I left riverdale with Betty we ended up splitting up. I went to visit my businesses to check on them. Of course I took Alec with me I was gonna keep him at home but decided it was best to bring him with
Sweet pea sent me a article that Jughead published well no one knew who wrote it since jug published it anonymously. he can hear again but anyway the article was calling riverdale the worst town in the world. It talked down on Reggie and v's casino saying it was illegal calling it a gateway to crime and drug use and violence.
It talked down on the serpents and ghoulies who were on the brink of war it talked down on the law enforcement and performing arts. It talked badly about riverdales struggling economy Nothing was good about it. It pissed me off reading it I was only gone for a few months.
I was seven months pregnant now and decided I needed to go home. So I did i needed to help save riverdale I haven't heard a word from tbk neither has Betty from what she has told me anyway.
Once we got home we were greeted by a very happy sweet pea.
"I'm so happy your home" sweet pea says kissing me "me too I couldn't stand reading that article I need to go speak with Jughead he knows the writers in town maybe he can help me figure out who wrote it" I say
"Ok but we're having dinner tonight" he says and I smile "I wouldn't miss it" I say kissing him
I go to the school and walk down the hallway I find Archie and walk over to him. "I'm pissed where's Jughead" I growl
"I'm looking for him to. You came back?" Archie asks me
"I'm no good out there this pregnant now my stomach is bigger I can do more here to catch tbk plus I have to help you guys save riverdale don't I?" I say smiling
"Come on" he says we walk into the teachers lounge and see Jughead
"Jughead!" I say
"Dude what is this?" Archie growls holding the paper up
"Worst town in America" I say
"Seriously? After we busted our asses saving Riverdale from hiram why would you publish something like this?" Archie asks
"The riverdale choice is a free press that believes in critical points of view" Jughead says
"Who?" I ask
"Who wrote this?" Archie asks
"Why would I tell you two that? So you can beat them up?" Jughead asks
'He would do that' I thought and Jughead looked at me
"Of course not" Archie scoffs and Jughead rolls his eyes obviously not believing him
Jughead started walking towards us
"Ok look you both have a different point of view? That's great. Let me interview you two I'll publish it next week." Jughead says
"No screw that I've already talked to Alice and Frank they're calling a town hall meeting so everyone can respond to this garbage in person" Archie says walking away
"You better be there covering it" Archie yells back at Jughead I watched Archie go out with my back turned to Jughead
'Damn he's pissed' I thought
"Yeah he is" Jughead says sighing I whipped around "did you just read my mind?" I ask him and his eyes widen
"Jughead can you read minds?" I ask him "yeah for a bit now I can't hear anything I can hear the words you say in your head before you say it" he sighs
"Damn" I say
"You're not freaking out?" He asks me
"Trust me If you can't hear this is the next best thing" I say
He smiles "it's good your back" he says
"Thank you juggy plus I'd never judge you your my best friend still" I say chuckling wrapping my arm around him shoulder.
"Why did we stop talking?" Jughead asks me
"We talked we just got busy growing up and that's ok cuz we both are here back in riverdale now" I say
"Yeah yeah don't you have a town meeting to prepare for I have to get to class" jug says and I smile
"I'll see you at the meeting" I say lightly punching his arm before heading out
When we got to the town hall meeting everyone greeted me since most people didn't know I was back. I sat with Toni I looked over to see sweet pea and Alec with fangs.
"I'm glad your back sweet pea was moping around" Toni smiled I chuckled "sounds like him" I say
"Alright alright I'm sure everyone has read the article written by our mysterious author and yes there is a lot to dispute but not the fact that we do have an illegal casino operating covertly and corruptly within our town limits" Alice says
"If I may" v says standing up babyloniums employees are all citizens of Riverdale who are paid a generous living wage also we have the potential to bring in out of towners guess who would spend fresh cash across all our businesses" v says
"V your my sister and I love you but if your casino is illegal it doesn't matter how much you pay your employees or what it brings in it's against the law" I say
"And nice try Veronica but we all know who truly profits from a casino it's it's owners" Alice says
"I mean when is the last time a lodge has done anything good for this town?" Alice adds
"I'm a lodge" I say to Alice
"Oh I forgot your nothing like your family Avery nothing at all" she says and I roll my eyes
"What the hell does that mean?" V asks
"I think you know exactly what that means" Alice says and people were agreeing with her
V sits down and Archie stands up
"Can we cut to the damn chase here. Who wrote that article?" Archie asks no one talks "oh come on whoever it is if you're going to attack our town at least have the guts to own it" Archie growls
"It was me" we hear we turn to see it was the new towner Percival
"I wrote it I wrote the article" he says standing up "I know I should've had the courage to put my name on it I guess I was just concerned that if you saw the name Pickens on the bylines then you'd dismiss my words out of hand because of what my great great grandfather did" he says he then turns to us "and it's great to have you back Avery" he says smiling at me
"You mean a genocide against my ancestors? Yeah that's a strike against you" Toni says
"I'm sorry you've been living here what? A few months when we've been here our whole lives And we're supposed to care what you think?" Archie asks him
"Well sometimes it takes a recent arrival to see what's really wrong with the town" Percival says sitting down
"Yeah well all I see is a Johnny come lately talking trash about our town without offering any real solutions" Archie says
"But I do have solutions if your open to hearing them" he says
"Buddy I'm open to resolving this outside you and me right now" Archie says and I hit the table
"Archie you do not threaten people just because your mad grow up and get a handle on your anger. You asked for solutions he offered and what now you want to beat him up for saying he has what you want? If you don't knock it off it will be me and you going circles outside" I growl standing up
"Ok Archie, Avery is right we do need to let me Pickens speak" Frank says as kev grabs Archie pulling him down. I sit down as well
"I'm sorry mr Pickens go ahead" I say
"Oh with a town that's in such dire straits as riverdale where do you even begin? I know. The homeless encampment you call sketch alley. Poverty begets more poverty begets drugs begets crime begets more crime until no one is safe" he says and people starts to agree with him
He wasn't wrong.
"I'm sorry but the homeless has got to be bussed out as quickly and humanly as possible" he says
"We can't just bud them out of town and I'm sorry but that's not who we are and it's not what we do riverdale takes care of their own and the people that live in sketch alley are citizens of this town just as much as all of us we need to show them that we care" Archie says
"In that case you've heard my recommendation but we're all ears mr Andrews what's yours?" Pickens says
Archie didn't have a solution so he couldn't speak.
After the town hall meeting Pickens approached me as I was talking to Toni
"Ms lodge, I wanted to thank you for standing against your friend on my behalf today" he says smiling at me
"I might not like the article you wrote but I wont let someone pick fights it's childish behavior" I say
"I agree" Pickens says
"Can you go flirt with someone else Avery has a boyfriend who's the father of her baby Avery and him are both serpents. You know apart of the gang you were talking down on" Toni says to him
"Those weren't my intentions at all" he says to Toni and looks back at me "it surprises me that you would be apart of a gang ms lodge you seem so.....better" he says before walking away and Toni and I both scoff
I get home with sweet pea and Alec "I don't like that guy he keeps flirting with you I wish Archie did fight him I would've joined in" sweet pea grumbles I smile at sweet peas jealously
I looked around the kitchen and dining room and living room he fixed it up. He told me my office and the baby's room was also complete.
We got food from pops and we sat down starting to eat. "Your jealousy is cute my sweets" I say smiling he rolled his eyes
"Well I can't help it he's a bad guy" sweet pea says
"What do you think Alec?" I ask
"He does seem to have taken an interest in you but he talked down on the serpents. I hate him" he says
"I don't like him either he's weird I have a feeling this is the beginning of something" I say
"We have to figure out a way to fix this town" sweet pea sighed
"Knowing Archie he's gonna want to build a house for every person in sketch alley. You work with Archie so you will be helping but I can't do I'll donate some money to Archie. Tomorrow we will sit down with Archie and a few other people to try and come up with something Pickens might be an asshole but he is right about sketch alley and a few other things" I say
The next day we got called to another town meeting
"Alright people let's call this meeting to order" Toni says
Reg and v stood by me as I sat by Toni
"Our proposal for the town's future is simple. Reginald?" V says and reg took the cloth off the board they had
"Riverdale the new Atlantic City instead of the town and the casino being at odds with each other why not work together and rebrand as a family friendly Destination hotspot let babylonium be the solution to lifting riverdale up" v says
"V this is los Vegas" I sigh
"So what children can gamble now. Is that it?" Alice says
"We would open an arcade provide daycare" v says
"Here's my problem with the casino riverdale has a lot of broken people including veterans like myself and Archie and Avery who works in the fbi who has seen things I'm assuming" Frank says and I nod my head
"And a casino just isn't a healthy environment for people like that" Frank adds
"You raise a valid point Frank let's have that dialogue" v says
"But not today we have your proposal Veronica we will look it over and get back to you in the meantime if we catch one whiff of any trouble coming from your casino than any partnership would be immediately untenable" Alice says
"Great thank you team babylonium" tabby says
Archie was next he put his proposal up
"So the spaces are eight feet feet wide they house one to two people and they can be locked which helps give the occupants a sense of ownership and security and not to mention all the labor will be provided free of charge by Andrews construction" Archie says
"This is a strong simple and smart idea Archie" Toni says
"Yeah they have these mini houses in Chicago and they are game changing" tabby says
"Awesome yeah so to start I was thinking around 30" Archie says
"Thirty houses uh how much do these things cost?" Alice asks
"We'll like I said Alice the labor would be free but with materials I'm thinking around 20, 25" Archie says
"Thousand? For each house oh no riverdale can't afford this we'd have to raise taxes" Alice says
Everyone started to freak out
"I can donate" I say loudly
"I feel it's my civic duty at this point to point out that my straightforward proposal would cost the people of riverdale virtually nothing and could be carried out immediately and beautiful Avery wouldn't have to give up her money" Percival says standing up
Sweet pea then stands up "alright man I've let it slide this far but I'm getting pissed that you keep hitting on my girlfriend either stop or we will have problems and you don't want that" sweet pea growls
"Sweet pea it's ok sit down" I say and he huffs and fixes his serpent jacket and listens
"We like the vision Archie or at least most of us do we just need to figure out a way to fund it without Avery spending all her money on it" Toni says
"And if you could show up proof of concept that would be super helpful" tabby says
"For sure I'll figure something out I appreciate your time" Archie says
After I went to the wyrm with Toni and sweet pea and where fangs was working
"How was the meeting?" Fangs asks
"It was alright Archie has a really good idea but Avery wants to fund it all which the town suddenly has a issue with" Toni says
"This Pickens guys has got to go" sweets growls as fangs gets him a drink
"Yeah he's causing issue and did you see Alice she didn't like any of the proposals" I say
"Yeah something weird is happening" Toni says
"How's everything with the ghoulies?" I ask them and the three sigh
"It's ok we haven't gone to war but it's getting harder and harder to hold them back so I have a feeling war is right around the corner" Toni says
"We're trying our best to keep that from happening though" fangs says
"Basically just holding off until it ends up being forced into motion" Sweet says putting his arm around my waist
"I wish I was with you guys" I groan
"Nope your pregnant you will stay with Alec your protector" Toni says I turn to see him with some serpents playing pool
"He's such a good kid" I say
"He really is" sweet pea says
"Toni help us adopted him" I say
"Whoa really?" Toni asks and I look at sweet pea
"Sure I don't see a problem with it" he says and kisses the side of my head
"Sure than I'll get the paperwork together that you both will need to sign" Toni says
"Hey Alec come here" sweet pea yelled he ran over to us
"Yeah?" He asks
"What do you think about us officially adopting you?" I ask
"Really? I'd love that" he says happily
"Boom there just get us the paperwork we will see you tomorrow at your office" Sweet pea says
"You can go finish your game" I tell Alec who smiles and runs off
The rest of the day I took Alec to the fbi office while he did school work I worked on the tbk case going over everything else and whatever Betty was sending me.
The next day I was with Archie, Toni and tabby in a booth at pops Alec was with a few booths away with a few of his serpent friends
"You called this meeting what can we do for you Archie?" Toni asks
"You three are on the council but I'm here appealing to you as three of the most prominent business owners in riverdale" Archie says
While I was away news broke about the businesses I owned meaning everyone knew how rich I was now.
"I need your personal help" Archie adds
"Ok we're listening" tabby says
"Would you each be willing to underwrite one of the houses? I was thinking after I finished building them we could paint them one like pops one like the whyte wyrm another like one of your businesses Avery in a way they'd be like billboards" Archie says
"And your sure you don't mind that Avery and I are quote unquote gang members?" Toni asks
"Oh come on no not at all" Archie says
"Where would you set them up and build them?" Tabby asks
"I was hoping we could set them up in the parking lot that way the folks living in them could feel more part of the towns daily life" Archie says
We all look at each other "yeah of course arch we're in" I say
"What are your businesses anyway?" Toni asks me
"We'll one is the rum company my dad left my sister and I run it I do most of it though two are a fashion company in the last seven years have you heard of the top brand A&L yeah that's me and the third is a tech company" I say
"No way your A&L their clothes are so cute but so expensive" tabby says
"I'll get you some for your birthday but back to the subject" I say smiling
"As for where we build them I was thinking we could do that in sketch alley" Archie says
Then Archie left to start building.
The next day I dropped by sketch alley and I saw sweet pea carrying some wood he had a hard hat on and a belt of tools I walked up to him as he put the wood down.
"I forgot how good you looked while working" I say he turns to me and smiles and leans in kissing me
"Hi where's Alec" he asks and I point behind me
"Good, what are you doing here?" He asks me
"I wanted to see how everything is going now get back to work I'll go talk to Archie I'll bring you some food in a bit" I say and I kiss him again he was sweating.
I walk over to Archie and Jughead but I see jugheads friend doc hit Kevin with a hammer
"Oh my god" I yell I run over and grab Kevin
Doc raises his hammer to hit me and I cover Kevin's head with my body. I closed my eyes.
Sweet pea ran over and grabbed doc they took the hammer from him I looked at Kevin
"Call an ambulance now" I say starting to tear up
"Are you ok?" Sweet pea asks bending down looking at me
"Yeah it's kev he's hurt" I say
After kev got to the hospital I went to pops with sweet pea as Alec went to hangout with his friends and tabby got me some food. I sat in between sweets and Toni
Alice was already on the tv and tabby turned it up
"And what did our young Kevin Keller get in exchange for wanting to provide shelter to the people of sketch alley? A hammer to the skull is what he got. This vicious attack is a clear indication that these people don't want our help you offer them a helping hand and they respond with violence well this journalist and town council member says no more" Alice says before tabby turns the tv off
"How is Kevin doing?" Tabby asks
"We just came from the hospital he's gonna be ok" Archie says
"This is a mess Archie of sweet pea didn't have a sixth sense of when Avery was in danger than she and the baby and Kevin could've been seriously hurt" Toni says
"Believe me I know toni" Archie says
"These houses are going to be painted with our businesses on them if they're associated with violence and crime..." Toni adds on
"I know and I know that article didn't do the serpents any favors" Archie says
"It didn't" sweet pea says
"You still have our financial support so maybe just hold off a beat before you paint it to match the whyte wyrm" Toni says
"You still have Mine to Archie" I say
"Just no more coming around sketch alley without Alec on your hip or your gun on your hip" sweet pea says to me
"Deal" I say and kiss his cheek and he smiles
"That makes sense thanks for the support Toni, Avery" Archie says
"Yeah no problem I'll send you my payment on chime right now" Toni says getting her phone out
"Cool" Archie says
"Same" I say taking my phone out and getting on chime and sending him the Payment
"Thanks" Archie says and looks at tab
"What about you Tabitha?" Archie asks her
I am.....still in Archie paint job and all so when do you want to set up the first house?" Tabby asks
"We'll I'll bring it by in my truck later today thank you guys" Archie says
"Just text me I'll come and help out" sweet pea says
"I honestly thought you would've pulled Avery away from this" Archie says to sweet pea and sweet pea looks at me and sighs
"I wanted to but I know she would kill me if I tried we talked on the way here in the car and we decided that pulling her out is exactly what Pickens would want and I hate him so I gave in" sweets says and I smile And the three chuckle
I was heading to the fbi office with Alec when I was Percival at the fbi office waiting.
"What are you doing here? I'm grabbing some paperwork before heading back to pops" I say
"I wanted to talk to you about what happened in sketch alley" he says to me walking over to me
"I'm busy we can talk tomorrow if you would like but I'm in a rush" I say
"Oh of course" he says
After the strange encounter I got back to pops in time to see the house finally set up
"What do you think tabitha?" Archie asks
"I think it is beautiful Archie" tab says
"Well it was a group effort" Archie says I walk over to sweet pea "it's so pretty" I say
"And bonus Benjamin Moore donated the paint for future houses too" Archie says
"What business will you be painting your Avery?" Frank asks me
"Blue and white it's my A&L company's colors and if we could have A&L on the door in white letters that would be great" I say
"Sure thing Avery" Archie says
"I think it's a great start arch" Jughead says
After going home I called my abuelitas god son heroald
"Hello?" He says
"It's Avery lodge I need a favor" I ask him
"What's up?" He asks
"Can you look into someone for me I would but he's been hanging around me so I don't want him catching on. His name is Percival Pickens" I say
"Your sister just asked me to look into him as well" he says
"I'll call her than, thank you it must be a twin thing that we feel off about this guy" I say
"Good night Avery I'll let you know what I find" he says
After hanging up I called v "when he gives you the information on Pickens I wanna be there I feel off on him as well" I say
"I have to tell you something can you meet me?" She asks
"Yeah" I say I get to her apartment
"Someone killed themselves in my casino he was on a winning streak watch this right before he did it" v says and taps on her laptop showing me the footage
I gasp as I realize what's happening "is that Percival speaking to him?" I ask
"Yep he said something that made him off himself" Veronica says
"I knew something was off about him he was at the door to the fbi office earlier waiting for me I basically told him I'd speak to him later I was in s hurry" I say
"We have to keep our eyes on him" v says
"I agree this guy is weird" I say
The next day I found out that the house that was built was graffitied on.
Jughead texted me to meet him at his office so I did "doc said someone put the idea in his head someone with a British accent" Jughead says as I walk in
"Wow I wonder who that could be" I say scoffing
"Something weird is going on" jug says
"Your not wrong we need to get to the bottom of this, call him in see if you can read his mind you can't hear anything so maybe you won't be effected" I say
"Yeah I'll do that I'll get back to you with what I find" he says "it might not be safe for you to be here during it so I'll text you" he says
"Good" I say and leave Alec was waiting for me outside the door.
I went and sat at pops as the other two houses were built and painted Jughead came over to me
"He knew I was in his mind" he whispers to me
"What?" I ask him
"I freaked out" he says
"I would to" I say and Archie's truck pulls up
What are you guys doing?" Archie asks "I'm here to break these houses down and haul them away" he adds
"No your not" tabby says
"Tabitha called us Archie we started a project and we're doubling down to finish it" Toni says painting the snake
I was painting the house that was mine I had the colors down I was painting the A&L on the door
"We're not giving up Archie" I say I had on jeans and a t shirt that hung where you could see my snake tattoo and I had a beanie and my serpent jacket on like Toni.
Sweet pea was helping me paint the house
"Yeah and in a few hours someone will have vandalized them again" Archie says
"Than we will repaint them" tabby says
"And again and again as many times as we have to" I add
"Why don't you grab a brush" Jughead says walking over to him and motions me over
"It's cold out and we have something to talk to you about" Jughead says so only us three could hear
"I don't think doc was the one who attacked Kevin and Avery" jug says
"Who else would it have been" Archie asks
"Hello there" we hear and we turn to see Percival
"Now what are you folks doing? My goodness aren't those charming houses no need for them anymore though" He says
"What?" I ask
"Sketch alley is no longer an issue" he reply's
"Meaning what?" Jughead asks
"I took it upon myself to visit sketch alley I spoke to the people living there and got them to move on leave town start over somewhere else" he says
"What the hell" I ask and walk up in his face and he looks down at me and smiles and leans down to my ear
"I know you suspect me as something and I know Jughead told you about our chat. If I were you I'd back off or maybe I'll convince your boyfriend to hurt himself or the boy your adopting or maybe your sister or her boyfriend" he whispers in my ear
"What are you saying to her" sweet pea yells and I back up running into sweet pea my eyes not leaving Percival who smile never drops
"And how did you do that?" Archie asks
"Call it the power of persuasion" he says his eyes not leaving mine "I also bought them bud tickets and gave them each 100$ to build new lives elsewhere" he says
"I don't believe you" Toni says and our eye contact breaks and he looks at Toni
"Well see for yourselves then afterwards hopefully see you at the town hall keep up the good work" he says nodding at me and then walking away
We go to sketch alley and it was empty. We went to the town hall meeting everyone was praising Percival
"Please please please thank you thank you thank you" Percival says and everyone stops clapping
V, me, Toni, tabby, Frank, Jughead, reg, Archie, and sweet pea we're pissed and we're clapping
"The town of Riverdale can breathe a little easier now that the denizens of sketch alley are on their way to a better place" Percival says and everyone besides us starts clapping again
"The idea to pay their location costs may have been mine but i um couldn't have pulled it off without the help of your sheriff Tom Keller a man who represents the very best of riverdale" he says and everyone starts clapping again
"Keeping the good news I'm also pleased to Announce that Percival will be joining my department and he'll be working as a deputy working with me and my son and sometimes Avery to keep the peace and fullfill the promise of riverdale that has eluded us for so long" Tom says and everyone starts clapping again
I roll my eyes
After the meeting I make my way to Jughead when Percival gets infront of me
"Hello Avery I can't wait to work with you does this mean I get a fbi badge to get into the building?" He asks me and I scoff
"Not even Tom has one so no you can't only I can because I went through the training" I say and push passed him to Jughead and Archie
As I make my way to speak with Jughead and Archie heroald calls me "I'm with your sister right now I looked into that guy" he says
"And?" I ask
"Nothing he is a ghost like he never existed before riverdale" he says
"Hmm thank you I'll be in touch" I say and hang up
We sit down with Archie and tell him everything we know after our talk I went home and laid down
I got a text from Betty 'I'm home now with Archie we should meet up tomorrow. Archie filled me in'
I sent a quick 'sure thing' before laying back down with sweet pea
The whole town is in trouble.