Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It’s four o’clock on a Wednesday afternoon so the Serpents bar wasn’t crowded yet. Toni, Jughead and Sweet Pea were at a table procrastinating doing their homework, and a small girl who they had never seen before walked in. 

“Hey guys, look at this!” Sweet Pea said.

“There is definitely something wrong here.” Toni said as she looked up.

The girl walks up to their table and softly asks, “Where can I find FP Jones?”

Sweet Pea already in defense mode spat, “What gives you the right to see FP Jones?”

”Calm down Sweet Pea” Toni calmly said trying not to scare the girl who looked scared enough as it is.

As the girl slowly pulled up her sleeve to reveal the Serpents signature tattoo, there was an audible gasp from the table.

Jughead stood up “ Follow me” he said as he warily looked at his friends.

As soon as they were out of sight, Toni looked at Sweet Pea and said “I have a bad feeling about this, something is seriously wrong here.”

”I think so too” he said in return. “Let’s follow them!”

Just as they reached the top of the stairs, Jughead walked out of his father’s office and closed the door behind him. As soon as the door was shut Jughead had let out the breath that he had been holding and said “ Okay, here’s what I know. Her name is CJ, she’s nine and lived on the north side. She’s definitely a Serpent though, her tattoo is legit and her parents were Lex and Dan Anderson.”

”Lex Anderson!” They said in unison.

”That woman is the most violent Serpent to date even though she dropped off the face of the earth ten years ago after Dan died in that motorcycle crash.” Toni said.

“Yeah well, she committed suicide last night.” Jughead said as the color drained from Sweet Pea and Toni’s faces.

FP opened the door and said, “Come on in guys, I’m assuming you’ve been informed.”

”Yes sir, we have.” Sweet Pea responded as they followed FP into his office.

They all sat and listened to FP as he introduced CJ and told them about her. He explained that she would be living with Sweet Pea and Toni and that he would get homeschooling set up for her. He then told them to take her home and that they could take the rest of the week off to help her get settled in, and so he could make an announcement tonight to explain the situation to everyone else. 

“As soon as they left Jughead turned to his father and asked, “How bad is it really?” 

“It’s bad,” FP answered. “I want you to text them both tonight after I make the announcement, I didn’t want to talk about in front of her, so you’ll get the full story tonight.”

”No problem dad, I’ll talk to them about it.” Jughead said as he was leaving the office to go back down and start his homework.

As soon as they got back to the house Toni announced “I have a date with Cheryl tonight, so it will just be you and Sweet Pea tonight, but don’t worry he doesn’t bite.” As she walked into her room to get ready.

As Sweet Pea led CJ to his room he said, “So looks like it’s just you and me tonight kid. So let’s get to know each other.”

After they sat in silence for a minute, Sweet Pea spoke up, “You’re safe here, and it’s going to be okay. I know you’re scared because I was scared too when I first came here.” CJ slowly looked up to make eye contact with him as he continued. “I was abused too, my mom was in the military so she wasn’t home very often, and when she wasn’t home my dad would beat me, and when she was home I was too scared to tell her because I was afraid of what he would do to me when she left again. One day mom came home early to surprise us and when she walked in he was beating the crap out of me. After mom called the police to come and arrest my dad, she and I packed up and left. Dad’s in prison now and won’t ever be coming back.” 

Toni was about to walk in to tell them that she was leaving when she heard what Sweet Pea was telling CJ. She remembered how hard it was for him to tell her about this part of his life, so she just slid a note under his door instead of interrupting them.

Sweet Pea paused for a minute to collect himself when he noticed a note slide under the door that signaled Toni was leaving. He continued, “Even after the divorce was finalized she realized that she would have to go back to work soon because she still had to provide for me. That’s when mom and I joined the Serpents because she needed me to be protected and taken care of when she wasn’t there to do it. So the Serpents became my family. Mom died in Afghanistan about a year and a half later. The Serpents are my family and since you’re a Serpent you’re part of my family too just like I’m now part of yours.”

CJ stood up and walked over to Sweet Pea and to his surprise gave him a hug and quietly whispered, “I trust you.” All he could do was hug her back but when he did she cried out in pain. Sweet Pea felt sick, “I hit one of your bruises didn’t I?” He asked.

CJ just buried her head farther into his shoulder and said, “no, she was more violent than usual last week and she... she stabbed me.”

Sweet Pea was furious! “Are you okay? How many times?” He asked.

 “I think I’m okay but I don’t know how many times I don’t remember very much about that night.” CJ said. 

“It’s okay that you don’t remember kiddo. Can I see where she stabbed you?” Sweet Pea asked.

 As CJ nodded her head yes, Sweet Pea slowly lifted up the back of her shirt. He was seeing red. She wasn’t just stabbed, the word fag was carved into her back. 
“It’s not too bad, but why don’t you go sit on the bathroom counter so we can clean it. I’ll be in in just a minute, I have to make a quick phone call.”

Sweet Pea called Jughead but before he could even speak Jughead said, “I was just about to call you, dad made an announcement to the rest of the Serpents about this and there was something that he didn’t tell...” “I know!”, Sweet Pea interrupted, “I know the signs of abuse, you have to remember that I was once in her shoes. Now back to what I called you about, get over to my place and on the way stop by Pops to get Toni and Cheryl.” “Why, and why Cheryl too?” Jughead asked. “Because Cheryl is over here all the time, Toni can’t keep this from her, and it’s an emergency!” Sweet Pea responded and then hung up.

When they arrived Sweet Pea met them at the door and Cheryl spoke, “ We know and I’m happy to help.”

”Thank you Cheryl,” Sweet Pea said. “I’m sorry I interrupted your date. CJ and I talked and she said that her mother had stabbed her last week so I checked the wound and she wasn’t just stabbed, she has a word carved into her back.” They all winced at that. 
“ What does it say?” Toni asked.

“ See for your self because if I say it all three of you are going to deck me. Come in quietly because she’s jumpy.” Sweet Pea said.

“Hey kiddo I need a second opinion on your back. Is it ok if Toni, Cheryl, and Jughead come in?”

“Yeah,” CJ said quietly.

Toni brought Cheryl in first and said, “ Hi CJ, this is my girlfriend Cheryl, Cheryl this is CJ.”

CJ smiled and said, “ Your girlfriend is really pretty Toni.”

Cheryl blushed and as Toni said, “I know.” Jughead and Sweet Pea walked in.

“Alright let’s get this looked at” Sweet Pea said as he lifted the back of CJ’s shirt. They all paled as they saw the word fag carved into the girl’s back. Nobody spoke for a few minutes. Until Cheryl slowly approached CJ and said, “C do you like girls?”

“Yes, but mom said I’m not supposed to.” CJ mumbled.

 “It’s ok to like girls,” Toni said pulling both girls into a hug.

As Jughead left, Sweet Pea said, “All right guys we’ve all had a long day so let’s call it a night, and Cheryl I assume you’re staying.”

 “Always!” Responded Cheryl.

 And at that they called it a night.

Chapter Text

 CJ had been settled in for about a month now. She was now an official South Side Serpent and had a family to protect her. She was closest with a small group though, she thought of Sweet Pea and Fangs as brothers, Toni and Cheryl as sisters and thought Jughead was pretty cool too. Sometimes it was hard, like when her brothers fought with the Red Circle who were just North Side kids scared of the Black Hood. They came home bloody and bruised but nothing could prepare anyone for what was to happen next.

Jughead was walking down the hallway at South Side High School when Archie comes running in. "Jughead!" Archie yelled, "I have to get you out of here the police are coming in and arresting Serpents."

As Jughead was being dragged out the cops were coming in. They already had Toni in handcuffs and Sweet Pea saw two officers coming for him so he knew he had to act fast.

 Sweet Pea pulled off his mom's dog tags he made eye contact with Fangs, as he threw the dog tags at him he yelled, "Keep her safe And call Cheryl! Now get out of here!"

Fangs bolted out of there as fast as he could. As soon as he was a safe distance from the school he called Cheryl and explained what had happened, and to hurry up and get to the apartment. He then called Jughead to grab the tattoo kit for Cheryl because she had been on the fence about joining the Serpents but this just pushed her over the edge. 

Jughead had picked up the supplies that Fangs had asked for and was headed to Sweet Pea's apartment when he realized that Archie was still following him.

"Archie quit following me." Jughead snapped.

"Not happening Jug," Archie replied. "I'm here to make sure that the cops don't come after you."

As they walked up the stairs Jughead asked, "Why are the cops after Serpents?"

"Because you guys are selling jingle-jangle." Archie said.

"Archie listen to me! Serpents don't sell jingle-jangle, the Ghoulies do." Jughead said as he was unlocking the door.

When they walked in Jughead yelled, "CJ!"

CJ walked into the room confused as to why Jughead was here. It wasn't until she saw who was with him, she became scared. Shaking, she pulled out her switchblade from her jacket and said, "You"re the red circle kid who pulled the gun and fought my brothers."

As Cheryl and Fangs walked through the door, they weren't expecting to see CJ with her knife pulled. They both quickly assessed the situation. 

Cheryl calmly approached CJ and said, "C, put the knife away. Its okay we won't let anyone hurt you."

CJ slowly put the knife away and said, “Hurt me all you want but stay away from my brothers.”

Archie, Cheryl, and Jughead just stared. Archie was completely clueless, Jughead had heard about the flashbacks, and Cheryl had witnessed a few. But Fangs and Sweet Pea talked her down from most of them and Fangs could tell that this wasn’t a flashback.

Up until this point Fangs was focused on CJ. He looked up at Archie and said, “What the hell Jug! The Red Circle Psycho knows where we live now!”

”Wait a minute.” Jughead said, “Archie you and Veronica swore that wasn’t you guys! Get out! Get out NOW!”

As Archie left Jughead said, “I’m going to follow him to make sure he leaves and go talk to his makeshift gang.”

As soon as they left CJ ran over to Fangs and cried, “You’re okay!” As she wrapped her arms around him.

Fangs picked her up, sat her on the couch put the dog tags around her neck and said, “Sweet Pea said that these will keep you safe.”

 “But these are his dog tags. What happened? Where is he?” CJ said in a panicked voice as a tear rolled down her cheek.

 Fangs and Cheryl explained the situation, there was a police raid and they were after Serpents for selling jingle-jangle and that he and Jughead were the only ones who got out.

”Serpents don’t sell jingle-jangle.” CJ said, “Everyone knows that.”

“Sheriff Keller is in a corrupt system that needs to be changed, he needs to be tracking down the north side delinquents with guns instead of arresting innocent high schoolers.” Cheryl explained.

 “Speaking of Serpents, you ready Cheryl?” Fangs asked.

“More than ever!” Cheryl Smiled.

As Fangs was finishing up Cheryl’s tattoo he looked over to CJ and said, “Yo know where Toni is hiding it, go get it.”

CJ came back holding two black boxes, as Fangs said, “Alright Cheryl it’s iniation time.”

“Serpent law number one!” Fangs shouts.

 “No Serpent stands alone!” Cheryl confidentially yells in return.

”Number two!”

“If a Serpent is killed or imprisoned, their family will be taken care of!”

“Number three!”

“A Serpent never sheds it's skin!”

 “Number four!”

 “No Serpent is left for dead!”

 “Number five!”

“A Serpent never betrays her own!”

 “Number six!”

 “In unity, there is strength!”

Fangs smiled and looked at CJ who smiled, nodded and said, “Congratulations you’re officially a Serpent!”

 CJ opened the first box and presented Cheryl with a red Serpents jacket.

“Omg!” Cheryl said with a stunned look on her face because she had only ever seen black ones.

“And...” Fangs said, “open the other box. Each Serpent has their own weapon for protection and we know from Toni that you are not a fan of knives and and you are better with a bow so we present you with a new bow.”

”This is amazing! Thank you so much!” Cheryl said as she pulled them both into a hug.

A few minutes later Fangs phone rang, “It’s FP” he said as stood up to take the call. 

“What the hell happened with CJ ?” FP asked.

 “You know what happened with the Red Circle and the gun? The guy who did it followed Jughead to the apartment. It was some redhead kid named Archie 

“I’ll call his father next, and are you sure that you and Cheryl have this under control?” FP asked. 
 “Yes we’re sure. How long until they come back? Fangs said.

 “Since there is no evidence they can’t be held for more than twenty-four hours. I will call later but according to Toni, Pea is a mess.” FP responded.

The rest of the day went smoothly and after they put CJ to bed, they sat on the couch and talked.

 “We both know it’s coming,” Cheryl said. “But how do I help?” She asked.

 “Just be there when she needs you because depending on the dream or the severity of it she reacts differently.” Fangs said.

It was around two thirty in the morning when Fangs heard an ear piercing scream. He bolted to Sweet Pea’s room and Cheryl wasn’t far behind. When they woke her up, Fangs instantly wrapped his arms around her and whispered, “shhh, you’re safe, it’s okay.”

 “I remember,” CJ cried. “I remember that night.” 

 At that Cheryl and Fangs shed a few silent tears, they both knew that the night she was talking about was when she got the word carved into her back. Nothing else was said as CJ cried herself to sleep.

Cheryl woke up the next morning and realized that it was eleven thirty. She looked over and saw that Fangs and CJ hadn’t moved from last night and were sound asleep. She got up as quietly as she could and headed to the kitchen to make some coffee.

 It was almost noon when she heard the door swing open and saw FP, Jughead, Sweet Pea, and Toni walk in.

As soon as Toni walked in Cheryl scooped her up and passionately kissed her. Once they had stopped Cheryl whispered, “C had a really hard night last night, she remembered what happened the night her mother carved into her back. She and Fangs are still asleep.”

Cheryl stayed in the living room with Toni, FP and Jughead while Sweet Pea snuck into his room where he found Fangs holding CJ, both still asleep. He sat down on the bed and gently shook 
 them awake.

 “Hey man, you’re back.” Fangs said with a yawn.

CJ sat up and launched her self into Sweet Pea’s arms. “You’re home!” She said.

And at that they spent the rest of the day relaxing and talking about the future.

Chapter Text

Archie was not having a good day. His dad had found out about the gun and was now grounded, Cheryl was ranting about something, Reggie was avoiding him, and worst of all principle Weatherbee just announced that South Side High was closing and some students were coming here.

Reggie on the other hand, realized that he blindly followed Archie and was part of the incidents. He had forgotten that Serpents and Bulldogs weren’t that different. 

On the South Side however, the Serpents were celebrating because their hell hole of a school had closed.

 “Wait,” Sweet Pea said, “CJ is not staying home alone with us so far away.”

 “She could come with us!” Toni said.

 “She could stay and do her school work in the library.” Fangs added.

 “Sounds good guys.” Jughead said. “But the school closing has Hiram Lodge written all over it. The school closed because it was deemed a public health hazard because we had a meth lab in the basement. The school doesn’t even have a basement!”

The next day, when the group of Serpents got to school Cheryl was waiting for them at the entrance and along with the rest of the group was wearing her Serpent jacket.”

 “Watch out,” Cheryl warned as she grabbed Toni’s hand. “Archie and Veronica are ready to be your tour guides.”

 “Well,” Fangs said, “Let’s just get this over with.” As the group started to head inside.”

 “Hello friends,” Veronica greeted as soon as they walked in the door.

 But before she could get any further Jughead cut her off. “Nope! After the incidents from the past month you are not coming anywhere near us.” He said.

Archie and Veronica took a step back as Reggie took a step up.

 “Hi!” Reggie said as he got a glare from multiple Serpents. “I’m Reggie, and I will be your tour guide. Now I know we got off on the wrong foot a while ago but I would like to apologize for my behavior on that night, I had no idea about the first incident, and made a bad judgment call in joining the chaos.” The Serpents nodded as Archie flipped him off.

 “Is there any place you would like to see first?” Reggie asked.

 “The library would be great.” Sweet Pea said.

 As Reggie pointed out places on their way to the library, he thought that the library was an odd place to start, and when did Cheryl become a Serpent. It wasn’t until the group walked into the library that he realized they had a kid with them.

Fangs and Sweet Pea guided her over to a table, gave her a hug and said, “We’ll be back to check on you later.”

 Reggie led them out of the library and thought maybe the Serpents weren’t as bad as others made them out to be.

 They stopped at the office and Reggie said, “Okay, I never got your names.”

 “Fangs”

 “Toni”

 “Sweet Pea”
 

 “Alright,” Reggie said, “Jughead, Cheryl I already know you guys.” So let’s Finish this tour up.

It was lunch period and the Serpents had claimed a table. So far school wasn’t that bad, it was a definite upgrade from what they were used to, and sure they got a lot of dirty looks but anything was better than Ghoulies.

Reggie approached the table and said, “Is this seat taken?”

 The Serpents looked at each other questionably and Toni said, “It’s yours if you want it.”

As soon as he sat down, Cheryl was demanding answers, “What do you want Reggie, we’re not idiots, spill!”

 “Okay! I need a new friend group because I am no longer associating myself with Archie and his friend group. I also thought that you guys seemed pretty cool and I wanted to get to know you.” 
 “You seem like a decent guy,” Sweet Pea said. “But I have a couple of questions, why did you do it? Will you trust us? And will you defend us?”

“The reason I did it is because Archie had black mail on me because a prank backfired and Archie took the blame for it when it was my fault. I will trust you guys because you haven’t given me any reason not to, and yes I will defend you guys.”

 “Okay,” Fangs said, “You seem like a decent guy and we could hangout but... could you prove it because we don’t typically let outsiders in?”

 “Test me!” Reggie responded.

The boys looked at Cheryl and Toni who smirked and then leaned in for a particularly heated kiss.

 There was a lot of pointing and laughing coming from the football team, which of course was being lead by none other than the ass hat himself.

Reggie stands up on his chair and yells, “Archie why are you turning this into a problem? This is nothing compared to you and Veronica in that broom closet yesterday!”

 Archie stood up and yelled in return, “How the hell did you know that was us?”

 “One, you two weren’t exactly quiet, and  Veronica is the only person who calls you Archikins. Two, you just admitted to it.” Reggie said as he sat back down.

Reggie turned back around with a table of Serpents starring at him.

 “That was pretty awesome!” Sweet Pea said. “You’ve proven your self.”

 The day was still going smoothly, Reggie had told them that basketball tryouts, and auditions for the musical were on Thursday and Friday. Sweet Pea had decided to tryout for the basketball team, while Toni, Fangs, and Cheryl were going to audition for the musical and Jughead agreed to be on the film crew fo the musical so overall it was a pretty good day. That was until Sweet Pea and Fangs got a text from CJ in the middle of sixth period that said Veronica.

“You got it too,” Sweet Pea said as he met up with Fangs in the hallway. 

 “Yep,” Fangs said with a sigh.

 When they got there they saw Veronica cornering CJ.

 “Back off our sister Veronica!” Sweet Pea snapped.

Veronica turned around with a smile and said, “Oh that’s who this is! I was just wondering because she looks to young to be a transfer but she looks like a Serpent.”

As Veronica left they were trying to get the full story and ease CJ back to calm, an announcement came over the loudspeaker from principal Weatherbee that said, “All Southside transfers come to the atrium immediately!”

Fangs and Sweet Pea brought CJ with them just to be safe. They met up with Cheryl, Toni, Jughead, and Reggie was curious so he tagged along too.

When they got there they were met by Archie, Veronica and principle Weatherbee staring at a snake spray painted on the school seal.

“I found this in the hallway on my way to meet Ronnie in the library.” Archie said with a smirk.

 “Archie could you be any more obvious?” Jughead said in return.

 “Enough boys!” Weatherbee boomed, “Starting now any more gang affiliation at this school will not be tolerated. This includes jackets, bikes, tattoos, or anything of that nature, anyone who breaks that rule will be expelled! Are we clear?”

 The Serpents nodded their heads in agreement, and walked away but not before Cheryl yelled, “Serpents never shed their skins!”

So much for a half decent first day at Riverdale High.

Chapter Text

It was Thursday morning and the Serpents were ready to start the day. It had been decided that CJ would go with Fangs, Toni and Cheryl to auditions for the musical instead of going with Sweet Pea to basketball tryouts.

Reggie on the other hand was freaking out, he was trying out for basketball. He wasn’t even good at basketball, but he had actual feelings for Sweet Pea. He liked him, like a lot and he was going to make a move.

School went by slowly but it was finally time to show that the Southside wasn’t what people made it out to be.

“Archie we need to talk!” Veronica yelled, “We’ve terrorized a nine year old! A nine year old Serpent! Her brothers are dangerous. We need to apologize.”

 “I know Ronnie.” Archie said, “I feel terrible about it. I say we apologize at auditions because Jug, Fangs, Cheryl, Toni, and Kevin will be there.”

 “That’s a good plan.” Veronica replied, “But why Kevin?”

 “Betty was scared that Kevin was going cruising in the woods, so she had me follow him. He’s not cruising, Joaquin is still here.”

 “What!” Veronica said with a shocked look on her face.

 “I know.” Archie said, “auditions?”

 “Auditions!” Veronica replied.

As the group of Serpents were about to walk into auditions they were stopped by Kevin.

 “A couple of things!” Kevin said, “Fangs I would like to have you as my co-director,” Fangs smiled and nodded in agreement. “And, I need you guys to meet me in fox forest tonight, Sweet Pea too. He’s ready for you to know.”

 All of the Serpents just gave Kevin a confused look and nodded because they were not going to go against the sheriff’s son. As Betty whispered to Jughead, “I’m coming too.” “I know” Jughead said as he kissed Betty’s head.

 Auditions were just beginning. Meanwhile Sweet Pea was about to leave the locker room when Reggie stopped him.

 “Hey,” Reggie said, “This is kinda weird and I understand if you want to avoid me from now on and pretend like this never happened but I like you and...” Sweet Pea cut off Reggie’s rambling with a kiss that quickly became more heated. When they stopped, Sweet Pea said with a blush, “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that.”

 “So I’ll take that as a yes!” Reggie said with a grin as they both headed to the court.

 “You know it!” Sweet Pea replied.

Auditions were just finishing up and Archie and Veronica walked out on to the stage and Archie said, “We would like to make a public apology to the Serpents we have treated you guys like crap and we’re sorry. I only bought the gun because I was scared of the black hood coming back for my dad and I only used it on you guys because I was scared of you guys. So I propose a truce we don’t go after yo and you don’t come after us. The red circle has also been permanently disbanded. And this deal includes the kid!”

 “Alright Archie!” Jughead said, “That sounds fair. But she has a name, her name is CJ.”

 “Sounds good!” Veronica said. 

 It was six o’clock and basketball tryouts were supposed to be over a half hour ago but Sweet Pea was nowhere to be seen.

“I’ll go to the locker room to look for him.” Fangs said as he started down the hallway.

As Fangs walked into the locker room he appeared to be the only one in there but as he walked down the rows of lockers he did a double take because there were Sweet Pea and Reggie in the middle of a pretty heated make out session.

With a smirk on his face Fangs said, “Did you two even make it to tryouts?”

 As Sweet Pea and Reggie pulled away from each other Sweet Pea said, “I’m in the running for captain,” and Reggie said, “I can’t play basketball to save my life!”

 “Okay, but we need to get going, Kevin wants to meet all of us in Fox forest tonight.” Fangs  said, “you can bring your new boyfriend too!”

 “Okay Reggie,” Sweet Pea said. “If we are really going to do this than you have to be okay with my sister CJ, we were abused as kids, she got the worst of it and hasn’t recovered, so she’s jumpy and  doesn’t trust people so I want her to trust you.”

 “Of course!” Reggie replied.

Sweet Pea and Reggie walked out of the locker room hand and hand. 

“Well it’s about time you got a date!” Toni said to Sweet Pea as he walked out of the locker room. 
 “Shut up Toni!” Sweet Pea blushed as he and Reggie made their way over to CJ.

 "CJ, this is Reggie, hopefully he'll be around for a while. He’s a good guy, okay.” Sweet Pea said.

"Hey, CJ I'm Reggie and don't worry, i won't hurt you or your brother." Reggie said as he held out his hand to give her a fist bump.

CJ looked at Reggie, nodded slowly and accepted the fist bump.

"Alright!" Cheryl said, "Kevin wanted to meet us in fox forest for some reason so we better not be late, you can come too Reggie."

 The group of Serpents with Betty and Reggie were waiting in the spot in fox forest that Kevin said to meet him in. CJ was on Sweet Pea’s back because they were deep in the Northside and lots of black hood attacks had been reported in these woods so he wasn’t letting her out of his sight.

Suddenly Kevin appeared out of the brush and said, “follow me!”

 The group followed him farther into the woods to a small tent.

 They all jumped when a shadowy figure stepped out. CJ yelped and dug her head further into Sweet Pea’s shoulder.

Reggie acted quickly as he sensed that this could be dangerous as the group drew their knives and Cheryl reached for an arrow. He pushed Betty behind him and grabbed CJ off of Sweet Pea’s back as Jughead lunged at the figure.

 The figure said, “calm down Fangs, it’s me!” The group froze they knew that voice anywhere, “Joaquin?” Fangs said shocked. 
 “I never left, I’ve been here in the woods the whole time.” Joaquin said.

 Betty stepped up to be with Jughead and said, “Okay, this explains a lot. You’re why Kevin was being all secretive and going to the woods at night.”

“Pack your stuff Joaquin, you’re staying at my place.” Sweet Pea said as he clapped Joaquin on the shoulder. “You also need to meet the new members.”

 As they started walking back to the bikes Sweet Pea announced, “Everyone is staying over at my place tonight.” 

Once CJ was in bed every one was seated in the living room.

 “Alright,” Joaquin said, “What’s with the kid? Because I know that none of you guys have siblings.”

 Reggie gave Sweet Pea a confused look.

 “Ok,” Sweet Pea said, “Kevin, Betty, Reggie, the Serpents voted and decided it would be easier to pass CJ off as my sister instead of having to explain the whole fiasco, but Reggie I just want you to know that I never lied to you. We were both abused and I do think of her as my sister.”
 In response Reggie threw his arm over Sweet Pea’s shoulder, kissed him on the cheek, and whispered, “It’s okay, I still think you’re perfect.”

 Sweet Pea continued, “So CJ came to us from the north side, with a Serpent tattoo. She walked into the Wyrm and asked to see FP Jones. Do you guys remember that suicide case about two months ago?”

 “Yeah,” Betty said, “the woman shot her self in the head. Mom came home really distressed that day.”

“Well,” Sweet Pea said before he paused, “come on kiddo I know you’re listening,” he said and CJ walked out of her room.

As CJ curled up in Sweet Pea’s lap she asked, “Were my parents Serpents?”

 “Yeah,” Fangs sighed, “yeah they were, but they were dangerous and not good people. After your father died your mother got crazier and was exiled from the Serpents.”

 “But then why do I have this?” CJ asked pulling up her sleeve.

 “We don’t know,” Sweet Pea said, “Do you remember when you got it.”

CJ nodded, “I was seven and this guy came over, he fooled around with my mother for a while and then gave me this tattoo.”

 The group sat there in shock. An older Serpent had broke Serpent law. But who?

“Okay, I think we should call it a night.” Fangs said.