"You need to fix this, Jughead," Veronica demanded.
"If Cheryl took the egg, why did you come to us? Why didn't you just go directly to her?"
"She's dodging my phone calls."
"She knows you know," Aminity sighed.
"Besides, aren't you her king and princess?" she asked in quotes.
"Since when are you and your father aligned?" Jughead asked, leaning back on the couch.
"We're not. He's squeezing me, he's squeezing my business. Now, not only does he have me paying him protection, he's got me on the wild goose chase to get my mom's stolen egg back."
"You're paying your father protection money?"
"I thought Aminity would have told you."
"I thought it'd be something you wouldn't want to get out, but yeah," she looked at her brother. "We doctored the books to make it look like we're paying ten percent while paying five, but we're still paying for protection against his own Gargoyle Gang."
"What if you were to pay less money not to be in business with him?" Jughead asked, standing up.
"What are you suggesting?"
"Let the Serpents come work for you. You get real protection from your father's goons and the Serpents get jobs with steady income."
"Which alleviates the need to sell drugs," Aminity nodded.
"This is a win win," Jughead continued.
"Get me that glamourge egg back and we have an accord." She held out her hand and they shook it.
***
"Serpents," Jughead addressed them around the fire later that night, "earlier today, we brokered a deal. Got us a paid gig. From here on out, we'll be working security detail for Veronica Lodge, her speakeasy, and her employees."
"Long live the Serpents!" Sweet Pea cheered as they all clapped.
"Settle down. I know it's good news for a change, but I've also gathered us here for less celebratory reasons. Cheryl, Toni, come up here."
"Excuse me? What did we do?"
"You broke into the Lodge apartment and stole a glamourge egg."
Cheryl stood. "So what if we did?"
"Well more than that, you left your calling card, attaching yourself and, by extension, all of the Serpents to your crime."
"I'm not afraid of Lodge. What's he gonna do? Call the sheriff? Oh, right. There is no sheriff."
"Cheryl, that's not the point. You broke the code." He paused. "Turn in your jackets and go."
"Are you serious, Jones? I'm a Serpent by blood," Toni spoke up for the first time as she stood beside her girlfriend. "You can't take that away from me."
"You hypocrite," Cheryl called him out. "You give your drug dealing buddy Fangs a pass, but you crucify us?"
"And in case you were wondering how we know, Fangs told Sweet Pea who told me."
"Who told me," Cheryl finished. Aminity looked between the boys who both had their heads in their hands. "If you're asking for our jackets, shouldn't you be asking for his as well?"
"You broke in after we had put out the punishment," Aminity tried. "Fangs' offense was made before it was a mandate."
"That's bullshit!" Toni yelled. "You're only giving him a pass because he's your friend. If it was anyone else, you would have kicked them out."
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The Other Detective - Book 3 (Riverdale Season 3)
FanficAminity's life is mostly back on track, except for the part about Archie on trial. Aminity has to tackle high school, a new job, leading the Serpents, trying to rescue Archie, and maybe even some new romances. Luckily, she has a dog, some great frie...