Under Fire and Undercover

I'll Owe You Forever, FP Jones

A/N: Gets a little mature at the end, nothing too bad though.

"Alice, I need your help. Can you meet me at Sweetwater river?" FP said over the phone.

"I mean, yeah, but why?" Alice prodded, confused by the location request as well as his tone of voice.

"No questions, Al. Please. Just meet me there at 9." FP asked, holding his breath.

"Okay, of course. I'll see you then." Alice hung up. It was already 8:30, so she would need to leave soon. She changed into tennis shoes, knowing the banks of Sweetwater would be muddy. FP hadn't specified where along the river he wanted to meet, but she had a good enough guess. After parking her car at Pops, she walked down the path that led to their spot. They used to sneak off back here during FP's breaks when he still worked at Pops. She smiled as she braced herself against a tree going down a hill. She could see FP's silhouette standing in front of the water.

"Howdy, Sheriff." Alice teased as she walked up. He reached out and put an arm around her shoulders.

"Hey, you know who's super-hot?" Alice raised her eyebrows at him. "That new reporter on RIVW." She swatted at his arm as he smirked before dipping his head to catch her lips. She pulled away, smiling at him.

"So, what did you need, Jones?"

"You're not going to like it, and I really hate that I have to drag you into this." FP stalled.

"Just spit it out. I'm sure whatever it is can't be worse than anything we've done before." Alice reached up and stroked his beard.

"I shot Hiram Lodge."

"You what?" Alice asked, pulling away to look at his face.

"Hermione hired me to shoot Hiram and made me sheriff as payment." FP explained.

"I--, what? Why?" Alice stuttered, unable to produce full sentences yet.

"Alice, he almost got Jughead killed. I wanted revenge. For everything he's done to us, and this town." FP justified his actions; worried Alice would see him differently for it.

"No, I meant Hermione. I know why you did it." She didn't need an explanation. He would do anything for his family, and Hiram was constantly threatening their safety. 

"He's been producing drugs under her name, but I'm sure there's a slew of other reasons." FP huffed, grateful that Alice wasn't upset.

"So, what do you need?" Alice asked, not thinking twice about it.

"Well, Hermione is planning on sending Minetta—"

"I thought he was dead?"

"According to Jughead, he didn't look so dead when he and Hermione were having sex in a cabin upstate. But anyway, she wanted him to go to the hospital and finish Hiram off. With his old sheriff's gun." FP raised his eyebrows.

"That conniving bitch is trying to frame you after you shot her husband for her?" Alice gasped, though she wasn't exactly surprised. Hermione had never exactly been the voice of moral reason.

"Damn straight. Now, this is part of another long story, but Fangs killed Tallboy. I want you to interview me on how I caught Hiram's shooter, Tallboy. We'll say that he died in a shootout." FP finally got to why he needed Alice.

"What about Minetta? Aren't they still going to try and frame you?" Alice asked, panicked.

"No, I sent some officers to Hiram's room, but on their way, Archie called. For whatever reason, he was in the room when Minetta showed up. Scared him off."