Second Chances [Sweet Pea x OC]

Chapter 41

"Kurtz is an insidious bastard," Jughead said, breaking the silence of the bunker. "I mean, even if we save Jellybean, we still lose. I just robbed Pop's at gunpoint. It was unloaded, but still. How can we stay in Riverdale after that?"

"We don't," Gladys answered from where she sat in the mouth of the tunnel. Jughead sighed, not looking away from the table in front of him. "We get in a car and we drive up north. And we keep going until we find a town where nobody knows us."

Jughead shook his head, looking at his mother for the first time since we'd gotten here, propping up Kurtz's unconscious body against the cabinet in the corner. "You just don't get it, do you? Riverdale's out home. Dad and Abigail and I live here. We're happy here. It's you. You destroyed that." Gladys didn't deny it, just dropped her head into her hands without a word.

"I still can't believe you actually held the place up," I said.

Jughead turned his glare on me. "What were we supposed to do? Jellybean's life was on the line. It still is. And for what?"

"I don't know, maybe you could have put some actual thought into it and talked to Pop," I answered coldly. "Pop knows everyone in this screwed up little town. You could have told him you needed to take some money from his register to free JB. He'd know we'd pay him back somehow."

"Great plan, here's another," Jughead retorted, pushing away from the table roughly to begin pacing the small space. "We drive off and you call Pop's and tip him off about what's about to go down."

"Just one problem with that. Kurtz took our phones, remember? I wasn't about to get up close and personal with him trying to get one out."

Jughead let out a quick laugh. "No, of course not. So instead, you sat there in the safety of the house talking while we risked our lives."

"I tried to go in place of FP but he's the one who refused," I reminded him. "And we didn't just sit around chatting, I couldn't leave the damn house. Somehow Kurtz had Gargoyles posted outside the doors. I had a gun held to my head when I tried to leave." Jughead stared at me, momentarily shocked into silence.

"None of that matters right now," Gladys spoke up. "Right now, we need to get my daughter back."

"So, who's waking up Sleeping Beauty?" I asked, looking between Gladys and Jughead.

A few minutes later Gladys and I stood back as Jughead threw a bucketful of cold water on Kurtz. "What the hell?" Kurtz shouted, shaking water off himself before Jughead hold of his jacket, lifting him to his feet.

"Sleepy time is over, Kurtz," I said. "What's the next challenge?"

We all watched as Kurtz reached into his pocket, drawing another quest card out. He scanned it quickly before handing it to Jughead with a grin. "It's a doozie. Trial with the Cyclops."

"Cyclops? That's not a character class that I've read about," Jughead said in confusion, examining the card.

"I might know what he's talking about," Gladys said, taking the card. I met her eye briefly, wondering if we were thinking the same thing.

After a short drive, we pulled up outside the new Serpent HQ. It was deserted, but I saw light in one of the back windows. So the place wasn't deserted afterall. Jughead led the way in, Gladys and I following behind Kurtz who looked around the dark room as he entered.

"This was once the Gargoyle lair. Come," he said, waving us further in as if this was his place. "Come on. Now, it's a Serpent den. Tonight, a battlefield."

We all turned at the sound of footsteps as someone came through the doorway at the other end of the room. With the light behind them, we couldn't tell who it was until they came closer.