there were brief moments where she saw the dad she remembered from when she was little, they lasted seconds but she could have sworn they were still there. she knew it sounded crazy which is why she never told anyone, not even jughead but she saw it. “i’m not going too, dad. i’m…” she swallowed hard before nodding. “i think i’m starting to understand.” her voice quiet because her admittance to him may have made her look strong in his eyes but to her she felt weak. like she was finally letting him win but if him winning meant her family and her friends would win too… it was a price she knew she would pay. “she doesn’t remember what you did or edgar, she doesn’t know about any of it. i wanted to protect her…” everything he said she seemed to find herself agreeing with and she tried to hide that it scared her. was he right? should her mom have been protecting her rather than this be the other way around? she dropped her eyes to his feet and didn’t say anything further but it was clear his comments had gotten through. she’d heard him. “yeah.” betty agreed with a sad smile, it was worse than sad, she had never felt pain like this… loosing jughead, she’d completely lost herself already and the news was only just starting to sink in. “jughead faked his death once. we held a fake funeral for him and everything.” she chuckled but the sound was anything but happy. “it worked, we got exactly what we needed and i know it will this time too.” this time it would be more believable because no one would know. they couldn’t. “my friends won’t give up on me easily.” and she wasn’t telling him so he could hurt them but maybe they could find a way to force them into doing so. “i’m dead.” it wasn’t strictly a lie either, she felt it, she certainly didn’t feel like herself any more. “i won’t reach out. i promise.” they may not forgive her now but when they realized who and what she was protecting them from they would. they had too. “i’m not going to hurt a child, dad. do you really think i’m capable of that?” darkness and murder was one thing but a child? an innocent child? she wasn’t a monster… was she? “donna can’t get her child back if she can’t find her. if someone were too… oh, i don’t know… give her adoptive parents the heads up about what was happening?” it was cruel but it was also in the best interests of that little girl and it fit her plan perfectly so she was doing it. “can we maybe do this when i’m not… bleeding to death?” she would tell him everything, she wanted too but… it was going to take time, time she didn’t feel like she had. she could barely feel her legs any more so she had no idea how they were still holding her up. “i want to kill her. she is already as good as dead.” the calmness in betty’s expression, in her body language and voice made it sound like they were talking about take out they wanted… not murder but that’s what she’d been pushed too. that’s what she was going to do. “i just want her to know what this feels like before i do.” this being… devastation, despair – the worst pain imaginable, losing the one person that you truly love. “i’ll do it. it’s only right that it should be me. will you find out what she did to him? i want every last detail because i’m going to do the exact same thing to her.” then she’d know how scared and in pain he must have been in. “one chance it is then.” another sad smile, seen as they had both agreed to the same. “my hands…” the mention of scars reminding her of the damage she had inflicted on her own palms as she tried to see the mess she’d made through the dried blood. she took in a deep breath, nodding. “i can handle it.”
it was still the same person that he had always been, he had always been.. her father, the one who had kept her safe, no matter what and.. he was still trying to do that, because.. he knew she needed help. and alice had completely turned her back on her, which left.. all of the job to him, but.. that was alright. hal prefered it like that, anyways.. he always would. “good,” he nodded, suddenly much more calm, because.. she was right.. she was indeed starting to understand. “that is the only we can move forward. together. we might not have polly or your mother anymore, but.. it doesn’t matter. we’re a family, you and i... and we’re exactly alike.” he could see it now, if she did what he told her to, if she focused.. it could happen. “it should have always been the other way around. instead of getting into bed with that snake.. she should have been focused on protecting you. on keeping you safe, but.. she replaced you already, with a new child. she did what i never could and.. she moved on. she put you in the past. don’t you see, betty? i’m the one who’s looking out for you. making sure you end up your best self. you don’t need her. let her have her perfect little family.. her penitance will come, soon enough. we don’t need to be the ones to deliver it.. there are already plans to make it happen.” and she’d make it happen and.. he’d.. help.- of course he would.. as best as he knew how. “and that’s a story i’d be more than happy to hear from you, one day, but.. this time, i’m afraid there cannot be a funeral. not any sort of it. the world needs to believe you’re gone, dead and buried and.. for good. no coming back. no second chances.” he already knew it, thanks to donna, but.. he’d let betty have her shot at telling him everything, at telling him the story of.. everything that had started this whole mess. “perhaps not, but.. they are also in danger. they live in the wolf’s deen. if anything, donna can easily kill them both.. slip poison into their drinks, shot them in their sleep.. there are numerous ways to do it. they need to believe you’re gone and for good, this time around. they will be hurt, yes, but.. it’s better hurt than dead, for good. especially with everything they’ve been going through, lately.” breaking her apart from her friends, from the jones boy, it was the first step and... it was already in place. she’d never know the jones boy was safe and sound, she’d never know he hadn’t died.. not until much later, when she was far past the point of absolutely no return. “no, of course not.” he smiled, because.. he thought the exact same opposite. “perhaps, but.. you’ll only be giving her a card she can use. if the adoptive parents were to run away with the child, in the middle of the beginning of a law process.. they could be seen as criminals. thieves, for running away.. and you’d be handing that child to donna on a silver platter. all she’d need was a good lawyer, which i know she has and a compelling story, which she also has and.. you know her. she can twist people around her little finger, with a bit of a water work and.. they do it. so, that won’t work. it’s flawed, at best.. and if you were dealing with someone with no resources, it would be different, but.. she’s rich. she has money. she has everything.” he paused. “of course. come, follow me. i have a cabin, not far from here.” it was where he had been staying.. watching. “and kill her you will. i’ll help you, in any way that i can. an eye for an eye.” he waited for a reaction, smiling sadly. “i think you know already, betty. isn’t there one night.. that started all of this? in the woods, as well. i don’t suppose i need to give you anymore details. it’s all.. like that. dramatics have never been my style, but.. clearly, it’s hers.” her hands.. “they’re damaged, but.. hey, at least you get to keep them both.” the first joke he had told in her presence, before pointing to his hook, but.. he had gotten what he wanted, for now. “alright, we’ll start with your wound and then the hands.” he grabbed the alcohol, placing it on a bit of cotton, before cleaning the blood around the wound. “distract yourself. think about something else.. anything. or talk, either works.”
