Under Fire and Undercover

One Day at a Time

"FP, can you just come over? I don't want to talk about this over the phone." Alice said into the phone as FP tried to relay the information he'd gotten from Jughead.

"Yeah, I'll be over in a few." FP said, hanging up the phone and grabbing the keys to his truck.

He arrived at the Cooper house seven minutes later, looking up at the red door. If he was being honest, the house gave him the creeps. He never liked it due to its connection to Hal Cooper, but after what happened just a few months ago, he hated it. Nonetheless, he turned the door knob, not bothering to knock as Alice was expecting him.

"Alice? I'm here!" He called out into the empty living room.

"In the kitchen! Just making some tea." Alice yelled from the back of the house. As he entered the kitchen, he saw her placing a full kettle on the stove.

"Hey you." She smiled at him, turning around to grab two tea cups from the cabinet. He took the opportunity to walk up behind her, wrapping his arms around her middle, eliciting a low giggle from Alice.

"Hey yourself." He whispered as he laid gentle kisses down her neck, grazing her skin and skipping the spots occupied by her many necklaces. The Farm had inspired a style change in Alice, not that he was complaining too much. She looked great in anything, and he loved that she was back to wearing jeans. He was skeptical of the crystals hanging from her neck though. She turned around in his arms and stood on her tip toes to place a very deliberate kiss on his lips. As FP was just parting her lips with his tongue, the kettle began screaming from the stove, causing them both to jump out of their skin.

"Shit." She said, laughing as she went to turn the stove off and remove the kettle from the heat. She took it over to the kitchen table and he followed closely with the tea cups.

"Alright, so you were saying something about the Doiley boy being found with blue lips?" Alice said hesitantly. She wasn't ready to accept what that being true would mean for them and the rest of their parent crew.

"Correct. Jughead said he found him and Ben Button with runic symbols carved into their backs. Al, you know what this means." FP said as she busied herself pouring water into the cups and placing tea bags into each.

"You can't be serious? You can't actually think that horrid game is making it's way back into Riverdale." She denied his claims.

"Alice, what else could it possibly be. And don't say maybe it's a coincidence because we both know you're smarter than that." He reached a hand out where hers was somewhat frantically dunking her tea bag in and out of her cup. He stilled her hand, taking it in his.

"FP, if this is true, none of us are safe. None of our children are safe. There's a reason we don't talk about this. It's too—" She was cut off by the sound of her phone ringing. "It's the sheriff's department." She told FP, her heart sinking into her stomach.

"Hello?" She answered, and FP picked up on the hidden panic in her voice. He squeezed her hand a little tighter.

"They were what?" The panic in Alice's voice was replaced by disbelief and anger. Not that she should be surprised.

"Yes, thank you Sheriff. Jughead's father and I will make sure to talk to them." She said, hanging up the phone.

"What did the kids do this time?" FP asked her, her eyebrows knitting together.

"Sheriff Minetta caught them snooping around Benjamin Button's hospital room. They were questioning his mother. Looks like the kids are already on the scent." She stood up and started pacing the kitchen. "Betty just got home from the hospital this morning. I can't believe she's pulling this already. I mean, the doctors said the seizure was caused by stress for god's sake."