"Okay, so let's run through this again…someone planted the gun. And you're sure of this," Jughead said, pacing around the half-broken remains of his father's trailer.

"Jason's murder weapon. In a closet. In this trailer." Sweet Pea echoed, slapping his hand firmly down on his outstretched palm with each staccato sentence, "Are we sure it wasn't Colonel Mustard in the drawing room with the letter opener?" He asked dryly.

"Okay, Sweets, really not the time," Betty said sourly, and he was thrown a mixture of frustrated sighs from everyone else.

"Sorry. Yikes. But closet, gun, trailer…that's what we're saying?"

"And it wasn't there when we searched for it. It wasn't! He's being framed." Archie insisted, almost obsessively, like he was possessed.

"Well…maybe you just didn't see it," Jughead sighed, too hurt too often to want to believe that his father could, actually, be innocent.

"For Christ sakes," Veronica grasped Jughead's hand and tugged him pointedly to his closet, "It's not a Vouge closet here, you know? It only takes a few minutes to search."

"Okay," Betty agreed, following behind, "Did you maybe look in the wrong closet?"

"It's a trailer with one closet. Trust me. I know. I live in this model and Jughead and I fight for wire closet rods," Sweet Pea rolled his eyes.

"There wasn't a lock box. Or a gun. I swear to fucking god." Archie said, pointing, wiggling his finger.

"Maybe… it was magically hidden?" Jughead offered tentatively, "That could happen, right?"

"Yes, sure, but to what end? And who would have done it?" Sweet Pea rubbed his chin, "Betty's the best candidate, but I doubt it was her."

"Well, she hasn't been honest lately…" Jughead hissed angrily, obvious that he was still licking his wounds and furious at all of them. This didn't fix things, it just was a pause, or she had hoped it would be. Apparently not.

Hurt flashed across Betty's face.

"It wasn't me, Jug," She said quietly.

"Could have been the Blossosm, right?" Archie offered tentatively.

"Cheryl? In a trailer park? Are you high right now?" Veronica huffed, "Someone would have noticed."

"Okay, even if it was magicked! Wouldn't my Grimm powers have found it?"

Sweet Pea shrugged, "Look, maybe you're just not a very good Grimm. Unfortunate, but-,"

"I'm a great Grimm!" Archie threw his arms out.

"You're a baby Grimm. Only a few weeks to these powers," Betty reminded gently.

"Oh, you think this is my fault too?"

"No! I don't think…that's not what I…" She ground her teeth, "And it wouldn't matter. Keller isn't magical. So unless someone timed it for him to magically find it…but…" She screwed her eyebrows together, "I'm not picking up any residual signatures of anything. No sandalwood…that's the smell of hidden things." She said, as an explanation to everyone but Sweet Pea.

"Well, maybe you're not a very good with either," Jughead snipped, "You've been one hardly longer than Archie. Not even half a year, if you're telling the truth."

"She is. And she's also naturally gifted," Sweet Pea butted in before Betty could defend herself, "God…if you just let go of your stupid ego and saw what she could do-,"

"Stupid ego?" Jughead squawked, "Are you fucking kidding me, dude? Are you really serious right now? How about this? How about you take your nose out of other people's relationships and walk it off a short dock."

"I think perhaps-," Veronica said loudly, clapping her hands to draw attention, "We're losing sight of this conversation and what actually matters. Your dad didn't do it. Which means who did is still out there. And I think we can all agree, powers aside, the gun wasn't there and no one missed it."

Everyone else gave one another sheepish, half-embarrassed looks.

"Fine," Jughead finally bit out, "It's my dad. And you're right. He's what matters."

There was a long, heavy silence.

"So what now?" Archie asked, "Who do we tell? Keller?"

"Archie, please, just imagine it, for one second. We walk up to Keller and say, 'hey, Sheriff, I know my dad's in custody, but guess what? You fucking suck at your job? We broke into FP's trailer and there was nothing there. How'd you fuck that one up, huh? Oh, by the way, we're pretty sure this gang member/werewolf alpha dude is innocent." Jughead played it out, scathing to boot.

"Oh." Archie paused, "Right."

"I think…and hear me out-," Betty began, "That this is something undeniably magical, right? Not like...a regular drug bust gone wrong. This is supernatural in nature."

Everyone gave a nod.

"It's time we're all on the same page." She said firmly.

"We are. Unless one of you is a mermaid and you're holding out on me?" Veronica asked with a laugh.

"Shit! Sirens." Archie slapped his forehead, "They're a thing. I dated one. I didn't know it. But, uhm-,"

"You dated two." Sweet Pea reminded with a shit-eating grin, "Though 'dated' wouldn't quite be the term I'd use for one, I guess-,"

Veronica's eyes widened.

"Oh, you're kidding me-,"

"And fairies. And probably some other stuff we don't know. But I mean all of us; all the parents, all the kids. I think we all need to have a nice long chat." Betty cut in, talking a mile a minute.

"That sounds like a terrible idea," Jughead said suspiciously.

Betty gave an unsure smile, "You got a better idea?"

Jughead sighed, "No. And hey…what's a few more life-altering truth bombs tonight, right? Okay, fine. Fuck." He motioned out of the trailer, "Let's do it."

XXX

Getting everyone in the same place was what Sweet Pea would call 'a time and a half', especially at nearly 11 pm that night, but somehow, it happened.

He'd always thought that Betty's living room was so spacious, but when you shoved a magical menagerie of supposedly mythical creatures and some spare change of extra people all in one room, things got tense.

Heading up the wolves were Sweet Pea with Toni, and technically Jughead.

Betty stood with her mother, arms crossed and eyes flickering.

Veronica had gotten her mother to come, who stood in a corner, imposing and stony.

Archie sat between his parents, his mother's fire-truck red hair a dead giveaway for his historical lineage.

Kevin sat uncomfortably in the corner with Dilton, who just looked pleased to be there. Sweet Pea hadn't been totally sold on his involvement, but he knew more shit about stuff than Jughead did, so if they were using that as a sliding scale, sure, why not.

And then Josie was huddled with the other Pussycats, her mother- the mayor- on her phone. Facetime to be exact. Though Betty could probably summon a portal with better reception.

And finally, Midge was there alone, as she'd told Betty that it was best for everyone her parents weren't there.

There were probably some that they were missing, besides the pointed exclusion of the Blossom Witches, but this was the extent in Riverdale that Sweet Pea knew about.

"Hello, everyone, uhm," Betty coughed, scratching her head, "Thank you all for being here."

"Being…where…for what?" Fred Andrews asked, blinking at her.

"Dad now's really not the time to play dumb," Archie said, "We all know."

"Know what?" He asked.

"Seems like some introductions are in order. I'll start," Veronica said, "Lodges. Vampires. See, like that."

"What?" Hermione said, and god, if she could turn even paler, Sweet Pea was sure she would have, "Oh, Veronica, really…so creative!" She gave a faux force laugh.

"Really, Mother?" Veronica asked dryly, "You were my age when you found out about Daddy, right?" She prompted, "About the family you'd marry into. And arguably, you knew probably earlier than when we all found out. We all just put it together this evening."

"Betty; witch." Betty continued raising her hand. She nudged Jughead.

"Jughead, not a werewolf, but knows about werewolves," He said, motioning to Sweet Pea and Toni.

"Full wolf," Toni said.

"Archie, mother, Grimm. Father…uhm, human." Archie continued.

"Midge, fae."

"McCoys, and Pussycats. Sirens," Josie said before her mother could stop her.

"Josie!"

"Oh, shut up, Mom, seriously. We've been kept in the dark for years. And look where it's gotten us!" Josie said, turning the phone to face her mom, face pinched red with anger.

"Wait, what are they doing here?" Fred interjected.

"Kellers are human mitigators and Dilton…is really into conspiracy theories," Kevin said dryly, while Dilton nodded excitedly, "Seems he got a few right."

"Look, we don't have time to fight about whether we should know or not, but we do. And that's not the problem. The problem is that FP was arrested for a crime that he didn't commit!" Betty said.

"Josie, turn me around." Mayor McCoy instructed, and then her tone changed when she spoke to Betty, "Sweetie, they found the gun." Mayor McCoy said with a long, tired sigh.

"That was planted!" Archie stood, throwing himself in view of the camera.

"Oh, was it?" Mayer McCoy raised an eyebrow, amused, almost.

"Yeah, because we broke into FP's trailer earlier today, and it wasn't there!" Archie said.

There was a long pause.

"You did what?" Fred demanded, "Oh, oh!" He looked aged a hundred years with just one sentence. Sweet Pea got the feeling this happened frequently with Archie as his son.

"We had to make sure FP wasn't involved in Jason's murder. But there is something magical afoot here, and we all know it. We all do! This isn't someone murdering a kid in a normal town, this is someone murdering the son of a highly trained and dangerous coven of witches! With interruptions from fae and vampire and werewolf and everything else!" Betty said firmly.

"So what? Even if we believe you…a…a Scooby Doo gang of amateur sleuths over a detective, then what?" Mary asked.

"You all know things. Things that might prove FP innocent!" Archie said, "And if not that, we need witnesses when we tell Sheriff Keller."

"Well-," Kevin began, coughing.

"You entered FP's residence illegally. So whatever you did or did not find there would be inadmissible in a court of law." Mary said, "This is the lawyer speaking, not a Grimm."

"We hardly trust you anyway," Hermione said bitterly.

"Really, Mother? Maybe now is not the time? Don't you see; these stupid and idiotic ancient feuds probably led to this! We're stronger if we all work together, not alone." Veronica spun, grasping her mother's fingers.

"The day I trust a fae is the day hell burns over," Mayor McCoy said shortly, "They'll always trick you and rob you blind."

"And you think I'm trusting a literal bloodsucker? Oh, please," Alice scrunched up her nose.

"Wolves are a nuisance more than anything," Fred said, "From my own experience-,"

"FP is your best friend!" Archie sputtered.

"Was. Before he killed someone and trigged his curse." Fred said bluntly.

"Do you hear yourselves?" Betty stood on the coffee table.

"Elizabeth, get down from there! You'll scuff the varnish," Alice huffed.

"Cry me a river, Mom. Seriously? Do you maybe think it's this sort of short-sighted pettiness that led to a seventeen-year-olds death? I don't care if his family is Voldemort's kin, we need to know what is going on. Because you all know bits and pieces of this puzzle."

"Like we're going to tell a bunch of kids," Alice snorted.

"Were in this, whether you want us to be, or not," Sweet Pea said, "I was told to keep Betty alive. You hired Archie and Veronica to look through FP's trailer. Kevin found the body. We've uncovered more to this than the adults have. We try to stay out of it, and we're just roped right back in again. So I'd start talking," Sweet Pea snapped, "Because I really, really would not like me or Jughead or any of the rest of us to be the next dead body in Riverdale."

There was a long silence before Sierra finally relented.

"I have a feeling they'll figure it out anyway. Here's to inner-magical relationships."

XXX

"That was useless." Toni huffed.

"No, I don't think so. We know Hiram wanted the Drive-In for some magical-related reason, though I really think your mom doesn't know the full extent. She seemed genuinely unsure of what the reason could be. I mean, she probably has guessed, but I would take a bet your dad keeps his plans close to his chest," Betty said, pacing her bedroom, pointing to Veronica, "We know that your dad hired the werewolves to trash it, though not necessarily Southside Serpents. We know that he's experimenting and talking to other witches upstate, one with way more powers than me. Once again, to do what, we can't say. But it's something that your parents think is unnatural," She said, nodding to Midge.

"They said it was an aberration to nature," Midge agreed, lounging on Betty's makeup chair.

"And maybe he's getting the Blossoms to help with that. They certainly don't have qualms with reaching into questionable science practices." Sweet Pea snorted, "And something's going on with the wolves. FP doesn't even need to be here for me to offer that. Shit's happening within the ranks."

"A civil war?" Josie questioned.

"Maybe. Hard to say."

"My mom is certainly helping to move things along within this whole quagmire," Josie said, "She's gaining something from it, but I don't know if it's human or magical or both."

"Everyone's consorting with everyone else but they all pretend like they're not and know nothing. Right." Dilton said, writing something down.

"Oh, then there's the Polly thing."

"Your sister?" Midge asked.

"Right," Betty said, "The Blossoms really want those twins. There's something to that puzzle too that we haven't cracked, something significant…but I can't…" She rolled her tongue, "I can't quite get it all together."

"Your mother?"

"I don't know if she knows it either."

"Why do I still feel like we're exactly where we started?" Archie groaned, flopping back on the bed.

"We're stronger together," Betty said, "I have to believe that. That all of us, magical or not, working together…we'll be smarter than our parents."

"So, still nothing?" Kevin asked.

A phone rang shrilly. Everyone jumped, patting their pockets.

"Damn, my mom. I should take this." Jughead said, groaning, "She's probably still his emergency contact, though they haven't talked in years…" He rolled his eyes. He paused, "I wonder if she's a wolf too?" He asked no one in particular.

"Yikes. Good luck." Toni said sympathetically.

Jughead motioned around, "Uhm…is there somewhere…"

"Oh, in here," Betty said casually, tapping the portrait above her bed. Jughead blinked at her.

"Right. Right," Sweet Pea got up and lunged for it. Three people jumped to stop him, only for him to disappear and pop up in a magical scene behind it, "Ta-da!"

"Woah! For real?" Midge asked, "That's insane, Betty!"

"Yeah. Family heirloom. Witch's den. And right…" She snapped her fingers, "Cheryl and I tried raising Jason from the dead so he could tell us directly, but, uhm, he hasn't woken up yet. But he's in there. Don't go into the hut." She told Jughead, who was staring at Betty like he had a million questions.

"Like a zombie?" Josie squeaked, "That shit is Dark Magic, Betty!" She hissed, disapproving.

"No, like a vampire, but it hasn't worked…yet," Sweet Pea held up a finger, "But in all clearness…" He shrugged.

Veronica blinked rapidly, unable to think of a response. Midge just stared. Josie made a choked sound of surprise.

"Dope," Dilton whispered from his chair, eyes as wide as the moon, "This is the best freaking day ever."

XXX

Veronica's phone rang when everyone was trying to decide what to do next.

"Mom?"

She knew her mom had left about an hour ago, but hadn't asked Veronica to come home with her. She thought her mother needed time to come to terms that whatever grand plan her parents had envisioned to tell her she was the daughter of vampires was now gone.

"Do you know where our passports are?"

"Seriously, Mom? Trouble starts and you just want to turn into a bat and fly away."

"I'd watch your tone right now," Her mother said angrily, "Answer me! Did you move them?"

"No, god, why…would I?" Veronica frowned, "Sorry. Just making a joke," She mumbled, pouting, "Why…?"

"Because who knows what FP is going to say, now that he's behind bars."

Veronica clenched her fist, inhaling hard, "You lied. You do think Daddy hired him to kill Jason."

"I don't know, and I'm not telling a group of teenagers that. But either way, we're known associates. And I need us to be ready to run."

"We'd look guilty," Veronica said quietly, throat going dry.

"We are, mija. I am! I bribed Mccoy to get the Drive-In. I magically forced you to sign and use your signature, something I'm sure they'd love to tear me down with. We paid the Serpents. Don't you see…"

Veronica was silent and stony on the other end, horrified and furious.

"If things go south, you said…you said you're talking to Nick, right?"

Veronica fished a newly tied necklace from underneath her shirt, something she was taking with her everywhere now. Nick's blood.

"Yeah."

Her mother still had no clue that she had any way of becoming a vampire.

"You go to him. He'll protect you. Do you hear me? You promise me. Let your friends fight for themselves. Find Nick."

"You're scaring me, Mom," Veronica whispered quietly, a lump lodging in her throat.

"I don't mean to…but, Veronica…" Her mother sounded old. Like properly old. And exhausted. And most of all…scared to death, if she could die again, that is, "Just be ready if I tell you to."

XXX

Betty looked up as Veronica pushed the door open.

"Everything alright?"

"My mom is spiraling. I think she thinks my dad hired your dad to do it. She clearly doesn't believe he's innocent," Veronica said as she came back into the room. At the mildly surprised raise of eyebrows, she sighed, "Full transparency, and all."

Jughead came back too, clambering and falling into the comforter.

"My mom knows about my dad. She told me to sit tight. Not that I wanted to go running to her, or that I was going to ask. She's not really-," Whatever he was about to say, Jughead swallowed it down, "She just wants updates. Sporadically. Like, one a week or something."

Betty didn't say it, nor did anyone else, but Jughead's mom sounded more like a minorly concerned distant cousin than a former wife learning that their husband was incarcerated and their son was practically on his own. She drew her own conclusions about that.

"Okay…what now?" Josie asked, arms crossed.

"I think it's time for a good ole split up," Sweet Pea said, rubbing his chin, "Midge and Josie…you two have magic we haven't tried yet. See if you can wake Jason."

"You mean babysit," Josie said, eyes narrowed.

"Sure, whatever. But c'mon, aren't you at least curious?" Sweet Pea asked. Betty was glad someone was making choices. She was usually that person, but she felt awkward now that it was Jughead, feeling like she'd already made so many wrong steps as it was.

"Touche," Midge agreed, "I can't promise. But I'll see."

"Keller," Sweet Pea continued, "You probably have places to be, huh?"

"My dad will wonder," He said with a quiet wince, "And how is Joaquin doing?"

"Our alpha was wrongfully carted away. You imagine it." Toni spat. Kevin's face fell.

"Right," He mumbled.

"Look, just call him. But I can't promise he'll answer right now," Sweet Pea said, patting Kevin's shoulder, "Uhm, Dilton…you like sticking your nose into places it shouldn't be, right?"

"It's a hobby," Dilton said with a grin.

"Dig up whatever you can to corroborate what the adults said. Start turning over those stones. See what you find."

"Full conspiracy?"

"Yes," Betty jumped in, smiling widely, "Full conspiracy. Here." She threw the Blue and Gold's keys to him, "Use whatever you need there."

"We should probably go to the police station. See if we can talk to Keller," Archie said, "And maybe Jug can see his dad."

"Good idea. So we'll go-," Sweet Pea began, but Betty saw Toni shake her head.

"No, no, no. Sweet Pea. You need to come home. I know FP is your man too, but we're all reeling. And things are bad right now. You're the wolf that handles this stuff best. The pups are terrified, man. They need you."

"But…" Sweet Pea frowned.

"You probably won't miss anything interesting," Betty assured, "I'm absolutely sure we'll get nowhere."

"Very unlikely," Veronica chimed in, unusually kind toward Sweet Pea.

"Okay," Sweet Pea said hesitantly, "But I'm going to meet up as soon as I can, alright?"

"We count on it, man," Jughead said, "Now go. Make sure there's some semblance of a pack for my dad to return to."

XXX

" The gun we found in your trailer matched the bullet that killed Jason Blossom. So, did you know him well, or did you just do it for kicks?" Keller asked, eyes narrowed as he stared at FP, "Thought you were trying to shed the illusion that wolves were cold-blooded murders in the night."

"Can the wordplay, Keller," FP growled, "I'm not in the best of moods."

"You shouldn't be, You're going down for murder. You said you wanted to talk…so," Keller leaned back, "Talk."

"Last summer, a red-head kid comes up to me at the bar. Said he was planning on running away with his pregnant girlfriend. Polly. He asked me to set him up with a getaway car and cash. We made a deal. In exchange for some wheels and a tidy sum, he would make a delivery for me."

Keller paused "Drugs?"

"I suppose you could call it that. It's addictive, that's for sure."

"You're going to have to be more specific."

FP paused, considering, before nodding to himself, "Magic. Pure, unfiltered magic. Shit that anyone, even people like you, could use if they wanted. Rare as hell. As sweet as heroin and more damming than cocaine. This will pull you in forever with just…one…taste."

"You're bluffing." Keller said, "I've never heard of any of that, anywhere. You think I would have. I have my ear everywhere."

"It's rare. Until recently, no one knew it existed. Until we hit gold." FP said.

"In Riveralde?" Keller asked uncertainty, "Sure, really convenient."

"You gotta figure, so many of us, passing through, setting down roots…magic lingers, you know? Soaks into the ground. You can choose to believe me or not, but that's what he was supposed to cart. So I got him a car and packed it in the back, Then…I realized who he was."

FP swallowed, thinking back to the moment he knew why he recognized the kid. The almost laughter that had bubbled up in him.

"Thought…kid like that has everything. Why does he need a guy like me? Then he told me his plan. The faking of his death. Cheryl severing his magic. He'd take the getaway car and he'd be gone, poof. Swore he didn't even want to touch the magic. Hard to believe, since he'd a masculine in a witch line. I'd be pissed if I knew I could be a wolf, but had no way of grabbing it, you know? This shit could take the least magically inclined mortal and turn them into a High Sorcerer in a month."

"You think he planned on becoming an addict?"

"Naw, he seemed… genuine. Not many of those anymore. Anyway, I knew where he'd be. I took him to the basement. Tied him up. Got ahold of Cliff and asked for my ransom. Or," FP raised a finger, "So was the plan. Then, the kid got loose. Tried to escape. And-,"

"You shot him and stuffed him in your freezer."

FP looked wolfish, every bit the monster that Keller's parents had warned him about right now. So unlike him. It unnerved him, and FP knew it bothered Keller.

Good.

"Dumped him back in Sweetwater when you guys were done. The only place you'd already looked."

"Right," Keller sighed, "You stole my files too?"

"Yep."

"And the car that was torched?"

"Me."

Keller grinned, pressing his lips to his teeth, "You must've thought you were really smart, huh? Now, I wanna hear you say it. Did you kill Jason Blossom?"

In response, sure of his answer more than anything else he'd ever said, he tilted his head, "Before I answer, though, I want something."

"You're hardly in a position to bargain," Keller snorted.

"You'll do it because otherwise your town will be overrun in days."

Keller paused, "What do you mean? Is that a threat?" He laughed, "I take it back. You're dumb as rocks, FP."

"No, it's an educated guess."

"Explain," Keller demanded sharply.

FP motioned for him to lean in close, "I killed Jason. There, you got it. Now listen to me closely, and you'll find you'll be willing to agree to my request…"