Alphabet ≫ Jarchie

Exemplar III

It took an hour for Jelly Bean to leave. She was convinced she was in the wrong and nothing Jughead or Archie could say could convince her otherwise.

By the time she left, Archie was so out of it that he could barely keep his eye open, the pain making him delirious. The first thing he did after hearing the front door slam was scream out. It wasn't the manliest superhero sound he had ever made, but he didn't have the capacity to care.

At least it earned Jughead's attention.

Within seconds, the villain was by Archie's side, laying him down for what seemed like the one millionth time in the last 24 hours. He pulled up Archie's shirt and faltered.

"Shit," he cussed, his eyes widening.

"Well that doesn't sound good," Archie slurred, struggling to form words.

His whole side was a throbbing mass of purple and black. His bruising had spread up to his chest as well, slowly hoping to encompass the entirety of his torso. Jughead wasn't sure what to make of it. If it were a real world medical problem, he probably could've figured out a solution. It's not like he knew the cure for cancer, but intelligence wasn't as bum of a superpower as he thought it was originally. He knew things without knowing them, and that was a gift.

"Please don't poke me again. I can assure you it hurts," Archie mumbled, chuckling to absolutely no one.

Jughead couldn't do this if Archie was checked out.

He pulled down his shirt and tried to hide his worry. "So my sister's boyfriend is the one who stabbed you last night?"

"Mhm. And the one who drugged me. His friends just held me down..."

Jughead climbed onto the bed and leaned over him. "Hey," he grunted, tapping his cheek. He was losing him. "Arch?" He tried again, his voice much softer.

Archie tried his best to look up at him, confusion written all over his face at the sound of the nickname he hadn't heard since they were kids.

"You have to stay with me, okay?"

He nodded even though he couldn't promise that. The whole world was spinning and he just wanted to close his eyes. They felt so heavy. "What's the plan?"

"We're going to go to his house," Jughead said slowly, raising his hand to Archie's forehead. He was burning up. "But we'll make a stop first so I can try to dull your pain."

"Mmm," Archie hummed, not able to say anything else. Subconsciously, he leaned into Jughead's touch, wondering if this was all a fever dream. It had to be, if Jughead was being nice all of sudden.

Jughead brushed some of the hair out of Archie's face before standing up. "Such an idiot," he mumbled.

And that was the last thing Archie heard before his eyes transported him into a world of darkness. 

***

"I think it worked," the pink haired girl mused as she hoisted herself up on the wooden work table Jughead had taken to tinkering on. It was a small little thing pushed to the edge of the unfinished garage, but it served its purpose.

Jughead didn't spare her a glance. Instead, he leaned back in his chair and looked up at the garage ceiling. "I think I want to kill him myself."

Archie was currently laid up on Jughead's favorite work space in the center of the garage. That's where all the magic happened, where he and his best friend, Toni, did all their engineering projects together. It was also where he worked on superhero stuff, hence all of the blue prints and drawings that littered the place.