The coffee in my hand was warm to the touch as I shifted through my locker at the end of the school day. The halls were somewhat quiet today and they were quickly clearing out so I made sure to close my door a little slower so it didn't echo down the hall.
"Savanna!"
I stopped walking when I heard Betty's voice calling behind me. "Hey, Betts. What's up?"
"Look, I uh... I just wanted to apologize, about this whole moving back home thing. I should've talked to you first before you had to find out from Jughead," She apologized as she wrung her hands while we walked through the halls.
There was a part of me that didn't want to accept the apology, but I felt like I had to, especially if I was going to be over at said house often to see my boyfriend. "It's fine, Betty. It's a weird situation, but it's not your fault, so I get it."
"On another topic, how would you feel about joining me for a Junior FBI program?" She gave me a guilty smile. "I'm on a mission to get Kevin on board, and I figured since you're looking into criminal justice this may be something you're interested in?"
"Oh, my God, yes!" I couldn't hold back my excitement at the idea of possibly getting a small jumpstart into my focus for college. "Yes, totally. Is there any chance I could get Felicity too? We're doing the same major and this would be so good for us."
Betty clapped her hands together. "Perfect, yeah. I'll send you all the information soon, okay? I've gotta run and get our fourth member." She pointed towards Kevin who was standing by his locker. I nodded in response before she ran to convince Kevin to join us in this new adventure.
"There you are!" Veronica suddenly appeared in front of me with a worried expression on her face. "We have to go! Mrs. Andrews is meeting with Mom in 20 minutes and we have to be there." She grabbed my wrist and tugged me along out to the parking lot where her car was parked.
As much as I didn't want to go sit in a prison cell and listen to the adult talk, I knew Mom would appreciate us being there to help her and at least see what she's going through. The building was chilly and dark, as I suspected, but Mrs. Andrews was there to lead the way to where she could speak with Mom privately about what was ahead.
"Seems that the district attorney is pinning her entire case on linking you to Hiram's would-be murderer, Tall Boy Petite," Mrs. Andrews began as she worked through her files.
"Which is absurd," Mom interjected, "I mean, I've never even had any interaction with the man."
Mary nodded in understanding but continued to explain, "Well, there is still the issue of the large sum of money the police found in your monogrammed bag in Tall Boy's apartment."
"Obviously, Hiram planted it there to frame me."
"FP will testify that he searched Tall Boy's apartment right after he died. He'll swear that there was no bag of money in evidence at that time."
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."
I shrugged. "Hopefully. I guess we'll see."
"In the meantime," Felicity hummed as she pulled her laptop out of her backpack. "We have a project to do."
The next hour or so was spent on us procrastinating in the midst of getting some homework done until we had to leave for our meeting. Veronica eventually returned prior to La Bonne Nuit's opening and informed me that she set up a meeting with the federal prosecutor to handle everything with Pop so I was sure to hear about that later in the night.
"I hate this shirt," I grumbled to Felicity as we entered the building where the Junior FBI meeting was taking place. We claimed a table for ourselves next to Betty and Kevin amongst the four other people in the room. The lack of turnout was enough to make me question how this training was going to go, but I was giving Charles the benefit of the doubt and kept an open mind.
"For our first session, I thought we'd start right in the deep end of the swimming pool. With serial killers. Now, I've put together a little exercise to kick us off. This is a crime scene where six victims were found buried along a riverbank in the Pacific Northwest. Now, before I start filling in all the details, any guesses on which of these men is the murderer?"
I glanced over the mug shots on the projector screen. "What Criminal Minds episode is this from?" I joked quietly to Felicity who snorted at the comment.
"Let's deliver the profile," She mumbled back as she shifted through the papers spread out in front of us.
"It's the third man," Betty spoke up as we all looked over at her.
Charles nodded. "That's correct, Betty. How did you know that?"
The blonde seemed shocked at her answer. She shook her head slightly. "I don't know. Just... intuition?"
Slightly taken off guard, Charles went back to his topic. "Okay, then. Let's try another one." The screen flipped to three more pictures. "Which one's the serial killer? The term serial killer is relatively new. It wasn't until the 1970s that the phrase 'serial murderer' or 'serial homicide' were-"
"It's the one in the middle."
Betty's comment pulled the lecture to a stop as Charles looked at her. "Correct again. Your intuition is like a sixth sense. Let's go again." The picture changed again as the class turned away from giving Betty their confused looks to pay attention. "When defining a serial killer, it usually refers to someone who committed three or more murders-"
"None of them did it."
I bit my lip to refrain from groaning in frustration about the fact that she was continuously interrupting the information Charles was sharing. I could tell multiple people felt the same as the tension in the room seemed to rise with each answer.
"Excellent work, Betty," Charles complimented. "Not many people have that kind of raw instinct."
"Where was this intuition when you were trying to find the Black Hood or Gargoyle King?" Felicity whispered as she played with the pencil in her hand.
I scoffed, "That's what I'm wondering."
"Now, can any of you guess what the murderers all have in common?" Charles asked.
"Nothing," Betty responded, "Isn't that kind of the point?"
Felicity, to my surprise, raised her hand. "What about serial killer genes?" When Charles agreed to her question, I looked at her in surprise. She shrugged. "I did a little research."
"Excellent point, Felicity. They all have one thing in common. The specific set of genes, the MAOA and CDH13, also known as the serial killer genes."
The remainder of the lesson covered how serial killers are identified and some famous cases that were well known before we were dismissed for the evening. I snuck my way over to the Jones household, where Jughead had stopped by in search of some old books, just so we could see each other for a little bit.
"Hi, Mr. Jones!" I greeted as I stepped inside the door. Said adult was sitting on the couch in his sheriff uniform and looked up at my entry.
"Hey, Savanna. Jughead's in the basement book hunting if you need him." He motioned towards the open basement door.
"Okay, thanks!" I made my way down the steps to where Jughead was shifting through some old boxes stacked against the wall. He clearly didn't hear me walking in so I tiptoed behind him before hopping on his back. "Hope you missed me."
He jumped at my action and turned to face me before rolling his eyes. "I always miss you. How was your first training session?"
"Would've been better if Betty stopped interrupting every two seconds," I grumbled as I climbed off him to sit on the floor. "Whatcha looking for?"
"Turns out my teacher, Mr. Chipping is a ghost writer for the Baxter Brothers and I'm trying to find all my old books," He explained as he grabbed another box to look through. When he found the collection in mind, he set it on the floor in front of us. "I used to worship these guys. When all the other kids wanted to be superheroes, I wanted to be a Baxter brother."
I smiled as I pulled a book into my hand, dusting the spine off as I looked it over. "I've definitely read a few of these."
"My dad used to get me one of these every year for my birthday," Jughead reminisced as he continued to observe the collection he had. "I wonder why he stopped?"
"Outgrew them, maybe? I used to love the Magic Treehouse series, but eventually, I had to move to better things," I joked as I placed his book back in the box.
Jughead shook his head. "I could never outgrow these. How's everything going with your parents?"
I groaned and flopped back on the rug beneath us. "Well, it's stressful, to say the least. Veronica's sorting through most of it herself because I... well, I don't even know where to start, Jug. I never knew how any of this operated. It's always been so confusing to me, and I just feel kinda useless in this whole thing. I want to help Ronnie, I do, but I don't know how," I murmured.
Jughead set his books aside for a moment to focus on me and the topic at hand. "I know it may feel that way, but I promise you're not. Veronica will accept the support, nonetheless, but if you really want to get involved, ask her what you can do."
"Maybe," I sighed as I closed my eyes and ran a hand through my hair. "I didn't think I would ever have to deal with a parent in court ever again." I let out a deep breath, taking in the silence for a brief moment to just recenter myself and try to relieve the stress.
"You, more than anyone, know how important it is to keep Hiram where he is," Jughead explained as he set his chin on my knee while his fingers ran along my thigh. "I know it can be hard and stressful, but offering Veronica some type of sanity right now is more important than you think."
"I wish you didn't have to leave," I whispered as I opened my eyes again to look at him. "I know Stonewall is really good for you, but I miss you."
Jughead smiled slightly at the comment and leaned forward to press a soft kiss on my lips. "I'm never too far away, babe. You know that, but just in case you happened to forget, I don't mind reminding you."
A small squeal left my lips as Jughead scooped me off the rug, his hands guiding me to stand on my feet in front of him. My fingers played with the hair poking out of his beanie against the nape of his neck as I cuddled into his chest, just enjoying the peaceful moment we had at hand for once.
"You'll always have me," He reassured, "Whether I'm at Stonewall or here, I'm not going anywhere anytime soon, and you, my love, are stuck with me for the long run, got it?"
--