Jughead hadn't heard from Betty since before winter break of their sophomore year. It was now summer and the town had stopped looking for her. He hadn't. He wasn't giving up. He knew she was somewhere and wherever she was – he'd find her. He'd go to the ends of the earth to find her. Whether that be the actual ends of the earth or not. He'd find her. He lit a cigarette – having picked up the habit right around the time she disappeared – and took a long drag of it. He was tired, he was annoyed, and he was mad as hell that he didn't know where his girlfriend was. He turned to look at Hal Cooper who was busy putting up missing person fliers once more.

Sheriff Keller had said to take them down because it wasn't going to bring her back anytime soon but FP, Hal, and Fred all kept posting them everywhere in the hopes of bringing her back safe and sound. Jughead didn't like to think about the day she went missing. They were supposed to meet at Pops for a dinner that night and, while he showed up, she never did. She never made it on time. It had been awful for him those first few days – that's not to say it wasn't awful now but the agony of not knowing if his girlfriend was safe was torturous those first few days.

He didn't know where she went or who had her. And someone undoubtedly had her. He would skin them alive when he found them and, with the help of the Serpents, he expected to find them. His dad, once now a completely free man after the trial for Jason Blossom, was pulling his resources with his men; cashing in favors. He knew he'd need to summon those men if they had an iota of hope of finding Betty. She had gone missing that night when they were supposed to meet at Pops and Jughead hadn't heard from her since. No phone call, no letters, no nothing.

Then, when they found the crown charm he gave her for her charm bracelet buried in the dirt, that was when Sheriff Keller officially called it a missing person's case. Not a runaway or anything else of that nature. So Jughead was scared to put it lightly. He didn't know where his girlfriend was.

XXX

Betty's P.O.V.

Betty breathed into the tape silencing her cries – or, the cries she would have been emanating if she hadn't long given up on making a sound. It resulted in pain for her. She, if her calculations were correct, had been missing for going on five months. She wondered if anyone worried about her anymore. If anyone wondered if she was alive or not. She hadn't had anything to eat in about three days – nothing abnormal – and she needed to go to the bathroom but was afraid to bother the man – whoever he was. He hadn't said a single word to her since her time in captivity. He had caught her trying to run away and dislocated her ankle to solve that problem. It still hurt like a bitch if she stepped down on in it from where she was tied in a chair.

Every night like clockwork, the man came and got her, handcuffing her wrists together and carrying her to a bed, setting her down and cuffing her to the bedframe so she didn't have to sleep in a chair. She supposed that was nice enough of him but there were times, other times when he wasn't in such a giving mood, that he grew violent. She was already almost one hundred percent certain she had a couple of broken ribs that were trying to heal but he kept kicking her when she did something he didn't like. Such as cry. So she had taught herself to stop by asking what her boyfriend would do if he were in her shoes.

Remain strong and hardheaded were the two answers that crept to mind when she pictured Jughead, whispering in her ear. She wondered if he was okay; wondered if the Serpents were looking after him. He needed some tender, love, and care from time to time and it was normally herself who gave it. So she prayed to God the Serpents were helping him stay afloat and if he had given up on her, she hoped he was at peace. She didn't see a way out of this mess.

She remembered the night she had been abducted. A gloved hand covered her mouth to block out her screaming while there had been a pinprick of a sting as a needle pierced her skin and she woke up to the fact that she was tied to a chair, mouth taped shut, some man staring at her. She didn't know who he was; he kept his face covered.

It was a smart tactic so that if she ever did manage to break free, she wouldn't be able to tell Sheriff Keller, or more importantly, FP, Fred, and her dad who the man was. She was a little beside herself with anger over that realization. The man was smart and had broken her down to nothing more than a shell of the girl she once was. She knew her time in this hell on earth wasn't ending any time soon.

That, she was certain of.

XXX

Jughead's P.O.V.

Jughead rubbed a weary hand down his face, exhaustion settling along in his pores. He was tired and hadn't slept a solid night in God knew how long. He couldn't; not when his girlfriend was out there somewhere, missing. He poured himself another cup of coffee, wondering if Betty would ever be able to drink it again, and looked up as Sweet Pea entered his trailer after knocking once. "Still no word?"

Sweet Pea posed the same question every day, hoping for a different outcome that Jughead couldn't provide. Sighing angrily, he shook his head as his nostrils flared. He was beyond pissed. They all were. "Not a fucking word. I don't know who could have her."

"We're going to find her, Jughead," Sweet Pea began but he cut off his righthand man with a glare.

"You can't fucking promise me that, Sweet Pea! It's been five months. We haven't gotten a goddamn clue as to who has her – no ransom note or anything which makes it fairly fucking obvious that she isn't being held for money or the Coopers would have paid it already. This seems personal to us all and all I can hope to God for is that Betty doesn't know who kidnapped her."

"And we're sure it's a kidnapping and not a runaway?" Sweet Pea, tone apologetic, asked and Jughead banged his fist onto the table.

"Fucking shit, Sweet Pea, I'm sure. Don't ask me that again!" Jughead exclaimed, anger and heartbreak alike coursing through him. "She wouldn't run away. Not without her charm. I don't mean that little to her and don't you fucking dare insinuate that I do."

"I wasn't insinuating that man, come on," Sweet Pea sighed quietly, and Jughead yanked off his beanie, running his fingers that were itching for a cigarette through his unkempt hair. He needed a goddamn shower. He tried to control his anger, knowing that Sweet Pea wasn't meaning any harm by trying to suggest an alternative for the worst but dammit, that fucking hurt to think about – to think about Betty running away from them all; from him; and not coming back.

Tugging out a cigarette from his carton, Jughead lit it. "I know. I'm sorry. Don't make me say it again."

Sweet Pea nodded, knowing better than to argue with his leader. He may have put Jughead through the worst of the gauntlet, then again with Betty when she ran it and stated her allegiance, but that didn't mean he didn't have respect for the other guy. In fact, apart from Fangs and Betty, he was his closet friend so he knew just how much this was eating at Jughead. Jughead knew he knew that.

"So what do we do?" The taller asked.

"We keep searching."

XXX

Betty's P.O.V.

"Get up," it was the first time Betty heard the man – who she assumed to be a man based off his build – speak and he was using a fucking voice modulator. Jesus Christ, of course he was. She forced her tired-with-sleep eyes open blearily and looked at him. "We have somewhere to go." Then, he placed a rag over her nose and mouth and the last thing she saw before her consciousness slipped away was his beady eyes staring at her through his mask.

Author's note: Hope you read and review! Xxx