Jughead flexed his fist, lighting a cigarette the next moment. He was angry as fuck; feeling that anger reverberate through him. It echoed off his body, loud and demanding to be felt. He sighed softly, inhaling a drag off his cigarette. He knew he had to keep his cool. Knew he had to one-up the Black Hood, whoever he was, but what he didn't know was how to do that. He didn't know how to get a leg up on the Black Hood. And that irritated him. Irritated the fuck out of him.
Just then, the sound of his trailer door being open could be heard and he glanced over his shoulder, smiling at Betty as she appeared. "Hey." His voice was quiet in the still air; the only sounds being the rain pitter-pattering off his roof.
"Hey," she murmured, voice filled with sleep. "I woke up and you weren't there."
He didn't have to work hard to hear the fear layering her tone, and he sighed softly. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to wake you up while I went on a smoke break."
"That's okay," she said quickly. "You can wake me up for that."
In that moment, Jughead saw the depth of Betty's fears. She didn't want to be on her own and he couldn't blame her. Not when the last time she was on her own, she had been kidnapped. He pressed a gentle kiss to the crown of her head, careful with the cigarette still clutched between his fingers. "I promise you; you won't always be afraid."
Betty smiled at him weakly. "Thanks, Juggie. I don't know. Something feels...wrong."
"Wrong how?" Jughead asked, carefully watching her to see what she had to say.
"I don't know," she muttered, wrapping her thin arms around her equally as thin frame, and he made a mental note to make sure she ate a sandwich soon. "I just feel like something bad is going to happen."
Jughead wanted to scoff and shake his head, tell his girlfriend she was scared, but he couldn't do that. Not since she had been kidnapped already. Instead, he held out his hand to her, inviting her to go stand next to him. "I promise you; I'm not going to let you get hurt again. Black Hood can't touch you this time. I won't let him get close to you."
Betty closed her eyes. "We don't even know who he is, Jug." Her voice was nothing more than a whisper, and Jughead knew how much effort it cost her to say even those words.
"Betty?" Jughead asked, making sure he had her attention. "I swear to you; you're not going to be kidnapped again. Even if that means I must plant security outside your house."
That got a laugh out of her, his goal, and she loosened her shoulders considerably. "I imagine Sweet Pea would grow bored."
"The hell with that," Jughead smirked. "He'd do it because it's the right thing to do."
Betty nodded, eyes taking on a less haunted look about them. She opened her mouth to say something when gunshots rang out. Jughead didn't think; just acted. He yanked Betty down to the ground, covering her body with his. He pressed her head flat, holding her down as he felt her shaking underneath him. He glanced up, trying to ascertain if he could see who was shooting. On the Southside, it could have been anyone.
When the gunshots stopped, he looked down at Betty. "You, okay?"
"Yeah," she exhaled shakily. "I - I think so."
He did his own perusal of her to just to make sure she hadn't been shot. When he didn't see any blood on her impeccably white tank top, he nodded his head to himself, satisfied. "Who the hell was shooting?"
"i don't know, Jug," she murmured, standing up and looking across the expanse of the trailer park with him. At every trailer, there were heads popping out of the doors, looking up and down for the shooter.
Fangs walked out in his boxers. "What the fuck. Did you guys see anything?"
"No," Jughead sighed, raking a hand through his hair in frustration. Wasn't that just great? Someone had opened fire on the Southside and none of them saw anything.
"The guy can't be a ghost," Toni called, coming over to them, and saying what they were all thinking. Sweet Pea emerged out of his trailer next, looking a little worse for wear. Jughead saw him trying to staunch the blood flowing out his wrist at the same time Toni yelped. "Shit, Sweets, were you hit?"
"Nah," he shook his head ruefully. "This is because I dropped the knife, I had been chopping tomatoes with. I sliced my arm."
"That needs stitches," Betty said softly, inspecting his arm.
"Nah, blondie," Sweet Pea replied, kindly. "Just give me some tape and a wrist bandage and I am good to go."
Betty rolled her eyes but didn't argue the point and Jughead looked back out to the park. "So, we just had a random drive-by?"
"Seems like it,' Fangs intoned. He, too, was looking out at their park. There were people huddled around, trying to make sense of what had happened. "Question I have, is who were they aiming for?"
Betty looked down and away at Fangs words, and Jughead knew she thought she was the target. He couldn't lie and say he disagreed. He held out his hand for her, inviting her closer, and she made her way to him. When their hands were clasped, he looked at his men, (and woman), and spoke. "Bettys got someone after her. She's already survived a brutal kidnapping. We don't know for certain if the shooting had anything to do with her or not, but what I do know is this: she is to not be on her own from this day forward. She gets the best security we can offer."
"Oh, Jug -," Betty began, but he cut her off with a look.
"And, she has protection at school and the Northside. I don't know what else this dick is going to try and do, but I want to be prepared for whatever attack is coming our way.'
And there was an attack undoubtedly coming their way.