I really loved this story! It had action and mystery and intrigue. It had some whump, which I'm a sucker for, but not too much that it was ridiculous. I can't wait to jump into the sequel!

I loved this story! Really hope Cheryl gets a good arc in the next story her scheming with Brand would be great!

So good. I love this fic and wish it had more attention. Your writing is fantastic and you keep the characters perfectly in character; thank you! Can’t wait to read the sequel.

Er. . .apologies if you get this review twice. For some reason, it wasn't showing up in my review history so I re-submitted it. (Under anon with an abbreviated name, since the site is acting incredibly strange. Ugh.)

“…perhaps simply having numbers on his side – a weird way to put it, but somehow precisely how he felt – would help to smooth the undercurrent of anxiety he was feeling about Brand.” Safety in numbers, eh Jughead? (Interesting to see that Betty also feels some relief at the idea of having numbers on her side, though for an entirely different reason.)

“He had been on edge about Brandon’s late-night activities, was not grateful that Brand was not angrier about Jughead’s hours-long disappearance that afternoon, and it was frustrating that these two feelings would not resolve in his mind into one coherent picture of his godfather.” That is one of the things that makes Brand such an interesting OC. Because he talks about college with Jughead and grounds him when he doesn’t follow his rules (normal, healthy guardian behavior) yet he also breaks Jughead’s headphones, drugs him, and locks him in his room (abusive behavior). The most interesting thing is that he has a specific motive for EVERY ONE of those actions (normal guardian behavior trying to win his bet with Roy; abusive behavior trying to keep Jughead in line follow his orders). I think he’s a great OC.

“’Good boy,’ Brand grinned, and Jughead was surprised to feel a small flare of pride in response to the unexpected praise.” Dang it, that line hurt my heart. Underneath all the snark and self-sufficiency, Jughead is still a kid who really wants a parental figure to care about him.

So much confusion among Jughead’s friends and families regarding whether or not he is alive. Archie believes he’s dead. FP is desperately hoping he isn’t. Even with Keller’s investigation failing to turn up with a body, there is going to be SO MUCH emotional pain for all of Jughead’s friends and family.

Jughead was lucky to hit on a way to distract Joe’s men. I don’t know exactly what they’d been planning to do to him, but I strongly doubt that they would pull their punches like Brand did.

The final scene was just so good. I was happy to see Brand save Jughead and while I’m still not totally sure of his motivations for bringing Jughead with him to (not) Mexico, it seems evident that he does care about him to some extent. Also, that last line “I’ve still got some surprises for you, Jones.” What a perfect setup for a sequel!

Overall, I have to tip my hat to you, not only for writing a fantastic Jughead story, but also for including all of the core four so naturally throughout it all. And also for Brand because he is such a well-executed OC. Despite everything he put Jughead through, despite the manipulation and abuse and machinations, I can’t see him as an irredeemable villain. He is a complex character and I would be interested to see how he ended up living the life he leads.

Once again, great story and I will be back to read the sequel soon!

“As the gag came free, Brand flipped Jughead onto his stomach and watched as he spat blood onto the floor between harsh, sobbing gasps for air.” In which the reader continues to feel only the most genuine concern and heartache for Jughead’s utterly miserable situation. This line made ME feel as though I couldn’t breathe. Ouch.

It’s a good thing Archie took his father’s advice. If he hadn’t, he would have been in the trailer when Perry showed up and probably would have ended up dead. I do feel terrible for him, knowing that he thinks Jughead was still inside the trailer when it burned down because that is a horrible thing to live with.

“He took just a few moments to consider how horrifying Jones’ death must have been, and then shook off the mental image with a cold shudder. Brandon could only imagine that Joe had been the culprit, and he mentally added him to the list – just after Blossom.” I’m not sure how much of this is coming from affection toward Jughead versus Brand needing to demonstrate that he doesn’t tolerate people messing with him. Either way, I remember being very happy to see that Joe was going to get what he deserved.

“Jughead was shocked to feel tears well up in his eyes at even the remote possibility that Brand was still on his side, protecting him, helping him – and that he wasn’t trapped with a dangerous madman.” Dangerous? Yes. Madman? Nah. Just a criminal with a lot to lose should things go any farther south. Which probably isn’t much better, but there you have it.

“’Oh…we need each other, then.’ / ‘You bet…We’re in this together now, for better or worse.’” At this point. . .yeah. Brand and Jughead are both in over their heads. But poor Jughead never asked for any of this, never even KNEW about any of it until now.

Joe’s coming for Jughead. The Serpents are are trying to rescue Jughead. And Jughead is about to end up tied up in his closet, helpless and alone while Archie watches. Everything is converging. (Also it seems we’ve finally caught up to the prologue scene.)

“His neck flushed hot with embarrassment and shame over hurting Archie and pushing the sparring far past what his friend had been comfortable with – he’d done it without thinking, or realizing it would be a problem. The expression on Fred’s face had been shocking to Jughead: a mix of anger and revulsion. Betty’s horror was too painful for Jughead to contemplate just yet.” And now, too late, he realizes that Brand’s training method is not normal.

‘”You haven’t grown out of that cower response yet…That’s good. We can work with that.’” Eek. The implications of that line are downright unsettling.

“The others followed, mildly embarrassed by their outburst, but hoping that Archie’s dad really could take their worries and the events of the past weeks and frame them into something innocuous – a mundane story that made more sense than the nightmare scenarios they’d come up with.” If only the truth could be so benign. It’s because of reactions like this that people who are in regular contact with vulnerable individuals (children, elderly, people living with disability) are mandated reporters. Because there is ALWAYS a human instinct to rationalize rather than get involved.

“’Roy…is the bet off?’ / ‘Oh, it’s off…I’ll pay up in full if you’ll please just deal with him….’” And just like that Brand has no monetary motivation to go out of his way to maintain the illusion of being a normal guardian.

“Left with two undesirable things to reflect on, (his friends’ horrified response to his overly rough sparring with Archie, and his apparently more-abusive-than-he’d-realized guardian), Jughead bumped the back of his skull against the floor several times in frustration with himself for the missteps that had landed him in a closet until someone had the time or the will to deal with him.” This was probably one of the moments my heart broke the most for Jughead while reading this story. Before, he was going through a lot but now the enormity of his situation has finally hit him and he’s just completely without hope at this point.

“’I’m really worried that Jughead might be headed for trouble, and that you won’t be the friend who gets him out of it. You’ll be the friend who makes it twice as bad, by trying to help in all the wrong ways.’” Fred knows his son so well. He knows that Archie, for all his enthusiasm, can be impulsive and liable to getting in over his head. And he knows what to tell him in order to make sure that doesn’t happen.

“’I thought you wanted to spar,’ Jughead shrugged. He wasn’t using his full strength, and Archie had reach on him. Maybe it was high time they started sparring, if only so that Archie could really learn.” It’s scary to see how quickly Jughead has come to champion Brand’s means of “teaching.” Then again, this is all he knows about learning how to fight. The difference is that Jughead hasn’t got the knowledge or experience to control how much (or how little) Archie gets hurt.

“’Is this how Brand teaches you?’ Archie suddenly began putting the details together into a worrying mental picture. ‘Is this how you learned?’” Yep. Archie is finally getting an inkling of what is really happening at the Jones trailer. . .

And then, despite Betty’s excellent investigative skills, she manages to look in on them at EXACTLY the right moment to horribly misinterpret what she is seeing. She sees what looks like a loving guardian caring for his sick godson, a sight so touching that “she found herself near tears in her gratitude that Brandon was working out so well as guarding for Jug.” What she doesn’t know is WHY Jughead is “sick” and sleeping so soundly. I distinctly remember whispering “NO, Betty!” the first time I read that part.

“…as much as it went against the grain, FP had to soothe the Serpents and back them down from defending Jughead – and inadvertently getting him killed in the process.” And the tension continues to build. There are so many connections with Jughead at the epicenter of it all: FP, the Serpents, Joe, Brand, and even Kevin and Joaquin’s relationship. At this point, all it will take is one tiny shift in the wrong direction for it all to come crashing down.

“’A D, and only one comment – that I am forty-one words over the length requirement!’” Ms. Cardell is a bad teacher. Petty and willfully hurting a student’s academic record without giving any justification for doing so. As I said before, she should be canned.

“’I don’t need protection from you. I don’t want you around me. Or my father.’” Oh, Jughead. . . At this point, he is STILL oblivious as to why the Serpents are so wound tight about protecting him. All he knows is that Brand has a weird habit of taking pictures of his "battle wounds" from their sparring sessions. If he only knew what Brand was doing with those pictures. . .

“Roy had begun complaining that FP would become less cooperative if the photos looked too staged, and Brandon had to admit that Jughead’s sense of humor was growing on him – and making his job somewhat more of a challenge.” Another layer of complexity to Brand: he changes. At this point, he has clearly begun to take a shine to Jughead which makes it harder for him to keep his distance and treat the situation as “just another job.”

“…[Brand] honestly could not picture Betty creating a real issue, beyond raising some hackles.” Oof. Never a good idea to underestimate Betty Cooper and her sleuthing skills. She has always been a force to be reckoned with when it comes to investigating and pulling together incriminating evidence.

“Betty started back toward the trailer, not sure what she was looking for, but trusting that she needed to start looking for more information about Brandon and what was going on in the trailer.” Yes, Betty! Trust those instincts! Also, at this point every one of Jughead’s friends has noticed that something is amiss and it warms my heart that he has so many friends who care about him.

“Fred Andrews and Sheriff Keller watched this exchange with approval. Both Brandon and Jughead were unusual people, and it seemed like they had really found each other, even under trying circumstances.” It’s unfortunate that moments like Brand’s praise for Jughead and Jughead’s excitement over applying what he’s learned about sparring are the ones that color the other characters’ perceptions about their relationship. (Unfortunate for Jughead, that is. It’s great for the story!)

“’Wait, wait – I thought of something else weird…If they had road rage because they were so protective about their truck…why was the driver pulling Jughead toward the truck?’” Geez, I managed to miss that detail BOTH times I read the fight scene, even though it’s right there. I’m glad Archie was more perceptive than me.

“Brandon didn’t want to lose the edge of fear he had over his charge, but he did like the new determination he saw in the teen. He would work to cultivate both more and more.” This is where I first started to think that Brandon might be getting a little fond of Jughead. Of course he is still focused on doing his job – but he was also proud of Jughead for applying what he learned and successfully fighting off those two men.

“…Jughead tried to explain as reassuringly as possible that he had been hit by a truck and then jumped by two grown men, but somehow that was proving difficult.” Hm. I can’t imagine why that would be difficult. Heh.

I enjoyed the Keller / Joaquin conversation. There were a lot of layers of tension there, and a lot of important details to digest. Keller showing up in uniform, in his patrol car telegraphs a very different message than his being in plainclothes or driving an unmarked car. His choosing to meet Joaquin at the Whyte Wyrm (Serpent’s home turf) rather than a more neutral location like out on the street adds sends another message. The Serpents pick up on all of that loud and clear. The fact that Joaquin happens to be dating that particular Sheriff’s son likely makes the situation more fraught for Joaquin than it might be if Keller had tried to speak with a different Serpent.

Jughead’s reaction to Archie’s arm around his shoulder is yet another instance of how seriously Brand’s treatment has begun to affect him. He’s starting to show some clear signs of PTSD (nightmares, unexpected physical contact triggering a strong reaction….)

“’I think he’d tell us, don’t you? And I think Brand would be different. He wouldn’t have had us over for dinner; he wouldn’t have helped Betty with her paper.’” Oh, Archie. That’s the scariest thing about abusers. They aren’t always obvious. They throw perfectly normal dinner parties, they can make small talk with other people, they can even come across as charming. That’s part of why it can be so hard for the person being abused to tell somebody about it, even their closest friends.

All I can say about the fight at the end is that Jughead certainly is capable of defending himself now, for better or for worse. God, the adrenaline mixed with the panic attacks mixed with the useful bits of instruction from Brand make a downright frightening combination.

Another reason I think Brand is a good OC: despite his methods, he actually does teach Jughead a good deal about how to defend himself. If he used his experience in order to AVOID hurting Jughead during their sparring matches rather than trying to hurt him enough to keep him emotionally off-balance, it would almost be sweet. But knowing his motives, the line “Don’t let me get ahold of you…I outweigh you, I’ve got at least an inch or two of reach, and you know I have more practice at this” comes across as more of a threat than a warning. . .

. . .And then the sparring turns into near-drowning and involuntary drugging. Jughead’s terror is so palpable here that it makes my heart hurt to read it. Especially when he begs Brand not to drug him, knowing he won't remember what happened and that he will be defenseless.

“Veronica wanted to know more, though, because something seemed increasingly strange about everything at the trailer.” Yes, Veronica. Trust your social instincts! (Also: good friend Veronica strikes again. Seriously, you do a fantastic job of portraying why season one Veronica was so dang likeable!)

“Veronica was glad for the casual opportunity to do Archie a favor, see Jughead briefly, and to make sure everything was still okay….” Good friend Veronica continues to be a joy to read. It’s especially nice to see her being a friend to Jughead because that’s a dynamic that seems to be getting less and less attention on the show.

Aw, I miss season one Hermione. I forgot that she had a softer side. We haven’t gotten to see much of that since Hiram got out of prison.

“Jughead couldn’t stop the slump of relief in his shoulders when he heard that Brand was letting his friends stay, and that whatever new fighting techniques Brand had in mind, and whatever aggression his godfather needed to work out, would be delayed at least for the duration of this visit.” Saved by the bell. . .for now, that is. And of course, Jughead says nothing to his friends because in his eyes, he can still rationalize Brand’s behavior.