Jughead's P.O.V.
Jughead stared through the thick thicket of trees. It was midnight and he was standing on the bank of Sweetwater River, exactly where the note told him to be. He didn't know who had written it but he could guess that it was Betty's abductor. Whoever that was. The note specifically asked for Jughead to meet the man there, alone. At midnight. Jughead wasn't dense. He knew to have a couple of his own men patrolling the woods, looking for any signs of Betty while he talked to whoever this was. His best guess was it was the person behind his girlfriend's kidnapping. Who else would be asking him to meet him on the bank of Sweetwater at midnight?
Jughead ran his fingers through his beanieless hair, bringing a cigarette up to his lips with his other hand. He was so on edge, he knew he needed to calm down. Sweet Pea offered him a beer, but Jughead snorted and denied it. He wasn't going into this meeting even the slightest bit hazy.
Just then, there was the sound of footsteps and he looked to his left sharply. A man walked out of the woods in a mask and all black. Immediately, Jughead knew who this was. Their town hadn't heard a peep from him since…shit, since Betty went missing. Stomach in his throat, he glared mutinously at the man. "The Black Hood."
"In the flesh, Mr. Jones," he said, voice distorted. Jughead glared at him.
"Where the fuck is Betty?" Jughead demanded.
"I have a game for you, Jughead," the man said, and a shot of ice shot down Jughead's spine.
"What kind of game?" Jughead asked.
"If you can find your girlfriend in the two minutes it will take her to lose consciousness, then oxygen, you can keep her," he said.
Jughead's heart was hammering in his ears. Betty was - was - "She's here ?"
"In the heart of the water," the Black Hood replied.
The heart of the - Jughead was running without further thought as soon as his eyes landed oon the frozen lake. "Betty! BETTY! GOD, NO." His voice ricocheted out of him, splintering his throat as tears tore at his lashes. Running, he sprinted across the lake. "Sweet Pea, Joaquin! HELP!"
He heard his men's footsteps and Jughead slipped and slid on the ice. He stopped in the middle of the lake, throwing out his hands. "Careful, or the ice will shatter."
He looked down into the black water with the frozen shield. Where the hell was Betty? He punched the ice, not giving a damn about the pain radiating in his wrist. "Betty! Hold on, baby, I'm coming!" Jughead screamed animalistically. Sweet Pea was helping him break the ice.
"There! Right there, Jug!" Sweet Pea's shout rented the air, and Jughead angled his body to look in the hole his friend had formed. There was Betty, floating in the water, eyes closed, mouth taped.
"Get her the fuck out now," Jughead hissed, heart thundering like a stampede of angry elephants. Sweet Pea yanked Betty out, passing her off to Jughead. Her head lolled against his arms, flopping around uselessly."Sweet Pea, get the tape off her mouth."
Sweet Pea peeled it away from her lips that Jughead dreaded to see blue. He ran to the bank and sat her down, tilting her head towards him. The Black Hood was nowhere to be found but that didn't matter. That didn't matter . He crossed his hands one on top of the other and began doing compressions against his girlfriend's chest. Then, he reached up and shut her nose, before breathing life back into her being.
"Breathe, Betty! Fuck, breathe!" Jughead screamed, vocal chords beyond abused now. He kept alternating between compressions and breathing in his girlfriend's lungs.
"Jug…," Sweet Pea said.
"Shut the fuck up," he growled, slapping at Betty's face to see if he could force her to life. "Shut the fuck up and help me.'
"Jug, she was under the water for who knows how long…," Sweet Pea murmured, throat hitching.
"No." Jughead's voice was pitifully small. "She promised to never completely leave me. She's not dying. Not tonight."
He wiped the back of his hand across his nose and started compressions again. Once, twice, three more times and then Betty's back was bending as she started coughing up lungfuls of water. Jughead yanked her into his arms, tilting her so she could expel all the water. "Get it out, baby. Get all of it out. Good girl."
Betty shook in his arms and he was already yanking off his jacket and draping it over her. Then, when Betty was breathing again, he looked at her. There wasn't an inch of her skin that wasn't marred by fingerprints and ugly bruises. "Juggie?"
His fist shook as he carded his fingers through her hair. "I promised I'd find you."
"I want to go home," her voice was small with the request.
"Hospital first, then I'll take you to your house."
"Will you stay with me?" Betty asked as Jughead stood to his feet, still holding her.
"Fuck, Jughead, your hand," Joaquin hissed.
Jughead looked down at his swollen and bruised hand. He didn't even feel the pain. He looked back at Betty and pressed a delicate kiss to her forehead.
"Always."
Then, he was rushing up the bank, keeping a tight hold on his girlfriend as his father appeared from another part of the woods he was in. "Jug, we haven't found her - shit!"
FP stared down in horror at the bruised body in his son's arms.
"Call Alice and Hal," Jughead said authoritatively. "They need to know and tell them to meet us at the hospital. It's the Black Hood. He, whoever he is, is behind everything."
"The man that was stalking Betty ended up kidnapping her?" FP asked sharply as they ran.
Jughead just nodded his head. He didn't have the answers - yet - but for now, his priority was his girlfriend. Everything else could wait. It could always wait.