Collateral Damage ▻ Riverdale [1]

2.33

THE AFTERMATH
CHAPTER THIRTY THREE

Every since she finally got her memories back and Jason's death was avenged by the suicide of his own person, Queenie felt different. But it wasn't in a bad way, she felt different in an entirely good way. She wasn't sad as much anymore and she felt happy, confident. She even felt a little badass in the way she was handling herself and leading the Serpents. She had gained back her title as top queen bitch at Southside High, that made her feel good also. It got annoying at times though when the teenage Serpents followed her around school like some lost people, but at least she had Sweet Pea by her side. And of course, Mandy, Fangs, and Toni.

Queenie entered the cafeteria to see her younger brother, Jughead, sitting at a table alone. He must have just arrived, Queenie thought. And the cafeteria, of course, would be his first stop. With the Serpents following her, Queenie walked over to Jughead's table. She slid over a chair and took a seat next to him, Sweet Pea did, too.

While still eating, Jughead looked up at Queenie with a raised brow when she took one of his fries. She smiled at him before looking around, "Don't worry, guys, he's family. Jughead, meet my friends. Friends, meet Jughead." Queenie spoke up in a joking way.

Within minutes of Jughead being there, he was already cracking up jokes, causing them all to laugh hysterically. One of the Serpents roughly patted Jughead on the back as they continued to laugh.

Queenie frowned when she looked up to see Veronica, Betty, and Archie standing behind her brother, "Jug." Betty spoke up, gaining Jughead's attention.

He turned around slowly, his smile turning upside down into the same frown Queenie had, "What are you guys doing here?" Jughead asked his friends confused.

"Yeah, what are you doing here?" Queenie questioned, crossing her arms, "You're on the wrong side of town."

"Oh, get over yourself, Queenie. Are we bruising your recently gained ego?" Archie asked with attitude, gaining the attention of the Serpents around her.

"You wanna say that again, Red, see what happens?" Sweet Pea spoke up as he stood up from his seat.

Queenie sighed, rolling eyes as she used her left arm to push him back, "Calm down, Pea, he's not worth the trouble." She told, sending him a small smile, which Sweet Pea sent back. Archie sent them both a glare, causing Sweet Pea to step forward.

"Queenie, why don't you keep your man on a leash?" Veronica argued and Queenie scoffed.

"Why don't you tell your mob wife of a mother to stop firing valuable workers, maybe then I'll keep him on a leash. Oh yeah, that's right. Neither of those will ever happen." She snapped back, causing them all to stare at her shocked. Queenie smiled as she pointed to the exit door, "There's the door. Now, leave."

The whole group sighed before they left, Jughead tagging along with them.

_____

Later on that day, Queenie entered the police station and made her way to her father's jail cell. He got up from his seat and made his way over to the bars when she arrived, "Sheriff Keller tells me you still haven't named any names," She spoke up, "Jughead's pissed about that, but I understand why you did it. The Serpents have done so much for us and it wouldn't end well with the Ghoulies. Sheriff Keller brought me here to convince you otherwise, but I know I can't do that. And as much as I want you home, I don't want you to have to do that."

"I glad you understand, Queenie. You're right when you said Jughead was pissed. He came by earlier," FP replied, "How's he doing on the Southside?"

Queenie smiled, "Pretty good. He's fitting in perfect at Southside High. He can handle it. We went to the foster home, I told them to shove it before we headed back home. I'm living back at the trailer, but I'm probably going to move in with Sweet Pea so Jughead can have the place to himself." She explained to him and FP slightly laughed.

"How's the Serpents?" He asked his daughter curiously.

Queenie couldn't help but smile at the question, "They got me leading them in your absence. I had to stop them from leading a revolt against Fred Andrews yesterday, that was pretty hard after they all got fired." She informed him and FP nodded his head.

It was silent for a moment between them before FP spoke up, "Queenie, listen," He told her quietly, "Thank you for sticking by me when no one else did--"

"It's fine, dad. It was nothing," She interrupted him and FP shook his head.

"No, it's not nothing, Queenie. Even if I didn't kill him, I confessed to it. Yet, somehow, you still seemed to believe I was innocent. Anyone else in your position would have never believed that I was innocent, yet you still did. And I'm sorry, Queenie, for the part I played in your boyfriend's death. I had no clue you were involved. If I did, I would have never done any of that and I had no clue they were going to kill Jason. I just got a phone call from Mustang to help with a clean up job and I only agreed because I didn't want the Serpents getting into trouble. Which actually ended up happening anyway." FP apologized to his daughter and Queenie nodded in understanding.

"Like I said, Dad, it's fine. I'm not mad at you. Like I always say, I'll stick by you no matter what. You know my saying, 'Family above all'. And lately, I haven't had a lot of that besides the Serpents so I want to keep the family I have right now as close as possible." She replied with a smile.

"Listen to me, Queenie," FP stated, "Take care of your brother, will you? Make sure he doesn't get into trouble on the Southside. And if he does decide on joining the Serpents, make sure he doesn't get involved in it over his head. Take care of the Serpents, too. They're going to need someone to keep them out of too much trouble. Especially the younger ones. They all look up to you because you're my daughter and a very honorable Serpent, even the older ones look up to you." Fp insisted, "And please, try not to get involved in too much trouble, you're pregnant with twins, you wouldn't want to be locked up when due to give birth."

Queenie nodded her head once again, "I promise, dad. I'll take care of Jug, I'll take care of the Serpents and I promise to keep myself out of trouble."