Chapter Text
Archie Andrews hated when his job took him to high places, primarily trees. He needed to move up on a branch to get the right vantage point but was concerned the thinning tree limbs wouldn’t support his weight.
“Come on, Ric.” He muttered to himself as he placed one foot on the next branch and hoisted his body up. These were the moments he hated his muscle mass and he could feel the wood groaning underneath him.
“Fuck.” He muttered as he reached for his rifle and moved slowly as he found the perfect place to set it. He was pointing it at a second floor window of a mid-sized mansion in a reputable London neighbourhood.
Archie never had a problem killing people, his father had done it his whole life and started grooming Archie to do the same from a very young age. People died, there was nothing more to it and he knew that most of his marks usually deserved it. One less asshole in the world was a good thing; if anything, Archie was a hero.
The man he had to kill tonight had been cheating on his wife with several other women and then had taken to coming home and beating her senseless. She wanted him dead because it was her only true way out. If she left she would lose her children, he was too powerful to lose a custody battle, but more importantly she would lose his money. What Archie had learned in this business was that money trumped everything; some people may say they were killing for love or power or freedom but it all came down to money in the end.
This man, Kieran Levitt, came from a family of worth and did nothing to earn his job as a mid-level British politician. He had a good upbringing, went to the finest schools, he had been told he was the best his whole life and that he deserved whatever he wanted. This attitude could lead to some people wanting him dead and in his case it did.
That’s why Archie was in a tree making sure his footing would hold while he put a bullet in this man’s brain. Archie was lucky it was the middle of summer and not winter. Climbing trees in heavy wool coats didn’t make his job impossible but it did make it a hell of a lot harder.
Mr. Levitt had just gotten into bed and turned out the light. His wife had left the blinds open so the red haired assassin could see in, which was a nice gesture. Archie could have just broken into the house if she had closed them, he was no stranger to breaking and entering, but that would be the sloppy way. No bullet hole in the window meant the wife could have done it and that wasn’t what she was paying him for. So Archie grabbed the rifle, looked through the scope and set up his shot.
He contemplated shooting him in the neck and letting him bleed out. Archie wanted to him to suffer a bit. He had seen her face when she came in to speak to Cheryl, their handler, about hiring someone to kill her husband. There was a difference between being hit and beaten and then there was this woman’s face. It was more black and blue than skin, one eye was swollen shut and the other eye was barely open. Archie had no idea how a public figure could do this and not get caught but there was so much fear in the woman he had no doubt that if she caused trouble for Kieran, he had enough friends to make things even more difficult for her.
So assassination it was.
He lined up the shot, took a deep breath in, pulled the trigger and that was all she wrote. Archie was out of the tree and has the rifle disassembled in under a minute. He didn’t look back, he didn’t need to, he knew what he had done, he had executed his task perfectly because Archie was one of the best snipers in the world.
He hopped a fence and casually wandered through an overly landscaped backyard. He pulled out his phone to call Jughead who picked up after two rings. “Hello good sir!” Archie said joyfully as he opened a gate and let himself out on to the street. “How are things with you?” He walked over to the Lexus they all shared and got inside, throwing his rifle in the back seat. “You almost done?”
“Almost…” Jughead stated in low voice, “when’s Betty done?” He sounded serious which meant his hit was going very well or very poorly. Jughead’s speciality was slightly different from Archie and Betty’s; Jughead specialized in torture. He made people suffer when death just wasn’t enough and he was very good at it. Archie’s best friend wasn’t exactly unstable but being in the army had awoken something in him that Jughead had fought against his whole life. Next to Archie and Betty there was no one better at their job than Jughead.
An incoming call sound chimed in Archie’s ear. “Ah, speak of the devil. Hold on.” He put Jughead on hold and transferred to the other line, “Hello lover.” He crooned.
“Hello sweetheart.” Betty sounded mildly drunk. “I need you to pick me up in an hour. This prick is popular and I cannot get him alone.”
“Is the champagne flowing tonight?” He asked her, smiling, putting on his seatbelt.
“Do I sound tipsy?” She asked in her velvety British accent.
“You need to kill first and drink later. Be professional dear, I’ll see you in an hour.” Archie hung up and went back over to Jughead. “She’ll be done soon.” He started the car and listened to the sirens in the distance. “Finish up, I’ll come and get you and then we’ll go get Betty.”
“Alright, I’ll see you in 20.” Jughead hung up and Archie threw his phone onto the passenger seat.
He pushed the gas, turned on the radio and tore across upper London to get his partner.
Jughead Jones was sitting on the curb outside an abandoned warehouse when Archie pulled up. “Jug, seriously?” He shouted out the car window.
Jughead stood; his face was almost entirely covered in blood, he was wearing a light blue t-shirt which was soaked in blood and dark jeans. Jughead was 6’4, lean but muscular in a ropey kind of way and he had broad shoulder that made him look big. He was big. Everything about him was big. He had black hair, pouty lips that were always pulled into frown and tired but bright green eyes. Jughead was not a man you loved or even liked right away but once you let him in there was no going back.
“What? What have I done now?” He approached the car, placing blood spattered cigarette in between his lips.
“Jug, you are drenched in blood. How am I supposed to take you anywhere?” Archie started looking in the back seat for an extra shirt.
“Were you planning something? Dinner? Dancing? Chocolates? You’re handsome Archie but not really my type.” He started grinning, pleased with his joke.
“I was thinking of going to the pub while we waited for Betty. Ah-ha! This might fit you.” Archie handed him one of his dark green dress shirts.
“This won’t even remotely fit me.” Jughead said taking it from him.
“What do you mean it won’t fit you?” Archie asked completely baffled.
“I’m a thousand feet tall and lean and you’re shorter than me and have muscle mass. Do you have a bottle of water?” He asked as he took off his shirt.
“I could throw you in the Thames.” The red head smirked looking at him. He took a bottle of water from he cup holder and thrusted it Jughead’s direction.
He snatched the bottle from Archie’s hand. He balled up his soiled shirt and chucked it in the back seat before dumping water over his body and face cleaning himself up the best he could.
“Lets go get some beer and drink it in the car while we wait for Betty.” Jughead suggested as he put on Archie’s clean shirt which was just too short and way too wide.
“Now, that sounds like a plan. It’s not a complete and fulfilling day unless I act like a teenager at some point!” Archie proclaimed as he tossed his phone in the cup holder. He grabbed the steering wheel excitedly. “Oh, I know, we can pick up some chicks and take them out to lovers point.”
“I don’t understand you.” Jughead mumbled as he walked around the car and got into the passenger seat.
Archie smiled at him and started the vehicle. “I have I told you lately that I love you?”
Jughead, who was still covered in more blood than Archie would have liked, just stared as him unamused.
“You love me too!” Archie clutched his heart. “Awe, thanks buddy.” He went to ruffle Jughead’s hair but was deflected.
“Don’t.” Jughead warned.
“Let’s go get beer and women, and by women I mean woman and by woman I mean Betty.”
“Drive the car, Arch!” Jughead shouted.
“Jesus, you’re fussy after a hit.” Archie rolled his eyes and hit the gas and sped off towards central London.
“I just don’t understand why they can’t work it out.” Archie was half way through his first beer as they sat in the car and listened to shitty Top 40 radio.
“Well, sometimes, not every relationship works out.” Jughead was on his third, trying his best to comfort his friend.
“But they seemed so right for each other in the movies.” Archie shook his head.
“Those were movies… about vampires… and she cheated on him and she’s gay now and he’s engaged to someone else so it makes sense why they aren’t together anymore.” Jughead threw his finished can out the window and opened another.
“I know but still.”
“You should have never watched those movies with Betty. I don’t know why she even likes them.”
“She read the books.” Archie shrugged.
There was a silence and the two men both looked over at the back door of the building waiting for her to come out.
“How was your job by the way?” Jughead asked breaking the silence.
“It was good. It would have been better if I didn’t have to climb a tree but such is life.” Archie finished his beer and handed the can to his friend so he could throw it out the window. “How was yours?”
“It was hidden which I liked but it was in a cold wet basement which I didn’t.” He opened another beer and passed it to him. “The man who wanted her dead was there the entire time and he told me if I could make her scream he’d give me an extra ten grand.” Jughead stared off into the distance.
“Did she scream?” Archie asked curiously already knowing the answer.
Jughead continued to look out at nothing. “The entire time.” He brought the can to his lips and nearly emptied it.
“Why did he want her dead? Did he give a reason?”
“She was the new wife who didn’t like his young daughter so the new wife began poisoning the daughter until she died.”
Archie didn’t push Jughead any further and nodded, looking back at the door. He didn’t ask why the authorities weren’t involved, he knew the police were useless. He also knew there were a million reasons why someone came to them over the cops. Sometimes the thought of someone rotting away in jail just wasn’t enough for some people.
Killing was killing but torture took a special type of person. Jughead needed to kill, some people were just born with it in them. He needed the hands on experience and this job allowed him to do it in a healthy way but Archie never thought Jughead actually liked it.
“You need to get laid.” He said trying to change the subject.
“That’s your solution for everything.” Jughead looked over at the driver.
“It de-stresses me.”
“Well, you have a good partner.” Jughead stated quietly as the look he was giving Archie intensified. They stared at each other until they were startled moments later by the back door opening and Betty walking out.