Author's note: Okay. Bit more of angst/action in this one. Here we go. Thoughts lovely as always!
Jughead, Betty, Sweet Pea, and Emma had all ended up back at Betty's apartment when it was time to debrief with FP and figure out what they could about his men. According to his father, the men from Toledo were close in the sense of how the men from the Serpents had been at one point. Jughead was pleased with that fact for two reasons: 1. His father had friends in Toledo and that made him happy. 2. Those friends were liked well enough to be considered brothers FP would willingly die for which meant they'd be on their side, no questions asked. That really helped calm some of Jughead's nerves. And, so it seemed Sweet Pea's. The taller wasn't as hesitant to accept FP and his crew into their lives as much now. That, and the conversation (screaming match, Jughead called it in his mind) they had had also helped smooth the tides.
Now, it was currently two weeks past the day FP had arrived and him and Alice were currently out getting a bite to eat as was their new normal. Not for any romantic relationship but for a friendship FP seemed content on trying to get them to have. He thought Alice shouldn't spend all her time locked up in her house and that Cheryl deserved some time to reconnect with Toni, as well. Especially since Toni's due date had just passed and the redhead wanted to offer her help for Fangs, Kevin, and Toni with the newborn. So, FP took a lot of his time to make sure Alice wasn't on her own. He ended up renting an apartment for the time being – muttering something about an indefinite stay and Jughead knew he wasn't leaving any time soon. He wasn't upset about that.
"When are Betty and Emma going to get back?" Came Sweet Pea's voice and Jughead laughed.
"Man quit whining and enjoy the fact that we get to see each other," Jughead grinned and Sweet Pea huffed.
"No offense, Jones, but I'd rather be with my girlfriend right now," Sweet Pea grumbled and Jughead laughed once more. Emma and Betty had left a few hours prior to go meet up with Nick and run over as many videos of Betty in her apartment as they could – something that still caused a shiver to run down Jughead's spine. The idea of her being filmed while she was in a safe place (but, it never really was), had left him seething. They had invited Steve to come hang out with them, but the other man had to politely decline as he was tasked with trying to see if he could trace where the videos were coming from in the first place. Jughead wouldn't complain as it was something they really needed done before they could bring in their final play to get Glen in jail.
Then, when that happened, they'd be calling in Mary Andrews. Archie had already mentioned the idea of having his mother be the lawyer in the case that would undoubtedly follow, and Betty agreed immediately, knowing better than anyone that she'd kick ass in that calm and collected way of hers', securing a minimum life sentence for Glen. Personally, Jughead was secretly hoping for two sentences but he digressed.
"I would love to see my girlfriend, too," he agreed. "But, since they're out being bad asses, you'll have to make do with me."
"Why aren't we with them again?" Sweet Pea asked.
"Because Emma and Betty both would rightfully kick our asses if they felt we thought they couldn't handle themselves," Jughead explained for what felt like the fifth time in the past hour alone. "You know if anyone has her back, it's Emma."
"Didn't think you'd ever be able to admit someone other than yourself being able to protect her back," Sweet Pea commented thoughtfully, and Jughead shrugged.
"Learning to pick my battles," he explained. "I trust Emma to keep Betty safe as much as you trust Betty to keep Emma safe."
"She feels awful," Sweet Pea said quietly, and Jughead paused from where he had been about to take a sip of his coffee and looked at his taller friend. "Emma. She feels awful."
Swallowing, Jughead nodded. He wasn't surprised this conversation was happening – he knew some type of conversation along these lines was on it's way one way or another since Betty had been discharged from the hospital the second time. "Betty would have taken that bullet for any one of us."
"I know," he nodded, voice quiet. "Still doesn't make it any easier on Em to come to terms with the fact that her friend took a bullet for her."
"Has she talked to Betty about it?" Jughead asked curiously, finally taking that sip he wanted.
Shrugging, Sweet Pea replied. "She planned on talking to her today but she's – Emma has an extremely hard time accepting people wanting to help her. She's a lot like Betty in the sense she's a natural born protector. Comes from the fact that her mother walked out when she was four and hasn't called since. It'd been her and her father until he died in a hit and run. They never caught the guy and a year later she was joining the FBI."
Jughead felt his heart hurt for not only Sweet Pea's girlfriend and Betty's friend, but his friend, as well.
"Shit," he sighed, voice saddened. "I'm sorry. That's rough."
"She hadn't been able to save her dad so for Betty, someone she views as genuine family, to take a bullet for her, she's having a hard time compartmentalizing what it means. She's one of the mindset: "everyone leaves eventually", and, she thought Betty was leaving her that day. Thought she was watching her best friend die in her other best friend's arms," he said, voice soft.
"Yeah, the three of them are no strangers to trauma," Jughead agreed in a whisper.
"Are any of us with everything that has happened lately?" Sweet Pea countered and he nodded in agreement. Just then, his phone went off and he pulled it off the coffee table, recognizing the ringtone for Betty. "Hey, baby. How's the stakeout going?"
Betty and Emma had been staking out where Betty had first found whoever the fuck was following her that first day. It wasn't much of a place to start, not nearly enough for any of them to be remotely happy with, but Nick had reminded them it was what they had to go on. Nick himself had requested for Betty and Emma to see if there were cameras on any of the nearby buildings and to send him the street address so he could begin hacking into them. Thank God for legal hackers.
"Ugh," she sighed, boredom dripping from her tongue. "It's going. This is always some of the worst parts of being an agent, Juggie. We get bored as fuck waiting for something to happen. I'm really so honest-to-God bored, I'd almost wish for, I don't, like a car chase or something right now."
He had put the phone on speaker, as had Betty, and he and Sweet Pea could hear Emma cracking up in the background. "God, Betty, don't wish it into existence! Remember last time we had a stupid car chase?"
There was a momentary pause as Sweet Pea and Jughead exchanged looks. Then – "Oh! The one downtown? Yeah. That was a fun night."
Her voice was filled with a tinge of gleefulness so Jughead knew she was at least somewhat serious about enjoying that. It wasn't as alarming as it should be that he wasn't surprised she enjoyed that.
"How the fuck do you two end up in a car chase?" Sweet Pea asked, snorting with laughter.
"Baby, come on!" Emma called. "It's us. Glen was being his usual fuckwad of a self and not really regulating who did what and Betty and I ended up having Nick hack into the cameras on the stop lights and we tracked the car. It was fun. The three of us got Thai afterwards."
Sweet Pea just shook his head and Jughead understood: the three of them would do whatever the fuck they wanted to at this point.
Just then, Betty spoke up, and her tone was sharper; more piercing. "Emma, person standing three cars to your left, sipping their coffee."
Jughead and Sweet Pea quieted and listened as best they could as they heard Emma respond.
"The one casually looking in our direction?" Emma clarified. Betty hummed. "Yeah, I spotted them when explaining about the hacking of the traffic lights. How do you want to handle this Betty?"
There was a pause – "Let's approach casually and play off the fact that we assume they're just someone who may be nervous about approaching us right now. If they get scared, follow them. Keep your gun hidden."
"Got it," Emma replied.
"Jughead, I have to drop the call – we will not get out of the car until Nick has you on the line with him so you and Pea can hear what's happening. We have ear pieces connected with Nick. It's how the three of us stay in touch when on the field," Betty said, and Jughead quickly told her he loved her, as did Sweet Pea with Emma, before they disconnected the call and Jughead called Nick, who already knew to expect him. It took only a moment before he and Sweet Pea were patched in with Nick and they were hearing what the two women were saying.
"Okay, let's go, Emma," Betty said and the sound of two car doors being open was heard. Jughead could hear their light footsteps as they walked towards the person who had been watching them and he felt his stomach coil tightly at another thought – they had no idea if this was a trap.
"They have each other Jones," Sweet Pea said, as if reading his mind; though, his voice sounded just as tense as Jughead felt.
"Okay, they're not appearing spooked so maybe they're not who we're looking for?" Emma asked.
"I don't know," Betty murmured. "Something feels off about this."
It was quiet for another few moments and then Betty's surprised voice could be heard. "Ethel?"
Jughead and Sweet Pea looked at each other carefully.
"Ethel Muggs?" Emma clarified.
Jughead didn't have to see the serene, bordering obsessive smile on her face she wore in high school – he heard it through her tone. "Agents Cooper and Morrison."
"How do you know Agent Morrison, Ethel?" Betty asked, tone calm.
"He speaks of you both," she said politely. No. No, no, no. Sweet Pea hissed quietly next to him and Nick was cursing as the puzzle pieces came together.
"Ethel…who?" Emma asked, tone firm. Ethel surprised them all by laughing.
"Don't reach for your gun, Emma. Can I call you Emma?" Ethel asked curiously before dropping a bomb. "Betty, I'll go quietly to the police station. I have no qualms about that. I should apologize for kidnapping and killing Polly. TBK didn't want to do that murder this time – said it was my way to truly prove my loyalty. And, I had to. You understand."
"Get the fucking cuffs on her now," Betty hissed and Jughead heard Ethel yelp as Emma secured her wrists behind her back. "Just confessed to both kidnapping and murder, Ethel. I'm not stupid enough to think something bigger is at play here – especially since you didn't say Glen's name. We'll be going to have a little chat."
"It goes back to you, Betty," Ethel said calmly. "Don't you get it? You were never meant to escape. You were never meant to outsmart him the night your team caught up. You put a lot of undue stress on him by fighting back in the first place. I tried to warn him that you would do that. You've always been insufferable when it came down to it."
"Shut up," Emma hissed. "And get in the back of the car, bitch."
Ethel laughed. "Fair enough. You're all walking on borrowed time anyways."
Jughead's heart was thundering in his ears as Sweet Pea spoke to him. It took him several moments to pull away from the conversation he was listening to hear what his friend was saying. "What?"
"We need to get to the station now," Sweet Pea insisted, pushing him out of the apartment. "I'll drive. Keep your head on straight."
Nodding, Jughead rushed to the car as well and they were off, ready to figure out why the fuck Ethel got involved in the first place. And, as Betty said, there was something bigger at play if Ethel was willingly handing herself over. What it was, was the question.
Author's note: Some of you guessed, some of you didn't, and some of you were just on the fence. So, meet the accomplice! Her back story with Glen will be divulged in the next chapter! Xxx