x.x.x.x
After a week of investigation and with no actual lead on who could have possibly shot Fred Andrews, Keller was at his wits end; he had dragged every low life drug dealer, thief and even jay walkers with green eyes through his station yet neither Archie, Izzy or Pop had made a single positive identification for any of the line ups conducted, he hadn't really expected them to be able to identify the man considering all they had to go on was an eye colour.
This case was shaping up to be a disaster it was literally a public defenders wet dream, it had so many holes that without a confession from the shooter Tom might as well walk the man out of jail himself.
The security footage of Pop's diner had helped but the exterior cameras hadn't provided much in the way of any useful information as the only showed the entrance of the diner apart from the fact that the Black Hood was possibly right handed due to the way he opened the door.
Luckily the single interior camera was able to provide some help as it confirmed Izzy Tate theory of the shooter being surprised by her presence in the diner; the man had clearly paused when raising the gun upon seeing the girl stood behind the counter before resuming his previous actions.
The Hooded shooter had expected to see Fred and maybe Pop but not Izzy or maybe he had been thrown off with the presence of a teenager.
The thing that frightened Keller the most was Fred informing him that whoever his shooter had been was going on about sinners paying for their various crimes. So Riverdale either had a vigilante on their hand or the had a shooter with a twisted sense of moral code neither option spelt good news for the town as it meant the shooter was just getting started.
Plus with Grundy being murdered as well just a few days ago Tom was now running two separate investigations and failing to find any leads on either investigation, although with mounting evidence of Grundy having relations with her male students Keller's suspect pool had widened to include all male figures in any boys that Grundy had taught in the last year and a half - except maybe Fred Andrews as he was laid in a hospital bed when Geraldine had been killed.
x.x.x.x
That Saturday morning a week after the diner shooting found Jughead feeling extremely out of the loop on what was going on in the Northside, not only had he gotten jumped by the Ghoulies earlier that week, he was now spending more time with the Serpents both at school and at the Quarry.
So far Toni and Fangs were the ones he got along with the most and the rest of the Serpents seemed decent and vaguely welcome all apart from Sweet Pea who seems to enjoy arguing with him just for the sake of arguing.
By Wednesday when Betty texted to say that neither Izzy or Archie seemed to be coping with the aftermath of the shooting Jug reached out to Tallboy to ask around and see if anyone from the Southside could have been the one who shot Mr. Andrew since the Sheriff's current theory was that the shooter was from the Southside as Mr. A had laid off a bunch of Serpents and South- siders days before the shooting
With starting a new school and adjusting to being Serpent adjacent and getting the Red and Black up and running again, Jughead hadn't had time to do more than a quick ten minute phone call to Betty, especially with his dad's sentencing about to come up in the next couple of weeks Jughead needed a way to help him; the court appointed lawyer was talking about how a twenty years prison sentence was apparently meant to be a good deal.
He had a busy day ahead of him; starting with going to the re-opening off Pop's diner since it had been closed down for a week due to the what had happened, that would be followed by an afternoon visit to the Tate house before going to see Archie and Mr. Andrews now that he had been released from the hospital.
x.x.x.x
Izzy opened her door to the surprising sight of a beaten up Jughead Jones on her doorsteps paying her a visit; clearly she had forgotten that he had texted her letting her know that he would drop by at her place so they could catchup on his first week at Southside High and she could tell him about how she had been coping.
"Just came from the diner" Jug explained. "The re-opening seem to be going well, I am pretty sure Reggie dragged the entire football team there and those guys eat more than I do so tonight's takings should be good." He stated walking into the house and making his way into the living room and grabbing a seat on the sofa.
"What? Why?" Izzy questioned, trailing behind the beanie wearing teen after closing her front door deciding to retake her original seat in the armchair. She had noticed Reggie trying to be extra polite during the week but she had chalked it up to him being mildly concerned after the shooting. "Maybe he just wanted to show his support. Everyone wants to show their support."
"More like Reggie still wants to get with you and he thinks this will get him a better chance of you taking him back" Jughead said snidely, he had always hated Reggie and Izzy's relationship.
Reggie hadn't been the best boyfriend when he was dating Izzy, he would forget to call her back, or turn up late to dinner, but he had taken too far a few months ago by spending 'seven minutes in heaven' with a random chick and trying to justify it as it only being a game.
If Reggie had stopped there Jughead would have given Reggie the opportunity to confess himself but the idiot had to push it and sleep with a random no body.
"No need for that" Izzy soothed noticing the look on contempt on Jugs face, she knew how much Jug had hated the way Reggie had treated her and their relationship when they had been dating.
"I learnt my lesson once, I am not looking to get together with Reggie anytime soon. We really do need to catch up on what's going on if you started riding a motorbike without me knowing." From the way her armchair was positioned she could see the black motorbike parked in the drive way.
"I only started using the bike this week, I needed a way to get to the hospital plus it help me to feel closer to dad now that I may be about to loose him for the next twenty years" Jughead confessed, opening up to one of the few people he knew wouldn't judge him or treat him any differently now that he was on the South side. "Plus you got to admit I look totally bad ass riding the bike everywhere and it is faster than walking around town"
"Twenty years? Isn't that a bit too much. How are you holding up?" Izzy asked her concern for one of her best friend clearly showing.
"I am going to try to talk to Mayor McCoy tomorrow about it; it feels like they are punishing my dad because they can't punish Clifford Blossom seeing as he took the cowards way out instead of facing any actual justice" Jughead ranted feeling frustrated with the way the town seem to write off the Blossom murder by pinning it all on his dad.
Before anything else could be said Pop walked in through his front door having quickly nipped out of the busy diner to check up on Izzy semi surprised to see Jughead sitting in his living room, he knew that they hadn't scheduled one of their usual movie marathon since he hadn't bought any of the usual snack and sweets in the weekly visit to the grocery store.
"I am just came home to grab some lunch if anyone wants some" Pop offered staring at the room
"I am not hungry" Izzy said rolling her eyes at her grandad's paper thin excuse while Jughead declared his intention of having some food, she evidently knew what he was up to, since the shooting Pop had developed a slight fixation on making sure she was safe.
"I know for a fact you haven't eaten since yesterday" Pop said gently chastising his granddaughter with the statement, Pop was well aware that she had skipped dinner last night and breakfast that very morning. "So that will be two pasta bolognese with a side salad coming right up"
"Shouldn't that be three bowls of pasta or have you suddenly forgotten the reason you left a diner with a truck load of food to come home?" Izzy directed towards her grandfather as he made his way out of the living room.
"What was that about" Jughead asked staring into the hallway where Pop Tate had disappeared off to.
"Nothing much, he just came home to check up on me" Izzy groaned. This whole week had been exhausting from the moment Fred had been shot to now Izzy felt like someone had drained her of all energy.
"Well I also came to see how you were doing." Jug explained. "Mr. Andrews got released from hospital last night so I am going to go visit him and Archie later on. I am sure they would love to see you if you want to come with me" Jug said grabbing the remote of the coffee table starting to flip through channels until he landed on a docu-series about water shortage around the world.
"I am getting better" Izzy stated blandly, responding to the former half of Jughead statement and ignoring the subtle invite to go to the Andrews house.
"If you want to talk about it I am here" Jug stated getting settled in the couch, if he wanted Izzy to open up he needed to spend some time with her until she was ready to talk about it; it could be that very afternoon or two weeks from now.
"Are we going to talk about why your face looks like it fell down a flight of stairs or we could just pretend that you don't have bruises everywhere" Izzy finally asked unable to keep her curiosity at bay any any longer.
"Just a part of being the new kid in school and being FP son" Jug casually replied ignoring the raised eyebrow Izzy was giving him.
"So who exactly jumped you. Cause if the Serpents are giving you a hard time I can ask Pop if he would be willing to foster you and see if we can try to get you back to Riverdale high instead"
"Don't worry about that; it was the other gang in the south side 'The Ghoulies', it's been dealt with now I am sitting with the serpents now- for protection" Jug added quickly.
Izzy shrugged her shoulders, she really never cared who Jug hanged out with as long as they weren't putting her friend in any danger; they each had their own friendships with other people which the other wasn't apart of; Izzy had the Pussycat and sometimes Cheryl and Jug had Archie and now Veronica and Kevin Keller, he even had a girlfriend now.
All these people none of whom Izzy actually knew beyond the basic info and gossip attached to their name but yet and still Izzy could proudly say Jughead Jones was one of her best friends in this world and she was his.
"Just don't go abandoning me now that you are the Serpent prince or whatever" Izzy joked knowing how her friend always worried about being judged for the Southside part of him. "I still expect you to spend the Saturday midnight shift with me every week, you can even bring along one of your subjects if you want" she stated draining the last remnant of tension from his shoulder by casually accepting the serpents.
"Don't worry Saturday nights will just be me and you to the end of time," Jug quietly promised. " And I am less Serpent Prince more like Serpent pauper or even Serpent adjacent. I need their protection and they turned out not to be bad people"
With nothing else left to say they fell into a silence until Pop walked back in with lunch.
x.x.x.x
After extracting a promise from his granddaughter to stay safe Pop Tate began to leave the house to go fulfil the promise he had made to the girl in the late hours of her room that night of the shooting a week ago.
Pop would keep her safe at all cost; which was why for the first time in all his years Pop Tate was going into town to buy a gun; it had been a week and he had passed the basic background check the State required.
He may have been robbed, beaten, abused and been discriminated against his entire life but Pop would be damn if the next time a man walks into his diner pointing a gun at Izzy that they left without being in a body bag.
"Keep an eye on her for me will you Juggie, and make sure she doesn't go eating all the ice-cream" Pop added before walking out the house in the direction of his diner.
"Oh no I have learnt my lesson, the last time I was here she literally elbowed me in the stomach because I touched her ice cream" Jug call out after the departing man.
x.x.x.x
Note: Please leave a comment or review. Next Chapter may contain a visit to the Andrews. If there is anyone you want to 'hear' from or see their POV after the shooting please let me know. it can be a Serpent, or any student even any of the parents.
Hope you enjoy