Under Fire and Undercover

Take Care of Yourself

Alice hadn't expected the house to sell so quickly. She thought she'd have time to wrap up the investigation. Hell, the Moore's house down the street was on the market for nearly a year before it sold. The most surprising part though? Who it sold to.

Alice stood in her living room surrounded by boxes, across from FP and his wife. The proud new owners of a house on Elm street. Jughead and FP were trying to talk Alice and Gladys out of going through with this. They were all too uncomfortable with living in the Cooper house. Betty was spiraling. On top of having to move out of her childhood home, her boyfriend would be moving in.

"There's definitely been some sort of misunderstanding. I think we should all just walk away from this." FP said lowly, concern painting his face. He hadn't even known Alice had put the house up for sale, or that Gladys was looking to buy. He searched Alice's eyes for any indication of what was going through her mind, but for the first time ever, drew a blank.

In a matter of seconds Alice had a whole battle in her mind. Every fiber of her being wanted to agree with FP. She wanted to kill the deal with Gladys. She couldn't handle them playing house in her home. Farmie Alice, though. She could, and she won the battle.

"That won't be necessary. At least not as far as I'm concerned." Alice started, before Betty interrupted her.

"Mom—"

"This house is my past, and I just want to be done with it." Alice plastered a serene look on her face and spoke in a tone that was the exact opposite of how she was feeling. FP was concerned by her reaction to this whole thing. She couldn't possibly be okay with him and his wife living in her house. It wasn't his concern though. Alice had made it pretty clear as of late that she didn't need him to worry about her anymore.

"You are unbelievable." Betty growled, waltzing out the front door, Jughead trailing behind her. Alice pressed her fingers to her temples, trying again not to take it all back.

"I should go move the rest of these boxes." Alice said quietly, giving Gladys a weak smile. She dropped down to grab a box and exited her house without even looking at FP.

She took the box and threw it in the backseat. There were countless others still inside, but she didn't care. Betty was sitting on the steps with Jughead, but she needed to get the hell out of there.

Alice drove to Sweetwater river where she could be alone with her thoughts. Sitting on the bank, she sorted through things in her mind.

FP had every right to go back to Gladys after what Alice had done to him. How could she blame him after their last conversation? And it wasn't like their relationship was ever defined. They hadn't talked about what they were to each other. He didn't owe her an explanation, but a heads up would've been nice. Maybe she didn't even deserve that though. He had no idea how she truly felt about him, and up until this moment, neither had she. She knew that when they were together, everything else melted away. He made her feel whole and authentic. She felt like a better person when he was around. As if it were news, it dawned on her that she was in love him. And she had been for longer than she ever would've admitted.

Without thinking she dashed back to her station wagon and drove to the police station.

**

"Doesn't matter now. It's over." FP said with tears in his eyes. He saw Alice's pained expression and all he wanted to do was wrap her in his arms and tell her the truth. He couldn't do that though. He had to do right by his children, even if it meant hurting her.

"You really mean that?" Alice croaked out. She was seconds from spilling her guts to him. Telling him absolutely everything. That their son was alive. She was undercover. None of this Farm shit was real. She loved him.