hey everyone! Kris here!
back at it again! round two! the feedback on my first oitnb fic was amazing, so I decided to go for another one. This has been rolling around in my drafts since season 5 ended, (thank writers block) but luckily I was able to finish chapter one up. Not sure how frequent the updates will be, but I hope you guys can bear with me! all feedback and support is greatly appreciated!
awaaaaaaay we go!
As they stood together, hand in hand, awaiting the inevitable, Piper felt her eyes well up with tears. She was going to be married to the love of her life.
If she survived this, first. She gave Alex's hand a tight squeeze and watched as everyone in their small group of misfits held to one another, the anticipation and fear in the air so thick you could cut it with a knife.
She began to feel angry at herself, frustrated. Alex had been right about her trying to always have a cause, always be finding something to throw her heart behind. She realized that if now was her last moment on earth, it wasn't fair. She had never imagined the riot could end in this way. Negotiations were supposed to be taking place, the governor would get tired and give into their demands, and everyone would get to walk away with amnesty and their lives.
Now? She wasn't sure.
She had been so caught up in finding things to do, looking for some kind of ridiculous purpose, a way to be involved, that she now faced the fact that she may never see Alex or her friends ever again. The only memories she had to leave this earth with were burnt cheetos and the searing image of a monster breaking her fiancee's arm while she sat and watched, helpless. Powerless to stop the mess the minute it began, because she was Piper. Selfish, clueless Piper, who in trying to make up for being so scared to do anything her whole life, isolated everyone she loved. The noises outside began to get louder. Inmates screaming, pounding boot steps.
She began to choke up now, a sob escaping her. Despite what she had said to her partner about not having regret for all she had done during the riot, she was sorry. Alex looked at her sadly, nudging her arm and squeezing her hand tightly in response. She shut her eyes for a second, letting out a deep sigh, and turning her gaze forward towards the entrance of the pool. At least they would go together. For years she feared her lover's demise at the hands of Kubra, or another inmate ready to start trouble. She'd hear about it from guards as she was whisked away to a prison hospital, perishing alone. This was bittersweet. If her brain wasn't drowning in images of her own sick demise, she could imagine a book ending this way. True love dies together, it always seems.
Suddenly, an explosion caused all of them to jump in surprise, and tense up. Smoke began to slowly pour into the empty pool, surrounding them, threatening to choke each and every person standing their ground. Red began to curse under her breath in Russian, her eyes huge. Suzanne started shaking her head, asking Cindy fearful questions, who began to shush her. There wasn't anything that could be done to reassure her now. The forces coming for them didn't care about mental health, or broken arms, or fears, or surrender. They were out for blood.
"I-I l-love you, Al-Alex…." Piper sobbed, her hand on the taller woman's in a vice grip. She couldn't make up for all the time she had wasted before, but perhaps she could make her aware of how much she cared now. How happy she was that her life had been consumed by so much of the raven haired force of nature. If she could go back ten years, like she'd asked before everything got crazy, she would go for another spin. Another chance to be picked on in the bar. Another chance to stay, to let Alex cry into her arms, to hold her hand during her mother's funeral rather than making a hasty retreat. There was so much she had yet to make right. Her chance was gone. Alex kissed her head, tears running down her face to match.
"Love you too, Pipes…." Nicky moved in closer to them.
"Even when we're about to die, you two are still way too...gay…" she whispered, closing her eyes tightly. She looked over at Red. "I love you, Ma…." Red's eyes watered. This shocked Piper. Red crying meant it was going to be bad.
Everything happened so suddenly.
Alex let out a scream as a pepper bullet grazed her right shoulder, surely taking chunks of flesh with it, and she collapsed to the ground, landing on her already broken arm. She cried out, and Piper screamed, trying to rush to her aid. The group broke their chain quickly, scattering.
Officers stormed them in seconds.
Suzanne ran fearfully towards the corner of the pool, feebly trying to find safety as an armed guard chased her down, slamming her into the wall, and macing her eyes. She began yelling out for her mom, crying loudly and apologizing as others tried to restrain her.
"I'VE BEEN GOOD! I TOOK MY MEDICINE MOMMY!" she begged, and continued to writhe in pain as they nearly strangled her in an attempt to cuff her. "MAKE THEM STOP IT!"
The rest of the group was beginning to get taken down in a similar fashion. Officers began to beat on a running Nicky as Red screamed and ordered them to get off of her. Alex was in the midst of crawling for cover when she started getting roughly dragged away, and Piper charged for her, determination in her gaze. They'd hurt her wife, alright... Over her dead body.
"Piper, DON'T!" Alex snapped, but it was too late. Attention was brought to her in seconds, and the blonde was slammed against an electrified shield. She convulsed and twitched for awhile before she fell to the ground, smoking. Alex gazed at her limp body in horror, but could do nothing as she was hoisted above a guard's shoulder, and carried away.
Frieda was wrestling with two officers who were trying to get the gun from her hands, and the utility belt from her waist before a third officer seemed to materialize from nowhere, and knocked her out cold with a nightstick. The gun fell from her hands, and was taken by the guards. Their last line of defense had been shattered. After further scuffles, cries of pain, and a fair cloud of mace and tear gas, the leading officer clicked on his radio.
"The pool has been secured." he looked over at Piper's limp body, Alex's arm that had already begun to swell in her attempts to reach out toward her, and Frieda's bleeding head. He simply shrugged. Nicky lay almost lifeless on the other side of the room, her face so bruised and bloodied that it was unrecognizable. A mass of red with lidded, pained filled eyes. Suzanne was sobbing, her eyes red and shut, rocking back and forth and begging for mercy. Red was being lifted into the arms of two guards, the shock and pain causing her to pass out.
Cindy leaned heavily against the side of the pool, coughing heavily as tear gas made it hard for her to breathe. A few seconds later, and she collapsed to the ground with a thud. Gloria was slowly trying to come to her senses after being shocked by another shield, and was dragged to her feet to be handcuffed. Blood trickled down the side of her head. She hadn't gotten off easy, either. Flores weakly tried to spit in the direction of a guard before getting thrown almost six feet across the floor, slamming into the side of the pool with a yell of pain. She fell silent, her head rolling to the side. Gloria watched with eyes wide, beginning to cry.
"So far no casualties to be reported… updates will be provided as we begin to evacuate."
Slowly but surely, every inmate was chained up tightly, and the ones who were too weak to walk, too hysterical, or too beaten to move were carried or dragged.
Alex slowly began to come to her senses as she was moved through the walls of the prison, her jaw dropping as she caught sight of Piscatella's limp body. The once powerful, looming, terrifying villain of a man was now reduced to a pale and motionless lump on the floor. The pepper bullet still stained the spot between his eyes, and she swallowed the bile that was slowly creeping up her throat. She winced as her arm throbbed with pain, the spot where the bullet had grazed her still gushing blood. There was no doubt in her mind that it had taken a sizeable chunk out of it. How she was still conscious at the moment was beyond her knowledge. Adrenaline is a hell of a drug.
After what felt like years, they slowly were taken out of the front doors of the prison. Inmates still on the lawn looked over in fear and curiosity combined. Nicky suddenly began squirming in the arms of the officers, beginning to dry heave. Out of disgust, they quickly dropped her, and she rolled to the side, throwing up. Her puke was chunky, and red. Blood. The lead officer groaned, and looked at the group angrily. Internal bleeding meant possible casualties, which meant way too much paperwork.
"Split them. Take the bad ones to the hospital, now. The others get onto the buses."
Piper slowly opened her eyes, finally coming to. She looked up at Alex a few feet away, and began to panic.
"A-Al?" she whimpered, reaching out. Alex looked back at her sadly as she began being shuffled towards an awaiting medical unit.
"P-Pipes… I'm sorry…" she reached back, and Piper began to struggle and cry out, fighting against the officers, who were not in the mood.
"Wh-what!? Where are you taking them!?" she tried to break away, beginning to have a near panic attack. "I go where she goes!"
"I know you aren't testing your fucking limits with me right now!" a guard yelled before knocking her backwards, and quickly spraying her with mace. Piper screamed in agony, dropping to her knees as Alex watched, unable to intervene.
Nicky was lifted from the ground, and brought off towards the same medical unit as Alex was. Alex soon lost sight of her screaming partner, and turned her eyes forward. Her shoulders were shaking, and everything felt as if it was going in slow motion. She cast a gaze toward her best friend, who looked as if she was hanging on by a thread. How the hell had they ended up in this mess?
Inmates on the lawn began hurling insults and nasty comments toward the riot team when the scene with Chapman had unfolded. It was true that Piper wasn't exactly Litchfield's favorite, but an attack on one was an attack on all. The gross cruelty wasn't missed by the media, or Caputo, either.
"What in the hell happened in that pool!?" he yelled, getting right up in the face of the officer who had just maced Piper. "These women didn't put up a fight. You know they didn't, and I know they didn't."
"You weren't there." the officer growled, shoving him back. "Did you miss the part where this one tried to attack just now?" he pointed toward the sobbing blonde, and Caputo narrowed his eyes, fists clenched.
"Attack? She's scared! She's a hundred and thirty pounds soaking wet! You mean to tell me you feel threatened enough to do what you just did?" he knelt down, running a hand over Piper's back. She flinched, moaning in pain.
"S-stop… I c-cant see…."
"Chapman." he murmured. "It's mister Caputo…. We're gonna get you some medical attention."
"A little late." Taystee snapped, her eyes glaring daggers at the warden. Her vision was blurring from how many times she had been hit in the head. "You aint doin shit for us no more… if you was, we wouldnt be like this…"
"All you had to do was say yes, Jefferson." Caputo held her gaze, unwavering. "You know I didn't want this. You know I care."
Taystee turned her eyes down, ignoring the man further. He shook his head, getting up, and walking off. He soon returned with liquid from the medical unit. He slipped an arm around Piper's middle, helping her to sit up. He poured the solution onto her face, and rubbed her back as she doubled over, blinking and trying to stop crying.
"There you go… easy…" he pulled her to her feet, helping her to stand. "Now what? Are you gonna beat them some more?"
"Negative." the officer replied, looking bored. "They get shipped off to different prisons. Whatever happens next isn't my problem. Litchfield is no more. That I know for sure."
Caputo stopped asking questions, and watched as the girls were split into two. Red, Gloria, Flores, and Frieda went one way. Taystee, Cindy, Suzanne, and Piper went the other way. Piper threw a scared glance back at Red, who watched her go sadly. The other inmates on the lawn were brought to their feet, and the sorting continued. When the night was almost gone, the final bus roared to life, and Piper pressed her head against the glass, watching the familiar prison she had known all her time here disappear as they started the journey onward. Her eyes still stung horribly, and she was too exhausted to try to keep them open.
Her heart ached, both for the pain she was in, and the worry she felt for Alex, for Red, for Nicky. Her family. Taystee lay her head against Piper's shoulder, having been placed beside her, and the blonde woman simply allowed it, too weak to protest or ask any sort of questions.
"Where they takin us?" Taystee whispered, looking over at Cindy, who was rubbing a still crying Suzanne's arm.
"Wherever it is, it ain't gonna be the fuckin four seasons like we had…" she answered. Piper let out a snort at this, and just as quickly as she responded, slumped against the window. She was out cold the rest of the way.