❝ SEASON TWO, EPISODE TWO ❞
🦉 Nighthawks 🦉

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Isabella sat in the Blue and Gold office with Betty, Veronica and Kevin discussing ideas to save Pop Tate's Chock'lit Shoppe, the heart of Riverdale itself. "We need to host an event at Pop's that reminds the town of simpler times. Like a throwback to when the Shoppe first opened its doors," Betty expressed as she stood in front of her three friends. "Betty... I like a good milkshake as much as any girl, and Pop's puts Serendipity 3's to shame, but why this hill to die on?" Veronica questioned their blonde companion. "Orange freezes with my mom and Polly after ballet. Chicken noodle soup with my dad after ice skating," Betty began with a nostalgic smile on her face.

"Grilled cheeses with Archie on the last day of summer vacation. Cheesy fries every Sunday with Belle," Betty continued sharing a smile with Isabella who wholeheartedly understood where Betty stood with this. "It's where I met you for the first time, V," Betty continued before turning to Kevin, "It's where I met you for the first time." Veronica turned her head to Isabella, directing the question to her. "Every Thursday night, before my mom got sick, we would go to Pop's for dinner. We made it a mission to try everything on the menu at least once so Pop would make new things for us to try, and we'd help him decide what new items to add," Isabella told them, a happy smile on her face.

"It's where I started falling in love with Jughead, even if I didn't know it then. And Jug... he may lose his dad... but maybe we can save this one place for him, for all of us," Isabella finished off as she stood with Betty, the blonde wrapped her arm around Isabella's waist and the brunette wrapped her arm around Betty's shoulders, both pouting hopefully at Veronica and Kevin. Before either could speak, there was a knock on the door followed by a man walking in holding a large bouquet of yellow roses and a white box with who knows inside. "Hey, Veronica. May I speak to you?" The man spoke. "Daddy?" Veronica replied. "Daddy?" Kevin, Betty and Isabella said in unison before watching the two leave.

"We all just witnessed the same thing, right?" Kevin asked the two girls, they shared a look before Isabella sat down and sighed. "So Hiram Lodge has made an appearance. This oughta be interesting," Isabella told the two. "Very interesting," Betty muttered before grabbing her bag and leaving the room. "How are you holding up?" Kevin asked as he leaned on the desk looking directly at Isabella. "Taking it day by day. I'm good, Kev," Isabella assured him, her tone was strong. "Glad to hear that," Kevin said to her, it had only been around two months since her mother had died but she was keeping up with her promise to keep pushing through.

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Isabella made her way down the hall like a woman on a mission, Betty and Veronica spotted her but didn't dare step in her way. She made her way down the front steps and climbed straight into her car, speeding her way to the Southside of Riverdale. She reached the building she was looking for pretty quickly and got out of her car, she looked up to see a face of someone she had fought in the ring against a few times; though they never held any spite towards each other. "He just went inside, figured you'd appreciate the call," Leaflet, as she knew him, spoke with a nod towards the building. "Who bought him?" Isabella asked. "Tall Boy did, Viper," Leaflet said before walking away.

Isabella made her way inside, she nodded her head to the familiar faces until she was stopped by two ghoulies. "Snake charmer is busy," Tweedle-dee spoke first. "So wait your turn, Viper," Tweedledum added while she glared at the two. "Get the fuck out of my way," Isabella warned them, she stepped closer and tightened her hands into fists causing both males to feel uneasy, they had seen her in the ring. Isabella stormed her way into the room right before Jughead and Penny could agree to the terms between them, "Don't even think about it, Jones." Jughead pulled his hand away and looked at her like a child caught stealing from a cookie jar.

"If it isn't the little Viper," Penny spoke as she stood up and smirked, "I've missed seeing you in the ring." Isabella clenched her jaw as she walked up to Jughead, "We're leaving." He sent her a defiant look, it was clear in his eyes that he didn't want to leave, he needed to save his dad somehow. "We were in the middle of a deal, Viper," Penny spoke, Isabella turned to the woman and sized her up easily. "Not anymore," Isabella snapped out as Jughead stood up and stepped closer to Isabella in case he needed to pull her away. "Fine. It's your call," Penny said with a smirk, Isabella grabbed Jughead's hand and pulled him towards the door.

"FP will make many friends in prison," Penny told them offhandedly causing both teens to stop, Isabella felt Jughead's grip tighten while she tensed up. Isabella turned to her, "No drug deals. I don't trust you." Penny smirked, "How about something else instead then?" Isabella raised a brow while Jughead watched anxiously, he didn't like where this was going. "I've watched you win almost every fight at Butchers. You only lost one out of forty fights," Penny expressed, her words practically told her that Penny had been watching the whole time, neither Noah or Isabella knew that. Jughead was impressed hearing that, he knew she was good but not that good, he assumed she was fighting girls.

"Come fight for me at Executioner," Penny offered making Isabella's breath hitch. Butcher's ring had rules, limits and most of all, everybody wins in the prize pool. Executioners had no rules, no limits and worst of all, only the winner of the fight gets cash and that angered those who didn't win.  "I won't just fight for you, I need a goal set," Isabella told her. "If you can win me ten million, I'd consider the deal valid," Penny replied to her, Jughead's eyes were wide but Isabella knew that for Executioners, that was an easy task as long as she survived in the ring. Isabella turned to look at Jughead, his eyes pleading with her but she wouldn't let him suffer under Penny's control.

"Okay, you got a deal, Peabody," Isabella replied prompting Penny to outstretch her hand but before Isabella shook it, "But... you have to do everything you can to get FP out of prison and make sure he stays out. You screw me over, Peabody..." She silenced herself but the older woman knew what Isabella was hinting, she smirked unafraid and the two shook hands to solidify the agreement. "I'll be in touch," Penny told the sixteen year old before Isabella and Jughead left the building. They got into Isabella's car and she drove them away before pulling to the side of the road and parking, leaning back in her seat.

"What happened to secrets, Jughead? With a town already so full of them, we agreed to not keep secrets," Isabella spoke but she didn't look over at her boyfriend, she could feel his eyes watching her though. "If your father found out that you made a deal with Penny, he'd be pissed... beyond pissed," Isabella continued, "Hell, he's gonna be pissed with me but at least through me, she can't control the Serpents. She can't switch illegal fighting to drugs with me." She turned her head to look at Jughead, "I get it, Jug. I really understand that you don't want your father to go away but... Penny was not the one to go to. And I wish you talked to me first."

"You made a deal," Jughead replied. "To save your moronic ass," Isabella snapped before taking in a slow breath. "If you had agreed to her deal. She would've caught you on cameras, used it as blackmail to ensure she had a delivery boy. Then your father would take your place because he only wants you to be better than he ever was, so he'd drag the Serpents into it which would then give the Northside the power to tear the Serpents apart," Isabella expressed, "All from one deal." Jughead lowered his head at the explanation. Isabella and Noah had already discussed this stuff, Noah knew his mother the best and that was all his words.

The two were silent for a while before Jughead let out a sigh, "How bad are those fights going to be, Isa?" Isabella turned to look at him with a smirk on her face, "They'll be a piece of cake." It was hypocritical that she wouldn't reveal the truth about the fights but she knew there was no point in arguing over it, he'd see the outcome of the fights himself when its done rather than before where he could make a deal worse than what she already had in order to free her. "We'll get through it all together, alright?" Isabella assured Jughead, he knew she handled Butchers well, so he wanted to trust that she was doing the right thing with this deal.

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"What's one of your favourite memories from High School?" Isabella Larkin asked her mother over the summer break before Sophomore year. "There are a couple but there was this one night when we all broke into the school, it was our Senior year and we had all been through a lot but we wanted to make memories, leave our mark on the school," Annelise expressed with a smirk on her face. "It was me, your dad, FP Jones, Freddy, Penelope Novikov, Alice Smith, Hal Cooper, Hermione Gomez and Daniel Larkin," Annelise smiled as she continued, "Then Tom Keller, Hiram Lodge, Marty Mantle and Darryl Doiley crashed the party."

"What happened?" Isabella asked, she was fairly invested now. "It was the only time that everyone had put their differences aside and just enjoyed each other's presence. We stayed up all night running around the building and sharing stories, leaving little clues all over the school for future generations to find," Annelise grinned, "That was the night that your father told me that he loved me, that he would marry me the moment I wanted that." Isabella laughed hearing that, "Is that why you two got married within a year of graduating?" Annelise nodded her head, "Neither of us wanted to wait. His parents were angered but my mom was happy and Freddy was ecstatic."

"Think of one of your favourite movies, the Breakfast Club, that was our night avoiding the principal who weirdly hung out in the school at night," Annelise says with a chuckle, running her fingers through her daughters long hair. "But no matter what side of the tracks we stood on, we were all a group of friends enjoying the night acting like kids on a playground," Annelise finished off with a yawn, she settled back in her bed. "Make as many memories with your friends as you can, Belly. And trust me when I say this, never stop fighting for them," Annelise whispered, "Stand tall and push through whatever threatens your way. Because in every crack, every crevice and every space in this town, I've left something behind for you."

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Rosemary Speaks. . .

Okay, this is where I start to diverge off the canon path.
There will be a fair amount of changes, so... enjoy!

Thoughts, Suggestions or Questions?

See you in the next chapter!