I Got You ☆ Archie Andrews

50

[ YOU'RE STILL MY DAUGHTER ]

word count: 644
not edited

"Well? Did Pop confirm that Mr. Lodge bought the diner?"

"Yeah, he did." Jughead answered his red headed best friend. "But I'm sorry, I.. I can't publish that article, Archie. It would break Pop's heart."

"Jug, we can't give up. I think my dad's gonna run."

"Archie, I have talked to every possible suspect connected to the Lodges, even Mayor McCoy. They're all on lockdown."

"Maybe you've been talking to the wrong McCoy."

Jade opened the door to the trailer, cocking her head when she saw her boyfriend.

"What—"

"Come with me." He said grabbing her hand as they both went out the door, leaving Jughead alone in the trailer.

☆

"I'm brunching, guys. What do you want?" Josie asked the two sitting in front of her in a booth at Pop's.

"My dad is seconds away from running for mayor with the Lodge's support. I don't want him to go through what your mom did.." Archie said, "So I was thinking maybe you could get your mom to talk to him. Even secretly.."

"Archie, my mom barely made it out of the mayor's office alive. If she let slip even a whisper of what went down between her and Lodges, there'd be hell to pay. She'd implicate herself in about a million ways."

"Yeah, I figured." Archie said.

"Isn't there plenty of stuff your mom could say to Mr. Andrews that would kill his buzz without getting into the shady stuff?" Jade asked.

☆

"It's not all ribbon ceremonies and catered affairs, Fred." Mayor McCoy said, "It's filling pot holes, collecting trash, and if you think you can run this town plus Andrews Construction at the same time, forget it."

"I've got a pretty good team working for me."

"And then there are the uglier aspects of the job. Crime, poverty, threats.."

"Like the Black Hood?"

"Right now, you might be the people's shining hope of Riverdale. But, say you do win, Fred. They'll turn their back on you, and all your friends will be standing in line to stab you in the back."

"I appreciate the real talk, Sierra."

"I haven't even gotten to the real talk yet, Fred."

"Let's chat about the pittance that is the mayor's salary.."

☆

"Hiram's gonna beat the clock." Jughead said as the three Jones were in their trailer. Jughead sat on the couch, Jade in the kitchen trying to fix a a can of ravioli, and Fp just standing around. "Feels like every step I make, he's two or ten steps ahead of me. He's lapping me."

"Hey, you break that you buy it." Fp said to his daughter, who was trying to turn on the old stove, a sentence he has used many times to the two kids.

"At this point, I think a new one wouldn't hurt." She mumbled, her dad ignoring her and talking to her younger brother.

"He's been winning at this game a lot longer than you've been alive."

"Yeah, because he's been rigging the game." Jughead said, "And everyone's too afraid to come out and speak against him."

"You know, uh.." Fp started, sitting down next to his son, "There's two people you haven't asked to go on the record yet."

"Who?"

"Me, and Jade." Jade widened her eyes as the words left her father's mouth, but decided not to turn around or say anything. "You know, back in the day he asked me and the serpents to trash the drive-in so he could buy it for rock bottom price." Fp sighed, "We complied."

"On purpose?" Jughead said, "You worked for Hiram Lodge?"

"I'll own up to that. On the record, if it'll help you bring him down." Fp said, "Don't bring Jade's name into it though, just say something like a few other serpents.. or something."

"I'm not a child—" Jade started.

"You're still my daughter."