Betty and Sweet Pea were sat on her flood, heads bent over their case files strewn across the ground. Sighing, she took a sip of her coffee, not even bothering to glance at the time as she did so. She knew it was late, but these long nights were of no surprise for her. When the agency had first caught wind of the sex-trafficking ring, her, Sweet Pea, and even sometimes Glen, if he needed to be helping them, would pull all-nighters. All-nighters to try and find as many ways as possible to infiltrate the ring that they could. And now that JB, sweet JB, was the latest victim for the ring, this shit was personal on a whole other level.

Just then, Sweet Pea spoke up. "Your hands are shaking which either means you're afraid or mad. Which is it?" His eyes never strayed from the file he held in his own hands, but his tone told her he was always paying attention – something that didn't surprise her. Not really. Since becoming her partner, Sweet Pea had her back in a way people never had before. He viewed her as a younger sister of sorts and, even though that particular quirk did not benefit her dating life, she was glad there was someone who knew her as well as he did.

Laughing, she took a sip of her coffee before replying quietly. "Angry."

"Figured as much," he nodded, eyes finally meeting hers'. "JB?"

Betty had explained that out of everyone in Riverdale, JB was the only person she wasn't mad at. She had been a young kid when shit went down – and hadn't done anything to Betty. The night Betty left, actually, JB had found her heading out and begged her to stay. After pressing a gentle kiss to the girl's forehead, Betty explained there was nothing left in Riverdale for her but to call her if she ever needed anything. Pulling herself out of the memory, she nodded.

"Yeah. I hate that this ring exists in the first place and I detest that JB is in their clutches right now," she hissed, wanting nothing more than to put a bullet in every person holding those women hostage and trafficking them to different countries. And, for what? So they can get their greedy hands on some money? Fuck that. Fuck that.

Sweet Pea hummed, his eyes taking on a knowing look, as if he could see right through the walls she was crafting around her explanation. She wasn't sure if she hated him for it or loved him for knowing her so well. "Not your fault. I won't ask if you know that or not because I know that in this entire fucked up situation you're blaming yourself on some level. What I will say is that you come to me when it gets to be too much. When those thoughts want to send you down the rabbit-hole of self-destruction. I'll always catch you before that happens."

It was promise murmured with conviction and really, there was nothing left to say to refute it at this point. Nothing that she wanted to say. She nodded as he squeezed her shoulder before the sound of knocking on her front door caused both of them to look in the direction of it. She had invited Jughead and his father over – her mother, too. Inhaling, she nodded. "Show time."

XXX

Jughead Jones being in her apartment in Washington was something she never thought she'd see. Nor, FP or Alice, as well. She took it with a grain of salt as she led them through her front hallway and into her living room where Sweet Pea was still perched on the ground, highlighting something in a file as his eyes narrowed. Occasionally, he'd flip to another page in a different file, and she appreciated that, despite him not liking the Jones's, he was taking this case seriously for JB. And, maybe for Betty herself. Her best friend's sense of loyalty knew no boundaries when it came to her.

Not looking up, he greeted them. "We're going over the case files of previous victims, trying to find any comparisons from women in New York and Washington with JB."

"Would there be comparisons?" FP asked, sitting down on the couch, Alice sitting next to him as she watched on.

"Maybe," Betty said. "A few victims had similarities in appearances – hair, height and weight, etc. They also had common interests."

"Such as?" Jughead asked, peeling his eyes away from a photo he had been looking at and crossing his arms across his chest. A quick look told Betty it was a photo of her, Sweet Pea, and Veronica Lodge, their IT expert, at Betty's twenty-fourth birthday. It had been a good night and she smiled slightly at the memory of how drunk she had got, (thanks Ronnie), and how she and Ronnie had sang karaoke while Sweet Pea egged them on. Turning to look at Jughead, she replied.

"Hobbies, jobs, and favorite places to visit in their individual cities, depending on where they were abducted. We're not sure why they cared about these commonalities between the women but we're looking into it. Especially since JB is now involved," she assured, watching as Jughead nodded appreciatively, eyes never straying from her face. She shifted her hair forward to act as a curtain of protection, ignoring the way he frowned in the process. She didn't have time to analyze what his frown meant, nor did she particularly want to. She turned to Sweet Pea.

"Did you hear back from Glen?" Betty asked, watching as the taller nodded.

"Yeah, he said that if we can get Veronica to hack into the company's database then we're good to plan our attack accordingly," he replied. Betty nodded herself before turning to the other three and clarifying what they were talking about.

"Veronica Lodge," she began but Jughead interrupted her.

"Of Lodge Enterprises?" Jughead asked.

"Yeah, she's our hacker – the best for the job that I've ever seen," Betty said before continuing. "Anyways, we have an idea of a company the ring is working under – using their name to bring in women under the pretense of a potential job offer. Now, we know that's not how JB got taken but if this company leads to where they're holding the women – at least, some of them – then we've got more room to work with. Veronica is currently working her magic on infiltrating their database, looking for anything and everything that she can that suggests it's not a legit company."

Jughead nodded, looking impressed. "You guys really do take your work seriously."

"Have to, Jones," Sweet Pea's irritated reply came and, yeah, he was done playing nice with Jughead for now, Betty noted. "When there are as many missing women that there are and we want to make sure to save as many as we can, we do need to take our work seriously."

It was quiet for several beats as Betty watched Sweet Pea still focusing on the file in his hands. Finally, he looked up. "Got it."

She nodded, barely concealing her grin. "Perfect. We'll plan the attack tonight."

"What? What's happening?" Jughead asked, looking back and forth between the two of them, as was FP and Alice. Looking at Sweet Pea, he nodded, and she turned to explain what their plan was.

"There's a man we've been looking into," Betty said. "He holds no high power and really, all he does is the basic minimum for the ring. We've been looking for a prior charge to pick him up on so we can question him at Headquarters."

"I'll be having a lot of fun with that," Sweet Pea added, voice nonchalant.

"Meaning?" FP asked, hint of a grin pulling at his lips for the first time since Betty saw him.

"Meaning," Sweet Pea smiled back. "That you guys will see just how I get answers out of the perps."

Rolling her eyes, Betty prepared herself for a bit of bloodshed.

Author's note: Enjoy! Thoughts lovely per usual! Xxx