Panic Room || Jughead Jones

Witness for the Prosecution // Part One

Veronica groaned from her spot next to me as we leaned against the cell door. "This week is insane. I've got two papers due, your trial is starting, Daddy's is right around the corner."

Mrs. Andrews looked over at me at the mention of the other trial. "From what I've heard, the federal prosecutor's going after your father pretty hard."

"Oh, I know," My sister replied, "I've been meeting with her on the DL. Goals for this week? Get Mom out of jail, and make sure Daddy stays rotting in his."

--

The next stop on our list for the night was Pop's where we would be prepping for La Bonne Nuit's usual business of the night. The diner was relatively empty when we walked in, save for Pop who clearly looked upset at the paper in his hand.

"What wrong, Pop?" I asked as I sat down at the seat in front of him, my sister following along.

"It's a subpoena. From your father's defense team."

"Oh, no," Veronica sighed as she grabbed the paper to look over it herself. "They're probably going to ask if you doctored La Bonne Nuit's books to make my father look guilty."

"Which I did," Pop interjected quietly. "And I have no regrets about that, Veronica, you needed the help. But I cannot place my hand on a Bible and say otherwise."

My sister nodded as she set the paper back down. "Let me get into it with the federal prosecutor. But don't worry, Pop. I'm not going to let you get caught up in this."

Pop, still evidently upset, grabbed the sheet and stepped away from us to head into the back. I felt awful for him. This whole situation had dragged way more people into it than necessary and now, Veronica was going to have to play the cards just right to ensure nobody else was pulled down with us.

Veronica groaned, "I'm going to talk to Daddy. Do you want to come?"

I shook my head. "I've had enough of prison visitations. I'll head downstairs and just meet you there later."

La Bonne Nuit was quiet and dark when I stepped off the stairs, my shoes echoing with the motion before I flicked the lights on. My first move was to obviously turn some music on because I hated the lingering silence that filled the space. After that, I set to work on cleaning up the tables and restocking the drinks before opening, or at least Veronica's return.

"There you are!"

I yelped at Felicity's voice that spoke over the music. "You scared the shit out of me," I gasped as I turned to face her, dropping the cleaning towel I had been using on the table. "How'd you know I was down here?"

She waved her phone in response as she plopped into a bar seat. "Veronica told me. Excited for our first FBI meeting tonight?"

I let out a short laugh as I moved to place the cleaning supplies back under the bar. "I wouldn't say excited, necessarily, especially to wear that stupid ass outfit they gave us." Betty had mentioned that there was a slightly mandated shirt that came with the program, but once I found out it was a button-up polo, I wasn't exactly thrilled to be wearing it.

"It won't be that bad." Felicity rolled her eyes at me. "It's just for an hour or two and then you'll be back in your boujee clothing before you know it."

Offering her a middle finger, I grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge before walking around to sit beside her. "I'm excited to at least be getting some experience in the criminal field, don't get me wrong. I just feel like it's going to be... cheesy per se."

Felicity pondered my statement for a moment. "Maybe in the beginning, but once we start getting into the guts of everything, that's where I think it'll be interesting."