LAST SUMMER [ARCHIE ANDREWS] - DISCONTINUED

fifteen

"WHAT HAPPENED?" Sheriff Keller demanded, his voice booming inside Fred Andrews' small office. Kara sat on the couch with Archie and Jughead on either side of her, Jughead's jean jacket wrapped around her shoulders. Her lip had swelled considerably in the few minutes it took the police to arrive on the scene, and the area around her left eye had turned black.

"Kara caught a couple of guys working over my equipment with a crowbar," Fred jumped in, defending his son's girlfriend, "Then they got the drop on her." The redhead trembled, her hand squeezing Archie's so tight that her knuckles were white.

"What were they? Vandals?" Keller asked, his voice tinged with mocking. Archie glared at him accusingly, tightening his grip on her hand.

"Cliff Blossom made it abundantly clear that he would love nothing more than to see this whole project go belly-up," Fred stated. Keller looked at him skeptically. "I doubt that Blossom is going to hire some thugs to bust your site and beat up some teenager."

"Maybe it wasn't him."

The entire room turned to stare at Archie, who let go of Kara's hand and stood. He wasn't just angry that someone had purposefully destroyed his dad's work site, but he was furious that someone had hurt his girlfriend. Out of all people, Kara didn't deserve this, especially not after all that she's going through.

"I mean, this is Serpent territory, right? Maybe it was them," he suggested, standing slowly, "Mad because they had to leave for this project."

Keller stared at him, "Serpents?" Archie nodded. "When I worked at the drive-in," Jughead said, "The Serpents never bugged me."

Archie ignored him, kneeling beside Kara and taking her hand again. "Did you see any snake tattoos? Anything on their jackets?" Kara's eyes widened at the sudden question, but she shook her head gently. "I-it happened so fast..."

Sheriff Keller sighed. "All talk to Blossom, but I don't think we'll get anywhere until we ID these guys..." Archie stood furiously. "That is such bull! If it was Clifford Blossom asking for help, you would say yes."

Fred stepped in front of his son, grabbing his shoulders to calm him. "Arch-"

"What, Dad? It's true!" he exclaimed, holding out an accusing hand at the sheriff.

"It's also not helping."

-/-

"Oh my God, poor Kar."

Veronica placed a hand on Kara's, which rested on the table in Pop's. Kara's bottom lip stuck out in an involuntary pout, split, but she managed a small smile. Betty leaned forward in her seat beside Jughead, who had just finished telling them the story of what had happened last night. "Are you okay?"