Another chapter! Hooray!

Thank you so much for your review, Natureliesbeneath. You are correct, fantastic pun notwithstanding (lol), and I am excited to hear your thoughts on the drama heating up further in this chapter. I think you're right that the head injury is definitely in the mix, though it will remain to be seen if Jughead can tough it out or if it's going to send everything sideways by affecting his decision making (further). There will have to be a vegetable-eating montage at some point to get him back on track, too, I think. This will then become a trend in entertainment everywhere - the healthy eating montage, a close relation to the training montage. I love your thoughts about Brand moving into uncharted territory and having new reactions as he's navigating new roles/relationships to the gang, and the Dax ambiguity getting increasingly central to doings. I'm thinking that answers are coming soon, which (of course) means all the drama first. :-D It should be fun!

Enjoy!

-Button

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"They're gonna start counting," Dax was muttering to himself. "This is not good. We need…"

Jughead was startled when Dax yanked on his arm, hard, and they made an abrupt left into a small room.

Dax pulled out his phone and began texting.

"Um, Dax, should we go and… try to help?" Jughead attempted, blinking back spots from his vision as his head continued to pound. "I mean, it sounded like the roadies were actually going to, like… walk out."

Dax locked eyes with Jughead over his phone. "Yes. We should."

Oh. Okay then. Jughead watched in bewildered silence as Dax returned to texting.

The man had seized Jughead and fled the backstage area moments after Burke had begun speaking. Shouting. Declaring that the road crew was on strike.

Well, it was possible that Dax had a master plan in place in case something like this were to happen on the tour. Maybe some kind of incredible coordinated effort was about to come together, based on a few well-timed texts.

That sounded like something Brand would do, so it kind of made sense. As much as any of Brand's actions made sense, anyway.

Jughead felt his pounding headache recede slightly as adrenaline washed through him. If they were about to be facing down a panicked crowd and somehow – was it even possible? – attempting to navigate the remainder of the tour without a road crew, then he'd need to be ready for action.

After all, no matter what his dad claimed, there was no way FP was actually capable of doing all the work of an entire road crew.

It was quite likely that all hands would be on deck, and that they'd be slammed with work.

Just as soon as Dax finished texting.

Only then, before Dax was done, the door behind him opened.

"Ben?" Dax turned expectantly, but Jughead could already see that it was definitely not Ben.

It was Kiara. She beamed smugly up at Dax's surprised expression. "Now, that wasn't so difficult, was it?"

"Wait, what? Is that whole disaster your doing?" Dax demanded, gesturing toward the stage area. He stared wide-eyed at her, and it was obvious that the idea was catching him completely flat-footed.

In contrast, Jughead was already nodding; it made sense. Every instinct was screaming it at him: after all, he'd seen her anger about how she'd been treated on tour, and he'd seen her talking to the road crew. Kiara 'randomly' showing up here at this precise moment seemed nothing less than confirmatory.

Whatever had prompted the roadies to go on strike tonight was down to her.

Unfortunately that only solved one mystery, though, since Jughead was completely and utterly certain that Kiara could not have been the root cause of all of the chaos on tour: her panic over the active shooter had been far too real.

"Don't act so shocked." Kiara's grin had melted away and now she glared at Dax. "Some of us are actually competent at getting things done."

And then she noticed Jughead.

"What is he doing here?" Kiara's eyes shot wide with disbelief – and fury. "Are you kidding me?"

Then realization dawned on Kiara's face and she laughed harshly. "Oh. Never mind. I know exactly what you're doing." She turned to Jughead. "You need to leave. Now."

"Kiara-," Dax's tone was suddenly threatening.

"No, no. I get it. You weren't sure what was happening, so you went and got yourself a little insurance poli-,"

"Kiara. Drop it. We have bigger fish to fry now, thanks to you." Dax dropped a hand onto Jughead's shoulder. "And any arrangement with Cyrano is between him and me."

"What? Seriously?" Kiara's eyes bulged and she let out a half-choked laugh. "Is that your way of saying 'stay in your lane'? Because you know what, Dax, I happen to know for a fact that where my lane ends is a whole lot less attractive than where Ben's does."

Aw, man, there was more drama involving Kiara and the security team? That was likely to be nothing but a distraction, and the timing was patently terrible.

Jughead frowned, massaging his forehead as the pain began to crescendo again and bracing himself to endure what would no doubt be a heated argument about paychecks and responsibilities.

"That is not a valid comparison and you know it. You made a drunk joke over a year ago. Ben has-," Dax started out placating, but Kiara cut him off viciously.

And then the conversation made a hard left.

"It was my idea. All of it. And don't you forget: I know where the bodies are buried." Kiara stopped, hands on her hips, and somehow her petite body blocked the entire doorway.

Oh God. Bodies? Jughead felt the blood leaving his head. It didn't help that Dax had gone rigid; he was reacting as if Kiara had just pulled a gun on him.

"Wipe that look off your face. I don't mean actual bodies," Kiara barked at Jughead irritatedly. "It's a saying. Although the fact that you thought that for even a second should really tell you something about-,"

"Cyrano doesn't think there are actual bodies," Dax snapped. His grip on Jughead's shoulders was loosening, but not because the larger man was relaxing. It felt more like Dax was readying for something. His voice was velvet-smooth when he continued: "So, Kiara… this is where you stand on the subject?"

Jughead saw the split-second in which Kiara realized this bizarre, inexplicable conversation was not going to end the way she wanted. That she might be blocking the exit, but Dax was within arm's reach of her. And she was technically outnumbered.

Kiara made a grab for her cellphone.

"Uh-uh. I wouldn't do that if I were you." Ben's voice came from behind Kiara, startling all of them. "We don't have time to discuss details now, Kiara… but I think you've raised a valid point. Why don't we talk it over once everything has calmed down?"

Ben sounded even more threatening than Dax had.

Jughead took advantage of the interruption and took a small step away from Dax so that he could face all three adults, but that placed his back firmly against a wall.

Something was wrong here, and he was desperate to put his finger on exactly what.

It was time to start bluffing.

Jughead made his tone bold as he reached into his pocket and manipulated his phone's controls, praying that his fingers' motions were as sure as he hoped. He wanted to record whatever came next. "Is that when we'll discuss my 'details' too?"

Dax barked a surprised laugh and then grinned down at Jughead appreciatively. "You see why I like him, Kiara? He's smart. We'll take good care of you, Cyrano, don't you worry."

Whew; whatever was going on, Jughead was officially on the inside track now. They'd tell him what was going on, he'd get the recording that was now (hopefully) running in his pocket to Brand, they'd have the tour back on track in time for the next concert, and –

"Oh?" Ben asked curiously, but there was an edge in his voice that seemed to echo Kiara's glower. Apparently neither of them wanted to bring Jughead in on whatever was happening. "I mean, good call bringing him along until we know for sure-,"

Dax shook his head sharply and Ben cut himself off.

"Ben, Dax, we don't need the kid. Stick a fork in it; this tour is done," Kiara snapped. "Now, can we please lose him? We need to talk. Privately."

Oh god, no. This couldn't be the end of the tour; Archie would be crushed.

And Jughead couldn't picture being sent back to Brand now, with no information beyond 'Kiara was somehow involved in the roadie strike, and something seems to be very wrong with the other security team, but that's literally all I know.'

"No, I can help. Please. I can't go back." Jughead's pulse was racing as his blood pressure spiked. His vision spotted and his breathing accelerated. Desperation came through clearly in his voice, too, making him wince.

He was having serious trouble maintaining his cover story, thanks to this intermittently blinding headache.

"Hey, calm down. What did I just say?" Dax's voice was reassuring and he reached over to pat Jughead's shoulder. Kiara's eyes narrowed even further. "Ignore these knuckleheads. You're with me now."

"What?" Kiara's outrage seemed to be intensifying by the second. "You can't be serious."

"Stop." Dax cut her off, and then gave Ben a hard look as if he was trying to communicate telepathically. "We are where we are. At this moment, it is entirely possible that we will need everyone in this room."

Ben let out a harsh sigh but then nodded in acquiescence.

Jughead waited tensely, fighting to maintain control of his breathing.

"We need to tread carefully until we're sure of how everything is going to fall out," Dax continued slowly, "but I think Kiara's probably right that the tour is-,"

Dax's phone rang, cutting him off.

Jughead wanted to grab the phone out of Dax's hand and shatter it. He was so close to finally getting answers.

"Yeah?" Dax answered the phone. "Hang on. Can you repeat that?"

Ben was the one who grabbed the phone, switching it to speaker, but only because he got there before Kiara.

Trust was apparently very low between these three.

"-McKenna. Apparently my boss's daughter was watching some influencer's livestream and everyone's freaking out?" The man on the phone sounded like he was irritated at having to make an after-hours phone call but was forcing himself to sound upbeat. "Anyway, I'll be there in the morning to go over details. Sit tight and make sure everyone gets a good night's sleep and is ready to perform; we won't be letting anything derail this tour. You can count on that much."

"Uh. You – do you…" Dax was sputtering, his face a mask of consternation. "So, uh… you think that continuing on with the tour is… the wisest course of action?"

Huh. Jughead studied Dax carefully, since this seemed like a complete turnaround in his attitude toward canceling the rest of the tour.

"I hear you. I'm sure it's been a shock. But you can relax; the math is in your favor." The hint of irritation was still there, but now the man was trying to soothe Dax. "Roadies are cheap. Insurance payouts are expensive. Short of invoking the Madrid clause, our priority is the same as yours: to get fans into seats for both of tomorrow's concerts."

Oh yeah; tomorrow was the first day that the bands would be doubling up on concerts per the newly expanded tour schedule.

Jughead leaned forward eagerly. It sounded like the man on the phone was on his side, and on Archie's side: they would keep the tour going. They would figure it out and make sure that everyone who remained on the tour would stay the course.

"I'll be at the hotel at eight am. I'll meet with Breaking Fast first, and then Mary Andrews. Thanks; have a good night."

The phone went dead in Dax's hand.

All three adults exchanged stunned looks and for several moments nobody said a word.

Then Kiara looked over at Jughead with a shrewdly calculating expression. "So-o-o. You still want in?"

Dax and Ben looked over at him as well, but both seemed deep in thought and remained ominously silent.

It was obvious that they were not telling him everything. It was obvious that Dax was disappointed to hear that the tour was not being canceled; he must have been lying to Jughead before about his plan to identify the saboteurs, arrest them, and keep the tour going.

What was not obvious was why. Or what they thought Jughead could do to help them.

Jughead felt like he was being circled by sharks. They might keep swimming along, doing their thing, but they could just as easily decide – without warning – to tear him to pieces.

The silence lengthened. Jughead's chest tightened.

"Cyrano." Dax finally spoke in a low, serious voice. "If we want to protect the bands, what happens next needs to play out in a very specific manner."

Jughead let out a breath in a whoosh; finally, answers. Finally. "Protect the bands? What's going on? Just level with me, Dax. I can help, but only if I know what-,"

"It's whoever's been sabotaging the tour. They hacked the ticket app and they set up a shadow version. Then they sold tickets. A lot of tickets." While Dax blurted out the facts he leaned in, his intense eye contact commanding all of Jughead's attention. "Maybe it was Davies or Penn. Maybe not. Regardless, this roadie strike means that we're officially too late to make a bust – there's too much chaos now for us to be sure we can catch them in time."

Jughead wasn't sure he understood how all of that followed logically; he waited for more explanation.

Dax merely stared intently at him, waiting for a response.

"But… we have at least a little more time," Jughead finally said. "The tour doesn't end for three more days. We can bring in the other security team and-,"

Dax sighed deeply. "Nobody outside of this room knows any of this, and it needs to stay that way. The first oversold concert is the day after tomorrow. Then the jig is up. We cannot risk this becoming public knowledge, or the clock running out and the bands being left holding the bag."

Jughead's confusion must have been written all over his face because Dax continued to explain:

"It's the whole reason the hackers have been sabotaging the tour. They built in an escape clause – the tickets are all non refundable – but it only works if the concerts are canceled. If those concerts take place, there will be a whole lot of unhappy ticket holders with no seats. Enough to cause a serious ruckus."

Jughead blinked as he absorbed this. "That still doesn't mean we need to cancel the rest of the tour. Even if it turns out that we can't find the saboteurs and prosecute them, the bands can't be held liable. Their ticket app was hacked. Plus, if we cancel the concerts, won't the hackers get exactly what they wanted? Then, if we never figure out who it was, they'll get away with it."

Dax narrowed his eyes but appeared to be carefully weighing Jughead's words. Then he sighed once more.

"You are awfully confident of three things." Dax leaned even closer to Jughead's face as he held up one finger. "First, that we have a prayer of finding the hackers now that the tour has descended into total chaos." He held up a second finger. "Second, that we are capable of convincing the public not to blame the bands when hundreds or even thousands of ticket holders paid good money and went through what looked a hell of a lot like their app."

Dax held up a third finger. "Third, that seeing justice served to some petty thieves is more important than the bands getting out of this tour with their reputations and their wallets intact. If this hits the fan, the bands will be uninsurable. And anything anyone on this tour has ever done – or even thought about doing – will become fodder for the tabloids."

Jughead must have still looked unconvinced because Dax lowered his voice and continued more harshly: "Whatever you think of your mother, what do you think will happen to her career if Penn slipping love notes to an underage blonde becomes front page news?"

Jughead cocked his head to one side. Dax sounded like he believed every word that he was saying, even though this was just… wrong.

"So…" Jughead trailed off as he abruptly realized that both Ben and Kiara were openly gaping at Dax. They either hadn't known all of this – or they had not expected Dax to share this information with Jughead.

Dax grabbed Jughead's chin and forced eye contact again. "So far the shadow app has used powerful incentives to keep ticket holders quiet. But if there is any suspicion whatsoever surrounding the circumstances of the tour ending, the bean counters will start investigating and those ticket holders are going to spill their guts in a heartbeat. All of this will come to light."

Dax glanced swiftly at Ben and Kiara and then locked eyes with Jughead once more. "And thanks to Kiara, we no longer have a shot at selling the simple narrative that a superstitious band with a track record for canceling concerts pulled the plug a little early on the tour. And they aren't going to cancel a blessed thing as long as their insurance is refusing to pay out."

Jughead rubbed the back of his neck, willing his vicious headache to calm down long enough for him to make a plan. He needed to think.

Dax raised a compelling point about Betty. Sure, there was nothing illicit going on with his dad - but the whole reason Brand and FP had brought Jughead on this tour was because he'd been trying to shield Betty from the Southsiders finding out who had caused the raids that placed all the minors without a stable situation in group homes or foster care.

If the tour blew up into a PR nightmare, there was no guarantee that Betty would be safe.

And Jughead's calculation that he could take the heat for Betty because he had the protection of Brand and FP – and potentially even Clark and Tim, in a pinch – aslo meant that they were in line for the press dragging their names through the mud.

Having already seen what that could look like, since his dad had endured quite a bit of nasty press over the past year, Jughead had no illusions that the coverage would be fair – or that it would stop short of destroying relationships and livelihoods.

So, even as Jughead finally admitted to himself that he needed to take Brand's theory seriously and consider the possibility that Dax was the source of everything that had gone wrong on the tour… he also had to admit that Dax was making some very good points.

Moreover, Jughead could do math every bit as well as an insurance company rep: the only sure way of protecting Betty was to figure out who had hacked the app and sabotaged the tour in an attempt to cover their tracks.

They needed to be the ones who took all of the heat from the press.

To pull that off, Jughead would need information about that app - and he would need time. The tour could not end; not yet. That meant he'd need to work with Dax... while simultaneously working at cross purposes to the man.

Jughead somehow needed to convince Dax to rely on him - let him take the lead - on shutting down the tour. That was the only way Jughead could personally make sure that the show would go on.

It would be tricky. It would take fast thinking and fancy footwork.

Jughead was not sure he was up to either in his current condition.

But he had the advantage that he knew the brief: Dax firmly believed that Breaking Fast ending the tour was their best-case scenario.

The band was superstitious. They had canceled a tour before under odd circumstances. Dax's argument made sense to Jughead; if the band was known for being irrational, investigators would have no reason to look closely at details.

Jughead would have to promise to deliver that, then, even while stringing everyone along - and secretly keeping the tour going, conducting his own investigation, and bringing the hacker saboteurs to justice.

Complicating the situation further, it was completely possible that Dax and Ben were the saboteurs. Who else had that kind of knowledge and access? But, honestly, even if it turned out that Jughead was allying himself with the very criminals he was hunting down, this plan was still the best one.

Keep your enemies close, right?

Regardless, it wasn't like there was a safe alternative. Nobody was going to allow the tour to continue once they knew what Jughead had been told – let alone what he suspected.

Brand would probably shut it down the moment he found out about the shadow app; Dax would definitely shut it down the moment he could do so without drawing attention to the fishy ticket sales.

It was up to Jughead to protect Betty. It didn't hurt that this plan would also allow him to hold up his side of the pact with Archie.

Determined, Jughead lowered his chin and took a deep, fortifying breath.

"Well, you got one thing right. I am confident about three things," Jughead said, projecting bravado – and making his tone cheeky as he echoed Dax. He held up one finger and then fell silent, drawing the moment out.

All three adults leaned forward expectantly, waiting to hear what he would say. Perfect.

"First," Jughead said, "I can help you keep things quiet if you show me what you know about the app. I'm something of an amateur hacker myself; I know a thing or two about keeping prying eyes off of a situation."

It was hard not to panic as the words came out of his mouth; it was perhaps the biggest lie he'd ever attempted, and he was possibly trying it out on actual cybercriminals.

Dax and Ben looked amazed. Then they looked exultant.

Jughead took courage; this just might work.

"Second," Jughead continued, "I believe that I can get Breaking Fast to shut down the tour. But in order to pull that off, we'll need access to more than just Breaking Fast's portion of the tour. I'm the only person who can move between floors without needing to justify it, so I'll have to be the one to take point."

Ben and Dax exchanged confused looks, but then nodded. Apparently the carrot was as compelling as Jughead had hoped and the logic sounded plausible enough; awesome.

"Third," Jughead shrugged his shoulders expansively. It was time to throw in a red herring that would keep the others busy and buy him some vital breathing room. None of this would work if he had someone looking over his shoulder the whole time. "What is the Madrid clause? And is it something we might be able to use?"

"That," Dax declared solemnly, "is a very good question."

"If we are seriously going to try to salvage this, then we need a copy of that policy," Ben added. "Right now."

"No," Dax held up one hand authoritatively. "Right now we need to get back to the stage and get Breaking Fast to the hotel. Then we need a copy of the policy."

Dax motioned to Jughead. "You're with me, Cyrano. You're in this now, so you need to keep your yap shut around anyone who's not in this room. But don't worry; if you're right about being able to pull all of that off, then this ought to turn out exceedingly well for you."

Jughead nodded eagerly, managing a smile in spite of the roiling pain that was beginning to churn into potent nausea. "Thanks, Dax. I won't let you down."

Dax's face split into a grin as he made his way swiftly toward the stage area once more. "Somehow I believe that."

Jughead manipulated his phone in his pocket, hoping he was turning off the recording app. He felt the phone buzz in his hand and pulled it out to see what the notification was for.

It was a text from Kiara.

'I tried warning you. You're making a mistake. It's not too late to get out, but it will be soon.'

Jughead blinked at the text. Was this confirmation that Dax and Ben were behind the shadow app and the sabotage? Or did it mean Kiara was behind the hack and threatening him? Or was Dax telling the honest truth, and Kiara just thought their whole plan was doomed to failure?

Another text appeared:

'Think about it. You know that Dax is the one who believes Breaking Fast's superstition is the key to everything.'

Then a final text:

'Feeling cursed yet?'

Jughead's head snapped up and he stared at Dax's broad shoulders as he followed the man toward the backstage area. Had the man been behind all of the near-misses he'd had on the tour? That seemed to be Kiara's implication.

Well, there were officially two frontrunner suspects in his investigation: either Dax was the saboteur and Kiara was trying to help Jughead out, or Kiara was the saboteur and she was trying to pin it on Dax.

Maybe that simplified things. He wasn't going to have to look far.

But either way, Jughead was going to have to tread very carefully.

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Cue ominous music... :-D A one-scene chapter, woo-hoo. And we finally got some answers! Sort of! Just not, you know, the most pressing ones. :-D I hope you're enjoying. Thank you so much for reading along! I'll look forward to any and all notes as I work on what will likely (hopefully? Lol) be the final chapters!

-Button