Veronica's POV*

Veronica was exhausted. She hadn't slept a wink last night because she'd been wracking her brain on what to do about Betty. It wasn't her or Archie that were the problem anymore, it was just Betty and whether or not she'd choose to forgive them. After their spat yesterday, she found that unlikely. She worried all the way through her morning routine and all through the car ride to school. She blindly walked to her locker forgetting, maybe the most important fact. That her locker, was directly opposite to Betty's. Panic rose inside her as she locked eyes on the form of her ex-best friend Betty Cooper. She looked tired, clearly her night with Cheryl had either been crazy or horrible and given the fact that this was Cheryl Blossom she was talking about, Veronica was willing to assume the latter.

She awkwardly shuffled over to her locker and opened it, cursing at the loud squeaky noise it made upon opening, she turned to see Betty looking at her. Well shit, she thought, this is how I die.

What Betty said next though, completely threw her off guard.

"You were right" she said solemnly "What you said about Archie...sometimes it's hard to admit things to yourself"

Veronica closed up her locker and turned to face Betty, she crossed arms for good measure. She desperately wanted to be friends again but Veronica Lodge wasn't one to come begging more than once. She needed to hear the right things from her first, if only to know that she was going to be okay.

"My mother is crazy" she continued "I'm afraid I'll never see my sister again, the boy I like doesn't like me back"

Veronica sighed "He may not be crushing on you Betty, but he does love you and he's legit miserable without you, if that's any consolation"

Betty managed a faint smile at that one.

"Anyway, my mom says that sometimes a friend is better than a boyfriend, maybe that'll be true for Archie"

And suddenly there it was again, that connection, that bridge between the two of them. It had been re-established by the admittance of a few hard truths and while they maybe weren't in best friend territory yet this was definitely a step in the right direction again.

"Veronica...did you see Archie this morning?" Betty asked sheepishly " I feel like I owe him an apology"

"I did run into him and believe me B after the night he's had, I think he'd welcome some good news"

"Why what happened" Betty asked, concerned.

"Well he told me he got in a big fight with his brother and it turned violent"

"John? Violent? That's two words you don't hear together often. It's got to be serious"

"Uh huh girl, if that wasn't bad enough apparently according to some of the boys, he's been MIA all morning, he's not even at the construction site"

"What's going on in this place, literally everything has gone over the edge"

Veronica watched as the cogs in that Nancy Drew head of hers turned over and over, if nothing else she was glad to be back on the team with Riverdale high's resident sleuth, whatever the case she'd always find the answers and that could one day, be very useful...

John's POV*

"Why the fuck are you dragging us back to school for?"

Malachai was starting to get on John's nerves, this was the fifth time he'd asked since they'd entered the building. It was worse that he'd insisted on bringing four or five of his 'friends' who specialised in hell raising.

"I need to talk to someone" he replied bluntly.

"What're we supposed to do, march into the student lounge behind you, Bulldogs won't let us get away with that"

John sighed "Then wait out here and try not to get beat on by some high schoolers in blue jackets, okay?"

"One of these days, imma slap you"

After the fight with Archie last night, John didn't think things could possibly get any worse but then the boss had pulled him and Malachai into his office and given them their first real target. Up until now he'd only worked small jobs for the Ghoulies like dealing or low-level thievery but this next job was dark and he wasn't sure if he was going to come back the same, either way he had no choice. They were against the clock to pull off this job. He wanted to talk to Archie though, if this job went bad it might be the last chance he'd get to straighten things out.

"Okay, student lounge is just through here, you guys wait for me"

"If you don't sort this fast, we're gonna set up shop here Andrews"

"No dealing and no trouble Mal, I'll be in and out, I'm an excellent negotiator"

With that he pushed open the door gently and walked into a whole world of commotion. Everyone was staring at what appeared to be an argument between Reggie Mantle and Jughead.

"What was it like suicide squad? When you shot Jason? You didn't do stuff to the body did you?"

Reggie Mantle, the most creatively offensive person at Riverdale High. This was going to be an interesting visit.

Jughead smiled at Reggie "It's called necrophilia Reggie; can you spell it?"

Reggie's face went from cruel to dangerous and in an instant, he was on his feet and squaring up to Jug. John prepared to jump into action, but he didn't have to. Suddenly Archie was there, shoving Reggie back and getting in between the two.

"Shut the hell up Reggie"

Reggie, for his part, managed a smile "What do you care Andrews?"

"Nothing, just leave him alone"

If Archie had been talking to anyone else, they would have backed down, but Reggie was on home turf and surrounded by his crew, he wasn't afraid of anyone right now. John knew, as much as he hated working for them, it felt the same way rolling with the Ghoulies.

"Holy crap, did you and Donnie Darko kill him together? Was it some sort of pervy blood brother thing?"

Reggie got right up in Archie face, his big mistake. Archie shoved him back but Reggie charged forwards smashing Archie against the vending machine behind the, before toppling them both to the floor. Unfortunately, it was Reggie who came up on top, straddling Archie so that he couldn't move and hitting him hard across the head.

"HEY" John shouted "What do you think you're doing Mantle"

Reggie looked round "Do you want some too?"

As Reggie stood up his teammates, stood up with him, but John wasn't afraid.

"You don't want to do that, I'll just take my brother and leave" John said calmly, he wasn't about to get into another fight after last night.

"You can't just put on some weird jacket and come in here to run my show Andrews, you're done"

Well, he knew wearing his Ghoulies jacket was gonna be a bad idea, the gang was small at the moment. No-one feared it but after tonight this black jacket with the skull on the back would be a lot more than just a fashion statement.

Reggie and his goons were approaching him now and like clock work as they got close to him, Betty, Kevin and Veronica who'd been sat to the side of John ran to join Jughead at Archie's side. John sized up Reggie, he doubted he'd beat him up , it was all talk. Then again it wouldn't hurt to take some of the wind out of Reggie's sails.

John whistled, loud and clear.

Reggie laughed "What the hell was that supposed to do?"

"Nothing" John said nonchalantly "Just thought you should meet my friends"

Right on cue Malachai and his Ghoulies entered the room from behind him. They looked sinister in their dark clothing and immediately Reggie took a step back. Some of the Ghoulies flicked out pen knives.

"Woah man, woah" Reggie called out

"Me and my friends don't want any trouble Reggie" John said lowly "We just want Archie, so why don't you move on"

Reggie and his boys almost trampled each other trying to run out of the room. John immediately rushed over to his brother. Betty, Veronica, Kevin and Jug were already at his side.

Betty looked up at him "John...Who are those guys, what are you wearing?"

John sighed "They're Mal's guys Betty, I'll explain...soon I promise but right now I need to leave and I need to know Archies gonna be safe with you guys while I go do something... risky"

"Safer than he would be with you" Jug retorted, his hands shaking in anger "I know a gang when I see one John, after all those stories about my dad... you went ahead and joined one?"

"It's more complicated than you think Jug, They have me right where they want --"

Principal Weatherbee's voice boomed out over the speakers, cutting him off.

"JOHN ANDREWS TO THE PRINCIPLES OFFICE IMMEADIATLY"

Betty looked into John's eyes and made a fast judgement "Go John, he's good with us, we won't tell him, just go"

John went to leave but Betty grabbed his arm "First opportunity you get though, you're explaining everything to me"

"of course," John said quietly before turning to Malachai and the boys "Let's go guys"

"Excellent negotiator my ass" Malachai muttered as they fled the student lounge before they were caught...

Archie's POV*

Archie was sat in his kitchen holding an ice pack to his face. After his run in with Reggie he'd woken up in the student lounge as Betty, Veronica and Kevin were trying to prop him up. Jughead was no where to be seen. He didn't blame him, defending Jughead didn't make them even.

After that the girls had walked him home and here, he'd been, waiting for that tell-tale sound of his Dad's truck pulling onto the driveway. He'd pulled a late one at the office last night so he hadn't seen the results of his fight with John and if Archie was being honest, he didn't want him too. It would better in the long run as it would protect Miss Grundy and more than that he didn't want his Dad to ever see the side of John that he'd seen last night. A side that scared him.

"I hate to ask this but did you get that in a fight with Jughead?"

Archie looked up to see his Father walking through the door.

"No why would I be fighting with Jughead?"

"Well he was here last night before I went back to the office, he was looking for you and he seemed pretty angry"

"Well, it wasn't from Jug, I got it in a fight with Reggie. Dad...Jughead's angry because... Well there's this girl..."

"There usually is" his Dad chuckled.

"Well Jughead thinks I should do something, because it's the right thing to do and I've realised that I agree with him but the girl says that If I do this thing, it'll ruin what we have...that didn't make any sense did it" Archie sighed.

His Dad looked at him for a moment "You know this is the most honest talk we've had in a while... and I'm glad that you wanna do the right thing. I can see that even under the shiner but Archie if you know that it's the right thing to do, no matter what it'll cost you, you have to do it son"

Archie nodded and for the first time in a long time, he knew exactly what he had to do...

Jughead's POV*

The Pep rally wasn't really Jughead's scene but after the last couple of days he felt as though he had to keep an eye on Archie around school, even if he was basically headlining this whole event. He'd taken up a lonely position to the side of the stands, leaning against the wall. From there he could see Archie, the Bulldogs and the Vixens running around like headless chickens making final preparations.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Archie walk over to the refreshments table where Miss Grundy was stood. Let the manipulation begin, he thought, turning away from the sad scenario and partly wishing that he'd never found out to begin with or at least that he hadn't gotten John involved.

It was funny, Jughead spent most of his time investigating yet he'd never once thought to investigate one of his best friends. He'd been so caught up in trying to help Archie that he'd clearly missed that John had been in trouble. Now he was part of a gang but why? What help had they offered him?

Jughead cast a quick look back over towards Archie and was surprised to see him approaching.

"Girl trouble?" he asked as Archie came to stand in front of him.

Archie took a deep breath "Grundy and me. We're telling Weatherbee or at least I am"

Jughead raised his eyebrows "John must've really beaten some sense into you"

"I need you to know Jug, I would never have hurt you and I didn't mean any of the crap I said...I was just messed up" Archie looked at the floor.

"Archie you're not messed up but you are in a difficult place and I'm glad you're back on form and making the right decisions again. It's right on time really because I need you to help me, help your brother"

Archie nodded "We've never fought Jug and I've never seen him that way before, it was...scary"

"I'll bet, I was terrified and I wasn't even getting beat on. Look he really came to the rescue earlier...in you're fight with Reggie. He made us promise not to tell but you'll likely hear it from someond soon so..."

"What's he hiding"

Jughead hesitated, John had been his friend for so long.

"Jug" Archie reiterated "What is my brother hiding"

"He's joined a gang Arch, he said it's complicated. I think...I think he's in trouble. Deep trouble. So, care to team up" Jughead extended his hand "We good?"

Archie smiled "Jughead, we're good. After this rally, I promise I'll help"

They shook hands and for a moment Jughead felt like hugging him. He had his friend back, he'd coaxed him from the ledge, now it was just time for the other Andrews brother...

Veronica's POV*

The Vixens were lined up, Mayor McCoy's speech was ending. It was nearly show time.

"—Jason Blossom, we're with him tonight. Now please join me in welcoming our very own River Vixens and their special guest stars, my daughter, Josie and her Pussycats"

There was the cue, Josie started singing and immediately everything that they'd practiced started to come together in her head, everything was a strange blur, one minute she was next to Betty, the next she was walking slowly past Cheryl waving her arms, but all the time the adrenaline of the crowd kept her going. Then as quick as the routine had started, it ended and she was following all the other vixens over to the banner that the football team was supposed to run through. She watched as Cheryl got up on stage and hugged Josie before giving the microphone over to Coach Clayton.

"All right, you all ready? Let's make some noise and put your hands together for the Riverdale Bulldogs!" he yelled into the mic enthusiastically.

Veronica braced herself as she heard the thunder of the running Bulldogs behind her just before they burst through the banner with Archie in the lead. She yelled with joy along with the other vixens as the crowd went wild for the varsity team. She cast a quick look up at the stage but Cheryl caught her attention. She was staring at Archie, a look of horror plastered over her face, tears forming in her eyes. Veronica was about to go up there when Cheryl dropped her mic and bolted, running back across the empty field behind the stage, towards the girls changing rooms.

Veronica dropped her side of the banner and took off after her at full pelt, however horrible Cheryl Bombshell had been to her and her friends over the last few days, it was clear that she needed help right now and the new Veronica wasn't one to refuse it to anyone she knew.

When she finally caught up to Cheryl it was in the women's locker room, she was sat on the end of one of the benches sobbing.

"Cheryl?" she asked gently "What is it? What happened?"

"Jason...he's gone"

Suddenly it all made sense, Archie had been wearing Jason's number and with that red feathertop he must have been giving her serious blasts from the past. Cheryl wasn't as strong as she'd like everyone believe apparently.

"I know" She said softly "I know he is"

"Cheryl shook her head "No, you don't. You don't understand. He was supposed to come back"

He was supposed to come back? She mouthed the words to herself but they didn't make any sense. Jason died suddenly, how was he ever supposed to come back?

"I'm alone" Cheryl whispered as she broke down entirely, her whole body convulsing with the force of her sobbing. Veronica just held her as best she could and hoped that in time Cheryl would be okay.

"You're not alone" she whispered...

Betty's POV*

After a long and strange day Betty and Veronica were sat in a booth at Pop's with a couple of milkshakes. Betty had followed Veronica when she'd ran after Cheryl and after seeing the way that she'd comforted a girl that only a day ago had been insulting her without mercy, something had shifted something inside of Betty. In that moment she'd realised for the first time who the better girl out of the two of them was and it pained her to admit it but it was Veronica. So, she'd wiped the slate, invited Veronica out to Pop's and realised that this was a friend that she needed in her life. Veronica was the kind of person that everyone would need at some point or another and she should feel lucky that they were friends.

"Not many girls would have done what you did...for Cheryl I mean" she said to Veronica lowly " I mean just the other day she was being so mean to you"

Veronica chuckled "Full disclosure, I've had my share of emotional breakdowns and I know how hard it can be to think that your alone"

Betty smiled.

"Betty, can we make a vow?"

"A vow?" Betty asked, confused.

"Yeah, that no matter what, no boy will ever come between us again. Deal?"

Betty laughed "Deal" she said "Definitely"

They clinked their milkshake glasses together and laughed. In that moment Betty realised what she'd been missing her whole life. She'd been so busy chasing after Archie that she'd never really had a best girl. She'd never really had someone that she could make a vow with or trust that deeply to do so in the first place. This was the start of something good and she hoped it would last for a long, long time.

Behind them the bell to Pop's rang and Betty turned to see Archie and Jughead. They looked as if they'd been in deep conversation.

"Do you guys wanna join us?" Betty asked

"Well, we were kinda hoping that you'd help us, you see Jughead has this plan—"

"we're going to find John, and whatever reason he's got for being that gang we're going to take care of it. You guys in?"

Betty looked at Veronica and together they both smiled.

"we're in"

"Then let's make this official, the saviours circle. Everyone put your hands in the middle" Archie said slipping onto the bench next to Betty as Jughead did the same on the other side.

Together they piled their hands in the middle of the table, together, they were going to save him...

Narrator*

As the four friends sealed themselves into this righteous quest you might have mistaken them for a team that had worked together thousands of times before. The problem was that the pieces did fit together, too well and as they made their vow under the protective glow of Pop's neon sign, John Andrews was stalking different streets with much darker intentions on his mind, not knowing that there was still a chance of salvation. Not knowing that the saviours circle was a bond that would be forged this night, and would remain strong for many long years afterwards.

Among all of their own personal demons they'd come together to save a man who'd been ensnared by corruption but they didn't know just how the deep, the rabbit hole that John Andrews had fallen down, truly was...

AUTHORS NOTE_

Hi guys, this chapter is going to be a little in that it's going to have a fourth part that will be coming out soon. This next part is going to be a strange one because it will be completely off script, meaning that I won't have any episode up to follow and it will instead focus more on this Ghoulies storyline that I've been trying to elude to within the storyline. I have big plans for John but I really need to flesh out this next bit if he's going to fit back into the script of season one. I hope you don't mind me going off on my own a little bit, sorry. I'll do a proper Authors Note at the end of the next part when we actually finish Chapter two and that will address some issues that people have had and some things that I feel you should know but until then, thanks for reading and I'll see you in the next part which should be interesting to say the least...