Betty Cooper waslate. That never happened. Not to her. Maybe to other people, (Sweet Pea, undoubtedly crossed her mind), but nother. She dashed towards Headquarters, hastily scanning her badge as she went, attempting to not trip and send her coffee tumbling as she did so. Darting through the main lobby, she nodded at the security guard, fighting the urge to flip him the bird as he chuckled at her. Ben knew this wasn't her normal M.O. and he didn't necessarily deserve her frustration shown towards him.

"Morning, Agent Cooper!" Ben called; tone laced with mirth.

"Morning, Ben!" Betty cried over her shoulder, feet pounding up the marble stairs as she went. If Glen just hadn't scheduled a meeting so last minute, she would have been better prepared. Also didn't help that she had another nightmare the night before that left her feeling discombobulated but now wasn't the time to get stuck on that.

Finally reaching the floor that held her office, she ducked into it, hoping she hadn't been caught.

"Cooper, you're late," came a teasing-filled voice.

Little shit.

"Sweet Pea, you know your ass beat me by a minute, tops. Don't say otherwise," she huffed, turning to face her best friend and fellow agent. The tall, dark-haired man was grinning down at her, the tattoo on his neck peeking out from his white-collared shirt.

"Yeah, Glen sent out the announcement for this meeting pretty last minute," he agreed, taking a quick look over her. "You have anything to eat, yet?"

His tone was curious but there was an underlining worry behind the question and Betty shook her head, tilting her coffee cup towards him. "Only had time to grab this and dash."

He nodded, producing a bagel. "Good thing I had a bit more time then."

Betty accepted the bagel and looked at him. "Marissa kicked you out of her bed last night, it seems."

Wasn't a question and they both knew that. He rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, well, she was only a decent lay," he replied. "Now, let's go before Glen has both of our asses on the line."

Betty laughed, following after her best friend, her family, really, into the meeting room. She stopped immediately after entering, feeling the room spin for a moment as she stared at the people in front of her. Dropping her gaze to her coffee, she frowned at it. Shedidn'tthink it had been drugged but it wouldn't have been the first time she drank something drugged. Avoiding the eyes she felt from the three people in front of her, she tapped on Sweet Pea's elbow and he turned.

Pointing at her coffee, she then tilted her head towards the other people, knowing he'd understand.

"No, you're good. They're actually there," he murmured, watching her cautiously, and she knew he was wondering why her reaction was this. Afterall, he had only heard about these people. He had never actually seen them before. Nodding, she licked her lips and took another sip of her coffee, trying to collect her thoughts.

"Betty, god, do you eat?" Alice asked, tone worried. She blinked at her mother, before looking at Sweet Pea, who now was matching her frown.

"I'm sorry, who are you guys?" Sweet Pea asked, tone firm and authoritative, the very essence of the agent she knew he could be. Afterall, she had trained him after getting him out of the life he didn't want to be in.

"Alice Cooper, my friend FP Jones, and his son -," Alice began, but Sweet Pea interrupted her, staring hard at the man next to the older Jones.

"Jughead Jones," he said flatly. "Pleasure." With that, he went and sat down, Betty following suit as she took the seat next to him. She could feel Jughead's eyes on her, burning her with the intensity of his gaze, but she refused to even look at him as she waited for Glen to arrive. They didn't have to wait long.

"Okay, people, we got a bad one," Glen said, entering the room and shutting the door behind him. Betty sat up straighter in her chair, knowing if Glen said it was bad, it was bad.

"How bad, boss?" Came Pea's lazy drawl, and Betty knew he was only acting nonchalant because of the three people in the room. Glen flickered his eyes towards him, frowning at his tone, before looking at Alice and FP.

"Mr. Jones, can you explain what happened?" Glen asked, sitting down in his own chair as he straightened out his tie.

FP nodded as Betty eventually looked at him.

"She went missing a month ago," he began, voice shaking, and Betty's stomach clenched. Who went missing?

"Who?" Sweet Pea asked, voice a bit more serious.

"JB," it was Jughead this time, and Betty looked at him and found his eyes on her already. "She needs your help, Betty."

"I'm sorry, do you guys know each other?" Glen asked, confusion coloring his tone.

Alice looked gob smacked and Betty couldn't blame her. She hadn't ever opened up about her family minus filling out the appropriate questions on her application and the background check. She had listed her mother as Alice Smith.

"This is Alice Cooper," Betty said quietly. "Also, you know her as Alice Smith."

Glen exhaled slowly, staring back and forth between the three and Betty before sighing. "I would have handled this differently, had I known Betty."

Her superior's tone was apologetic, but she shook her head, dismissing his apologies.

"Do we know who took her?" Betty asked. Afterall, it was JB and she didn't have any problems towards the younger woman. At one point in her life, she had viewed her as a younger sister of sorts. Holding a hand out to Sweet Pea, she waited until he handed over a cigarette and lighter, lighting it the next moment despite Glen's eyeroll.

"You know I hate when you smoke in the conference room, Betty," he said. She shrugged and just inhaled a drag, Sweet Pea smirking as he too lit his own cigarette before he spoke up.

"Agent Cooper asked a question. Do you know who took her?" Sweet Pea asked, voice hard as he looked at Jughead.

Jughead shook his head, eyes hard. "I was supposed to pick her up from her shift one night around a month ago. I was ten minutes late, if that, and I waited for her for a full half hour, but she never showed. We haven't seen her since."

Betty nodded, taking notes as she listened. "Anyone in town acting suspicious? Newcomers or anything like that?"

Alice spoke up. "Not that we saw. But, there had been talk of a new club opening."

"Club?" Glen asked.

"A dance club," FP said, eyes looking at him.

"Code for stripping or sex-trafficking?" Sweet Pea asked, looking at Betty. She chewed her lip, knowing exactly what he was referring to.

"Glen, we still have that file?" Betty asked, hoping against hope her superior wouldn't throw her under the bus.

"Your file?" Glen queried. No such luck then and Sweet Pea looked like he was ready to throw a fist at him.

"Was it necessary to say that, Glen?" Sweet Pea hissed, and Betty watched as the people she had all but forgotten shifted in their seats across the table.

"File? What file, Betty?" Alice demanded but she just shook her head, eyes still on Glen.

"You really didn't tell them anything did you, Betty?" Glen asked in disbelief. She shrugged.

"I'm alive, aren't I? No harm, no foul," she said casually.

"Wait-what?" Jughead asked but she pinned him with a glare.

"You want my help in finding JB?" Betty asked calmly. He nodded, eyes watching her in concern. She rolled her own. "Then, shut the fuck up about things that don't concern you and let me do my job."

With that, she stood up, Sweet Pea following suit.

"There's a sex-trafficking ring that originated in Washington but has been moving it's way across the country. We'll look into New York, contact some of our agents stationed there. You'll guys need to hang around if you want to know what we find," he said, tone cool and collected. "Emily Richards, the secretary in the lobby, will give you my number. Use it if you have any questions. Let's go, Betts."

She nodded, discarding her cigarette in the potted plant, smirking as Glen complained.Blow me, Glen.Walking out of the meeting room, she quickened her pace in the hopes to not be stopped by the one person she never wanted to speak to again.

"Betty, wait, please!" Jughead called, and she sighed, stilling her movements as Sweet Pea stopped, too. He placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it, and she smiled at him gratefully, knowing he'd have her back, always.

"What, Jughead?" Betty asked, turning to face him.

"Betty, are-did something happen?" Jughead asked.

She shrugged. "Not that I can recall."

He sighed, shaking his head. "Don't do this, please."

"Do what?" Betty asked curiously.

He stared at her for a long moment carefully, but she kept her face neutral. Years with the FBI had only helped her perfect her poker face. Finally, he turned to look at Sweet Pea, who was looking at him with a bit more hostility. "I'm assuming you're her partner?"

"Best friend, family, any word really suffices here, Jones," he said, tone hard. Jughead swallowed and nodded.

"Great, then I can trust you two to findmyfamily," he said firmly.

"We will," Betty said. "But, unless it's in regard to the case, we'd appreciate it if you didn't reach out for anything else. Need to keep things as work-related as possible. You understand, I'm sure."

"It's been a long time, Betty, surely you can afford a cup of coffee," Jughead said quietly, eyes looking over her body. "Maybe a sandwich, too."

"Ten years, if memory serves correctly. And, no thanks," she said politely.

He stared at her for a long moment, emotions she had no trouble recognizing flickering through his eyes before settling on one: resignation. "I'll have my cell with me at all times if you need to reach me for anything in regard to the case. I can help if you need."

"Number didn't change?" Betty asked.

"No," he said softly.

"Got it," she replied before turning to Sweet Pea. "Let's get this show on the road."

"Of course," he said, eyes softening as he looked at her, knowing just howhardeverything about this situation was for her. Especially if JB had ended up with the same people she had. He turned to Jughead. "I'll call if there is anything we need. We'll start looking into your sister's case. If you guys do hang around in Washington, I suggest theHamptonon second street. It's nice."

Then, they left, and Betty could feel Jughead's eyes on her once more as they walked away. She wanted to turn around to see if she was right and as if sensing her thoughts, Sweet Pea spoke up.

"Don't turn around, Betty. We're not headed in that direction," he said quietly, voice gentle.

She sighed, knowing her best friend was right. She hadn't been heading in the direction in years. She wasn't going to start now.