.

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When Brand and Jones had gotten back to their apartment from the bookstore venture, Jughead was sobered by Brand's frank explanation that they were off the radar primarily to keep him from being grabbed - and that nobody was coming after Brand. Apparently Jameson liked to make a show of strength if anyone was perceived to be defying him, and he had a history of going after whomever he perceived to be weakest and using that person as leverage to show his associates that the strong could be made to toe the line.

Brand had returned to lying in his bunk and Jughead was sitting on his top bunk, legs dangling over the side.

"I guess there's not much chance he'd go after you to force me to publicly vow subservience, huh?" Jughead attempted a weak joke.

Brand did not dignify it with a response.

"Because that might actually work-," Jughead both wanted to know and didn't want to know, "but how would taking me get him leverage?"

Brand noted with frustration that Jones was still trying to make sense of Jameson instead of having some of the fear of God put into him. That was dangerous; if he truly thought this was a game or some kind of puzzle, then he might not be quick enough to fight for his life when someone came for it.

"Ever heard of deterrence, Jones? Like when they used to string up moldering corpses as a warning? That would be you, only you wouldn't be dead. For a while, anyway."

This shut him up. Good.

A few minutes later, Jughead had a meeker question: "Brand… what's our next move?"

Brand hadn't responded. He was still trying to decide on his own answer to that question. There were only a few good options for getting them back on track, and seemingly fewer every day.

The good news was that Jameson was fast being destabilized by their disappearance and all of the defiance it so clearly conveyed to the stirred-up associates in the area. The bad news was that since Roy had declared himself officially cleared of all debts and scrammed, most of Brand's other friends had bowed out as well. Now he was without any real backup - and it would take a lot more 'destabilizing' to make just him and Jones sufficient manpower to safely make any power play at all against Jameson.

This time it was looking more and more like the best choice was to relocate and start from scratch in a city where Jameson couldn't reach them, which was a tricky gamble at best since Brand's skill set was fairly distinctive. An alternative was to carry on as they were: rolling the dice day after day, waiting for a change in the status quo or some unexpected support to appear, and hope that their number didn't come up.

Or Brand could try something completely different. The backup to his backup plan, a last-ditch final resort that he'd held in reserve for months now and perhaps should at least consider now that conditions had deteriorated so far.

He could turn state's evidence.

Brand couldn't keep Jones if he did that, though. Kidnappers never fared well in negotiations.

Jones' dangling legs had begun moving in a nervous rhythm. Brand reached out to calm them, leaving his hand on Jones' left ankle in a reassuring grip. "Easy there, killer. Don't tell me you're losing faith in your godfather now."

There was no reply from the top bunk, but the ankle relaxed slightly at Brand's words.

Things would have to get a little more dire yet, Brand decided. Only then would he even consider leaving the kid to the likes of Jameson.

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I'd love to hear how you're enjoying the chapters! I would totally keep writing regardless, just because I love this story (and really enjoy the notes from Living Lucid Dream - was this chapter satisfyingly tense? ;), but it's always fantastic to hear when a story is connecting with folks. I'll be hard at work starting to pull all these threads together for you!

-Button