Under Fire and Undercover

Did You Tell Her?

"Okay, we can try to correspond more over the phone. I just want you to be careful." He sighed again.

"I'm close, Charles. I am a little worried that he won't explain the organ harvesting until we're married though." Alice wrung her hands, her mind somewhere else.

"Well, he's legally married to Evelyn. It should just be a ceremony. I don't think we'll have to worry about annulling anything." Charles said optimistically, not quite catching onto what she was concerned about.

"I don't think I can--, Charles I can't sleep with him." Alice finally got out, his expression dropping and fire filling his eyes.

"You don't have to." He said almost violently, though it wasn't really directed at her.

"Charles, come on. If I marry him, in some creepy religious ceremony or not, he's going to expect it." His mother said quietly, not able to meet his eyes. This wasn't exactly the most comfortable conversation to be having with her son, but it was necessary.

"Is there a date set?" Charles gritted through his teeth.

"No, my divorce isn't quite finalized yet. I've also been telling him that I want to wait until Betty joins us, but that excuse won't last much longer. And I need to get him to admit to the organ harvesting." Alice reasoned. Everything she said was true, and they both knew it.

"Maybe you could just fake being sick when the time comes?" Charles threw out, but Alice just rolled her eyes.

"You're old enough to know that that is not how these things work." Alice may have laughed if she wasn't genuinely concerned.

"Hey, maybe we're getting ahead of ourselves here. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. It's going to be okay. Under no circumstances are you to end up in his bed, do you copy?" Charles said in an authoritative voice. Alice scoffed.

"You do know that I'm the parent, right?" She managed a bit of sassiness, though it sounded mostly deflated. He raised his eyebrows at her. "But yes, I copy."

"Good. Now, you should probably get back before Evelyn thinks that Betty kidnapped you again." He handed Alice her purse and walked with her towards the door.

"I don't know when I'll be able to make it back here, so just keep your phone on you. I'm expecting to have lots to report." She kissed his cheek and disappeared into the dark parking lot.

**

Alice was in her bedroom (well, bedroom was generous, it more closely resembled a prison cell) getting ready for the day when her phone rang. Her heart stopped when she saw the caller ID.

FP was calling her. Which meant something was most definitely wrong. They hadn't spoken since that night in his office. Panic built within her as she thought of Betty, practically parentless. With her heart sunk into her stomach, she swiped the screen.

"Hello?" She answered, her voice higher than intended.

"Alice, hi." FP said, and she could picture him with his hand clasped over the back of his neck.

"Who is it, FP?" Alice demanded in a whisper.

"It's Hal." Every muscle in Alice's body relaxed as he said the name.  Her daughter was safe.

"Thank god." Alice breathed out. "Is Betty okay?"

"As well as can be expected. His bus crashed during his prison transfer."

"And you're sure he's dead? There's a body?" Alice knew her ex-husband, and this was Riverdale. She needed as much confirmation of his death as she could get.

"The crash was bad, Alice. Really bad. We've got six bodies, and that's how many people were on the bus. Everything is incinerated though. We're testing for DNA now." FP paused. "He's really gone, Alice. There's no way he survived that."

"Thank you. For Calling." Alice said. As her sheer terror for Betty's safety subsided, all that was left awkwardness and pain. It hurt to hear him talk to her as if he cared. Even if he did, it didn't matter anymore. They were over.

"Yeah, I just wanted you to know before it hit the news." FP sighed. "Are you okay, Al?"

"Please, FP. Just don't. I cannot do this with you." She whispered around the thickness of her throat as it swelled with tears.

"I'm sorry. But it's okay, if you're not okay, Alice. He was psychopathic bastard, but he was still the father of your children." So are you she thought as he continued. "You're allowed to feel whatever it is you're feeli---"

Alice hung up. They were not friends. They weren't even on speaking terms. There was no way that she was going to listen to his attempts at comforting her over her ex-husband's death.

Wait.

Her husband's death.

The divorce papers were signed, but they hadn't been pushed all the way through yet. What did that mean? Did that make her Hal Cooper's widow or were the signatures on the paper enough?

She picked up her phone and made a mental note to call Sierra later, but for now, she dialed Charles' number.

"Hello?" He answered quietly.

"Hal is dead." Alice said frankly, exhausted already despite the early hour.

"I know. I've got a buddy at the corrections department. I was just about to call you. I'm sorry." He said in tone that was both unsure and solemn. He wasn't sure what his mother needed from him at the moment, but he wanted to be as supportive as possible.

"Don't be mournful of a serial killer on my behalf. I just want you to have one of your agents tail Betty. Make sure she's okay. Safe at least." Alice said, resting her head on her hand.

"I'll see what I can do." She could hear the keys on his laptop clicking as he sent the email.

"Thank you. I have to go now. Can't be late for breakfast." Alice sighed.

"Okay. Be careful."

"I always am." She said as she hung up.

Alice thought of Hal as she walked down the hall. She thought of Betty and how she was going to have to break the news to Polly. And probably listen to her spout off some nonsense about how lucky they were to have forgiven him before he died. She thought of FP and the sincerity in his voice over the phone. Of Charles and how thoughtful he had had been.

But mostly, she just thought about how much she missed making breakfast for her family.

A/N:  There's only a little bit left as far as season 3 goes. Would y'all want this is end with the finale or should I attempt going into season 4 with Alice's rescue from the Farm?