Alice Cooper had never felt as much terror as when she spotted her daughter dancing on the stage in the Whyte Wyrm. The very same dance she herself had performed at that age. Paralyzing fear was gripping her, yet she knew there was only one option to stop this.

The Serpents had rules. Most of them pertained to being loyal and such, but there was one rule she had always hated, since before she had even joined the Serpents herself, and that rule was that once a Serpent dance had begun, it had to be finished. With that thought in mind, she moved towards the stage.

"Oh, hell no." she growled as she walked up to stand beside her daughter, who had stopped mid-dance at her mother's voice. Someone stopped the music, and all eyes were on the two Cooper women.

"Mom-" Betty began, holding her hands out in front of her in a placating manner. Alice scowled, taking hold of one of the girl's wrists.

"Get your ass off this stage, right now Elizabeth." she ordered, yanking slightly so that Betty had no choice but to stumble forward.

"Mom, no!" the sixteen year old protested. "I wanna do this!"

"You know the rules Alice." Tall Boy spoke up from his place next to the stage. The blonde's eyes snapped to him for a moment before sliding over to where FP had made his way to the front of the crowd.

"Yeah. I do." she replied. She could see FP's eyes darken. Good. He knew what she was doing then. She saw Jughead cautiously approaching the stage from the corner of her eye and pushed Betty towards him. "Get her the hell out of here."

The boy nodded, taking hold of his girlfriend's arms to keep her from getting back up on the stage. FP slowly climbed up onto the stage, Alice refusing to meet his eyes again. He picked up the young girl's clothes, tossing them down to her and his son before taking hold of Alice's arm.

"Alice, you don't have to-" he started lowly, only to be cut off when she yanked out of his grip.

"I already told you." she replied, her voice hard. "I won't let them make our mistakes."

"Mom, what are you talking about? What rules is he talking about?" Betty asked, struggling against Jughead's grip.

"Betty, just go home!" Alice snapped. Jughead met her eyes, and though he wasn't quite sure himself what was about to happen and why everyone had just gotten so tense about his girlfriend's mother getting up on that stage, he knew that he needed to get Betty out of there and fast.

"Come on Betts." he said softly, pulling her through the crowds of people and towards the exit.

"Juggie, no!" Betty protested. She continued to do so all the way through the throngs of people. She spied Toni rounding the bar and heading towards them and fought a little harder against her boyfriend, wanting to know what the hell was happening.

"Look, I'll explain, but it really is better if we go outside." Toni said urgently once she reached them. Betty opened her mouth to protest again as Jughead began to pull her towards the door once more, but she stopped when she heard the music start up again. Her eyes immediately drifted to the stage where her mother had removed her black leather jacket.

"Toni!" she cried in panic, her eyes moving to meet the other girl's. "What is the rule Tall Boy was talking about?" Toni's eyes grew sad and sympathetic. She knew there was no way they were getting Betty out of there until she explained.

"Once a woman starts a Serpent dance, she has to finish it...unless someone else volunteers to do it for her." she whispered. Betty's eyes went wide, and her eyes snapped back to the stage. Her mother's top and shorts were now discarded, leaving her in only her lacy black lingerie set.

"Oh God." Betty whimpered, watching in horror as her mother began dancing sensually on the stage, just as she herself had been doing only minutes earlier. With each beat of the song that passed, the young girl felt more and more sick. The dance looked so practiced when Alice did it, and Betty felt the urge to throw up grow even stronger when she realized that it probably was. The dance was a requirement for every female Serpent's initiation, and Alice had been a Serpent at one point.

Jughead was watching the dance as well, but his eyes never remained on his girlfriend's mother for long. His gaze always returned to his father, still standing on the stage, though slightly off to the side. Even from so far away, it was so easy to see the desire on FP's face. The longing. He'd never seen his father look at his mother like that. And in the time that he'd known her, he had never seen Mrs. Cooper look at her husband that way either. He hated to admit it, but he had seen her look at his father that way when she thought no one was watching.

The three teenagers watched as Alice ended her dance by slowly bending backwards, her head tilted back and her eyes closed, held up only by her grip on the metal in front of her. FP crossed the stage as the final beats of the song faded out and Alice pulled herself to stand straight again. He had picked up her shorts and handed them to her. The defeat was visible on the older woman's face as she took the offered garment and pulled them on. Neither of them bothered with the shirt she'd dropped somewhere behind the microphones, FP choosing to instead take his Serpent jacket and wrap it around her shoulders. The teens observed him step in front of the blonde, almost protectively, to shield her from the prying eyes of the other patrons of the bar.

When he stepped away, the jacket was zipped up, effectively hiding her body from view. Several of the older Serpents were watching them solemnly, their loyalty to and respect for Alice, even after so long, causing a somber attitude among them over what she'd just had to do. The younger men were watching her with open lust, to the point that several of the older ones stepped in front of them and politely suggested that they show her some respect as FP led her off of the stage, his arm wrapped firmly around her shoulders and her face buried in his shoulder.

"What the hell are you two still doing here?" FP asked when he spotted them. Alice lifted her head, and it shocked Betty to see tears in her mother's eyes.

"Mom…" she trailed off.

"She'll be okay." FP said, a slight harshness to his tone. "Jug, take Betty home, now." This time, Betty didn't fight when her boyfriend started pulling her towards the door. She simply looked over her shoulder in time to see FP Jones wrap his arms around her mother as the woman in question began to shake with silent sobs.

A mother would do anything for her child. Even give up everything she had worked so hard for.

I didn't feel like Alice's reaction to that dance during the episode was as true to her character as it should have been, so here's this. And also, I'm ignoring the Penny Peabody thing, which is another reason why FP's little speech didn't make an appearance. I may or may not do a follow up, in which it could make an appearance for a reason not involving Penny, but I haven't decided yet. Either way, let me know what you think!