The next morning, Mum had prepared breakfast for us. I kissed her cheek before settling down at the island. "How was the Jubilee?" I asked.

"It was alright." Mum said, setting a plate in front of me. "Betty spoke, Archie sang, it was nice. I wish you were able to come."

"Cheryl needed me. I couldn't leave her."

"That's honourable." Mum came over to me and squeezed my good hand. "What you did, saving Cheryl's life, that is the bravest thing someone could ever do." I smiled up at her. My phone then buzzed on the table. "Is that her?" Mum asked as I picked it up.

"No, it's Veronica." I told her I answered the call and held it up to my ear. "Hey V, what's up?"

"You need to get to the hospital, now." Veronica demanded. My eyebrows pinched together.

"Hospital, what-"

"Fred Andrews was shot." My eyes widened.

"A-alright, we'll be on our way." I hung up the phone and turned to Mum. "Breakfast can wait, we have to get to the hospital. Fred Andrews was shot." Within ten minutes, Mum and I were hastily dressed and on the road. My thumb was caught in my teeth, nervously biting it in worry. We rolled up to the hospital in record time. Mum and I met up with Betty, Veronica, Jughead, Alice, Hal and Hermione and hurried in together. We saw Archie pacing up and down, his letterman jacket soaked with blood.

"Arch?" Veronica called out. The red-head turned to us. Veronica raced up to Archie and threw her arms around him. Betty followed suit, with Jughead joining the group. I just stood back and rubbed my hand over Archie's back, not wanting to suffocate him. As our parents went to see what was happening with Fred, us kids moved to the seats.

"I came out of the bathroom, and there was this man...a thief…wearing this hood, with a gun on Pop Tate." Archie started to explain. "And then he pointed it at my dad and he fired."

"Oh my god, Archie…"

"And then he…"

"And then he what, Arch?" I asked softly.

"And then he bolted. And I was holding my dad, Pop Tate called an ambulance, and it didn't come so I drove here and...I don't know, maybe I should have waited. I made it worse."

"No, dude, are you kidding me?" Jughead asked rhetorically. "You saved your dads life. Keep this up and you'll need a Superhero name, like Pureheart the Powerful."

"There isn't any new information." Alice said, approaching us. "Your dad's in surgery, he'll be there for a while."

"Archie, have you spoken to you're mother about any of this yet?" Hermione asked, squatting so she was closer to him.

"No, no...I haven't called her." Archie admitted.

"I can do it if you want." Mum said.

"No, it's ok Missus Jhonson, I can do it." Archie then stood and walked away. I let out a heavy breath, running my good hand through my hair. I slumped in my seat, the weight of the past twenty-four hours getting to me.

"What?" Jughead asked. I glanced over to him to see him staring at Alice.

"Mum, do not start this now." Betty demanded.

"Start what?"

"Of course, I can't help but wonder if you're southside associates had anything to do with what happened to Fred." Alice quipped.

"Oh god." I goaned, my head falling into my hands.

"At least you can't accuse my father of being the shooter considering he's in jail." Jughead commented.

"Oh my god. I can't handle this." Veronica complained. She slunked into her seat, leaning her head on Betty's shoulder.

TIMESKIP

Sheriff Keller than appeared, taking his hat off as he approached us. "Sherrif." Archie greeted as we stood.

"How's your dad doing?" Sheriff Keller asked.

"He's still in surgery." Betty replied.

"Archie. I know this is a hell of a time for you. Perhaps we could go somewhere and talk about what happened."

"Is it cool if I tag along?" Jughead wondered.

"Actualy if you don't mind-"

"Yeah, that'd be great, Jug." Argie interrupted. The three of them walked off. I ran my hand through my midnight-blue hair as Betty, Veronica and I sat down once more.

"There are certain things that no one does better than Veronica Lodge." Our raven-haired friend stated. "Makeovers, party planing, dance offs, dropping vintage bon mots as if they were bon-bons." Betty let out a small chuckle. I let out my own snort. "Conversely, there are things that I'm not good at. Grief, bedside vigils, comforting boyfriends."

"That's the old Veronica talking." Betty assured her.

"Old Veronica would've bolted by now, but new Veronica doesn't want to let Archie down"

"You're not gonna let Archie down." I assured. "The fact that you're here shows that you care."

"Oh, and speaking of…" Veronica turned to the main corridor, which caused us to turn and see both Archie and Jughead strolling back towards us. They paused, hugged, and then Jughead turned to me. He did a little hand gesture, like two fangs descending. I nodded. I grabbed my jacket and stood.

"Update me on Fred." I said, pulling the jacket over my arms. I looked at my Mum, nodding to Jughead before running off after him. "So, what are we doing?" I asked, slowing to match Jughead's pace.

"Fred fired the Serpents from the SoDale project." Jughead told me. "I wanna go see if any of them did this, and you're a Serpent, they'll listen to you."

"I don't have much influence, that's all you, Serpent Prince." I nudged Jughead in the arm.

TIMESKIP

Jughead and I waited outside the hospital, leaning against one of the walls. "I got nervous when you said to meet at the hospital." Tall Boy commented.

"Was wondering when you said the Serpents had my back." Jughead said. "Does that courtesy extend to a guy who's like my brother? And a man who's like a second father to me?" Tall Boy looked over to me.

"They're good people." I vouched, crossing my arms.

"What do you need?" Tall Boy asked.

"Fred Andrews, my Buddy's dad, was shot during a robbery at Pop's. The guy was in a black hood."

"Serpents don't wear masks." Another Serpent, a boy by the name of Hopkins added.

"Yeah, I get it. But some Serpents were working for Fred Andrews when, for reasons of his own, decided to let them go suddenly. Maybe someone took it personally and went rogue. You guys know every hiedy-hole in town. Someone has to have heard about what went down at Pops."

"Why don't you get Stiletto to do it?" Hopkins asked.

"Like it or not, I have other business." I snapped at him. "Fred and Archie are like family to me, alright? I gotta look after them too."

"Alright." Tall Boy said. "We'll knock some heads. Let you know." Tall Boy clapped Jughead on the shoulder and nodded to me. He and Hopkins mounted their bikes and drove off. Jughead and I exchanged looks, hopefully they'd be able to find something soon.

TIMESKIP

While waiting in the lobby with Jughead, I saw a familiar flash of red hair. My eyebrows pinched together as I stood. "I'll be back." I told him, standing and following the person. "Cheryl?" I called, approaching her. Cheryl turned around. She was dressed in a white dress that had been burnt at the hem. "Cheryl are you ok?" I asked.

"Lia!" She greeted, seemingly more cheerful than the night before.

"Cheryl, why are you here?" I peeked into the room that Cheryl was standing in front of. "My god...Cheryl is that your mother? What happened?"

"Thornhill burned down last night." My eyes snapped over to Cheryl. She seemed unscathed which was a releif, but her dress was certainly ruined. "I was asleep and mother rushed in to save me." I frowned.

"Cheryl...honey, you and I both know that your mother wouldn't do that...what really happened?" Cheryl looked down.

"I...I wanted a new start." She admitted. "That house held so many dark memories I wanted it gone. I started the fire, but we both managed to get out in time. She ran back in to get some hideous family portriat. You can't tell anyone about what she really did, ok?" Cheryl took my hands in hersm careful not to squeeze my broken one too hard. "Please?"

"Ok." I said. My good hand came up and cuppec Cheryl's cheek. "Though you could have done that a lot differently, I admire your courage to do what you did." I lent forward and kissed her forehead.