I'm Darkness || Archie Andrews and Jughead Jones [2]

Could Have Been You

COULD HAVE BEEN YOU

Jughead takes off as soon as they help Fangs lay down on the hospital bed, and Ellie finds herself following behind him with FP even though she's not really sure how she's still standing at this point, and she just knows the dark-haired boy is furious.

"Where are you going?" FP shouts outs to him, hoping to stop him.

"To find the guy who shot Fangs."

"You're not going! Not with people rioting." He warns him, all still walking down the hallway.

Ellie can't take this, she's angry too, but she's in no healthy mental state to back out there right now. So she rushes towards him, and grabs his Serpent jacket, forcing Jughead to stop and turn around to face her. "Listen to your Dad, ok? Just listen for one second,"

"You're angry, you want justice? So do we!" FP tries again, now his son his paying him close attention. "You've got a fallen soldier, have you looked at Ellie here? Do you wanna make it two soldiers down? Or even three?"

"I'm not –."

"We need to talk to Fangs' family, that's part of being a leader."

Jughead scoffs. "Some leader I am."

"Stop, ok?" Ellie pleads, she's struggling to hold on and if they both go down this road, how would they ever come back. "You did the best you could. This... This is not your fault."

"Ellie's right, kid." FP places one hand on his shoulder, and gestures towards the reception. "Let's go, we'll get through this."

. . .

Ellie tried calling Betty three times now, and all she got was a text telling her how their Dad never showed up, but the Black Hood made it Cheryl's and tried to attack her. Hopefully the red-haired had been able to shoot him an arrow on his right shoulder, so that's something.

She's about to finally sit down at the hospital benchs, and crumble inside her own mind, when she watches the Sheriff approaching. "Hey," She calls out, and that calls Jughead's attention to the man as well, so they both approach him. "where you doing here, Sheriff? Whoever shot Fangs isn't here."

"Yeah." The dark-haired boy agrees. "Shouldn't you be looking out there?"

"There's a manhunt underway." He tells them, and remarks. "Your Serpent pals aren't making it easy. Rioting, carousing, terrorizing. Already arrested a few."

FP approaches them, and accuses him. "Fangs wouldn't have a slug in his gut if you had done your job in the first place."

"I don't know the details of your parole," Sheriff Minetta steps closer in a threathning way. "but I'm certain harassing an officer would violate them."

Ellie looks over to her right and Jughead is already no where to be seen. She looks around in an almost desesperated way, her head aching at the though of him going out there where hell is rising, because she knows he's not fire proof. None of them are.

"Where's Jug?" FP turns around now, and questions her.

Ellie swallows hard, and breathes. "He's gone."

FP is relucted to let Ellie go, but one of them needs to go after Jughead, and deep down he knows she might be the only one capable of turning his head around. So, Ellie walks out of the hospital into the cold wind and it feels like she can finally breathe.

As soon as she starts walking down the street without any real idea of where to go, her phone rings on her pocket, and reaches for it right away, hoping it's Jughead. But once the screen comes into few, she answers it with a sigh. "Veronica, I can't really talk right –."