A/N: Hi, guys! I started writing that fic right after 2x21 aired but only finished last night cause I'm apparently super slow! If I manage to keep writing, this fic will have two chapters. This one takes place between 2x21 and 2x22, and the second chapter will take place during and possibly after 2x22. I'll change some things from the show, not sure how much yet. Basically I'm simply writting the finale I wanted, haha! This fic is mostly Alice, with some deserved Bettice cause mother-daughter relationships are important to me, and of course with some Falice. Maybe slow burn cause I can't see it happen any other way right now, but the goal definitely still is Falice!

I'm not an English native speaker so bare with me for any mistake.

Thank you for reading!

The policemen had wanted Alice and Betty to come down to the station right away to give their depositions, but Alice wouldn't have it. Her daughter's life had already imploded, she couldn't possibly stop her from going to make sure the boy she was in love with was okay. The cops didn't appreciate it, but everybody knew Alice would get her way anyway. So, Betty had left with Archie and Alice had gone to the station.

She felt lightheaded as she told what had happened in her house that night. The dreadful truth that had finally come out. It was all a bit blurry and didn't feel quite real yet. They asked her too many questions, made her tell the story too many times, and she was less and less focused. Images of everything that had happened flooded through her mind. Images of Midge, the townhall shooting, Chic... But most of all images of what she was trying not to think about. FP. Jughead. Betty.

That was enough. When one of the cops started asking something again, she cut him to say she had explained everything and was done for now. She took her bag and coat, and left without giving them the chance to stop her. She had eight missed calls and four texts from her daughter. Her heart stopped.

At the hospital. Found Jughead. It's bad.

Are you still at the police station?

Can you come at the hospital when you're done?

We're still in the waiting room. Please come soon mom

Alice was in her car and driving too fast before she knew it. This couldn't be happening. The world had gone mad.

She parked in front of the hospital and got out in a hurry. She wanted to stop and catch her breath and throw up and scream and cry. She wanted to close her eyes and not think for a moment, but she didn't have time for any of it because her daughter needed her the most right now. She needed her to be strong and composed. And FP did as well. FP who was always here for her, giving her comfort and peace and, dared she say, love even when she least deserved it. FP who was always trying so hard to make things right for everyone else but himself. FP who had lost his unknown first son because of her and now had the second one in the ER. FP who now appeared in front of her, sitting in a chair with his head in his hands, as if holding the weight of the world. Betty was sitting next to him, silently crying on Archie's shoulder. Cheryl and Toni were there as well. They all lifted their heads at the sound of Alice's heels.

"Alice."

It wasn't much more than a whisper, like the name had escaped FP without his will. He immediately got up and went to her, crashing into her like magnets. Relief poured through him and the tears he had fought so hard until then poured out of him. Everything was shit, all he could think about were the worst-case scenarios of his son dying, he had no idea how to fight Penny yet (or at least no way that wouldn't end up with him back behind bars). All he knew was that when Alice had entered the room, he had been able to breathe again somehow.

It physically hurt her to see him so broken, to feel his body shaking and the tears silently wetting her shoulder. How she wished she could make it all go away, make it all better for him. For Betty. For herself. But she couldn't do anything except be there for him and not show how terrified she really was, hoping he wouldn't notice her own body shaking.

"It's okay," she said matching his own words just a few days prior, trying to sound confident and not as desperate as she felt. "He's gonna be okay, FP. It's okay."

This was an empty promise she couldn't really make. He only dared hope it would be true because she was the one saying it.

She wouldn't be able to say how long they stayed this way, but she soon had to disentangle herself to make sure her daughter was okay. She looked him in the eye, trying to convey everything she felt in one look, then turned to Betty and opened her arms for her, keeping her hand on FP's arm. Betty stood and hugged her mother tighter than she had in years.

"Mom. Thank God you're here."

They ended the hug so Alice could take a look at her daughter, putting her hand on her cheek and wiping some of her tears.

"Are you okay, Betty?"

She knew her mother meant physically, so she nodded. She wanted to ask her mom how her deposition went. She wanted to ask what it all meant and what would happen now. But she couldn't bring herself to ask. Because if she asked that, she would ask if Jughead would be okay and she didn't want to hear he might not be. She wanted her mom to tell her everything would be okay like she'd just told FP, yet she wouldn't believe it. How could she when her own father was the serial killer who had tormented her for so long, when the town was tearing itself apart, when the love of her life could be dying in this very moment?

"It's gonna be okay, Betty." It was torture for Alice to be unable to help neither one of the two person she loved most. She was desperate to give them the only thing she herself was holding onto, hope, not knowing she was the only anchor they needed. "Jughead's a fighter." Her hand slid from FP's arm to his hand and squeezed it. "He's got the two of you to come back to and that's why he will be fine. Because he loves you. Okay? Now go sit and let me fetch some coffee, we'll sure need it."

They sat for hours without moving, Betty leaning on her mother's left side and FP on her other side, holding her hand with both of his and absentmindedly playing with her fingers, intertwining them with his.

Alice stared at him, sometimes for several long minutes, without him even noticing. She watched him closely, the face she once knew better than anyone or anything, the face that had aged and lived and yet would always feel the same to her. She watched him closely, wondering what he was thinking about, hoping he was distracting himself instead of imaging the worse. Wondering how different things would have been if she had chosen him over Hal all those years ago. If he had let her choose him. They both had been such stupid fools and, yes, a part of her regretted it, but what was the point in lingering on what could have been. They were here now, older if not wiser, always making the same mistakes. Broken. The same part of her that regretted her past actions was hoping that maybe, just maybe, they could mend each other. While the rest of her laughed at the idea, which seemed so impossible.

An intern came a couple times in the waiting room to keep them update on Jughead's condition. He had several internal bleedings and was still in surgery. Every time it left them a little more miserable and a little more hopeful. So they sat and waited because there was nothing else for them to do. They sat until it was too much and FP got up and pacing again. It was the first hours of the morning and they were all exhausted yet restless. Alice watched FP go back and forth until she couldn't stand staying still herself.

She turned to her daughter.

"I need some air. Will you be okay?"

"Sure."

Betty wished she could go out as well, catch some fresh air and clear her head, but she felt incapable of moving at all. Her nails were cutting deep into her palms. It was the only thing holding her onto reality. She looked up from her bloody hands to watch her mom guide FP to the exit. The relationship of the two adults was still a bit of a mystery to her. Was her mother honest when she'd said she had stepped out on Hal with FP or was it just to distract him? But if that had been true, what did it mean for Alice? Could it be possible that her mother and her boyfriend's father still loved each other? She should have asked more about it to her mom when she had admitted to her past with FP, but it was all too weird to think about.

Of course, even if she had asked her mother about her current feelings for the man, Alice would never admit to anything. Even if she was spending her night with said man instead of taking care of her own shattered life.

She led him outside, where only a young intern was having a smoke. "You," she pointed at the stranger. "Inside." He didn't need being told twice, threw his cigarette and left them alone.

"I can't do this, Alice," FP immediately burst out. "I can't lose him."

"You won't, FP, he…"

"You don't understand, he's all I have. And he's so much better than me." That was what hurt him the most. How unfair this all was. He had never wanted his son to join the Serpents. He knew he hadn't been a great dad, but at least he had kept his son away from that life as best as he could. Until Jughead had decided he cared and wanted in. And as always, FP hadn't had much power in stopping his son. But he should have tried harder, he should have gone to Toleda long ago, run away from the crazy shit that had been going on in Riverdale for long before Jason Blossom's murder. This town was rotten and Jughead was too good for it. It was all his fault in the end. If he hadn't been an alcoholic, if he hadn't ended up in jail, if he had left the Serpents when they had Jug… "He doesn't deserve this. This is all my fault. If I had just…"

"It is not your fault, FP!"

"You don't understand. He's just a kid. I should have…"

"FP, shut up." Alice had cut him off raising her voice so that damn stubborn man would finally listen up. "I get it. I do. If it was Betty… if I lost Betty, I would die. I would. I know it's killing you from the inside right now, but you cannot give in. Jughead may be all you have but you're all he has too, and he needs you now maybe more than ever. You can't go and do the surgery yourself, you can't fix him, and I know it's unfair and frustrating and the hardest thing, but there's nothing you can do except have faith. Hope. Believe in your son. Remember when you got this?" she pointed to the scar he had in the middle of his chest, under his shirt and tattoo. She had tears in her eyes too but didn't care to hide it at this point. "They kept you on that damn table for hours and I was losing my shit. The only thing I could hold on to was the thought that you would come back to me. My love for you was all I could give you to try and make you better. I know it sounds ridiculous and you can't actually save anyone with thoughts and rainbows… but, it's all we have. It's all you can do for him." He had calmed down by then, but she kept going nonetheless. "Blaming yourself won't change anything. You can't go back and undo it. You can't go back and make better choices. I wish we could." That last part had been murmured with closed eyes. It was the first time she'd admitted it so frankly, even more than when she had told him at Pop's that pushing each other away had always been a mistake. She couldn't stop the tears from falling down her face, as much as she had promised herself she wouldn't cry again in front of FP. She cupped his blurred face. "All you can do is keep trying to be better and hope for the best. Maybe you haven't been the best father, but you love your boy. You would never consciously do anything that would hurt him. Find proud in that."

It felt to FP like there was more to what Alice was saying. She looked… broken. She had never looked so devastated, and that was saying something as she had been utterly shattered when she'd stormed in his trailer and told him about their child. He grabbed her arms and she slid her hands until they rested on his chest.

"Alice, are you okay? Did something happen?"

She closed her eyes for a couple of seconds, trying to compose herself. When she opened them again, she took a breath and opened her mouth. But at the last moment she averted her gaze and dropped her hands, breaking their physical contact and immediately missing it. It was not the time to talk about her. For once he needed to let her be there for him and not the other way around. She dried her wet cheeks and forced a smile.

"I'm fine. Let's go back inside and wait for the doctor."

He let her lie slide for now and followed her through the doors.

Eyelids and hearts were heavy when the doctor finally came to find them. They all stood up as one man upon his arrival, automatically holding back expectant breaths.

"Are you mister Jones?" The doctor asked FP, who could only nod. "Your son is out of surgery. He has five broken ribs and numerous deep cuts. Our biggest concerns however were the internal bleedings. We were able to stop them, but he's lost a lot of blood. His brain also suffered from a lack of oxygen for a few minutes. There's no way for us to evaluate the damage this may have caused until he wakes up. If he wakes up."

"What do you mean if he wakes up?"

"It is possible that he stays unconscious for a certain amount of time. Some patients stay in a coma longer than others, some don't wake up at all. But, as I said, we were able to attend to all his injuries, and your son is alive. He is being transferred to a room in the ICU. This is really all I can say for now, we will know more when he wakes up. This is good news, mister Jones. No need to go for the worst-case scenario yet."

"When will we be able to see him?" Betty interrupted.

"Very soon. A nurse will come get you."

FP thanked him, and they shook hands before the doctor left them to wait once again. It wasn't long before an old lady came to announce FP that he could finally go to his son.

"Can they come too?" he asked, showing the group.

"Only two people are allowed in the room for now."

"Go ahead, Betty," Alice said gently, to which no one objected. Betty got up and she and FP made their way to Jughead after one last glance at Alice before leaving her alone with her demons.

Seeing Jughead like that was still a shock, even if both had seen him in an even worse state when they'd found him. FP's heart had stopped at the sight of his dead son on the ground. He wasn't sure he had breathed at all until Jughead's breathing was back as well. At least now all the blood was gone from his face and arms. His son was alive. He sat on a chair next to the bed and held his hand, while Betty sat on the bed on his other side, as close as possible. Once again, they were left with nothing to do but wait.

The sun had been up for a few hours when Alice knocked on the door and startled the two of them.

"Hi," she said quietly. "I'm sorry, Betty, but we need to go. I promised the cops I'd bring you first thing in the morning and it's already nine."

Betty's heart dropped.

"But what if he wakes up while I'm gone?"

"Then he'll have his father, and I'll bring you right back."

It wasn't like Alice wanted to go back to the station and tear her daughter away from her unconscious boyfriend, but they needed to do this and be done with it. Betty knew there was no point in stalling, who knew when Jug would wake up. She sighed and got up to join her mom at the door.

"Why do you need to go to the cops?" FP frowned. "What's happened?"

As stupid and impossible as it was, Alice didn't want FP to know. She didn't want him to think any less of her, if that was even possible. People were probably talking about it already outside the hospital, but it felt like they were in a bubble here and she was in no hurry to smash it. If she told him now, if she actually spoke the words out loud to him, the last bit of peace she had would be gone for good. It was already a miracle neither Betty, Fred or Archie had said anything.

"Betty just need to make her deposition."

"On what?"

She felt nauseous again and Betty didn't look much better. They looked at each other as if hoping the other one would say it had all been a dream. They looked at each other for strength. No, Alice didn't want to say the words, but she would hate for FP to learn the truth by these dammed gossipers and journalists.

"On Hal being the Black Hood." She was forcing herself to look him in the eye and did her best to stay composed, but her voice cracked. "Guess he really was a Blossom after all," she tried to joke.

FP had no idea what to say. If she hadn't been so obviously on the verge of falling apart, he would have thought it to be a joke and laughed. The very idea of that man having the guts to kill something other than a fly was ridiculous. That excuse of a man who would never so much as punch FP when he'd learned Alice and FP had been together while she was dating Hal back in high school. He was shocked. How could she be coping with this?

"Ace, I'm…"

"We need to go, FP," she didn't let him finish. She didn't want his pity. "We'll be back as soon as they're done with us. Text me if anything changes with Jughead, okay?"

"Sure."

Thank goodness for that man who seemed to always understand what she needed when she needed it. Sometimes more than she did herself.

She thanked him, forced a smile and they left the room.

Alice had successfully drove Betty to the station and back to the hospital avoiding the press. That was yet another thing she was in no hurry to face. Betty had spent the day in Jughead's room, only taking a break when Fred came by to check on his friend and when Alice made sure she'd eat something. FP hadn't budge from that room, barely eating what they'd gotten for him and mostly surviving only on coffee. What he really wanted was a drink. Fuck, what he wouldn't do for a damn glass. But even that urge wasn't overlapping the need to stay by his son's side. He should also go and deal with the whole Ghoulies and Penny ordeal, he knew the Serpents needed their king, but he also knew they'd understand why he couldn't be there. It was now late in the evening and Jughead was still unconscious. It had been the longest day of their lives. Time didn't seem to be moving at all.

Alice had come in the room to take Betty home when the visiting hours had ended. Only FP had been allowed to stay, not that he would have gotten anywhere anyway.

Alice spotted the crowd as soon as the car entered their street. The vultures were waiting for them in front of the house. Of course. There was no escaping it anymore, no use in turning back, they had already been noticed.

"Gosh."

"It's alright, Betty. We're just gonna go through them and get in and not say a word. Do you hear me? Do not speak a word."

"Yeah, I get it."

Betty's heartrate sped up and her body tensed. All Alice could do was squeeze her hand and nod in encouragement before pulling over in her driveway. The journalists were immediately on them, flashes blinding and voices shouting.

"Misses Cooper, what's it like to be the wife of a serial killer?"

"Did you know your husband was the Black Hood?"

"How does it feel to be responsible for all these murders?"

It took all her self-control not to yell at these scribblers to go to hell. She knew all too well that's exactly what they were after and she would be damned if she gave them the satisfaction.

Then they were inside, and it felt odd. Both familiar and estranged, like an old photograph or the house of a friend. Talking felt just as weird and they ate, showered and got ready for bed in a deafening silence. Everything that reminded them of Hal felt like wretched and everything remind them of him. Alice went to Betty's room to check on her one last time, postponing the inevitable moment she'd have to go lay in the bed she had shared with her husband for the last twenty years or so. She was even considering sleeping in Polly's old room, but it had also been the one of Chic the imposter, which was still better than Hal's but not by much. Maybe she should just sleep on the couch.

Betty was already on her bed, sitting with her knees to her chest, when Alice gently knocked on the door.

"Mom? Would you mind sleeping here? Just for tonight?"

It felt childish to ask, but Betty didn't think she could deal with being alone. Her request was so unsure that Alice could have cried right there and then.

"Of course, honey."

Alice internally sighed with relief. She joined her daughter and they both curled up under the blanket, facing each other. Both were worn out. Both were afraid to sleep.

"I'm sorry, mom," Betty murmured.

"You have nothing to be sorry for, Betty."

"But if I had figured it out sooner…"

"Don't do that, Elizabeth. You couldn't have known. And you're in no way responsible for your father's actions."

Alice had mimicked her daughter's low tone but hers was confident where Betty's was flickering.

"I delivered Chic to him. I'm responsible if he killed him."

"You are not. Whatever happened, you're not the one who committed the crime."

"But I could have prevented it. I could have prevented so much if I had just…"

"What? How could you have imagined you father was a psychopath? He played mind games with you." That bastard had psychologically tormented her daughter and she wished hell upon him for that even more than everything else. It killed her that he wasn't repentant whatsoever, yet Betty and herself were the ones feeling guilty. She couldn't let that guilt eat her daughter up. "And it's not just you, Betty, we were all fooled. Your father deceived us. And betrayed us. He just… isn't well." It made her sick to swallow her insults and hate for the man. But he was still Betty's father. She couldn't possibly say he was a cold-hearted scumbag with no ounce of humanity left in him, now, could she?

"What if… what if I'm like him? What if my darkness…"

Betty was silently crying, and Alice brushed the tears and stroke her hair.

"Enough with this nonsense. You're a teenager, honey, we all experience that "darkness" as you call it. We all try to find ourselves, we see the flaws in our parents and lose all landmarks, we lose our balance trying to make sense of this world. We're not perfect. And sometimes it shows, in bad intentions or dark thoughts or venomous feelings. I've been there, trust me. I was wild when I was your age. I was confused, and I was struggling, and I was so, so angry at the world. All of which resulted in pretty bad decisions, maybe, but that's what you need to figure it all out. And you? You've always been so perfect. So gentle. So good. The truth is, it's my fault, Betty. I expected more of you. For you. I wanted to spare you all my heartaches and I ended up asking too much of you. I did. And I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. You're so much like me, and it scared the shit out of me, so I tried to hold it back and in doing so I stopped you from being yourself. I forced you to bottle it up and I shouldn't have. I think your darkness is the result of that pressure. It's just the need to break free."

"It's okay, mom. It's not on you."

Alice was tearing up too and her voice was trembling when she spoke again.

"It is. But I'll make it right by you. I'll be better, Betty, I promise."

She had been realizing over the last few weeks how mistaken she had been. She had forced on her daughter the choices she had made for herself. But now that she was admitting how unhappy they had made her, she came to the realization they wouldn't make Betty any happier or fulfilled. She had lost herself in pretending so hard to be someone else. Then she prevented her daughter to find herself in the first place. She had done the same to Polly, but she had found her strength and voice when she got pregnant. Alice was so proud of her baby girl. Terrified for her, sure. But also proud. Something she could never have confessed to Hal. She wished she could put all the blame on him. That she could say he changed her with his twisted words and his hold on her. There definitely was some truth to that, he had always been really good in using her deepest insecurities against her. But she had her share of blame and she wouldn't hide behind him, no matter how easy it would be now.

Betty had stayed silence, watching her mother getting lost in her thoughts. She wanted to believe her more than anything. But…

"What if you're wrong? He is my father after all. What if it's in my genes or something?"

"Oh baby. It's not." Alice looked straight into her daughter's eyes and didn't let go. "You are the most kind-hearted person I've ever known. And you're strong, and empathic, and selfless. You are better than he ever was. Better than I have ever been." She took a deep breath. "You know, my parents weren't really good parents. They weren't really good people, really. When I was very young, I promised myself I would never be like them. And I'm not. If anything, I'm the literal opposite of them." She laughed a short and bitter laugh in between tears. "I sure made my own mistakes, obviously, I'm not the mother of the year. But just because he is your father doesn't mean you are anything like him, like I'm nothing like them. Okay? Come here."

She brought Betty close to her so her face would rest on her heart, and held her tight. They stayed like that without speaking or moving for what could have been a minute or a half-hour. The house was completely silent except for their sniffing from time to time.

When Alice thought Betty had fallen asleep, she spoke up again.

"What if he doesn't wake up?"

Alice couldn't brush it off, she knew her daughter needed an honest answer this time.

"If he doesn't, then we'll get through it. We'll find a way. Together. But I have a gut feeling he'll be fine. He wouldn't dare giving up on you."

Betty had understood there was a lot more to her mom than meets the eye. She didn't know her mom that well and maybe never really would. It had been more and more obvious with everything that had happened these last few weeks. She used to call her crazy, she used to think she was a controlling bitch. She had still loved her through it all because she knew it all came from a loving place. But only now was she fully understanding how precious that love was and how lucky she was.

"I love you, mom."

"I love you, honey."

She loved her so much. A line from Carrie the musical popped up in Alice's mind. You're the reason I'm alive. You're the only reason I survive. How fitting, she thought.

Alice stayed awake until she was sure her daughter was asleep in her arms. Only then did she allow herself to close her eyes at last. She sank in a heavy, restless slumber, either dreaming she was still awake or not dreaming at all. Once in the middle of the night, she woke up with a start for no specific reason and fell back asleep comforted by her daughter's steady breathing. She woke up the next morning feeling as if she hadn't slept at all.

The bed was empty next to her. She reached for her phone on the nightstand and her heart sped up when she saw she had two texts from Betty.

Archie gave me a lift to the hospital. Didn't want to wake you up. Xx

The second text brought tears to Alice's eyes. Her life was still upside down, she still had no idea how to get up and face her new reality, but she at least knew now that her daughter would be okay. And that FP would too.

Jughead is awake!