*Present Day*
"So, Penny. Long time, no see." Alice put a hand on her hip. "How's lawyer life going?"
"Oh, don't pretend you're interested Ms. Northside." Penny refused to look her directly in the eye. "We've got business to attend to."
"So...this Southside takeover…" FP began.
"I heard they've got someone on the inside." Penny lowered her voice, though everyone could still hear.
"And by someone on the inside, you mean…."
"In here! With us! One of the Serpents!" She slowly nodded. "That's right. Double crosser."
A laugh came from one end of the circle. "That's ridiculous. Each of us took an oath."
"Man, fuck the oath!" Penny said, turning to face that side of the circle. "Jughead took an oath….and look what he did to me!" She angled her body slightly to gesture toward Alice. "Hell, even Alice took an oath back then and she abandoned us." She only looked at Alice for a brief moment before turning away from her again. "Just because someone takes an oath, does not mean they won't break it at some point….There is a double crosser in here and I know who it is."
"Oh yeah, Penny? Who's that?" Another Serpent asked with ridicule in their voice.
"Who's that?" The blonde lawyer pointed to a corner of the circle where they all turned to see one of the members attempting to sneak away. "Gotcha!"
"Get her." FP demanded.
"Ah ah ah!" The 40 year old Serpent woman quickly pulled out a knife, grabbing Alice and putting the blade to her neck. "Come any closer and the wench dies."
"Byrdie, you've always been a real son of a bitch." Penny nodded with her hands on her hips.
"Oh yeah? What does that make you?" Byrdie clapped back as she slowly backed away, holding Alice close to her.
"Byrdie, put down the knife." FP ordered with his hands in the air. "We can figure this out."
"Oh, don't try to mansplain to me how this is all gonna go down. I'll tell you how it's gonna go down. Little Ms. Northside Princess, here-"
"Little?" Alice interrupted.
"Nuh uh! Mama's talking." Byrdie pulled Alice's hair, forcing her head back more to expose her throat. "Little Ms. Northside here is gonna come with me."
Alice couldn't help but chuckle. "Are you sure you wanna do that?"
"I said I'm talking!" Byrdie shouted, taking the knife and slicing Alice's bicep. "Let's go, blondie!" She demanded, speeding up a bit, dragging Alice along.
"Wait, wait!" Penny shouted, with her hands in the air, almost mimicking FP. "Take me instead." She took a few steps forward.
"Penny, no." Alice protested.
"It's fine. It's fine." She took another step. "Better me than you." She let out a pained chuckle. "You have a family and people who care about you. I don't." She pointed to her own chest. "I'll go."
"Honey, that's not how this works." Byrdie laughed. "You don't get to choose who gets taken hostage. That's the whole point of a hostage. Not to mention….this Northside housemom may end up being worth something. Maybe the Ghoulies can hold her for ransom."
"But Byrdie...you're forgetting one thing." Penny continued to slowly walked toward them as they continued toward the door.
"Oh yeah? What's that?" The woman questioned.
"I'm a lawyer. And I know a lot about the Ghoulies. If I didn't….how would I have known about you?" She inched closer and closer. "I will find a way to catch you guys….even if you hold her for ransom."
"Oh yeah? How's that?" Byrdie had stopped walking backward, getting distracted by Penny.
"How's what?" Peabody wondered with her hands still in the air.
"How are you gonna catch us?" Byrdie asked.
"Oh." Penny shrugged. "I don't know….I always have something up my sleeve." And with that, she lunged forward, chaining one handcuff to Alice's wrist. "Oh, welp! Would you look at that!" She held her hand up, which forced Alice's into the air as well. "Now you HAVE to take me with you." Earlier while FP had been speaking to Byrdie, she hadn't seen Penny handcuff one of her own wrists and geniusly hide the empty cuff under her sleeve.
"Or you can just give me the key and I uncuff you two right now." Byrdie suggested.
"Mmm….okay, I guess that's an option, but…" Penny reached into her other pocket and faked a gasp as she threw the key into one of the tanks containing their most vicious serpent. "Oh, no. How will you get it?"
"You have always been the most annoying bitch." Byrdie shook her head. "If you weren't attached to the stepford wife, I'd kill you right here and now."
Penny tilted her head to one side. "But I AM attached to the stepford wife so….hmmm, sorry."
Byrdie rolled her eyes. "Let's go!" The three of them waddled out of the bar, struggled down the stairs and stumbled into the parking lot where they made their way to Byrdie's truck and she forced them into the back. Byrdie closed the hatch, telling them to lie down and keep quiet before getting in the front, starting up the truck, and heading down the road.
"Way to get us both kidnapped, Penny." Alice rolled her eyes at the woman whose hand laid close to her own.
"I don't wanna hear it, Alice. I have a plan." She whispered.
"You have a plan? How did you come up with a plan that quickly?" Alice asked, laying on her side, facing the other blonde.
"We were always stronger together, Alice." Penny brought up as she laid flat on her back, staring up at the roof of the truck.
"Okay, but what's your plan?" The (almost) former Mrs. Cooper wondered.
It was silent for a moment and Penny finally spoke the truth. "Alright, I haven't come up with one yet."
Alice let out a sigh of annoyance. "Well, that's just great."
"I'll get us out of this alive, I promise." Penny retorted with hope.
It was quiet for awhile save for the sounds of the truck bouncing and the wind outside blowing by. Alice's side grew tired and she eventually turned over to lie flat on her back as well and both women stared up at the inside of the truck cap, their hands cuffed together between them.
"So, why did you leave?" Penny finally questioned.
"Hm?" Alice turned her head to look at the Serpent beside her.
"Why did you leave us? You used to love being with the Serpents. You said it made you feel safe." Penny continued to look up at the ceiling of the vehicle, refusing to look to the woman beside her.
"It only did for a little bit...but soon things just got out of hand and I had to go." She sighed. "A part of me never wanted to join them anyway."
"Well...why did you?" Penny's heartbeat increased when she continued. "Was it because of FP?"
"To tell you the truth...yes, it was. I now know that I was joining for all the wrong reasons, but so was he. And we were both stupid teenagers back then. Why did you join? For us?"
"No…" She answered a little too quickly. "I joined for the protection. And then they helped put me through college. I really owe them everything."
"So why'd you get into selling drugs? You know that defies everything they've ever stood for." The older of the two looked up at the truck's white cap once more.
"I got into some sticky situations with some really messed up people. But once I saw the money that came out of it...I became addicted." Penny confessed.
"It's not something you can go to rehab for, Penny. It's something you just stop. When someone asks you if you have drugs to sell, or when someone asks you if you want to sell drugs….you just say no." Alice explained in an obvious tone.
"I know. I know. But I've been doing better. I really have. After that fucking Jones kid left me in a ditch, bleeding, I've been trying to get right with them and right as a person." She chuckled. "I really appreciate you sticking up for me back there and forcing the twerp to leave. You always did have more of a spine than FP."
"I have. Haven't I?" They both laughed and for the first time all night, Penny turned to look Alice in the eye. "Makes me wonder why he joined the Serpents in the first place." With that, Penny internally panicked, looking back up to the roof. "He never did what his dad told him until he joined." She sadly sighed. "Maybe it was for the best that we never got married….What do you think, Pen?"
"Ali, there's something that you should know." Penny painfully closed her eyes.
"Hm? What? What is it?" Alice wondered.
"Seeing that we could end up dying and all….I feel like you should know the truth." The younger one gulped before putting her free hand to her forehead. Her back was finally beginning to feel the pain of the hard surface of the truck below them.
Alice watched her old friend sigh before she asked once more. "What?"