Unpinning her red hair and unzipping her silky dress, Andy slipped into bed that night feeling calm and accomplished.
If only she could see Betty and Alice Cooper scrubbing a dead man's blood out of the carpet.
--
Since Archie and Veronica walked to school together and Betty and Jughead walked together, Andy found herself walking alone in the rain. While she could have grabbed an umbrella, she instead embraced the weather and let it dampen her hair.
When she greeted her friends at school, Andy found Jughead and Veronica locked in a slight argument.
"Are you trying to manage me right now?" Jughead questioned in disbelief.
"Jughead, why don't you come over with your dad and sit down with my dad, and hash this out like civilized humans, face-to-face?" Veronica suggested.
"Okay, one condition: your dad comes to Sunnyside Trailer Park. I want him to see the people that he's gonna be displacing." Andy was reminded that Sweet Pea was one of those people.
"Fine," V agreed. "And trust me, no one is being displaced."
Interrupting at the perfect time, Kevin ran in and began to spill the inside information that only a sheriff's son could have.
"Oh, my God, did you guys hear? My dad's scanner's blowing up. The police found another dead body this morning. There's blood everywhere." After a series of questions from his peers, Kevin continued. "The investigation's ongoing but apparently it was a gruesome, gangland-style execution at the motel, with blood and brains splattered all over the duvet."
"Okay, Kev, we get it," Archie scolded.
"I gotta go." Betty immediately rushed to the bathroom, and Andy followed after a moment of hesitation, leaning against the outside of the bathroom door.
Creaking it open a few inches, Andy was confronted with the unpleasant noises of Betty's gagging. "Betty, are you okay? Do you need some help?" Cheryl's voice asked.
"I'm fine, Cheryl," Betty lied.
"Let me grab you a towel--"
"I said I'm fine." Betty insisted.
After a brief pause, Cheryl responded, "You have puke on your collar," and pushed past Andy into the hall.
Despite Betty's protests, Andy helped clean her friend up. While she wanted to pepper her with questions, she refrained considering Betty's fragile state.
--
While Andy tried to resume her normal activities, she couldn't help but notice every strange thing that was happening around her town: Betty puking at the mention of a dead man, the general mystery of Chic Cooper, Hiram Lodge buying random land all over town, some skinny man talking to Archie a lot.
Andy hadn't asked Archie about the last thing, assuming that it was a teacher or someone he worked with at the Lodge's. This was her assumption until the same man appeared sitting at the Andrews' kitchen table when she and Archie returned home that night. "Hey kids . . . Uh, this is -"
"Agent Adams. Nice to meet you." This was odd. Andy had seen him and Archie talking multiple times before. Why was he acting like they'd never met? "Your father and I were just finishing up."
--
Fred had made the twins go upstairs to wait for him, where Andy questioned her brother about Agent Adams.
"You know that guy," Andy stated, standing over Archie as he sat on his bed.
He jumped at her forceful tone. "No, I don't. How would I know that guy?" He lied.
Andy rolled her eyes. "You should know by now that you can't lie to me, Arch. That's bullshit. You think I haven't noticed a strange man in a black car hanging out around school and around our house? I thought he was like a weird friend from your internship or something. But an FBI agent? What are you doing talking to an FBI agent?"
Archie sighed. "He's been pressing me for information on Mr. Lodge. He thinks he's involved with shady mob stuff."
Andy shot him a look. "Well, is he?"
Their father interrupted their conversation, strolling into Archie's room. "That agent left."
"What did he want?" Archie asked, acting stupid.
"Apparently the FBI is assisting in a crackdown on undocumented labor from Canada. They think that maybe over the years I've hired some of these guys, paid them cash under the table. Yeah, couple of times, I looked the other way--"
"But they can't take you down for that, can they?"
"Oh sure, they can. Son, it's the FBI. They're requesting my files for the last seven years." Andy sighed and looked at her brother. He needed to fix this.
--
Andy eavesdropped from the side of her house as Archie ran out to talk to Agent Adams.
"Agent Adams, you stay the hell away from my dad!"
"Scary, isn't it? How quickly I can make things difficult for you and your family?"
"You said they'd be protected. You gave me a freaking contract!"
"Aw, gee. Poutine did not owe Lenny Kowalski anything close to $86,000. I believe you're feeding me false information because you're protecting Hiram Lodge, which means you're compromised." Andy sighed and shook her head. Archie, what the hell have you done? "Basically, the only thing you can offer me now is access. So I need you to wake up, stop dicking around, and plant a bug in Hiram's office. Then, he'll slip up and say something incriminating, and I'll record it and arrest him. A nice happy ending. You and your family will be safe."
This scenario sounded great to Andy. But at the same time, Andy's observant nature made her notice a few strange things. First of all, why would an FBI agent recruit a minor to do his work? Second of all, why would the FBI threaten their family?
"I don't believe you, that you'll leave me and my family alone. I think you'll do anything you can to destroy Hiram Lodge. Even if it means destroying us."
"You better make sure it doesn't come to that." As Andy heard the car door shut and the hum of a car driving away, she hung her head and cursed her brother for his unreasonable bias towards Hiram Lodge.
--
"Archie, you have to plant that bug," Andy insisted.
"Andy, I can't. I'll get Hiram to help us out of this." She looked incredulously at her brother.
"How the hell is Hiram going to help us out of this? Archie, if Hiram is doing the shady deals that the FBI thinks he is, doesn't he deserve to suffer the consequences?"
Her brother stayed silent.
"Look, I'm not even convinced this guy is a real FBI agent. You're a minor, Archie. Why would he ask a minor to plant a bug in a mobster's office? What kind of FBI agent does that? But at the same time . . . if you don't plant that bug, and Dad suffers the consequences . . . it's on you," Andy stated coldly and stepped out of the room.
--
(Hi sorry no SP and also sorry that it's been a while. I'm trying my best I promise! This is a slight filler tbh but I think it lets more of Andy's personality shine. Vote, comment, and have a wonderful day!)