HOLY MOLY 9 REVIEWS?! Think we can keep this up! I can!

Thank you, as usual, to all of our reviewers: david12leca, top story, Luvs2Read, CassandraofTroy17, brighteyescoldheart, guest, and TheBlueFeather!

Luvs2Read: Just possibly ;)

Betty's sunny mood couldn't last all day. All too soon, she was back on the case of Ms. Grundy. As she did her research on Google, she wondered if there was some deep web for magical creatures, where one could get the deets on someone in a different, more inhuman way? She made a quick note to question Sweet Pea about it. Still, she managed to find enough damning evidence without any of that.

And, she felt so good about it, as she laid it all out to Archie and Veronica at Pop''s.

"-Before that, she's a ghost, she doesn't exist!" Betty finished her carefully logical take-down, "Archie, please, believe me." She loved the boy, but she realized belatedly Archie was more likely to listen to emotion than reason, however sound it was.

"The only Geraldine Grundy I could find was a woman who died seven years ago," She said, handing Archie the papers.

And Archie, god if she wasn't so pissed at him his innocence and loyalty would be almost cute, was just obstinate.

"Betty, if you're my friend, you'll let this go!" He thundered.

Betty clenched her fork between her fingers. She breathed in hard, realizing that Archie was going to need more.

"Fine." She agreed, "But only because you asked."

Covertly, she lessened her grip and slipped the half-melted metal spoon into her lap.

XXxxXX

"This or this?" Toni asked, holding up two outfits for Sweet Pea and Fangs in her trailer.

"Uh….left?" Fangs said, scratching the back of his neck.

"Toni, they look exactly the same and Fangs is too scared to say something." Sweet Pea rolled his eyes.

"They are not the same!" Toni said, throwing them onto her bed, "That one has a blue flannel and a crop top. This one has a purple flannel and an off-the shoulder cami. See?"

Fangs made a whining noise.

"You might as well be speaking Latin, Topaz." Sweet Pea said, dipping his head back to get the last drops of his beer, "Why's it matter? FP doesn't require black-tie for group meetings."

"Not for that," Toni whacked his arm, "For the Drive-In closing! I mean, the whole teen population of Riverdale will be there. What if I meet that special guy or girl?"

"A Northsider?" Fangs scrunched up his nose.

"Hey, now," Sweet Pea said in faux offense, "You'll hurt my feelings."

"You're a Southside Werewolf, despite your tragic high school assignment." Toni hummed, "Is Betty going to be there?"

"Going to try to get it with the resident witch, Toni?" Fangs teased.

"No, and oh, wipe that look of your face, SP." Toni added, "I dunno if I could handle a witch. I'm asking because we're friends and I like her. You don't have a monopoly on her."

"Never said I did." Sweet Pea grouched.

"God, what is snapping at your tail today?" Toni finally asked, exasperated, "You've been in a pissy mood since you got home."

"Nothing." Sweet Pea argued, "And yes, Betty...will be there. She wants to meet the pack." He said after a second of hesitation.

"Really?"

"I say yes!" Fangs raised his hand.

"I'm not sure." Sweet pea admitted, "I'm worried what you'll say about her. Plus, she's gonna be on a date anyway."

"Oh." Toni said meaningfully.

"What's that mean?"

"Nothing." Toni shrugged, "I just know why you're so pissy now."

"What? Because Jughead asked Betty on a date?" Sweet Pea scoffed, "I'm just worried she'll fuck something up and I'll have to clean up her mess again, or something."

"Right." Toni narrowed her eyes.

"Stop with the single ominous syllables!" Sweet Pea growled.

His phone beeped.

"That her?" Fangs asked, leaning over his arm.

"Off, and yes." He said, he gave a long sigh when he saw her message.

"You going?" Toni tilted her head.

"Uh-huh." He said, shaking himself off, "I'll, ah, see you both later."

"Yeah," Fangs said, shoveling some popcorn into his mouth as Swee Pea left, and he tried to pretend he didn't hear, "He's so far in."

He didn't even want to consider what that meant.

XXxxXX

BETTY COOPER to SWEET PEA: Hey 'Great Protector', so, I'm about to do something stupid.

BETTY COOPER: I'm not telling you to talk me out of it, but because I thought you might want to be there.

BETTY COOPER: In case something goes wrong.

SWEET PEA: Where

BETTY COOPER: Reiner Road. Twenty mins.

XXxxXX

"So much for letting this go," Veronica sighed, "And what's he doing here?"

"I'm like a bloodhound for something that might get me in trouble." Sweet Pea smirked, leaning against Ms. Grundy's car, trying to act casual about why he was here. Betty hadn't thought he'd show up, but figured a pre-warning was needed, epically after last time. He had a bag of chips that he'd swiped from Betty's backpack, and Betty, having already had her fill at Pop's let him do that.

"Chew quieter," She whispered, rolling her eyes. He purposely ground his teeth loudly before attempting to snack in a more subdued manner.

Betty pulled into her bag and grabbed out a crowbar.

"Hot damn." Sweet Pea whistled as Veronica watched in shock. Betty carefully slipped it between the window and the door, biting her lip.

"Are we really breaking into Ms. Grundy's car right now? How do you even know how to do that?" Veronica gaped.

There probably was a way to do this with magic, but there was something satisfying about the human way of manipulating a car. Sweet Pea had stopped eating so watch Betty in absolute enchantment.

"My dad and I fix cars together. Thank god, she drives an old…"

Betty popped the door open with a triumphant grin. Betty wasted no time climbing in the driver's seat, while Veronica hopped into the passenger side.

"I'll, uh, just be the watchdog." Sweet Pea offered.

"Hilarious," Betty murmured dryly.

"Betty," Veronica put her hands on Betty's, "Before going any further, if I'm committing a felony, I need to at least ask the question...are you doing this because you still have feelings for Archie, or…"

"No!" Betty laughed a little. She hadn't even thought of Archie like that in a week or so. Which, seemed like not that long of a time, but in her life recently...that was like a year, "No, no. We're doing this because Archie won't listen to reason and we need proof. Grundy has him under some sort of...spell!"

"That's it!" Sweet Pea said loudly, causing both girls to jerk up, "Spell!"

"Right…" Veronica said slowly, starting to look in the glove box.

Betty sent a glare his way.

"Spell, magic…" Sweet Pea mouthed, "Siren?"

Sirens existing was probably something that he should have mentioned earlier, but Betty couldn't focus on that right now.

"I got something." Veronica reached, "Locked." She hissed, clanking the box around.

"Bobby pin?" Betty asked.

"Okay, Ms. Gyver." Veronica snorted, but watched in curiosity as Betty deftly opened the box. Okay, so she'd used a bit of magic on this. Point is, she got it open.

"Oh my god. Oh my god."

"Who is Jennifer Gibson?" Veronica asked, squinting at the ID in the light of the street lamps.

"That's not all…" Betty whispered, reaching for the item at the very bottom of the box. Before she could, Sweet Pea had snatched it out from under her nose.

"Yeah, no way are you touching that," He said, grabbing the gun, "Do either of you even know how these work?" He asked. Betty was sure Veronica's gaze was as blank as hers, but the way Sweet Pea gave a long, tired sigh, "Frankly, you'd probably shoot yourself or either other waving it around. No, no." He said, checking to make sure the safety is on, "Serpents know guns. I'll be keeping this."

"But it's evidence!" Betty blurted.

"And you can take a picture of it. But now way in hell am I letting you touch that." Sweet Pea said firmly, "Magic or no magic, guns are just bad ideas for over-excited people," He murmured, quiet enough so Veronica didn't hear. Betty didn't want to admit that her explosive magic mixed with a gun was probably a very bad idea, because she was stubborn, of course.

"He's probably right, Betty." Veronica twittered, "I've never even fired one, so…"

Betty was ready to argue, but between her friends, eventually gave in.

"Fine. Set it next to the ID, in the box. Archie has to listen to us now…"

After, in the streets, as the trio put as much distance as they could between the car and themselves, while Veronica summoned an Uber, Sweet Pea pulled Betty back.

"Do you, ah, do this a lot?" He asked, then continued, seeing her blank look, "Break into cars and shit?"

"Break into cars; no." Betty gave a wry smile, "And shit? Well, what can I say. I think I read too many Nancy Drew books as a kid." She chuckled. Nothing like a good sleuthing to bring up her mood.

"Right." Sweet Pea bit his lip, nodding, "Okay, so I wasn't going to tell you about this for awhile now, but once you master it, I think you'll use it quite a lot. There's this thing that the younger generation of magic likes to call 'Magic Mainframe'. I mean, it's all around us, invisible, and you can sorta 'plug into' it at any time. Every magical thing or creature gives up a magical signature, like a heat source. I can smell it and sort of see it, but it's more like I know that it's there more than I see that it's there. Not only can you tap into it to see what else is around, but you can also bend it to your will, as you do." He said, waving around, "If you can't sense it, it's not easy." He added, seeing Betty's face screw up in concentration.

"I feel like I can nearly touch something…" Betty said, her fingers raised before she realized what she was doing.

"It gets easier. The more magic you give out, the easier it is to sense it. Anyway, there's this thing called Cloaking. It's an advanced magic practice, I mean, some witches are like scary good at it. There's a coven in Portland whose signature is cloaking, if that tells you anything. Not my point. Point is that you can…" He sighed, thinking, "You know how with noise cancelling headphones, they like, give off a vibration that counteracted outside noise, thus making things soundless?"

"Yeah?"

Sweet Pea didn't answer for a second. He winced, and his eyes flashed gold. He breathed heavily for a second, before composing himself.

"Well, you can sort of tune your own magic to vibrate at the same frequency as the magic in the air and…" Sweet Pea was suddenly nowhere to be found. Betty spun around, searching for him. He popped up right in front of her face, definitely not where he'd been before, "Presto."

"Sweet Pea! God, you scared me!" Betty grabbed her chest.

"You'll be able to just do it. I have to half-merge, release my magic in a sense, to do it. It's easier when I'm in wolf form. It's half relying on the magic to overtake us and half on the fact that humans are really blind, honestly. Obviously, you can trick other magical creatures, though." He said, nodding to her with a. grin.

"So I can go unnoticed?" Betty said, delight zapping through her bones. This was perfect!

"Eventually. It's super hard, like I said, but you know...practice." He said.

"Well, how will I know if it works one day, unless someone is standing and watching?" Betty pointed out, crossing her arms.

"It feels...you can feel the magic condense on your skin, like someone dipped you into a pool of it. It also smells like sandalwood."

"Uber should be here soon," Veronica jogged back over, "You need a ride, Sweet Pea?"

"Nah, I'm good. See you both at school tomorrow," He said, saluting.

"But! Hey, Southside is pretty far away…" Veronica trailed off, "Does he have some magic carpet or something we don't know about?"

From the corner of her eye, Betty saw a wolf slipping into the woods.

"Something like that."

XXxxXX

"Nice murder wall, True Detective. Here's your High Point, Dad." Kevin said, examining the wall of interconnected strings and pictures. His eyes fell on everything and nothing all at once. Had he not had a mission on his mind, he would have stayed around to see what he could glean from it. As it was, there was a place to be tonight. Sure, it's not like he was meeting a guy, but something told him he was going to have a good time tonight…

"Thanks bud," His father said, going back to his map, until he realized that Kevin was lingering, "Need something?

"Can I borrow your truck for the Drive-In?"

"You got a date?" His father asked, perhaps with a smidge too much excitement. It was endearing his father was so on board, Kevin figured.

"No. Just going with Veronica." Kevin sighed, waiting for the keys.

"Oh, okay. I mean, is there not a nice gay kid at your school?" His father said, scratching the back of his neck, "That boy, when you found Jason's body-,"

"Bi. And dating some else." Kevin quickly hurried over, "And, well, there's me." He shrugged. Riverdale was tiny, by most standards. It was probably too much to ask that there would be more than one openly gay kid around.

"Alright. No cruising guys tonight." His father replied, chuckling. He dropped the keys into Kevin's open palm, "Okay? We both know what goes on in those woods.."

"Yes. Yes," Kevin sighed imapentily, "Werewolves, witches, vampires...nightmares and inspiration for B-rated Horror movies."

His father gave a half laugh, "I was going to say murderers and sex, but I suppose you're right. Even more the reason to be careful. You got things to protect yourself?"

"Vervain and wolfsbane, I'm good, pops." Kevin assured, since there hadn't been a point since he was about ten that he hadn't been carrying those, "I'll be back home at a reasonable hour, I promise."

"Right, kid. Have a good time."

XXxxXX

"Good day, Ms. Hermione," Smithers greeted, "From the dry cleaners."

Hermione stood up to examine the cleaning done to one of her favorite dresses. It was one she'd owned back in high school, one of the first pieces she'd bought with her own money, and not a gift from Hiram or from compelling others. It was something she wanted to wear in front of Fred, who as far as she could tell, still was blissfully oblivious to the darkness that was just beyond his comprehension.

"Ah, thank you, Smithers. And Fred Andrews is escorting me to the Drive-In, so all the pieces are in place." She added, just so Smithers would be aware. Not that Smithers had ever been anything but respectful to anyone, magic or not. But, in particular, he looked out for Hermione. Though he had been in the Lodge's family for generations, paying off a life debt to Hiram's ancestors, he'd taken a shining to Hermione even before she'd been changed, back when she as a young and overzealous teenager had wanted so badly to get into whatever fanciful live that Hiram Lodge had led. Especially now with Hiram in jail, Smithers was more protective of Hermione than ever.

"The Drive-In with Fred Andrews? Still human?"

"As far as I can tell. But yes, an attractive woman going with an old friend is less conspicuous than an old crone going alone." She said, half teasingly. While Fred Andrews had only grown into his older age, being more attractive than when he'd been a slightly fumbling teenager, Hermione was of course forever stuck at her twenty-seven, two years after having Veronica. She would have been changed earlier, per the custom, had she not had difficulty conceiving. She would have chosen to be changed earlier, too, had things been different.

"You're hardly an old crone, Ms. Hermione. Not by the standards of even human years, and hardly by the standards of vampires. Haven't even lived past one life cycle. Me, however, I suppose I would know…" He said, chuckling, "When one was around to witness the rise of Constantine...that's when you're an old crone."

"It was a joke, Smithers. All things considered, not a very good one." Hermione agreed, "And I think you look as young as ever." She said, patting his hands kindly, "What is it that they say, 1709 years young, give or take a couple months?"

"You are far too kind. When the human arrives, I will escort him here, yes? Shall we hide the dead bodies, then?"

"Funny," Hermione chuckled dryly, "Your jokes have had over a thousand years to evolve and from what I hear, you might want to stick to your day job."

XXxxXX

Whenever it seemed that Betty had a new way to put the blame of Ms. Grundy, Archie had a way to argue that Ms. Grundy was innocent. This back and forth game was beginning to infuriate Betty, and short of mixing up another batch of truth serum and slipping it into her morning coffee, Betty wasn't sure what more she could do.

And, actually, that wasn't the worst idea she'd had.

There was a fine line, however. One which Betty wanted Ms. Grundy to burn in hell, basically, but for Archie to walk away from this unscathed. For him not to also be indicted in punishment, even if his would be far less severe. She didn't want him to have to walk the halls with whispers following. Betty wanted Ms. Grundy, simply, to disappear.

Sweet Pea said he couldn't be sure that she was a siren, but it fit.

"If she is," He'd said over the phone when Betty called, asking him to please explain what the hell he'd meant, "She's a low power one. Like, just a bad siren. It explains why she likes music and why she managed to get him to caught up. She's not even pretty. If I was going to go banging a teacher, Mrs. Grimes in the library is a much more attractive choice, and she has that whole sexy librarian thing going."

"Thank you for that valuable information, Swee Pea," Betty said dryly, "But I see your point. I mean, is it because he's human he can't see it?"

"Well," Sweet Pea guffawed, "A siren that puny couldn't entrap a magical creature. We're not immune, but they'd have to be damn powerful. And, no offense to Archie, but even by human standards he's just so…"

Betty sighed, "I know."

He might be strong physically, but her sweet neighbor wasn't always the brightest bulb in the house, frankly. Not like, high-school dropout stupid, but not going to be getting any academic scholarships, Betty had to admit.

As it was, she had to drop the Ms. Grundy problem, for the time being. She had something much more exciting to follow; her own life. One date with Jughead, to be specific.

She had plans to meet him in the back room, where he played the movie, because this was still his job, after all. She'd put on about twelve different outfits, unsure of how to dress for this. For Archie, she'd dressed as she always did. Maybe that was part of her problem? Unfortunately, it was hard to spice up a wardrobe that was mostly pastels and button-up cardigans, so Betty once again found herself raiding Polly's closet. She steered clear of the things even Cheryl would be self-conscious in, and instead found a piece that was just in between something outside Betty's usual comfort zone and something her mother would disapprove of.

It was a lacy black cami with crisscrossing straps. Not wanting to be too unlike herself, she'd paired it with a skater-style pink skirt and a silver bomber jacket over top.

Sweet Pea practically hoodwinked her at the entrance of the drive-in.

"So, you wanted to meet the wolves," He said, rolling on his feet, "They're all here."

"What, now?" Betty blinked, "But, just like that?"

"Just like that." He said, grabbing her elbow, "You, ah, look nice. Jughead will like it, I'm sure." If it was supposed to be a compliment, his tone didn't sound like it. He sounded a little grumpy, frankly.

"Thank god I have those gifts with me," Betty sighed. Any magic item that wasn't stored in her portrait portal was with her presently, lest her mother go snooping in places she shouldn't.

The Serpents were gathered near the back of the drive-in. A few looked at her, which made her skin stand on edge, but Sweet Pea threw an arm around her shoulders, as if to say 'it's okay, she's with me'. More than that, she saw a few sniff the air and examine her closely. They must know she was a witch, she figured, and they figured it would be better to be on her good side. A flicker of pride welled inside of her, and she was able to walk a little more confidently.

She may be going into the wolf's lair, but she was a person of magical means that could bring any wolf to its knees, if need be. The little incident last week with Sweet Pea proved that.

"What's the movie tonight, Betty?" Sweet Pea asked, obviously trying to calm her. She realized her heart was thudding like a jackrabbit.

"You didn't read the poster?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Me? Read? What am I, a nerd?" Sweet Pea flashed a smile.

"Rebel without a Cause," Betty answered, tugging her jacket around her waist a bit more.

"James Dean, eh? I think I'm a dead-ringer, right?" Sweet Pea said, and Betty didn't want to admit there were some qualities that did resonate.

"In his dreams, maybe," A kid, who Betty recognized from Sweet Pea's lock screen of the pack to be Fangs, snorted. It drew her attention to their destination.

The younger wolves were much less intimidating. And, really, they looked like they could be average high schoolers at Riverdale, if one took away some of the ripped jeans and studded leather.

Toni squealed when she saw her, jumping up from her and unlatching Sweet Pea's arm and pulling Betty by her.

"Group, Betty. Betty, group." Sweet Pea said, waving a hand.

"You're the witch, huh?" A large boy asked, who looked more like a mountain than a teen.

"That's me. I ah, actually brought you something." She said, reaching down into her bag.

"It's not gonna turn us into a toad, is it?" Fangs frowned with concern.

"No?" Betty frowned, laughing nervously, "Uhm, Sweet Pea told me how around the full moon you all have a harder time controlling your emotions, so, well, I made this potion and it helps calm you down. Like, gives you a high, but you're still aware. It's nothing too special, I'm not very good yet, but…" She threw the little packets onto the makeshift table in front of them, little parcels that were eagerly snatched up.

"Considering we haven't had a witch to make us anything ever, I'm not saying no." The only other girl wolf said with a friendly smile, "Mhh, is that strawberry flavored?"

"Yeah. It is. Hope that's okay." Betty said, and Toni steered her to the seat usually left open for Sweet Pea.

"Well, I suppose I'll have to do introductions since Sweet Pea's so silent. Black cat has his tongue," Toni said, and when Sweet Pea sent her a murderous look, she shrugged, "or something."

"Yeah, usually Sweet Pea never shuts the fuck up." A kid with longer black hair snorted.

"He's worried we'll offend his little witch." Fangs said, "You can see it by how tense he is, how he's staring us all down."

"Shuddup Fangs…" Sweet Pea warned.

"If you did offend me, I can certainly take care of myself," Betty felt far less confident than she made herself seem, but she wasn't sure why Sweet Pea was so stiff. Plus, she didn't want him to have to fight a brother for her.

"We're not planning on it, we want more potion shit, being honest," The blonde female spoke again, causing the rest of the wolves to agree, "Even if you are a Northsider."

Sweet Pea growled.

"She's teasing," Toni assured Betty, "Really, I've told all of them you're not that bad. Anyway, you know me. The other girl, that's Deni. The big dude over there, we call him Darkon. The skinny one is Lann. The two at the end, the ones you can only tell apart by their luscious hair and lack thereof is the twins, Vade and Jedi."

"I'm guessing that's not all real names." Betty said after a second.

"No, our parents just really hate us," Darkon said with absolute sincerity, "Ha. Kidding. Cept Vade. That is his real name."

"Where's Joaquin?" Sweet Pea mumbled, looking around, "There's one more of us."

"Said he was getting some food, or something. Or maybe he said the bathroom? Anyway, Joaquin's a little bit silent and hardcore, so, probably best."

"He might actually offend you," Fangs agreed.

"I doubt it. We all know FP wants to keep you safe and he would jump off a cliff if FP suggested it." Jedi snorted.

"We all would, technically." Vade said.

"Well, I meant without an alpha's command, dumbass."

"Then you should be clearer in your speech, shit face."

"Then yo-,"

"God, are they always like this?" Betty whispered to Toni as the twins began to bicker, fangs coming out and they began to growl.

"Oh, god. It's awful. If someone doesn't break them apart, they'll start rolling around on the ground like savages or something." Toni said. Darkon was already getting between them, shoving their chairs apart from each other.

Betty sat around and chatted for a little bit more with the wolves and found them, in general, to be an fine group. Not a group she would have probably hung out with usually, but nothing stood out about them, not initially. They all seemed to be not so much stranger or more dangerous than the people she knew herself.

After a little bit, Betty looked at her watch.

"Oh, goodness! I'm late for my date." She said, standing.

"Is it here? Luckily, I guess you just gotta find his car, girlie." Toni said, patting her arm. Betty didn't feel like correcting her, since her basic thought was correct, "Wait!"

Betty paused. Toni examined her before taking Betty's ponytail out from the scrunching and fluffing her fingers through Betty's hair. She then licked her finger and ran it under Betty's eyeliner, smoking it out just a little.

"Much better for a date," She said, grinning with her teeth, "You'll knock him dead. Right Sweet Pea?"

Betty, about to argue that Sweet Pea wasn't a good judge since they were friends, paused when she saw the blush that crept up his neck.

"Yeah, fine," He said, shrugging like he didn't care.

"You look hot," Deni assured, "Don't be a stranger, Betty!"

"Yeah, witchy, come back with more potions." Darkon laughed, causing the whole group to chime in.

Betty nodded, walking briskly away, running her fingers out through her long hair wondering what Jughead would think.

XXxxXX

"A big satchel of money. Now, that's not suspicious at all…"

FP jumped around to see Sweet Pea leanings n the side of the snack bar.

"Has anyone ever told you how annoying you are, son?" FP gave a long sigh.

"Tall Boy does, daily." Sweet Pea peeled himself from the wall. After Betty had left, Sweet Pea had not wanted to stick around for Toni's taunts (which, frankly, he didn't understand) and in general he just felt a little unhinged. He couldn't figure out why, but he figured maybe a box of Junior Mints would help. That is, until he saw a very stranger interaction going on between his boss and the Vamp Mama.

"So…"

"Nothing you need to know about," FP said firmly.

"I thought we hated them?" Sweet Pea scratched his head.

"It was a business deal. A means to an end we both wanted. The job was done, that's it, no more ties." FP said frankly, "I don't trust a vampire, especially not a Lodge." He snorted, "New idea, see if you can find out anything from Veronica about her parents plans."

"I think that'll be difficult." Sweet Pea said frankly, "Since I'm pretty sure she has no idea what her 'rents are."

"What? How?"

"Well, same way untriggered wolves don't know, I guess." Sweet Pea shrugged, rubbing his arms, "Yeah, I thought we just weren't talking about it,b it I actually think she has no clue."

"Huh." FP said, scratching his chin. He was about to say more when his eyes flashed, "Sweet Pea. Turn, now." he instructed, leading Sweet Pea to the forests behind.

As soon as they did, it was obvious what had happened. A new wolf had just changed.

FP soothed the new wolf in his mind. It was a kid, a girl named Ginny who was a freshman. Very young, very scared. Sweet Pea morphed out, suppressing a sigh. He'd actually been looking forward to the movie, and other things.

"You got it?"

"Lemme just do some shit first" he mumbled, stalking back to the grouping of the younger wolves, "I'll leave in like 10."

He stalked back to the areas behind, spying Cheryl Blossom seated between Kevin and Veronica. He'd been meaning to shake her down tonight.

He'd reached out to his magic chat group asking about what Dilton had seen, but no one had any idea what it was. There were confirmations that it was magic, not just made up mumbo-jumbo, and very dark, but past that even some of the most seasoned witches he knew were mystified.

Which led him to ask, what the fuck did Cheryl think she was doing?

He'd have preferred to handle this without having to ask the red devil lady, since he just generally did not like her. Plus, she never gave straight answers to any of it. But this was too big to ignore.

"Toni," he snapped, motioning for her to stand near the fences. She was eating a funnel cake and offered him a bite.

"It's not a snickers, but you probably do need some sugar." She teased. Sweet Pea ate half of it in one go.

"Here," he said, dropping a handful of crumpled bills into her hand when she began to protest, "Ginny changed."

"Like, now?" Toni's eyes widened.

"Yeah, like ten minutes ago. I gotta go talk her down. Can you deal with something else for me?" He asked.

"Depends what it is." Toni crossed her arms.

"Okay," Sweet Pea steered Toni around, "See that girl there? The one dressed way to fancy for a fucking drive-in? That's Cheryl Blossom."

"No shit?" Toni gaped, "The alive twin?"

"Yep. And, well, things get freaky weird with her. More than just a suspiciously murdered twin." Sweet Pea launched into an abridged version of what Dilton had seen and what he'd been able to gather himself on the issue, and basically that he'd come up with squat. Toni listened with rapt attention the whole time.

"And, so, yeah. If I don't figure this out, Betty's gunna go asking, and who knows what that girl is hiding? I mean, at least we're used to weirdo magic. And, if she was doing a blood ritual, they should know about it.

"You want me to get the 4-1-1?" Toni guessed.

"If you can. Maybe she knows about magic. Maybe she got it from a witch somewhere else. Maybe it's nothing. Maybe it's everything. We just don't know." Sweet Pea pinched the bridge of his nose, "I have way too much bullshit on my plate."

"Hey, I got this," Toni patted his arm, "Go bring that adorable baby wolf back, got it?" Toni said, smiling, "I'll let Deni know. She'll be sure to make her feel welcome."

"You're the best Toni!"

XXxxXX

"Who picks the nickname Plato?" Betty asked, settling back on the old chair in the screening office.

"I think you're asking the wrong kid," Jughead said, coming around to sit next to her, "We have a full lot. That's good." He said, sighing, "Despite those nasty Serpents…"

"I mean, they're allowed to be here as much as anyone else," Betty scratched her head uncomfortably.

"I know, I know. I'm just upset. It's their presence that drove business away, you know?" Jughead sighed, dropping his head into his hands, "Paying customers or not...this place, it's just such a big part of my childhood."

"All of ours, Juggie." Betty said. She remembered her parents taking her and Polly to see Monsters Inc, way back when she was a child. She knew Juggie was here all the time, had practically grown up here. His mother had worked here and had often brought her two young children to play on the grass in front of the screens, since two kids weren't too much of a disturbance to the once family-favorite spot.

"Childhood dies eventually." Jughead forced a smile, maudlin as ever, "This was a great suggestion, Betts."

"You think? I mean, we could have done something different. I wouldn't have been offended…" She trailed off, biting her lip.

"It's perfect," Jughead said, looking right at her. Her breath hitched. She could have been sure that while his lips said 'it's', his eyes said 'you're'. He sorta laughed, a quiet soft chuckle, and there was just awe in his eyes. It was the way Betty always wanted someone to look at her.

Carefully, slowly, Betty leaned in, her whole body eagerly moving toward this kiss. Jughead leaned in too, which thrilled Betty. How different this was with Jughead, as compared to Archie. She was so much more nervous, but thought that this was also going to be so much more satisfying.

Before their lips could touch, the door of the project room was thrown open.

"Hey, authorized personnel only," Jughead said, jumping up and using his 'official' voice, before either saw who it was. As the darkness adjusted to the sudden influx of light, Betty moaned into her hand.

"Mom! What are you doing here?" Betty said.

"Elizabeth Cooper, get over here right now," Her mother snapped, "You, young boy, not another step." She glared at Jughead darkly.

"I'm on a date right now."
"Not anymore," Her mother snorted, "You have a lot of explaining to do." She said, holding up the worst possible item Betty could imagine. Her diary.

Before Betty could argue, her mother had hauled her outside. As soon as Betty saw Fred Andrews carted behind, his face just blank with shock, Betty knew this night was going to get a whole lot worse.

Sowing the seeds for a lot of relationships here ;) A lot being pushed up from canon!

On the notes,

*Grundy as a siren. There has to be a reason why Archie finds her so enchanting because like...I don't even find her pretty or what? But here we are, sirens introduced :)

*If anyone guesses the Portland Coven reference, you get an extra review point!

*Smithers is a vamp. Just assume anyone within the Lodge's realm is a vampire, except for Veronica right now

*I love Drive Ins. My first memory of a drive in is actually seeing Monsters Inc, which I gave to Betty.

Anyway, we also have some fanart for this! Head over to my tumblr, youngbloodlex22, to check it out! I'm also making cast banners for everyone, so you can see my faceclaims for the wolves as well as others. That will also be on my tumblr.

Remember to review!