After a hot and heavy night, morning has rolled around and our five Serpents need to discuss exactly where they stand. Of course, as soon as that's taken care of, they have to deal with Ghoulies, raids, and races, each one worse than the last.
Chapter title is from Outlaws by Alessia Cara, which is also the song that I listened to while writing most of this!
NOTE: The sign language is not written as it would be in ASL, but I wanted to make it easier for all of you to follow
WARNING: police violence (the canon raid but worse), underage drug use (weed), implied underage sex, and just… the ghoulies being the ghoulies
(Cast Not your Stone at the) Wayward Daughter
If They Lock Us Away (Then I'll Still Be Here)
Waking up wasn't the most comfortable thing, with five people sharing a cramped bed in a trailer with no air conditioner, but Amy was happy all the same. She was curled against Jughead's side, with one leg tossed over his, and Sweet Pea wrapped around her from behind—and thankfully Sweet Pea had had the foresight to change her into one of Jughead's shirts so that she wasn't still in her dress from the night before. She wasn't ready to get up, and instead tilted her head up, pressing kisses up and down Jughead's neck and jaw. She was careful to not leave any marks, knowing that they would have to go out in public later. They always skipped their morning classes after a Gauntlet, so Amy wasn't overly concerned about waking the others, deciding to move her kisses lower, covering her side of Jughead's torso.
She felt someone watching her and looked up, seeing Jughead smiling fondly at her.
"This is probably the nicest view I've ever woken up to," he told her softly, running a hand through her hair.
"Mornin, Juggy," she whispered, pressing another kiss to his jaw.
"Morning, Amethyst. Are you—"
"Are you going to ask me if I'm okay?" she asked.
"Well, yeah…" he admitted.
"I'm good, Juggy," she said, "I knew what I was doing, and I wanted to do it, and I have no regrets. You?"
"I mean, I'm definitely feeling the Gauntlet right now, but no regrets. Definitely no regrets."
"About joining the Serpents or hooking up?"
"Both. Neither. I don't regret any of it."
"Can either of you ever keep your mouths shut?" Fangs complained, from the other side of the bed.
"You love my mouth," Amy reminded him.
"I do. So, how about waking up the other two and getting something to eat?"
"Sounds good," Amy agreed, and Jughead nodded.
A couple of minutes later, they were all awake and getting dressed. Amy considered changing back into the dress, but instead settled on an oversized white t-shirt—whether it belonged to Jughead, FP, or one of her boys, she had no idea—which she tucked loosely into the waistband of the black skirt that Veronica had given her. Her black bra was visible under the shirt, and the tied the look together with a pair of fishnet tights and her usual boots.
Once they were all ready, they grabbed their respective jackets, and climbed on their bikes. They had let Jughead talk them into going to Pops, and soon enough they were parking, piling into the diner.
"Jughead, hey! And—Amy, was it? You're Fred's girl, right? I haven't seen you in a while."
"I've been away," Amy explained easily, letting Jughead lead them to his favourite booth. She sat pressed against the window, with Fangs and Sweet Pea beside her, Jughead across from her, and Toni next to him.
Although it was still technically morning, they all ordered milkshakes.
*"So, last night…" Jughead started.
"Was a PG-13 grope session."* Toni told him
"What were you guys up to when you were thirteen?" he asked, sounding almost distressed.
"Sex in the back of the Wyrm, mostly," Amy told him, shrugging.
Jughead looked like he was going to say something to that, but Toni cut him off.
*"Cards on the table, you're not over Betty,"* she told him
"Look, Jones, we're not exclusive, and the invite is always there, but there's no pressure. It's tradition—and more than that, it's fun, it feels good, and it makes us feel connected," Fangs explained.
"You want a good time, or just a good orgasm, we're always here, but you don't owe us anything," Sweet Pea added.
"Oh," Jughead said dumbly, "okay. That's… that's nice, actually."
"It is," Amy agreed.
Once their food arrived, they switched topics. Mostly they stuck to the basics, things that they should have already known; favourite books and movies, hobbies, and the like, but they did occasionally drift back to Serpent business.
They finished eating and returned to the Jones' trailer, where they finished getting ready for school; Jughead packing his bag, Fangs and Sweet Pea collecting their knives, and Amy and Toni fixing their makeup. They made it to school only a few minutes before lunch, so Amy gave her hearing aids to Sweet Pea and made her way to get changed for cheerleading, while Toni decided to skip and keep an eye on Jughead, given that it was his first day as an actual Serpent.
They practiced in the gym, as they usually did in the winter, but soon they were interrupted by a commotion in the hallways. They were dismissed and Amy, foolishly, went into the hallway to go find her friends.
She regretted it almost immediately, when she saw the cops storming the building. She turned and ran down a hallway, but froze. She could see Sweet Pea getting shoved against a locker, and turning towards a blur of pink, saw the same happening to Toni, and Fangs beside her.
"Toni!" She heard someone scream—she wasn't wearing her hearing aids, and the voice was faint, but she could see Jughead, pressed against the door, as Archie tried to pull him away—and what was he doing here?
She was jerked out of her thoughts when she was shoved roughly against a locker. She felt the press of cold metal against her bare arm, and wondered distantly if she was bleeding. She couldn't see the deputy, and turned to look, but the deputy shoved her face against the locker, and that time she was certain that she was bleeding; and she could only spare a brief moment to be grateful that it wasn't her eye, especially since she was wearing contacts not her glasses. She had caught a brief glimpse of her assaulter, and was relieved that it wasn't Sheriff Keller—how would she have explained that one to Kevin?
The cold bite of handcuffs pressed into her wrists, the wrong side of too tight, but Amy made no effort to fight back as she was dragged out of the door.
She looked to the side, seeing Archie but no Jughead. He clearly understood the look of panic on her face, signing reassurances that Jughead was fine, just hiding, and the last thing that she saw before the doors of the police van slammed shut was Archie pulling out his phone.
She looked around, and was both relieved and furious to see familiar faces all around her, although none of her partners were there. She could see that one of the deputies was talking, but she couldn't make out his words, and he was talking too fast for her to read his lips. She was still trying to figure out what he might have said when she felt the impact of a baton against her ribs, and tried not to gasp. Looking up, she realized that there was a second deputy and, although he was clearly talking to her, she had no idea what he was saying either. He must not have appreciated her blank stare, and she regretted giving her hearing aids to Sweet Pea when he whacked the baton against her ribs for a second time – and a third, fourth, fifth, and sixth. She barely had time to hope that they would just bruise, not crack, when she was dragged roughly from the van and shoved to the floor of an already full cell. She almost cried in relief when suddenly Sweet Pea was kneeling beside her, lifting her carefully and setting her down in a corner that had clearly been claimed by Toni and Fangs.
A quick conversation, thankfully in ASL so that she could follow, explained that her hearing aid case had been confiscated as "evidence", and that his black eye was the result of trying to explain himself. She was quick to promise that she didn't blame him, leaning her head against his neck.
She was distantly aware of a deputy opening the cell door and saying, well, something, when suddenly she was ripped away from Sweet Pea and dragged off once again, this time to the Sheriff's office. She was pushed into a chair in front of his desk, and continued to stare blankly as he spoke. If she could think straight, she would at least try to explain that she didn't have her hearing aids, but her head was still fuzzy from hitting it on the concrete floor when she was shoved into the cell. After some time, which could have been a minute or an hour, she wouldn't know, the Sheriff seemed to give up, and the deputy was once again bringing her to the cell. They were just about to turn down the hall to the holding cells when she saw the door fly open and Fred Andrews storm in, with Archie and Jughead right behind her.
In just a few steps, he was right in front of her, crouching down until he could look her in the eyes.
"Are you okay?" he signed. His movements were fluid but not rushed, giving her time to process what he was saying.
She laughed shakily, lifting her arms to show him the handcuffs that kept her from explaining, well, anything.
"Are you kidding me, Tom?" He demanded, and Amy was grateful that he spoke loudly and slowly, exaggerating his articulation in the way he always did when he wanted Amy to be able to follow a conversation.
She couldn't make out the Sheriff's words, but judging by the way Fred tensed and stood tall, it couldn't have been good.
"What the hell are you getting at, calling this insolence?"
Oh, apparently that's what he had said. Amy wanted to laugh, knowing that calling her insolent for not being able to hear was the fastest way to piss Fred off .
"Take her handcuff's off, Tom."
She saw the Sheriff shake his head, which didn't surprise her but clearly pissed Fred off.
"Take the goddamn handcuffs off of my daughter," he repeated, "I want to talk to her."
Keller said something, and suddenly the handcuffs were off. She watched, detached, as Jughead whispered something to Archie—probably about the "daughter" thing, before turning her attention back to Fred, who crouched in front of her again.
"What happened?" He signed.
"Raid at school," she replied.
"And the cuts?"
"Got pushed into a locker two times. Think I have a concussion from being thrown to the floor, and my ribs are bruised or cracked. They didn't like when I didn't answer them."
"And your hearing aids?"
"Sweet Pea had them. Says they were taken as evidence and he got a black eye for trying to explain."
"I'll take care of this," he promised, and Amy believed him. If there was one thing that she could always count on, it was that Fred would always take care of her.
"So, Tom, why exactly is my daughter telling me that she might have a concussion and either bruised or cracked ribs from your deputies?"
Once again, Amy couldn't tell what the answer was, but she was filled with smug satisfaction as she watched him stammer through whatever bullshit he was coming up with—and, judging from the looks on Fred, Archie, and Jughead's faces, it was definitely bullshit.
"For not answering? Are you kidding me? Of course she's not answering you, Tom, you took her fucking hearing aids. Apparently Sweet Pea, the tall boy with a neck tattoo, had them in his pocket and the case was confiscated as evidence."
She spaced out for the rest of the conversation, but soon her hearing aids were being pressed into her hands, and she rushed to put them in. She had no idea what had happened, but soon they were all being released, and she was suddenly surrounded on all sides; first by Jughead and the Andrews' but soon her partners were joining them. Jughead kept an arm around her shoulders while he hugged the other three, but Amy knew that she wouldn't feel safe as long as she was around the deputies, so she took it upon herself to drag them all outside.
Archie pulled her into a tight hug, murmuring apologies into her hair.
"What are you sorry for?" She asked, confused.
"I didn't protect you. I couldn't find you until it was too late."
"That's not your fault, Red. I was at cheer practice, we were let out early because of the commotion. But, um, speaking of cheer, could we go somewhere warmer? I'm fucking freezing here."
Jughead immediately wrapped his Serpent jacket around her, and as she went to zip it up, she noticed the angry bruises that were already covering the skin that her shirt left exposed.
"Do you think you can drop us back at school? I really want to get into some actual clothes, and Sweets has his car so we can go home afterwards."
"School? Sweetheart, you need a hospital," Fred told her.
"No," Amy told him immediately, "not the hospital. No hospitals."
Fred sighed. His instinct was telling him that she should see a doctor, but he was all too familiar with Amy's fear of doctors, and the trauma that had caused it.
"Fine. But you need to rest, and take care of yourself like you have a concussion and cracked ribs. No screens or strenuous activity. Got it?"
"Of course. Thanks, dad."
"Sorry, can I just—dad? And you called her your daughter?"
"Fred adopted me when I was nine," Amy explained. "My dad died about a year before, and FP couldn't take me in—he already had you and Jellybean to look after—so he convinced Fred to at least come to the Sisters and meet me, and the adoption process started that day. I was there for close to a year before everything got finalized, but yeah, technically, legally speaking, Fred's my dad."
"I didn't know that," Jughead said.
"It wasn't any of your business."
"And it is now?"
"Well I wasn't going to lie about it, and yeah, I guess it is. You're one of us now, Jug, and that means that you should know the facts."
He nodded in understanding, before climbing into the bed of the Andrews' truck, along with the other Serpents. Archie lifted Amy into the front, sliding in beside her, and reaching around her to buckle her seatbelt.
"Overkill, much? I can do up my own seatbelt, Red."
"I couldn't protect you, Ames, at least let me take care of you."
If it were anyone else, Amy would have scoffed, but this was Archie, looking at her so earnestly, so instead she just nodded.
They got out of the truck when they reached Southside High, the other Serpents hopping out of the bed, and Amy took a moment to hug Fred—Archie had asked to stay with them, and Amy couldn't deny him. It was an undeniably bad idea to have him on the Southside, but she knew that Archie would be blaming himself for not protecting her, just like he still blamed himself for not protecting Fred from being shot, and she couldn't bring herself to let him dwell on that alone. Once the truck was pulling out of the parking lot, the five entered the school, grabbing their bags from lockers, and Toni accompanied Amy to the girls' locker room, where she grabbed her duffle bag and started to change.
"Jesus, babe," Toni said, looking at her ribs.
Amy looked down, and immediately understood Toni's reaction. Her ribs were covered in fresh bruises, a horrifying array of red and purple covering most of her torso. She took a deep breath, as deep as she could with the splitting pain in her chest, and went back to getting changed. The pain was impossible to deny, but if she ignored it then she could pretend that the whole raid was just a bad dream. She took her time fixing her hair and makeup, needing her personal war paint more than usual, and pulled her jacket on. She felt safer immediately, like she was wearing armour, and she and Toni went back into the hall to join the boys.
"We need to deal with the Ghoulie part of this," Amy told them, as soon as they were all together. "They deal JJ, we need to make this hellhole off limits."
"And how do we do that?" Jughead asked.
"We go straight to the top," Amy shrugged. "Sweets, if you get us to their turf, I can get us in. Or at least, I can get me and Jug in, the rest of you might want to stay in the Jeep a few blocks out."
"Doll—"
"You don't want to leave me unprotected on Ghoulie territory, I get it. But it's not like I'm unarmed. I can handle this."
Sweet Pea sighed, agreeing reluctantly. Sweet Pea shot her one last questioning look when they got into the car, but she nodded firmly, and he took off. He dropped them off right outside of Ghoulie headquarters, before driving off to, hopefully, lurk a few blocks away.
Amy knocked confidently on the door. A window slid open, revealing a man who, upon seeing Amy, opened the door.
"Chris," she greeted easily, strolling right down the hall.
Jughead looked around, taking in the smell of weed and tobacco, and of melting plastic. They passed by several rooms, and he noticed that every door had been replaced with beads, and every room that he looked into shared the same deep crimson and skull theme as the hallway. It was alarming to realize just how unaffected Amy was by the whole thing, but he told himself that she must have dealt with them before, if FP had been training her to take over after him.
Amy pushed aside another curtain of beads, and he followed her nervously down the narrow staircase.
"Fancy seeing you here, kid," Tall Boy said, looking at Jughead, "take a seat."
Amy turned around quickly, "Tall Boy? What are you doing here?"
"Business to discuss," he told her dismissively.
"Can someone tell me what's going on? Where are we?"
"This is my house," a new voice spoke, as a man stepped out of the shadows, "The House of the Dead."
"And who the hell are you?" Jughead demanded, finally noticing the dark haired man.
He looked young, Jughead would bet he was in his late twenties, and his shirt was open, but Jughead had a feeling that he might be the most dangerous person in the room. He or Amethyst, if it came down to it.
"Relax, Jug. He's who we came to see. Malachai is the leader of the Ghoulies."
"Aw, Princess, you came all this way just to see me?" Malachai teased, approaching the girl.
"Like Tall Boy said, business to discuss. Although I certainly don't trust him to be speaking for the Serpents."
"And here I thought you missed me."
"Come on, Mal, there are way better ways to catch up, that don't involve Tall Boy or your enforcers."
"Mal? Wait, are you friends with this guy?" Jughead demanded.
"We… have an understanding," Amy explained.
"They jumped me, Amethyst!"
"Wow, Princess, you let him use the full name? Guess he must be good for something, then. Listen kid, you think that the leader of the Ghoulies gives a shit about what some kids do? I didn't even find out until later, but you know teenagers. Desperate to prove themselves."
"None of this is the point," Amy reminded everyone, and Jughead was once again shocked by how at ease she was in a room full of enemies. "Mal, you've got to get your guys to stop dealing JJ at my school."
"And why would I do that? Business is business, Princess, and there's a profit to be made in that dump."
"Because, Mal, me and mine just got taken in by the cops during some raid, because they suspected us of dealing, and your guys got off scot free. They only targeting Serpent jackets. I've never stopped you from doing your thing, but it's putting my people in danger."
"Funny you should mention that. See, I just got an offer to merge," Malachai told her, nodding towards Tall Boy.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Amy demanded, turning to stare down her fellow Serpent.
*"The heat is on us and our ranks are depleted. Our tribes need to unite," Tall Boy explained.
"Tall Boy, they're the reason Southside was even raided. Them and their jingle jangle."
"Chaos is how we thrive," Malachai said, "You'd better get used to it."*
"Are you serious right now, Tall Boy?" Amy asked.
"You're supposed to be my dad's right hand," Jughead reminded him.
*"The Northside declared war today. Your old man ain't here to call the shots. And yeah, I'm his right hand. That makes me defacto leader here and now,"* Amy scoffed. *"So things are changing, Jones. Either you change with them or suffer the consequences."
Malachai chucked, leaning back in his chair. "Evolve or die, baby, evolve or die."*
"Let me guess, Tall Boy, you wanted to get Jughead on your side so that we'd be in disagreement, and you could finally undermine my standing, right?"
Tall Boy shrugged, unconcerned. "And what of it, princess?" he sneered, and Jughead came to a shocking realization.
He realized that, while Malachai and Tall Boy both called Amy princess, Malachai made it sound respectful, unlike Tall Boy's mocking. He wasn't sure what it meant that the leader of a rival gang showed her more respect than her fellow Serpent, but it gave him a bad feeling.
"You're a goddamn traitor, is what of it," Amy told him, sounding both furious and patronizing. "I'm going to clean up this fucking mess, but Mal? Don't do anything until I say so."
"Of course, Princess. With the king gone, the heiress has more power than the right hand."
Amy smiled at him, appreciative and dismissive all in one, turning on her feel and dragging Jughead after her. He hadn't seen her take out her phone once, but she must have, as Sweet Pea was just pulling around the corner to pick them up.
"We need to talk to FP," Amy declared, taking her usual seat in the front.
"You got it," Sweet Pea agreed, shifting the car into gear and driving off, away from the House of the Dead.
They pulled into the prison parking lot. It had been decided that only a few of them should go in at once, so Amy, Archie, and Jughead got out of the car, stopping briefly to sign in.
"Hey FP, your girl is here," one of FP's inmates said, seeing Amy approach.
"His girl?" Jughead asked, disgusted.
"Oh my god ew not like that, Jug. I'm pretty sure that everyone here thinks I'm his daughter, is all." Jughead looked relieved, following her to the window.
"Amethyst? What happened to you?" FP asked as soon as he saw them.
"Raid," she told him, "some deputies didn't like that I wasn't answering, even though they'd taken my fucking hearing aids. Got a concussion and some fucked up ribs to show for it too."
"And Jug? The jacket?"
"You can scold him later, FP, but that's not actually what we need to talk to you about."
"Lay it out for me," he told them, and Jughead did exactly that, starting with their desire to stop the jingle jangle dealing at the school before finally explaining Tall Boy's scheme.
"Sounds to me like you need to take this straight to the Ghoulies, claim your turf once and for all, and shut him down."
"How do we do that?" Archie asked.
"Look, kids, *if there's one thing Ghoulies love, it's their crazy souped-up retro cars and hearses. You catch my Riverdale drift? Challenge them to a street race, one-on-one. But keep it on the DL, it's illegal. It'll get you locked up."*
"Well, I've had enough of that for one day," Amy sighed.
*"Set the terms of the race. Their guy wins, the Serpents roll over—"
"But if we win, the Ghoulies back off," Jughead concluded.
"And maybe you raise the stakes," FP continued, "whoever wins controls Southside High."
"We get rid of the Ghoulies and get rid of the jingle-jangle and get McCoy off our back," he realized.*
"Permission to be Jughead's second?" Amy asked.
Jughead had never seen her ask for permission before, but quickly remembered that FP was more than a father figure to her, he was still her king.
"Permission denied, Adams. You just told me that you have a concussion, and you can't even drive to begin with."
"Yeah, but he needs a second. And Sweet Pea's depth perception is a bit fucked, he got a black eye in the raid and I think a blood vessel might've popped."
"I'll do it," Archie offered.
"No offence, Red, but you're not a Serpent."
"No, but I have a lot of experience in having Jug's back."
Amy looked to FP, unwilling to make a decision without him.
"It's not ideal, but it should be fine," he told them.
"Fine. Guess we've got to get back to the House of the Dead."
They said their goodbyes, getting back into the car, and Sweet Pea drove them back to the lair. Jughead whispered to Archie, asking why he'd stopped complaining about leaving Amy unattended, and Archie filled him in on what had happened when he and Amy were dealing with the Ghoulies.
"Toni. She reminded him that taking more people would make her either look weak or like she was declaring war," he whispered, "he didn't like it but I guess he got it? I mean, none of this makes sense to me, but I guess they've done this before."
"They definitely have," Jughead agreed.
"Alright, Red, you're coming with us this time. I don't like bringing more than a plus-one, but you're his second so you have to be there."
Archie followed them into the House of the Dead; he and Jughead were both visibly nervous, looking over their shoulders at every turn, but Amy walked the halls like she owned them. They descended the stairs once again, and Amy surveyed the room.
"Tall Boy, still here? Good. So, Mal, my boys here wanna challenge you to a race."
"Not you?" Malachai asked, stepping closer.
"Now, now, Mal," Amy teased, flicking him on the cheek with a jingle jangle straw that she grabbed off of the table. "You know a princess doesn't need to do her own dirty work."
'Mal?' Archie mouthed to Jughead, who could only shrug.
"If we win, Serpents stay independent, and you quit dealing at school."
Malachai raised an eyebrow, "And if we win?"
*"We fold and you can continue polluting Southside with your little straws of death," Jughead told him.*
"So the little princeling does have a pair," Malachai taunted. "Not much else though. Don't see much in it for me. Unless you *want to put some of Daddy's territory on the table, I got no reason to agree to a race."*
Amy was about to speak, when another Ghoulie—the one that Amy had called Chris—came down the stairs, pushing Betty and Veronica in front of him.
*"They were following me," he explained, "tried to get in the garage."
"Veronica?" "Betty?" "Archie?" "Jughead?" the four spoke at once, "what are you doing here?"
"Wait," Malachai said, "so these are your bitches?"
"I bed your misogynistic pardon?" Veronica demanded.
Chris stepped closer to the two girls, and Amy saw Betty reach into her purse, pulling out a silver cannister.
"Are you kidding me, Northside?" Amy demanded, pushing her way between the girls and Chris. "Mace? Do you want to get shanked, is that it?"
Betty opened her mouth, but Amy cut her off.
"Save it, Northside, I don't give a shit. This isn't your turf, or your business, so step the fuck down," she watched both girls deflate, and made her way back to Malachai, "Mal, that was pretty fucking sexist, but whatever. The race?"
*"Until you make me a better offer, there'll be no race," he told her.
"If you win, we'll give you the Whyte Wyrm," Jughead offered, "you can expand your drug-dealing horizons and upgrade out of this literal hellhole."
"We'll take the Wyrm and Sunnyside Trailer Park," Malachai told him,* and to Amy's fury, Jughead nodded.
"We have a deal, Mal?" she asked, reminding herself that she couldn't punch Jughead in front of this crowd, and that it wasn't entirely his fault for overstepping.
"We have a deal," Mal told her. He stepped closer to Amy, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "You want some JJ, Princess? For a deal made in good faith?"
Archie's jaw dropped, and his fists clenched, watching the easy tactility between his little sister and the dangerous gang leader, but Amy didn't flinch.
"Absolutely not, Mal, you know I'm not into the hard stuff," Amy pulled away.
"Of course not," he agreed, "the princess is above gutter drugs. Weed?"
"You do always have the best," Amy said, tapping her fingers up his bare chest.
"Chris, get some of our top shelf merch—how much?" he cut himself off, looking back down at Amy.
"Dangerous question, Mal."
"It is. Chris, get her an ounce of our best."
Amy's smirk turned to a genuine smile, "your hospitality is as impressive as ever. Well, that or you're just so confident that you'll win that you want to win me over."
"Why can't it be both, Princess?"
"Of course it can. Now if you'll give me a moment, I have some business to take care of."
Malachai gestured at the room, "be my guest."
Amy turned around, facing the Northsiders and Serpents. "Okay, first of all, Tall Boy, never try to go behind my back to make a deal again. It's not fucking happening. Now get the fuck out of here. Cooper, Veronica, you too. I don't know what the fuck you're even doing on Ghoulie territory, but it ends now." She stared at the three of them, not blinking until they had all turned tail and left. "Good," she clapped her hands, "now where's Chris? I've had a shit day and need a hit."
"Sorry, Princess," Malachai shrugged, "he'll be back soon."
Amy nodded, pulling out her phone. By the time she put it away, Chris was coming down the stairs, handing her a plain black jar.
"You measured it?" Malachai asked, getting a nod in return, "Good. Don't want the princess thinking we're stingy or anything."
"I know you're stingy, Mal," Amy reminded him "just not about your merch. Now we've got to go, but I'll see you tomorrow at the starting point."
"Until next time, Princess."
Amy led the boys outside, where she saw the Northside girls standing right outside of the door.
"I thought I told you to get out of here," Amy told them.
"We're not Serpents," Betty argued, "You don't get to boss us around."
"You're on my side of town, interfering with my ability to take care of my own, I get to tell you what to do. Red, you said you know a guy who can lend you his car, right?"
"Reggie Mantle, yeah."
"Good, head back to the Northside with these two and take care of it. And take Jug with you."
"Amethyst—"
"Not kicking you out, Jug," she explained, "just want you to get some practice driving it. I'll text you where to meet in the morning."
Jughead nodded, "alright, let's go," he told the other three, herding them away from the Ghoulie's lair.
Only moments after they turned the corner, the Jeep pulled up, and Amy climbed in. She quickly filled the others in on what had transpired, watching the streets pass them by until they were parking outside of the Jones trailer.
"Not a long stop, but I know you two need the right clothes for this race. Grab them and we can head out," Sweet Pea explained.
Amy nodded, unlocking the trailer door. She dug through the drawer of their clothes, until she was certain that she had the perfect outfit—Sweet Pea was right, after all, she and Toni would have all eyes on them, and they needed to look just right.
Before they left, Amy rummaged through cupboard under the bathroom sink, digging out her full makeup bag. She didn't usually bother, but again, the race was something different.
They got back into the car, and Sweet Pea drove to his trailer.
"Mom's got some stint in Centerville this week, she won't know," he said.
The three nodded in understanding, Sweet Pea's mom hated that he was a Serpent, but she also regularly worked odd jobs out of town, and those were the nights when Sweet Pea—and the others, of course—could actually stay there.
Even though they hadn't even had dinner, Amy fell asleep as soon as she lay down on the bed, the pain and exhaustion from the day's events overwhelming her.
She didn't wake up until the next morning, and the first thing that she noticed was just how badly her ribs hurt. Forcing herself to ignore the pain, she climbed over Sweet Pea to get out of bed, entering the living room. She winced with every step, but quickly changed into the clothes that she had lain out on the couch the previous day. First she pulled on her black jean shorts, with open laces all the way up the sides, and then, after consideration, decided not to bother with her shirt, instead pulling her jacket on over her black bra. She wanted everyone to see the bruises, which looked even worse than the day before, and know exactly why she had them. Once dressed, she grabbed her makeup bag and made her way to the bathroom, perfecting her high ponytail and carefully applying a full face of makeup—they were going to war, and she needed to look every bit the Serpent Princess she was.
She buckled on her hip holster, checking to make sure that her weapons were in place. She trusted Malachai to keep his word, but she didn't trust the rest of the Ghoulies to do the same while he was driving.
By the time she was done, Toni was awake and getting ready. Like Amy, every piece of her outfit was strategic, designed to remind everyone that she was not someone to fuck with. While Toni went to the bathroom to do her own makeup, Amy busied herself with making sure that all of her jewelry was exactly how it should be. She slid her silver ear cuff, shaped like a snake of course, over her ear, where it pressed against her hearing aids. Her eyebrow piercing, a half ring with studs on the top and bottom of her eyebrow, hadn't come off, so she quickly moved on. Her silver dagger shaped earrings were always annoying to position, which is why she saved them for special occasions, and her brown leather wrist cuff, also a snake, was easy to slide on, as was the black snake tooth necklace that she always wore.
"Ready for war?" Fangs asked, and Amy turned to see him leaning against the doorway.
"How long have you been there?" She asked.
"Long enough to watch the whole routine. So, ready?"
"As ready as I can be, I guess."
"Hey, Jones has this covered," he reassured her.
"I hope so, Fangs, I hope so."
She heard an angry growl, which she took to mean that not only had Sweet Pea woken up, but that he had also seen the violent bruising that covered her torso.
"I'm going to kill Keller," he told her as he approached, running careful hands over the bruises.
"It wasn't him, Sweets, it was the deputies."
"You shouldn't ride today—"
"I shouldn't," she agreed, "but you know that I have to. The bruises make a statement, but if I can't ride, I look weak."
Sweet Pea sighed, "fine. But you're letting me carry you to Jones' trailer to get the bikes."
"Deal," she said reluctantly. She knew that he was right, but god she hated to feel helpless.
The boys required much less work to get ready, both simply wearing dark jeans and shirts under their jackets, so they were out of the door soon enough, meeting Jughead at his trailer.
"Archie is bringing the car," he explained, "I thought it would look better if I showed up on my bike."
"Absolutely," Amy agreed. "And how is the car?"
"It's good—Betty made some improvements."
"So are you and Cooper?"
"We're working on it," he said.
Amy nodded stiffly, turning away and climbing onto her bike.
Jughead opened his mouth, but a quick shake of Toni's head had him closing it, and instead joined the others in turning on their bikes, taking off out of the park.
He wasn't familiar with the area, not the way that the others seemed to be, but he knew it well enough. He and Archie had done a few laps the night before, getting ready for the race.
They climbed off of their bikes, and Jughead noticed that the Ghoulies were already there, although Archie wasn't yet.
"Damn, Princess, what happened to you?" Although Malachai was clearly teasing, Jughead could hear a note of concern that he wasn't ready to question.
"This is what happens when the pigs blame us for your boys pushing JJ at school," Amy told him.
Malachai was about to say something else, but was interrupted by Archie arriving, followed by another car that Jughead recognized as Betty's.
By the time he got over to them, Amy was already there.
"What are a bunch of Northsiders doing at a Southside race?" she asked, voice colder than he'd ever heard her before.
"It's my car," Reggie told her.
"Fine, that's fair. But the rest of you? Cooper, Lodge, I told you yesterday that this was Southside business. Veronica, I get wanting to support your boyfriend, but Cooper? You dumped Jug when he became one of us, you don't have a place here. No offence Kev, but until Joaquin is back, most of the people here won't want to see you. Especially after what your dad and his goon squad pulled yesterday. And Blossom? God, you guys don't fucking get this shit, do you? You're not welcome or wanted here."
"What do you mean, what my dad pulled?"
"What, Red didn't tell you about the raid?" Amy paused, before deciding that she didn't owe any of them an explanation. "Never mind."
She crossed the field until she was standing next to Malachai again, Archie following close behind. She watched, annoyed, while Jughead had some sort of whispered conversation, before finally coming to stand with them.
"Well thanks for joining us, Jones. Everyone is good with the rules? Race over the bridge to Dead Man's Curve, first team back wins."
Both teams nodded, moving to get the cars to the starting line. She watched as the Blossom girl interrupted Toni, and rushed over as fast as her ribs would allow.
"And what, pray tell, are you doing?" She asked.
"Apparently she thinks that she should do the honours," Toni scoffed.
"Yeah, no," Amy said firmly.
*"I was born for this moment,"* Cheryl said, and Amy was ready to punch the smug smirk off of her face.
"Stand down, Blossom. Toni does the honours. Unless you want me to tell Malachai over there," she gestured to the Ghoulie, "to hit you."
She stared, unflinching, until Cheryl blinked.
"Fine. You goddamn psycho," she hissed, storming off to sit beside Kevin on the second Northside car.
"Wasn't that a bit extreme?" Toni asked.
Amy paused, "Probably. Look, I'm pissed off, and Jones fucking offered up the Wyrm and Sunnyside without even asking me, and if we don't win then we lose absolutely everything. So maybe I'm a little on edge, and maybe I shouldn't have jumped straight to murder as a solution, but I'm not going to apologize to her."
Toni didn't push, knew that Amy was scared and in pain and lashing out. Instead, she gave the shorter girl a quick kiss, and stepped out in front of the cars.
Amy stepped backwards, joining Sweet Pea and Fangs by their bikes, and soon Toni had started the race.
"Sweets, up?" Amy asked.
"Of course." Sweet Pea crouched down, letting her climb onto his back. He didn't want to make a big deal out of it in front of the crowd, but he knew that her ribs had to be really bugging her if she was willingly asking for help.
Suddenly, way too soon for the race to be over, Jughead and Archie were pulling the car to a stop in front of them, jumping out. Amy could hear a distant noise, but couldn't tell what it was.
*"Everyone scatter, the cops are rounding up Ghoulies!"* She heard someone yell, she didn't recognize the Ghoulie, which she knew meant that he wasn't very high up the totem pole.
*"You called the cops?" Tall Boy demanded, rounding on Jughead. "You won't throw in with the Ghoulies, but you will with cops? Where's the honour in that?"*
Cops, she realized, sirens. That's what she was hearing. Her breathing picked up, and she dropped down from Sweet Pea's back, ready to get on her bike and get as far away as possible.
*"Calm down, Tall Boy," Jughead said, "You think I knew Keller would be there?"
"I called Keller," Archie said,* and Amy's terror was overtaken by rage, storming over to the boy.
"Are you serious, Red? After the shit they pulled yesterday?"
"What do you mean?" Archie asked, and god, Amy was getting tired of his naïveté.
Amy opened her jacket, showing off every single bruise, "This is what Keller and his pigs do to Southsiders, Red. Ghoulie, Serpent, guilty, innocent? That doesn't matter. We're from the wrong side of the tracks, so we deserve whatever shit they want to dish out."
"I'm sorry, Ames, I didn't think—"
"No, you didn't think. You didn't think today, like Jones didn't think about offering up the Wyrm. Like Cooper and Veronica didn't think before trying to break into Ghoulie territory yesterday. None of you ever fucking think, and I always have to clean up your fucking messes. We can talk some other time, Red, but right now I need to get the fuck out of here before any deputies show up and decide that they're in the mood for a repeat of yesterday."
Amy didn't wait before climbing on her bike, and taking off. She knew that the other three would be right behind her, they always were, and all she cared about was getting away.
She pulled to a stop in front of Southside High, storming through the doors before remembering that the school day was almost over, and that she didn't even have her bag.
She saw a deputy uniform, and quickly ducked around the corner, bumping into Lottie.
"What's going on?" She heard Jughead ask. How did she not realize that Jughead had been with them the whole time?
"They caught the Sugarman," Lottie told them.
Amy didn't relax, but looked around the corner. She could hear the others gasp, and felt herself gasp too, when she saw Mr. Phillips being escorted out.
She was frozen in shock, even as Sweet Pea guided her out of the building. She climbed on her bike and drove to the Jones trailer with nothing but muscle memory alone.
She collapsed onto the couch, laughing hysterically.
"Jesus Christ, someone please tell me that this was all a hallucination from the fumes in Mal's den?"
"I wish," Fangs told her, sitting beside her and tugging her onto his lap.
"Red called the fucking cops, Mal is probably in jail right now, and Mr. Phillips was the fucking Sugarman?"
Toni nodded, and Amy let out another hysterical laugh.
"Well, Sweets," she said finally, "looks like your gut was right. You knew something was sketch with him."
"Let's talk about the race first," he said, and Amy knew not to argue.
"Right. So. T, what are people saying?"
"They're torn," she turned to Jughead, *"Some people give you props for challenging the Ghoulies and beating them. Others hate that you cut a deal with Keller because it puts us in bed with the pigs."
"I didn't," he said, "that was Archie."
"Yeah, I know that and you know that, but some of them don't.* Besides, you brought him into the race, you're accountable for his actions."
They were interrupted by a knock on the door.
"Juggy?" Betty called.
"That's our cue to leave," Amy said immediately.
She stood, as quickly as her ribs allowed, and opened the door, pushing past the Cooper girl without a glance. Her partners followed her, and the four of them returned to Sweet Pea's trailer.
"So, what's bothering you?" Amy asked, once they were sitting in his bed, tucked away from the outside world.
"I knew something was off about Phillips, and I did nothing," he said, "I let a threat near you guys because I didn't listen to my gut."
"It's not your fault," Amy reassured him.
"But—"
"No buts. Amy is right," Fangs agreed, reaching over the girls to place a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"Hey babe?" Toni asked.
"Yeah, T?"
"Didn't you say that Malachai gave you some weed yesterday?"
"I did say that," Amy grinned, "hold on, it's just in my pocket."
She dug the container out of her holster, and Toni grabbed the bowl from Sweet Pea's bedside counter. Malachai had, as always, had the weed ground for her, and it wasn't long before they were passing the bowl between them, filling the room with a haze of smoke and laughter. It wasn't long before clothes were coming off, in between languid kisses. It wasn't rushed the way it was the night before, from leftover anxiety, but rather it was slow, careful, stemming from the need to reassure themselves that they were all together, all in one piece.
I hope you enjoyed! This chapter was really fun to write, and I hope fun to read! I decided to make Malachai into more of an anti-hero than a villain, although after getting arrested, who knows what'll happen (well, technically I know…)