Jughead's P.O.V.

Jughead stared at the minute hand on the clock in his trailer, counting down another round of minutes that Betty wasn't by his side. He was tired. He was stressed. And more importantly, he missed his girlfriend. He didn't know when she'd be back in his arms safely. He couldn't say 'if she'd be back in his arms safely' because the idea of never seeing Betty again hurt him on an innate level. He couldn't begin to fathom the type of pain he'd experience if she never returned. Jughead quickly lit a cigarette to expel his nervous energy, eyes on Hal and FP as they talked to Sheriff Keller.

"What do you mean you've found no new leads? My daughter has been missing for the past five months. Something has to turn the fuck up, Keller," Hal snapped, voice laced in a layer of thick irritation. Jughead understood the older Cooper's anger: Betty was his daughter and he wasn't going to let her go without a fight. He wasn't nearly as controlling as Alice Cooper was and, even that had abated some. Since the disappearance of her daughter, Alice had loosened the reigns considerably. She was a shell of the woman she once was.

Jughead understood the family's pain all too well. He felt it on that same level because Betty was his girlfriend – the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with and he wasn't sure if that was even a possibility…no,Jughead. Not right now, goddammit. You have to remain strong for Betty. She's relying on you. Jughead knew this to be true; knew that his girlfriend, while most likely remaining as brave as she could, was also most definitely scared. He wondered if she had any clue who had her – any idea as to why they took her. He didn't have the answers to the million and one questions rolling about in his mind but he'd figure them out.

XXX

Betty's P.O.V.

Betty breathed in deeply against the pain she felt in her ribcage. She was tired, she was hungry, and she wanted to go home. The man in the mask had moved her and she had no clue as to where because he knocked her out with the chloroform but even if he hadn't, she wouldn't recognized where she was. The building – was it a warehouse? – didn't look familiar to her in the slightest. She had no idea where the location of the building was either. Just then, the door to her room opened and the man walked in, making his way towards her with purposeful steps. She felt her body trembling but managed to muster up enough energy to glare at him. He, she imagined, was smirking behind his mask as he bent forward and peeled the tape off.

She took the opportunity to spit in his face which was a mistake, she came to find out a moment later as he backhanded her across the face, sending her neck snapping in the other direction. She cried out against the pain she felt and then quickly bit down on her lip, refusing to utter anymore sounds of pain or discomfort lest the man before her took pleasure in her pain. He had to. "That was a stupid thing to do, Betty."

So he knew her name. Did that mean he had been watching her?

"Take off the mask and I'll show you some true damage I can inflict," she snapped, voice raspy from the lack of water she had. The man laughed and she tried to place the sound even though he was using a voice modulator. She still couldn't place it and he was in all black so she couldn't place his body type either. He looked stocky, perhaps, if she had to put a word to his build but she wasn't one hundred percent sure.

"Well, Betty Cooper, you've certainly developed a backbone during your time with me, haven't you?" The man asked and she narrowed her eyes, tugging against her restraints all the while.

"What kind of sick bastard does this and thinks it's okay?" Betty demanded. "You're the one with the advantage here, not me, thanks to these restraints. We should be on eve-," he taped her mouth shut once more, silencing her sentence and she glared at him as he double-checked her restraints.

"You give me a headache with all that talking you're doing, child," he snapped, and Betty didn't need the voice modulator to know he was angry. She swallowed nervously, making sure not to push him past the point of no return. Despite her talking back to him ways, she did value her life. "So, here's what we're going to do." He paused here to pull out a camera and she watched, heart beating in her throat, as he set it up to be facing her. Was he going to take a picture of her? She got her answer moments later when he continued to speak. "We're going to take a picture of you and send it to your family who is undoubtedly panicking. It's been five months, let's show them that you're still alive, shall we?"

Betty knew he was taking great satisfaction in the way he was in control and she wondered, briefly, if he was a perfectionist like her. Then she shied away from any thoughts of them being similar. She didn't want to think about that. She stared at the camera, knowing she looked a mess with dried blood caked into her face, as it went off, snapping a shot of her permanently. The man laughed as he lifted the camera and came to show her the image of herself. "Think we'll send this to that mother of yours'."

Was this about her mom? Had Alice done something to make someone mad and Betty was feeling the fallout of it? She didn't know – and she didn't have a clue how to begin looking for the answers to her questions.

XXX

Jughead's P.O.V.

"Oh god, Betty," Jughead whispered, staring down in horror at the picture of his girlfriend that had been sent to Alice Cooper. Sweet Pea and Joaquin were standing right behind him, staring at the picture sadly as well. "Baby…" His voice was nothing more than a terrified whisper because thinking Betty was hurt and actually seeing her hurt were two different things and he could go the rest of his life never seeing her face that swollen again.

"Jughead," Sweet Pea said quietly, voice low as the taller man stared at the picture. "She's alive, man. This was taken yesterday – look at the date."

Jughead's eyes fell to the date on the bottom of the picture and he noted his friend was right. It was taken the day before. That gave him hope that she was still alive. "Hang in there, baby. I promise I'll find you."

Jughead would make fucking sure he saw that promise through.

Author's notes: Would love to hear who you guys think it is! Reviews lovely as always! Xxx