Hi, it's been awhile. I'm not sure what I want to come of this, but this idea has been swirling around in my head for some time now.

Just a heads up, this fic starts off with a newly divorced Vauseman. Yes, you read correctly, this story contains a divorced Vauseman, so please press the return button if you do not want to read such fic, I won't be one bit disappointed, but if I so choose to add to this, I guarantee Vauseman is endgame.

I haven't written angst before, so be gentle.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

One Step At A Time

It had been six long, excruciatingly emotional months, an emotional year at that, but the paper Piper held in her hand was the key to hopefully a new found happiness.

As soon as the judge signed the divorce decree and pronounced the declaration in front of open court, a tension that Piper had held inside of her for months, lifted from her body. This action did not go unnoticed by an uneasy Alex who was standing next to her now ex-wife.

Alex had done everything she could think of to prolong the divorce. Piper was growing furious at the time it was taking to finalize the divorce but Alex had a mission. She wanted to prove to Piper that she could better herself and veer away from the dangers and temptations of the cartel without a mess, but both women knew breaking away from the cartel was nearly impossible. Time and time again Piper gave her chance after chance but each time proved to be just like the last. Words were spoken but no action was taken.

Piper glanced to her right at Alex who was dressed in a black women's suit that accentuated her figure perfectly with her hair flowing in long loose curls. Her eyes had bags under them as if she hadn't slept in days and her shoulders slumped forwards unlike her usual arrogant posture. The blonde haired woman noticed that Alex wasn't making eye contact with the judge or herself but kept her eyes locked on the floor as if it were more important than what they were here for. While returning her gaze back up at the judge who was double checking the documents, Piper's eye caught the glimmer of Alex's diamond encrusted wedding band that she had yet to take off. Piper looked down at her left ring finger and rubbed where the diamond ring had once sat with the pad of her finger.

Eight months earlier…

Things had been going south for a while but Alex sensed something was different about this fight. She had that gnawing feeling in the bottom of her stomach that was making its presence known more and more by the minute.

This particular fight had seemed to make its way to the center of their relationship and reared its ugly head right when Alex thought Piper had simply accepted the fact that she couldn't just quit the cartel. Alex often tried to distract Piper and prolong the what seemed like a weekly fight with a new extravagant house instead of the penthouse apartment, expensive pieces of jewelry, and even an anniversary trip to the Caribbean, but that trip started in what seemed to be a reconciliation but ended in an argument because the reality of Alex having to go back to work when they arrived home had soon appeared.

Alex was standing on one side of the large kitchen island and Piper was standing on the other. Tears were threatening to spill out of Piper's eyes but she used all the strength she could find to keep them at bay. Alex had just arrived home from a two week long drug run in Tokyo and was scheduled to leave again in three days. All the tall woman wanted was a peaceful few days at home but as soon as she walked in from the garage and saw Piper sitting at the island with a blank gaze on her face and her hands clasped in front of her, she knew all too well what was going on.

"Tell me what you want, Piper." Alex asked

"I want you to come home. That's what I want. I can't keep doing this. Twenty-one days out of the month, sometimes more, I'm here alone. I can't even spend my days here because it's so fucking empty, I look around and I see you everywhere and that just makes it worse. It's so fucking lonely without you here, Al."

Alex was quick to reply, "That's bullshit, and you know it. You have P-"

Piper cut Alex off abruptly, "That's not enough, Alex. How could you not want to be here?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Holding up her hands to get Piper to stop, Alex began "Who said that I didn't want to be here? I know sure as hell I rather would be here than spending three quarters of the month on a plane and somewhere thousands of miles away from here with complete fucking strangers.

Alex's temper was beginning to rise and it was apparent to Piper. Every week they went round and round on this never ending carousel of Alex's job and how it was detrimental to their relationship.

A tear escaped from the corner of Piper's eye. "Then why don't you quit? Find an oh what's that called, legal job."

The sarcasm in Piper's voice was hard to miss but Alex was able to reign in the anger that was tempting to burst out of her mouth.

"How many times have we been over this, Piper? I feel this is the only fucking thing we talk about anymore."

"Because it is." Piper replied with her face buried in her hands. "You have a responsibility here at home Alex as a wife and..."

Alex snapped, her hand came smacking down onto the granite countertop. "You don't think I fucking know that? How do you think we can afford all of this?"

Alex motioned around the kitchen that had granite everywhere and stainless steel appliances that practically did everything for you at the touch of a button.

Alex continued, "If it wasn't for me and this job? Where do you think we would be Piper? Huh? Tell me."

By now the tears were flowing freely down Piper's face.

"I just want to be happy, Al. That's all."

Piper's voice was merely a whisper.

"So you're telling me that none of this makes you happy? I bust my ass to give you these things and you're not happy?"

Now it was Piper's turn to get angry. Time and time again Piper had explained to Alex that they could live in a shitty apartment in Queens and she would be happy as long as Alex was home every day of the month and wasn't working for the cartel. Alex often laughed this declaration off and told Piper that they would never live in Queens and that was the end of the conversation.

"Alex I don't need expensive and elegant things to be happy. Happiness is so much simpler than that. I've told you multiple times what would make me happy but you shrug it off and keep going with your life." Piper paused to stop and catch her breath from the crying and to get a bottle of water from the fridge before continuing. Alex couldn't bear to make eye contact with Piper while she was crying over this topic of conversation. "You can't tell me your happy with this lifestyle either."

"I certainly don't enjoy it."

"Then quit."

Alex exhaled loudly making eye contact with her wife and shook her head. "I'm not having this conversation with you again. I'm going to bed. I have three days to relax and I'm certainly not going to spend it arguing with you just like every other day off I have."

This was it for Piper. She clearly saw that Alex wasn't going to fight for their relationship, she simply wanted to keep going on the way they had been for the past six months when Piper finally realized she was fed up with Alex being away when she desperately needed her.

Alex had turned away to exit the kitchen when she heard Piper yell "Fuck You, Alex."

As soon as Alex turned around to look at Piper, a small shiny object pelted her right in the chest and clinked on the floor of the kitchen. Alex didn't even need to look down to know what Piper threw at her. Before Alex could get a word out, Piper exited the kitchen through the second entrance. Alex walked out of the kitchen and glanced upwards at the balcony just in time to see Piper storm into their bedroom and slam the white double doors. She audibly heard the click of the lock ring out as she placed her hand on the banister to begin her descent up the stairs towards her wife.

Noting that she wasn't going to be sleeping in her own bed, Alex perched her glasses on top of her head and sat down on the bottom of the stairs. Burying her head in her hands, Alex tried to control her emotions. Alex realized she had a choice to make. She could either keep working for the cartel and further deteriorate her marriage or find a way out. Alex sat on the stairs until she devised a plan and felt she could be mature enough to speak to her wife.

Returning back to the kitchen to pick up Piper's wedding ring, when she picked it up, Alex couldn't help but remember how happy she was the day she and Piper got married. All of their close family and friends were around including Piper's parents. Nicky, Lorna, Red, Fahri, and even Kubra were all in attendance and couldn't be happier for the pair. The first two and a half years of their marriage was bliss but the higher up Alex went in the cartel the more Piper's patience wore thin. Alex kissed the ring and began her walk upstairs.

Climbing up the stairs and walking the short distance from the landing to their door, Alex pressed her ear against it and heard Piper sitting against the door sobbing. Feeling her heart break more than it already was Alex knocked lightly.

"Pipes, babe. I'm sorry. I can figure something out. Will you let me in please so we can talk?"

There was no response but Alex could still hear Piper's weeping.

"Baby, I have your wedding ring. I bet your finger looks so desolate without it on."

Piper looked down at her ring finger and thought it looked just fine.

Leaning her forehead against the door, Alex checked the doorknob just in case but found it was indeed locked.

"Pipes…I'm sorry…Could you at least say something?"

It took all the strength in the world to get the sentence she wanted to say out, but Piper faintly whispered, "I want a divorce."

Alex relaxed a little hearing Piper respond but only caught the beginning of the sentence.

"What do you want babe? Tell me. I can make this better."

Piper leaned her head back against the door and said it with a little more confidence this time.

"I want a divorce."

Alex's heart felt like it stopped when she heard the last word. Never once in this marriage had she thought things were bad enough to even mention that word, but maybe Piper really was tired of it all. Maybe she wasn't home enough. Alex knew that Piper didn't deserve this kind of treatment, but what else was she to do?

She opened her mouth to say something but only small gasps came out.

"Please don't leave." Alex finally whispered.

The tall woman simply slid down the door and let the first tear of many fall.

Walking out of the courthouse at an arm's length apart, Alex looked over at her new ex-wife. Piper looked a little stressed but the Ray Bans Aviators covered the true emotions she was feeling. Alex could look into Piper's eyes once and know how she was feeling. She wasn't proud of being newly divorced, but she had somewhat come to the realization that this was for the best but deep down she knew that Piper was the one for her. They would end up back together some day. Maybe not now or anytime in near, but eventually they would.

Piper's stopping at the curb broke Alex from her thoughts.

"Are you gonna pick up your son tonight or are you leaving?"

Alex could hear the sarcasm in Piper's voice but refrained from throwing it back at her.

"I'll come pick him up. I told Kubra I needed the week off to finalize this and get my stuff from the house. What time do you want me to pick Parker up?"

Piper cringed at the name Kubra but told Alex to pick up their two year old son at five.

"You can get the rest of your stuff while you're there. I put it all in your suitcases and there's a few boxes. If I find anything else you can pick it up when you bring him back Sunday."

Alex nodded.

"Okay. I have to get back to work. See you at five."

Before Alex could respond she was looking at the back of Piper's head walking into the crowd of people on the New York street.

"See you at five." Alex mumbled to herself and hailed a cab to go back to her apartment.

A/N: Yeah, I don't know if I'm going to continue this but this has been swirling around my mind for a while now. Let me know what you think.