Blood of My Blood, Flesh of My Flesh (Bughead)

Voices in my Head

Betty felt like she was in a horror movie, but no one knew it except for her.

She was shocked she'd made it through her speech at all. Sure, it had felt good to plan it at the time, thinking of how she'd do some 'malicious compliance' for Mayor McCoy about how even people like Jughead or FP were 'Riverdale', just as much as she and Archie were, and how she wanted everyone to do better, but her mind was everywhere else.

Her mind was in the waters being given out. The food being handed out. The garlands of flowers hung everywhere. Every inch of this place had Betty wondering what was going to send them all into freefall.

Jughead hadn't appeared. Not that she'd thought he would, but he'd expressed that if he had time after seeing his dad, he'd come. Sweet Pea had shown up, lurking in the corners at the last minute, looking absolutely exhausted. Even from the stage, she could see bags underneath his eyes and the way his body was sagging.

This Alpha thing would kill him if he didn't figure some tricks out fast.

Still, Betty could not even think about that for too long.

She was waiting for the shoe to just...drop.

She gathered her friends after the speech.

"Kick-ass!" Archie said, trying to high-five her.

"You really knocked it out of the park. And my mom was fuming, but she'll never admit it," Josie said, nudging her.

"Our little orator!" Veronica teased.

"Okay, okay, that's all good, but what about the...thing?" Betty prompted.

Everyone was silent, "Nothing here yet," Midge said, "And I'm very in tune, of course. But I really don't feel anything off, yet."

"Yet. Exactly. Yet!" Betty hissed.

"Okay, girl, you're starting to sound a bit crazy. No offense," Veronica said, "But honestly, maybe we're being played."

"Were not!" Betty said so sharply and so angrily that it drew the attention of some people passing by.

"Sure, sure, okay, shh...." Sweet Pea said, going to touch her shoulder. She jumped away, not willing to let him and her show something she didn't mean to, to project something to her gathered friends, to play her hand about what had happened between them ealier. Though, the kiss circled in her mind like a vinyl being played, a song where you couldn't get the tune out of your mind.

From the way Sweet Pea pressed his lips, it was clear that he was thinking the same. She swallowed, focusing her attention back on the concern at hand.

"Tonight is the perfect night. When the town is celebrating, it would be poetic to have it tear itself apart. What does Penny think?" Betty asked, turning to Sweet Pea.

He gave a haggard sigh, "She agrees. Most likely, if she were to unleash something, it would be tonight. She can't guess what it is, however. It could be anything. There are some futures even too difficult for her to decipher. But I feel fine. You guys?"

"Just chipper!" Kevin said, "I mean, I pulled my shoulder working out, but I think that's just me."

"I think I have an idea," Betty said, fingers shaking as she unlocked a tiny tin, "I made more of the suppressants that Sweet Pea showed me. I think we should all take them."

"What do they do?" Archie asked uneasily, "And why?"

"Well, it's targeting either humans or supernaturals. What if we were neither? These turn off what it's like to be a wolf or a Grimm or a witch. You can't use your powers, but you're not in either category anymore. Not a human, but not a wolf. Or, not a human, but not a Grimm. I think it's a loophole."