Under Fire and Undercover

Focus On The Future

"Mom, are you okay? What happened?" Betty burst through the door to the roof, stopping when she saw Edgar's body and her mother lowering the gun.

"Edgar ascended." Alice breathed out, her arms falling to her sides and her knees growing weak. She let the gun fall from her hand, hitting the ground with a crack of metal on concrete. Betty was beside her in an instant, her arm wrapping around her mother's shoulders.

"Charles is on the way. It's okay." Betty whispered as they looked on at Edgar's body.

They were silent for a while as it dawned on them that they wouldn't have to worry about the man who'd plagued their lives for months on end. Betty had spent her junior of high school trying to save her mother from a cult that she didn't need saving from. And Alice had spent her first year free from Hal, her first year of knowing her son, missing everything in order to take Edgar down.

But it was over. Alice shot him, and it was over. They wouldn't have to worry about Edgar Evernever ever again.

They were torn from their thoughts when the door to the roof swung open and Charles came running towards them.

"Mom!" He barreled over to her, wrapping his arms around her in a hug that she hadn't realized she needed. The numbness she'd felt since the bullet left her gun dissipated and she was filled with warmth as Betty joined them.

"I'm so glad you're both okay." Charles gushed, a hand grazing over each of their heads before his expression darkened towards the two women. "But if either of you, ever pull something like that again, I will throw you both in federal prison."

Alice wanted to laugh with her son and daughter, but she couldn't stop her eyes from flicking towards Edgar instead. She knew she had do it. He was going to shoot her. And she had every right to want him dead. He'd attempted to murder all three of her children, and that was on top of everything else.

But knowing that she'd taken a life, no matter whose it was, was a lot to handle.

Charles caught her looking and took her by the shoulders, turning her around and walking all three of them towards the stairs.

"Let's get you out of here." He mumbled in as soothing a voice as he could. "We need to get you two back to the office so we can get your statements."

"What about...?" Alice trailed off, craning her neck to look behind her. She had an overwhelming urge to send Betty for a bottle of bleach so she could take care of the mess herself.

"It's fine, I've got people on it. I promise." Charles opened the door and guided her through it, looping her arm through Betty's for them to walk down together. He hung back to make a phone all, pulling an evidence bag out of his pocket and reaching down to get the gun.

Betty ran a hand over Alice's arm as she walked her down the stairs, but Alice grabbed her hand and stopped their descent once they reached the first landing, turning Betty to face her.

"I'm so sorry." Alice let her eyes fill up for the first time since she'd seen Betty, the need to compartmentalize gone now that they were safe. "For everything. I'm so sorry."

"I know, but I'm just happy you're safe." Betty whispered, letting herself melt just slightly into the support her mother's hands provided against her shoulders. She didn't have the energy to be angry over everything that had happened, not anymore.

"I wanted you as far away from this as possible and I knew that you'd try to get involved if I told you what was going on." Alice ran a hand over Betty's cheek, chuckling slightly. "I guess that backfired a little, huh?"

"Maybe a little." Betty giggled, knowing they were far from being able to put this behind them, but wanting nothing more than to revel in the fact that she had her mom back. Alice wrapped her arms around her and held her tight, comforted by having the walking incarnation of her heart as close as possible.