Author's note: I'm not exactly sure how long this will be, but it is a multichapter for sure. I have the plot figured out, now I just hope to find the right words to write it out. You can leave me suggestions and I'll see what I can do.

I got some inspiration for the plot from the movies Forces of Nature and The Fundamentals of Caring. What would be more fun than to put Alex and Piper on a road trip?

Summary: AU: Due to a plane accident, Piper gets stuck in Seattle. But so does Alex. The two strangers end up together on a road trip through the country.

Rating: M, just to be safe. I'm not sure if it's too high, should I change it to T?

Disclaimer: Pfffft, I wish.

So let's get this show on the road!

Chapter 1: What Even Are Pelicans

With tired eyes, plane ticket in hand, in the early dawn of morning, Piper Chapman walked on the plane in her black pair of stiletto heels so high it was a miracle they weren't considered as a weapon. They weren't comfortable at all, but Piper Chapman, guilty of overpacking, couldn't fit them in her suitcase. She had no other choice than to put the high heels on instead of the flats that she owned.

She was seated on the fourth row of the plane that was about to start it's six hour journey from Seattle to New York in 15 minutes. Piper apologized to some elder man she walked into on the aisle between the seats, and went on with her blue worn-out backpack.

She had to ask the two women already in their seats to move so she could get onto her own seat next to the window. As she sat down, she already fastened her seat belt and put her backpack under the seat. She tried crossing her long jean-clad legs to be in a more comfortable position, but the task was impossible, there wasn't enough room.

Piper started playing with the ring on her finger. She had moved together with Larry three months ago and he had proposed to her just before her trip to California. Bill Chapman, her father, had moved there two years ago. Piper had grown up watching her parents fight and cheat on each other. The truth was ugly, but they had kept up the image of a perfect family until each one of the three children had moved out. Then it was too much. Bill had given up and moved across the country from New York City to San Francisco, where she had visited him for the first time.

But now Piper was in Seattle. She had gotten a four week holiday from her job at the diner, so she decided to travel a bit. Right after her two week holiday in San Francisco, she had visited Seattle for three days.

She took the ring off her finger, observing it in her slim fingers and then put it back. Larry had arranged a meeting with a publisher in The New York Times and that's why he didn't come with her. Piper was proud of him, it was a big deal. But she was also pretty sure he had arranged the meeting during the time when their trip was supposed to be, because he didn't want to tell Piper there was no way he could afford the plane tickets. And she was kind of glad he hadn't asked the money from her. She didn't have that much extra either.

Of course Piper had said yes to Larry's proposal. He was a caring and loving man. And her mother was so proud of her. Even if she was "just a waitress". She herself didn't see it as a bad job. The owner Red was very ambitious and the Russian restaurant was getting good reviews, it seemed like there was more and more customers every week. She and her best friend Polly also had a small soap business on the side. Now after getting started with this stable-ish life, Piper felt this was one of the rare times when she had gotten acceptance from her mother.

Piper was so deep in thought that she barely heard when the woman next to her said something in a deep, very unique voice that Piper swore to God she could never forget after this, "Going back home to fiancée, huh?" Piper shot her head up and blue eyes met green. The woman had jet-black hair falling over her shoulders in soft curls, black secretary classes and she was tall, even when she was sitting. Probably taller than Piper herself. She was wearing a black shirt, leather jacket and black skinny jeans. All black. That created kind of a bad-ass look. She also had full red lips and Piper's eyes focused on them maybe a little too long. Her gaze lifted up from the lips when they curled up in a smile, indicating she had noticed Piper's staring.

"How did you know?" Piper blushed.

The brunette woman raised her eyebrow and smirked a little, "Usually when people have a ring on their ring finger, they are engaged. And usually when people have that kind of look on their face, they miss them. Or have mixed feelings... But since you don't have swollen lips or anything, I'm pretty sure you haven't just said goodbye to them. So you're going back home."

"Oh, right," Piper said, eyes focused on that mystery woman's fingers as they brushed a strain of black hair away from her face. Then she looked back to her green eyes and continued, impressed, "Well, you're right. I have been away for three weeks."

Safety instructions started, but neither of them really cared. They both had had a fair share of flying before.

"That's some time to go without sex. I suppose she is coming to pick you up from the airport? If you can't wait until you're there, I'm sure Vause here would be happy to put you off your waiting," the another woman with wild hair suddenly said, causing the red-lipped woman, "Vause", to slap her friend on her upper arm.

Piper blushed for good. Who did they think they were? She was annoyed. You don't say stuff like that to strangers on planes. "It's he, actually," was all Piper could get out of her mouth.

"Oh, I was pretty sure I felt sapphic vibes coming off of you," the other woman with apparently no filter on her mouth said.

Before Piper or anyone else could say anything, they all flew forwards as much as their seat belts allowed. Piper put her hand on the Vause's tight for support. Perhaps it was a little too much inner thigh, but it was unintentional, and Piper didn't even think about it. The red lights of the plane turned on. "Well now I don't think this is a good time to join the Mile High Club, kid," Vause said jokingly.

Piper quickly moved her hand away. She was in fury, "We could be dying and all you do is make jokes of me?!"

Vause laughed that off, but when there was another bigger crash and she basically landed on Piper's lap, her facial expression was terrified too. A woman was speaking through the speakers, but no one could really make any words out because of the screams of the passengers.

The plane came to a still and people started getting out quickly. Piper picked up her backpack from under her seat and when she looked up, all ready to leave the aircraft too, she couldn't see the two women anymore. She went out with the crowd and saw briefly that they had crashed onto another plane. And the another plane, it was on fire. That made Piper hurry up her pace on the stairs. She dropped her another heel, but couldn't pick it up or else she would've been trampled by the crowd.

It all was a bit of a blur, but eventually she was back at the airport terminal. She couldn't get the images of the lit up planes out of her head. They had both flamed up in the end. Some people had gotten serious injuries or even died. The airport was one huge mess of people, almost all the flights were delayed or cancelled.

Piper was seated on a blue chair with her backpack, trying to contact Larry. She didn't call him once or twice, but twelve times. He didn't pick up. Piper was on the verge of crying. She had her one heel that had survived in her hand. Her luggage was nowhere to be seen, it had most likely burned down with the planes. Never would Piper have thought it would be good to have luggage go on a wrong plane. But right then it would've been the best case scenario, though not likely. At least she had her backpack where all her important things were.

She had no hopes of getting to New York today, and to be honest, she wasn't even sure if she wanted to fly for a while. But in JFK, there was a Larry who didn't pick up his phone, probably already waiting for her. So she took a deep breath and went to the checkout line. After a long wait, it was finally her turn. "Excuse me, um, when is the next flight to New York?"

The woman behind the counter looked her up and down with a sorry look on her face "I'm sorry ma'am, I don't know. I cannot promise anything, it can take 24 hours, it can take 72, it can take up to a week. You were on the pelican plane, weren't you?"

"Pelican plane?"

"It was a pelican that flied into the plan's jet engine, air traffic control saw that. Have a nice day. Next!"

Nice day? Seriously? A pelican? Are you fucking kidding me? Piper got out of the airport and started slowly walking towards the nearest airport hotel without her shoes. At first the cold hard ground hurt her feet, but soon she got used to the feeling. She started to think about the two women on the plane. Had they survived, were they alive? She hadn't seen them at the crowded airport.

The hotel was full. So were the next two ones. Many flights were cancelled and she was just a little bit too late. She used the last hotel's bathroom and went outside to hail a cab. She tried for 40 minutes but didn't have any luck.

Piper tried contact Larry several times, before finally settling on calling her mom. She spoke with her, but not once did Carol Chapman say she was glad about Piper being alive. She didn't ask how Piper was going to get to home, but she promised to try to get a hold on Larry and Polly so they wouldn't have to be worried about her. Then she hung up.

And it was then, standing in front of a hotel in a city she hardly knew, when the tears that Piper had been fighting for the past few hours started streaming down her cheeks, her eyes turning puffy. She felt some slight burning in her eyes from mascara that was now mixing with the salty tears. She didn't have her another shoe, most of her luggage or anyone with her. She had never felt so alone, so fragile in her whole life.

Author's note:

I don't live in the US. I have never visited there. I googled that the flight time is about 6 hours and 30 minutes, and that SEA has three airport hotels. I don't know anything about plane accidents, so can you just please look any mistakes regarding the plane thing through your fingers? I'm trying to make this as realistic as possible, and I'm doing researching as much as I can.

And I'm sorry, but I don't know the punctuation rules in English. I'm about to learn them for the future.

Also, I couldn't flirt if my life depended on it... I really hope I'm better at writing it and can put in some banter once in a while.

I am aware that the writers on are generally really talented, so I was a bit afraid of posting this here, I'm not very experienced writer... But please review and tell me your honest thoughts!