A/N: This update is a little later than i had planned, it's been a busy week so sorry about that. Thanks for the reviews, follows and favourites, i hope you continue to enjoy!

Sleep had a bit of a temperamental relationship with Ally.

Sometimes it would be kind, allowing her mind and body respite, comforting her with an empty darkness once her eyes shut until they once again opened.

But other times it could be a cruel mistress.

Other times a peaceful sleep would not be on the cards, and as she drifted sleep would find her and then so would something else.

A nightmare.

The worst kind of nightmare that was a horrible truth. A horrible, horrible memory that she could hide from during the day with her distractions, but not when she was sleeping.

When she was asleep she couldn't escape, she was trapped in her own head forced to relive that dreadful day she lost everything.

It had been a while since she was waking up prematurely, panting and terrified, gasoline, blood and smoke burning her nostrils and squeezing her pounding heart.

No doubt her return to Riverdale had brought about the sudden reappearance of her night terror.

Clammy and overheated from a recent awakening, Ally rubbed her eyes with a sigh. This dreadful dream was like a progressing plague upon her, each time allowing her less and less shut eye.

Fisting her knotted hair in one hand she lifted it above her head, using the other hand to swipe away the beads of sweat that had stuck small strands of hair to the nape of her neck.

Her room seemed too tiny, too stuffy and she tucked the tank top she was wearing into a pair of jeans, slid on a pair of sneakers, grabbed her keys and stepped out onto the balcony.

It was a cold and crisp night, the wind bringing a subtle chill. Curling tongues of golden hair that was tinged a blinking neon purple blew around her face, licking at the sharp planes of her cheekbones, caressing her collarbones and wrapping around her neck like a silky scarf.

She shivered.

The moon was at its fullest, painting the parking lot with a pale silver, her ugly orange Camaro looked sort of pretty in this lighting, though she wouldn't dare admit it.

Their love-hate relationship relied on her hating it.

She frowned as she recalled it's brief affair with the curly haired ghoulie.

It was obvious the gang member had been searching for something, most likely information that he could use against her.

Ally was thankful her Camaro kept her secrets hidden well, though that was mostly due to the fact that there were no secrets in the vehicle that she had kept hidden.

Most people's cars told the stories of their owners through stains that smelled and looked questionable, a missing earring, half eaten snacks or the like. Chloe's car smelled like expensive perfume and was stuffed with empty shopping bags, a lost lipstick lid, two mismatched broken heeled shoes, a bra and a pair of pantyhose.

The only personal sort of thing Ally had was tampons in the glovebox,

She supposed though, now that she thought about it, that that still told something about her, the fact that she had nothing to find meant that she was going through the effort to hide something.

Or maybe she was just one of those people that liked to have a clean car.

Ally was not one of those people that cared about the cleanliness of her car.

Speaking of cars, she noticed an absence of the red car belonging to a certain ghoulie, and wondered briefly what sorts of things he kept hidden in his vehicle, Ally stopped those thoughts before they could get any further, she did not need to wonder about the likes of him, did she?

The ghoulie had found out her name somehow, and warned her pretty clearly not to cause trouble, though she supposed she had done herself no favours there by provoking them.

Ally shrugged it off.

It wasn't like the ghoulies knew her real name anyways.

Which meant they had nothing they could use against her.

She closed her eyes, embracing the cold air, wrapping her hands around the balcony railing and stretching up on her tiptoes.

The wind was starting to pick up, biting her cheeks and numbing the tip of her nose and her fingers and her lips.

An angry engine roared as it entered the parking lot, deafening heavy metal threatening the stillness.

She kept her eye closed, refusing to let it break her spell.

She sighed.

The motors and music eventually came to a stop.

She leaned forward just a little.

"You gonna jump?"

The spell was broken.

Her eyes opened to see the curious ghoul.

He half leaned, half sat propped up against the hood of his car, looking like an emissary of death with a long dark coat and eyes charcoaled black to mimic the sunken eye sockets of a skull.

He tilted his head, quirked an eyebrow, "well?"

"Would you try stop me if I said yes?"

She countered, and he made no move, just watched and waited, expecting her to do something or not.

Maybe the cold had numbed her brain, or maybe she was as curious to get a reaction out of him as he was her.

Her hands tighten and slowly, she tilts forward, starting to tip.

The ghoulie stands and she swings backwards, planting her feet firmly on the ground.

She releases the railing and fold her arms across her torso, tucking her hands into her armpits.

Now she was starting to feel the uncomfortable cold.

"Don't you think if I was going to jump, with my knowledge i'd do it somewhere higher? Falling from here would do some damage sure, but i'd still most likely survive."

The Ghoulie laughed at her little game.

But he was now even more curious.

Her actions were always unexpected, she'd mouthed off against his ghoulies without a worry, threatened them even and after he'd given her a warning she didn't seem all to bothered about living quietly.

it wasn't often he came across someone so unafraid, and he was yet to figure out the reasoning behind it, was she just stupid, or crazy?

Maybe a little of both, but there was definitely something else.

She was hiding something and he'd be damned if he didn't find out what.

He watched her turn away from the balcony, rubbing her fingers to relieve them from the cold enough so she could grab her keys.

"Night Ally!"

He shouted, reminding her that he had found out her name, and he would find out more.

He smirked when she flipped him a bird and disappeared though the door.

Ally had agreed to meet Jacob and Chloe for breakfast before their shift. She had tried to convince them against their desired location, Pop's chocklit shop. But her argument was not a very strong one; Pops had the best pancakes and since she couldn't tell them she wanted to avoid the place to avoid her brother, she didn't really have a leg to stand on when she instead complained about it being all the way over on the Northside.

Apparently the travel was worth it for the food.

And so begrudgingly she headed to the diner.

When she got there, she was immediately waved down into a booth by Jacob, who was already gulping down a coffee.

"Where's Chloe?"

She frowned, scanning the place but not finding the brunette anywhere.

"She err, I think she got called into the hospital early?" Jacob stumbled over his words, Ally knew he was lying.

"A trainee doctor is that important?"

Jacob spluttered.

"You know how busy the hospital gets."

Ally narrowed her eyes.

"Have you had Pop's pancakes? They're amazing."

He knew she knew he was lying.

"Maybe I should skip breakfast, head to the hospital, you know since they're so busy."

Ally stood, missing the disappointment in Jacob's eyes, because she had noticed something-someone else.

Her brother had slid into a booth, set up a laptop and started to type away.

"Ally?"

She blinked as she realised Jacob had been speaking to her.

"You okay?"

"Mhmm" She nodded, "i'm going to go order."

She smiled at him, though it was a false one, more preformative for her sake than his.

Jacob knew somehow, he didn't know the full of it but he knew there was something, but still he was happy that she was staying.

She made her way to the counter where Pop Tate approached her with a smile.

"What can I get you?"

"Pancakes and extra bacon," She chewed on her lip, looked over her shoulder, her brother was typing away furiously, immersed in his writing.

"For the kid in the beanie too, though don't tell him it's from me."

Pop Tate smiled, looked between her and Jughead and nodded, she wondered for a split second if he recognised her or if he was atleast reminded of the time when a young girl would come to the diner with her younger brother and feed him as many plates of pancakes as he wanted.

"Anything else?"

"Coffee, I could do with a coffee."

Jacob had quickly learned that Ally wasn't typically one for consistent conversation. she was rather blunt most times, answering plain and simple or not at all-he'd even seen her get reprimanded a few times by the senior doctors for her abruptness.

But still that didn't deter him from trying to get her to talk.

As she poked at her pancakes with a fork, he asked her about what hospital she had been working at before, why she had wanted to become an doctor and anything work related he could think off. Chloe had given him a few pointers not to talk about anything too personal with Ally, not if he didn't want her to build a brick wall between them.

Some people had difficult pasts, Chloe had said, and Ally didn't like to talk about hers.

He was worried Ally wasn't interested in him, mainly because she seemed so uninterested in their conversation, spacing out every so often.

It was pretty early in the morning though, so maybe she was just tired.

"So, what do you think of the pancakes?"

He asked her as she shovelled a forkful into her mouth.

"Ally?"

He followed where her gaze was fixed to the kid in the grey beanie that always seemed to be in the diner.

"You know that kid?"

"Hmm?" Ally blinked, shaking her head as she came back into the room.

"What? No, he just reminds me of someone."

Jacob nodded, not quite sure how to respond, since it was the first time he was seeing her so flustered-no not the first time, she had been shocked the other day when the same kid had bumped into her.

"Are you finished eating? We should probably head to work."

On her rounds, Ally first made a stop to see Tiny.

Neurology had kept him in their department to observe a small bleed on the brain he'd sustained, but with medication it had reduced, so he was going to be discharged.

"Hey kid."

She greeted the groggy teen, who had just recently woken.

"Morning doc!" He smiled cheerily and infectious and she couldn't help but reciprocate.

"Good news Tiny, you can go home today."

The kid's smile fell.

"I...home?"

Ally understood his sudden shift in mood.

"You lived with them?"

Tiny nodded.

"When I joined the ghoulies, my mom kicked me out."

Ally reached for his hand, giving it a squeeze.

"Have you spoken since?"

Tiny shook his head, his lip trembled.

Ally's heart tugged painfully.

"No, I...I called her once."

"She didn't pick up?"

"She did, but I couldn't say anything to her."

Ally blinked, holding back teary eyes as she smiled to console him.

"The fact that she answered, means that she still wants you. She must miss you very much."

Reaching into her pocket, she handed him her phone.

"Call your mother, tell her you want to come home."

"But the ghoulies..."

"Won't bother you again, i'll make sure of it."

As the teen started to dial Ally patted his shoulder then left the room to give him privacy.

Ally spotted one of the neurology residents hovering outside of the ICU, pacing back and forth.

"Something wrong?"

The resident doctor seemed relieved to see her.

"I need to check up on the ghoulie"

"Drac? the one that kicked up a big fuss?"

The fellow nodded shifting uncomfortably.

"What's the problem? He promised to behave."

The doctor pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, stepped closer to her, eyes on his feet as he fumbled with his fingers and whispered.

"The Boss is in there. The ghoulie king."

Ally pursed her lips, glancing over at the door, finding herself quite curious. Surely whoever he was he couldn't be that terrifying.

"Come on, our priority is the patient and brain surgery is a big deal, if we don't check up on the patients regularly then we will put them in danger."

"But...but i've heard he's killed people."

Waggling her finger in a follow me motion she pushed a button and the door slid open.

Entering Ally's eyes widened as they met all to familiar eyes.

No way. The so called big bad ghoulie king was him?

And she'd stupidly managed to get him interested in her.

But then, that could work in her favour, she was going to speak to the ghoulies about Tiny anyway.

"Ally" He greeted her with a smirk, "hi."

The resident looked between Ally and the ghoulie king with wide eyes.

Ally realised he had greeted her by name intentionally, to implicate her with his ghoulies, knowing it would cause her discomfort within the ranks of the hospital.

Because there was no doubt the neurologist would report back to his team that Dr James was friendly with the ghoulies.

Even though she was not.

Ally huffed, her lip curling as she rolled her head and eyes.

"Ah, why is it every time I see you feel like fighting?"

The ghoulie laughed, she turned to the resident hiding behind her, knowing if she continued to engage with the ghoulie she'd probably say or do something she'd regret.

"What was the last report?"

The resident straightened his shoulders and stood upright.

"The surgeon said there wasn't too much additional bleeding. He said to administer mannitol and follow up with a CT."

Ally nodded.

"Did you do the CT yet?"

"Oh yeah, the results are probably out."

"Mind if I take a look?

She motioned for the resident to lead her to the doctor's station outside of the ICU ward, following him to a computer.

After he logged in and pulled up the CT she nudged him out of his seat, surveying the scan carefully.

"It's not enough bleeding to warrant another surgery so that's good, i'd talk to the seniors about sending him to a regular ward for observation."

The resident doctor nodded. Ally tilted her chin in a small movement that meant go.

He didn't even hesitate and hurriedly left.

Ally left the computer and returned to the ghoulie.

Malachai, who had previously been stood by his subordinates side, had now flopped into an empty chair, feet propped up against the edge of the bed, he had been in conversation with another ghoulie, but stopped and told them to leave when he saw her return.

Ally swatted his feet down with her hands to get past so she could check on the patients iv.

He pouted because she didn't even spare him a glance.

"My boys told me you used to be in a gang Ally."

He liked using her name because she didn't know his.

"Mmm, I was a bit naughty when I was younger."

The ghoulie grinned and laughed. That explained why she was so comfortable with his ghoulies.

"Ah, you're a fun one doc. Most people don't admit that sort of stuff."

Ally shrugged.

"I neither hide nor advertise it."

"But you do hide somethings, everyone has secrets."

Her hands curled into fists, she stuffed them into the pockets of her scrubs.

"I take it your his guardian?"

Ally questioned, after examining the currently unconscious patient.

"How is he doc?"

She almost thought it looked like he was concerned, maybe he was.

"We're moving him to a normal ward, but that doesn't mean he's out of the clear."

Malachai pursed his lips, nodded.

"Take good care of him doc."

"Of course."

The ghoulie jumped up from his chair, about to leave, halted by Ally who held up a finger.

"Wait a minute,"

He stopped, only because he was curious.

"I have a favour to ask you."

"I don't give favours for free."

"Good, I don't like receiving things for free."

Before the ghoulie could speak she propositioned.

"I want you to forget about that kid Tiny, let him get out of the gang, you've made your point and he's been hurt enough, that ring paid off his debt anyway."

Malachai laughed.

It wasn't the sort of laugh he usually gave her, not a laugh of amusement but instead one that was more dry and empty.

"You often get what you want Ally?"

"Not always, but I know you won't say no to me."

The ghoulie King moved towards her, closer than she was comfortable with, but she didn't move until the last moment when he ducked his head down and their noses almost touched.

"And why is that Allycat?"

"Because you want something from me."

The ghoulies smile was not friendly.

She knew she was playing a dangerous game, but she'd already come this far and it was too late bow out now.

"I'm right aren't I, that's why you wont leave me alone, there's something you want to gain from me isn't there?"

Malachai didn't agree because he didn't know what it was exactly that he wanted from her yet.

"You're a smart one doc, but lets keep things friendly between us now yeah? I like you and I don;t want to stop liking you."

Ally didn't know how to feel about the leader of a gang liking her.

"I think i'm going to keep hating you."

The ghoulie laughed pushing open the door.

He was back to being amused.

"Good luck with that Allycat."

The door closed behind him and Ally stood there for a fraction of a moment before following.

"Hang on a minute wait!"

She grabbed his arm pulling him to a stop.

He turned to her with a smug smile, eyes landing on the fingers wrapped around the arm of his jacket.

She removed her hand from his arm as if she had been stung.

"What about Tiny?"

The ghoulie furrowed his brow, tilted his head and scratched a hand through his hair.

"Who's that?"