I just finished a Flaca/Maritza fic that told their story: Algo como el amor (Something like love), that guest starred Alex and Piper. I thought it would be interesting to see that same scenario but from the other couple's perspective. So this is not exactly the same story, but the same incidents from Piper and Alex's point of view. Give a read and compare notes. It'll only be 2 chapters like the other story but you don't have to read them both to follow it. Enjoy.
Piper Chapmen expected a glare from Alex when she stepped through the door to Alex's temporary bunk assignment. Alex hated prison, that much had always been clear but Piper had ironically been beginning to settle in. Alex had never settled, had never let her guard down, and had never accepted the fact that that Litchfield was in fact her reality. At least for the foreseeable future. But in True Alex Vause fashion, it hadn't been her reality. In a way only Alex could, she'd managed to spin straw into gold and had turned a ten plus year sentence into merely a couple of months before being set free.
That freedom of course was short lived. Alex had been arrested for violating her probation, possession of a handgun, and had been sent back to 'The Litch' to serve another few months in prison. A minimum of six, but not more than twelve. Piper could only imagine how angry she must be to get a small wisp of freedom only to have it snatched away from her through an anonymous tip. By the look in her eyes she seemed to understand that Piper had been the source of that tip. Piper expected a glare but didn't get it. Instead Alex greeted her with a roll of the eyes.
"We're fucking even me and you. Don't ever bring it up again. Ever."
Piper shrugged, she wasn't sure this exactly made them even. Going to prison had upended her entire life. She'd lost her business, her reputation, her fiancé, and probably her best friend. Alex had only been mildly inconvenienced. Not to mention the fact that inside Piper was almost positive she'd be safe from her drug lord boss Kubra Balik. Inside was the safest place for her to be. At least until another one of Kubra's people saw the writing on the wall and flipped on him causing the entire trial cycle to repeat itself.
Instead of arguing Piper shrugged. "Fine." She hadn't come to fight anyway. With Alex back she knew the woman would need the necessities. Piper had spent the better part of a week getting a welcome basket together.
On her first day inside Morello had given her a tooth brush. It was a nice enough gesture, but it was the last thing she'd gotten for free since she'd been locked up. Inside she and Alex were a team, a small mini crew that had to stick together. Piper hadn't realize Alex was all she'd truly had inside until Alex was gone. She was intent not to make that mistake again.
"How was Chicago?" Piper asked switching gears. Nobody knew exactly where Alex was for the last few months. Rumor around Litchfield was that she wrote Piper often but nobody knew where she'd actually disappeared to or that she'd fucked Piper over again but Nichols, and like last time Piper hadn't mentioned how.
Like no time had passed between them Alex seemed to understand Piper's reasoning for changing the subject. "Chicago was exactly how it was when you left it."
Piper had hated Chicago. At least Chicago's federal prison system. Alex had seemed to do alright but Alex was by and large a survivor. She'd figure out how to survive anything given half a chance.
"They aren't gonna drag us back down there are they?" Piper couldn't imagine having to go back. She didn't figure the government would bother sending her seeing as how she hadn't rolled on Kubra the first time. Then again, you never know. If a new trial happened close to her release date they'd surely threaten her with a perjury charge that would extend her sentence in an effort to get her to testify. Under those circumstances she knew she'd waver. At least the old Piper would have. The Piper who'd grown to accept the fundamental truth of herself would simply settle in for the long haul. Snitching may help you in the short term but if you ever went back inside it would catch up to you quick.
Alex didn't seem to know what the government's plan was and said as much. "I don't know."
"Well I got you some stuff," Piper said ending the conversation. The other newbies inside the room didn't seem to be paying attention but Piper knew they were. Everyone was always paying attention.
Alex inspected the basket with suspicion. Piper wasn't sure what she was expecting but she didn't bother speaking up about it whatever it was. Instead she closed the distance between them and inexplicably leaned in and gave Piper an intimate kiss on the lips.
"Thanks babe," she said as she took the basket and laid it gently on her bunk.
"They were out of shower shoes yesterday but they'll have some tomorrow I heard. We'll get you some then." She pointed to the basket. "The rest of that stuff should tide you over until your money comes in. You took care of that right?"
Alex shrugged. "Not yet. I still have to figure it out. Everything I had is buried under tons of bullshit overseas to keep the Feds from grabbing it. If I reach out for it in here they'll find it and all this will have been for nothing."
Piper understood what that meant. No money coming in anytime soon.
"We'll be fine. I'll take care of us in here," Piper said with confidence.
"And I'll take care of us out there," Alex responded just as confident.
"You always have," Piper said forcing herself not to show any emotion on her face. Alex to her credit started to inspect the basket.
"I need to get myself together, did you get my eyes."
Piper gave the room a careful once over before reaching down the front of her pants and pulling out a black sharpie.
"You're hiding things in your crotch now?" Alex chuckled. "If I'd known THAT'S where you were keeping stuff I'd have dug it out myself." From her bunk DeMarco laughed causing Piper to finally allow herself to smile.
"No, Caputo's been riding everyone's ass about contraband since Miss Rosa escaped. They've been tossing bunks twice a day to get on everyone's nerves. Keep it on you. They're doing pat downs but since Mendez got arrested they avoid breasts and crotches like the plague and almost never give you a strip search unless they suspect you're going to hurt someone."
This seemed to pique Alex's interest. "Miss Rosa escaped? The cancer lady? How the hell did she manage that?"
Piper shrugged. "Who knows?"
DeMarco finally spoke up. "Ah, go ahead and tell her, it's no secret. She stole a car and drove right out the front gate. She did manage to do the world a favor on her way to freedom. She ran down Vee, killed her instantly."
"Okay, and who is Vee again?" Alex asked.
Piper shook her head. "Get settled in. I'll fill you in on everything later."
XOXO
Alex gave Piper's ass a pinch as they stepped through the doors of the prison chapel causing Piper to giggle. It felt like an eternity since she and Piper were last together but it had actually only been a few months. Since they'd 'broken up' Nichols had been the only one she'd been with. Despite Nichols considerable skill she'd been a poor substitute for Piper. Piper had always done something to her body that made her want to scream at the top of her lungs. She was like a drug, so much so that the only thing that had managed to ease her absence when she left was heroin, actual drugs.
Now things had seemed to pick right back up where they left off, before Piper's attempt to choose Larry instead of her all that time ago. They hadn't even bothered discussing that. Piper had seemed to jump into their warped relationship with both feet and seeing her finally free of her mental and emotional constraints made Alex do the same. She had never really gotten over Piper all those years ago so when Piper leaned into her and whispered 'I love you', Alex had admitted defeat and said it back. With Piper was the first time in over ten years that those words had escaped her lips.
Sneaking off to the chapel seemed like the next logical step. The entire prison was off at movie night and since Piper hated Jim Carey, having sex seemed a valuable use of their time instead of forcing her to watch Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.
The chapel was usually empty this time of night but between Piper's playful giggles Alex heard shuffling from the stage. It took a moment for what she'd seen to register but her mind began to spin when it finally did.
Alex hadn't had much contact with the prison's Hispanic girls. They did their thing and Alex did hers. What she did notice was that they were an extremely tight knit group and Alex got the feeling that unlike the others they would never let an outsider come between them. She'd never so much as seen an argument between them and even most of their conversations were in Spanish as a way to exclude outsiders and separate themselves from everyone else. They were a mystery to everyone inside yet Alex had spent lots of time in Mexico for business, so she knew some things about the Hispanic culture. One of the most important being that being gay, although not against the law, was a HUGE taboo. If you were gay, you kept it a secret or risked being shunned by everyone. Including family and friends.
Alex's heart began to pound as the small Hispanic girl, whose name escaped her at the moment, climbed off the other girl's lap and jumped from the stage only to come storming down the aisle with determination. Alex knew that look in her eye. It was the same look Kubra had given her in court when she'd testified against him. A mixture of anger, hatred, fear, and disappointment. A terrible concoction of emotions.
Piper was staring at them both, slack jawed and opened mouthed. Alex knew Piper, she'd say something to try to ease the tension but Alex knew anything she said, no matter how accepting and polite, would be seen as threatening to these two. Especially right now, when they'd been caught doing something that could make major problems for them inside with their friends. Piper opened her mouth to speak but Alex grabbed her wrist and gave it a tug and Piper shut up.
"What the fuck you two looking at?" The girl finally asked. Alex could hear the anger in her voice. Usually she'd have something clever to say but she knew prison wasn't the outside. On the outside she had the safety of common sense and the freedom to walk away and avoid someone. On the inside she was stuck with them. When people got scared in prison people died. Even Piper had almost killed someone. Everyone was capable of everything inside.
Alex calmed herself and decided to play it safe. "Nothing. We didn't see anything."
The girl's eyes darkened. "Good, because if I hear so much as a whisper about it I'll gut the both of you." The girl's eyes finally softened but her words didn't. "But I may just fuck you both first." A chill went down Alex's spine when she noticed the girl was laughing.
Her friend, the tall girl with the tear drop tattoo laughed. Alex did remember HER name, Gonzales. Gonzales was suddenly standing a few feet behind her friend and Alex almost freaked when she noticed she hadn't seen her approach. The girl reached out and stroked Piper's hair. She smiled playfully then said something in Spanish that came out too fast for Alex to translate.
In front of her, the shorter girl smiled and responded in English. "Real good," the girl said as she walked up the ramp pushing Alex out of her way as she did so. "Keep your mouths shut. Or I'll shut them for you," she said on her way out the door.
Gonzales followed her still giving Piper a playful smile. "Permanently," she said before disappearing into the hall.
Alex watched them both leave before turning to Piper with open eyed anticipation. "What did Gonzales say to you?"
Piper shuddered, Alex could tell she was freaked out. "That she was going to fuck me good and make me her plaything."
Alex shook her head and let out all of her frustration with a heavy breath. "What the fuck? How can two girls making out totally blow the mood?"
Piper looked towards the door before giving Alex a light push down the aisle towards the stage. Alex wasn't sure if she still hoped to get in a little sexy time but the mood was lost, totally blown by the two girls.
"Piper you can't be serious. Not after that. What if they come back and threaten us again? The last thing we need is a problem with the Spanish girls because we caught two of them making out."
Piper kept pushing her towards the stage but pulled away before they reached the steps. When she stopped she gave another look towards the door and began to shake her head.
"That's not what was going on. You didn't see that?"
Piper looked as if whatever she was talking about should have been common sense but Alex was lost. She wasn't sure if it was the adrenaline or the fear but she was lost.
"See what?"
Piper sighed. "Those two. They weren't just making out. You didn't see how Ramos was straddling Gonzales'? How her hands were locked around her neck. How they were kissing? They weren't just making out." Piper leaned into her with raised eyebrows. "They were MAKING OUT."
Alex was still lost. "What?"
Piper sighed. "They have genuine feelings for one another. That wasn't just you fucking Nichols because you were mad at me. That was me and you in Bangladesh."
Alex's mouth dropped. Bangladesh was the weekend Alex realized she was actually in love with Piper and not merely having fun. It was her most treasured memory, sweet, complete, and romantic. When she was lonely at night it was Bangladesh that she thought about. It wasn't until two months later that Piper admitted that it was that weekend getaway when she understood that she was in love with Alex, and was in fact bisexual.
"Are you serious?" Alex asked. That was a strong statement. "Bangladesh?"
Piper nodded. "You don't straddle someone's hips that way if you're just having a good time. That's too intimate. That's trust and love. Sex is one thing, THAT'S another thing. If you caught me sitting on someone's lap like that would you be pissed?"
Alex nodded with defeat. "Fine. So they're in love. What difference does THAT make?"
"It means they're freaking out right now that somebody knows. If it was just for fun they wouldn't care. They could just beat us up and never do it again, problem solved. But since they're in love they're worried that if we tell somebody they won't GET TO do it again. And they'll do whatever it takes to make sure that doesn't happen."
Alex's heart dropped. "So you think we're actually in danger?"
Piper nodded. "Absolutely positively. If I had the choice of never being with you again or stabbing some girl I don't even know in the shower it wouldn't even be a real choice."
"Shit. Let's not talk about this anymore until we're sure we're alone and can't be overheard. After breakfast, tomorrow in the yard. We'll figure out how to make this right with them then but in the mean time we don't do or say anything about it to anyone."
Piper nodded. "Sure."
"I'm serious Piper, nobody."
"I know. I'm not going to say anything. It's ME that Gonzales threatened to make her plaything, not YOU. I won't say a word."
XOXO
No matter what she seen inside there would always be things that Piper didn't understand about doing time. On one hand fooling around with another girl was totally acceptable for straight girls. There were no men around, at least none the girls wanted to fool around with, so another female prisoner could fill that void in your life. It wasn't about being gay, everybody knew that, it was about being lonely.
On the other hand falling in love with someone in prison was a sign of weakness. Piper didn't get that. It was okay to have meaningless sex with someone but the second it became a real relationship you were suddenly a soft pussy bitch who didn't understand how to do 'good' time in prison.
She considered the situation with the two Spanish girls as she slipped into her bunk and made herself comfortable. Falling in love should be fun and exciting. When she'd fallen in love with Alex it was all she could think about day and night for weeks. Getting to see her was something special, having sex with her was beautiful. That made her feel sorry for the two Spanish girls. Their love was hidden behind lies and fear, protected and hushed from the people closest to them. The very same people who loved and protected them were the same ones that would tease and mock them if they shared the one good thing that had happened to them inside. Prison was a fucked up place. Where else on Earth did you have to be afraid of someone finding out you were in love?
Piper closed her eyes and thought about Bangladesh. She and Alex had spent a fantastic weekend on an island named Nijhum Dwip. It had taken them nearly fifteen full hours to get there. They first had to take a large boat from the main launch to a much smaller one, then they'd had to hire motorcycles to get them to a dock where they'd taken a small boat to the island. It had seemed like a lot of trouble but Alex had insisted it would be worth it. All these years later she still remembered it like it had all happened yesterday. The scary feeling of being on the back of a motorcycle for the first time, the warm sun beating against her face. Staying up late and sleeping in even later. Having sex on the beach with nobody around to see them for miles. The memory made her smile but the smile faded when something heavy crashed against her chest.
When she opened her eyes Flaca Gonzales was standing in her doorway. The tall dark haired girl didn't say a word but her face was menacing enough. She stood there in silence her eyes locked onto Piper. Piper grabbed the bag the girl had tossed at her, afraid to break eye contact. Flaca put her index finger up to her lips as if to say Shh, then walked away without ever saying anything. Piper finally looked down at the bag she was clutching tightly in her hands and saw that it was filled with candy bars. Snickers, Kit Kats, Mounds Bars, Butterfingers. It was as if the girl had robbed a candy aisle.
Prison was a backwards place but some things were universal. The girl was offering her a bribe. It seemingly wasn't enough to threaten her into submission, she was playing it safe by offering her something in return for her silence. Piper almost frowned. This was a smart idea, if they accepted something in return for their silence they'd be forced to stay in line and keep it quiet. To break that deal would make them persona non grata inside. Not to mention she and Alex would both be labeled snitches. The Spanish girls may be exiled from their crew but everyone else would leave them be. Alex and Piper on the other hand would be exiled by EVERYONE. By offering the bribe the girls were playing it smart and safe, but it also weakened their hand because even though Piper and Alex figured out why they'd gotten so angry when they'd been caught, doing anything but threatening them showed weakness. This relationship was their Achilles heel and anybody who found out about it would use it to threaten them. Tactically it was smart but from a pure Power Politics angle it was a mistake. She dreaded the moment she had to tell Alex about it. The woman would surely want to use it to make some sort of statement. Piper considered keeping it from her but only for a second, she and Alex were a team inside and their team didn't keep secrets.
XOXO
Piper sat on the edge of Alex's bunk and watched while Alex laced her boots. Piper was so weird sometimes, she was fascinated by the simplest of things. When they were together she liked watching Alex read. She'd sit for twenty minutes doing nothing but staring at her while she flipped through the pages of a novel. Of course this usually preceded some revelation on her part. Alex read an entire chapter of The Fountainhead before Piper admitted to her that she'd told her parents she was traveling the world with her best friend Polly instead of her drug dealing lesbian girlfriend. Alex hadn't cared about that, why should she? But Piper had fretted over it for almost fifteen minutes.
"What's up?" Alex asked not bothering to look at her. Looking at her only made things worse.
Piper crossed her legs, another nervous tick of hers.
"Gonzales came to see me last night. She stopped by my bunk."
Alex's heart began to race. "What did she want? What did she say?"
Piper shrugged her shoulders. "She didn't say anything. She gave me a bag of candy bars."
Alex's eyes widened then her jaw dropped. "Candy bars?" She didn't understand. Why would they pay them off when the threat had done everything they wanted it to do? Alex hadn't even considered telling anyone about what she'd seen in the chapel. They'd won. Giving them something, or paying them off, was a huge step in the other direction. That showed Alex that they were desperate for their secret to be kept. They were covering all their bases because being together was more important to them than being blackmailed.
"Alex leave them alone," Piper said softly. Piper had always been a sucker for a love story.
"I haven't done anything," Alex said defensively. She hadn't, not yet anyway.
Piper sighed. "They're afraid. Scared people do dumb things. You know that. Them bribing us doesn't change the fact that they could stab us both in the shower to ensure we're never able to tell on them."
Alex hadn't exactly considered that. Piper was right. This was a stupid thing for them to do but it showed desperation, and desperation was a bad thing. She'd been desperate when she'd ratted on Piper and Kubra. Both had been mistakes. Well Piper definitely, Kubra less so.
She pushed herself off her bunk and stood up. "Let's go get breakfast and we'll talk about this afterwards, in the yard."
Piper nodded with enthusiasm then changed the subject. "I talked to my dad. My grandmother left me some money when she died. Quite a bit in fact. I had my father put some into your commissary account."
Alex wanted to laugh. "Your father gave me money?"
"No, I gave you money. He just sent the Western Union. He asked me if I was sure I could trust you but when I told him I had it handled he said okay."
Alex had never met either of Piper's parents. Piper had met her mother before she'd died but when the issue of being introduced to Piper's family came up Piper always made excuses as to why it couldn't happen. Alex knew it was mostly because they didn't know about her, and Piper being Piper her image was more important than the truth. Still the idea of her talking about her openly with her parents and friends seemed to be a step in the right direction.
Alex exited the bunk and head towards the cafeteria with Piper closely behind. "So they know everything?" She looked over her shoulder between strides. "Your parents I mean?"
Piper nodded. "Since I first came inside. I told them everything when I got arrested. My grandmother was the only one who didn't seem disappointed. She wanted to hear all about the trip."
"She didn't disown you for associating with the criminal element?"
Piper shook her head. "No. Honestly, I think they always expected me to get mixed up in something. I mean when I told them they sort of just looked at me with," she shrugged. "I don't know, relief."
"It could be worse," Alex said as they walked down the empty halls. "You could have been disowned. At least you know they love you."
"They told everyone I was on an African Safari but everyone knew it was bullshit," Piper said amused. "When I got furlough my entire family was slyly asking questions about being in prison. My aunt kept talking about drug lords and severed heads, my cousin Carol kept talking in prison slang."
Alex laughed out loud. "Really? God I wish I had known you were out. I would have totally come, they'd have been freaked out. I could have introduced myself as your drug dealer girlfriend."
Piper chuckled. "Well when we get out I'll introduce you at the next family get together."
Alex gave her a look over her shoulder as they stepped into the cafeteria and walked to the end of the serving line. "Promise?"
"Sure," Piper responded back as someone across the room yelled out.
"STOP," someone had said, and the entire room had done just that.
The Hispanic girl, Ramos was her name, stepped around the counter carrying a tray of food. Gonzales had done the same behind her and Alex's mind began to search for the proper reaction. They were both heading in her and Piper's direction and something in Alex's mind clicked. They were making a bold statement, in front of everyone. Stopping breakfast for everyone and coming around the counter to serve them both was as big a statement as could be made. Intent not to let the opportunity pass or even worse, show disrespect to the gesture, Alex decided to play along.
"Oh you shouldn't have," Alex said with a smile.
Ramos ignored her comment but blew her a kiss that made Alex's skin crawl. "One week and we're square."
One week of being served breakfast at the table instead of waiting in line was more than Alex could have asked for but so as not to seem unworthy she pressed the young girl for more.
"Two weeks."
Ramos didn't flinch. "One. Breakfast AND dinner."
Alex decided to quit while she was ahead. The entire prison seemed to be watching. She turned to Piper who had taken her tray but was looking it over with suspicion. She was surely expecting this to be some sort of trick. "What do you think Piper? Breakfast and dinner, one week."
Piper ceded quickly. "That's fine. The bag of candy bars on my bed was a nice touch."
Gonzales laughed. "I know how much you white girls like sugar."
Ramos laughed right along with her and Alex assumed this was some sort of inside joke. "Do we have a deal or should I make other arrangements?"
The question made Alex uncomfortable. The only other arrangements that could be made was violence. If she didn't agree it would make much more sense to simply beat them up. She decided not to take a chance.
"We have a deal. One week, consider us officially square," Alex said loud enough for everyone to hear. Ramos and Gonzales didn't stick around for small talk heading deliberately back to line to get back to work. In the distance Watson began to complain.
"Why the fuck are they getting special treatment? We're in line over here," the often ornery girl said. Alex assumed this wasn't exactly a big deal to her or anybody else, Watson just liked to complain. Alex knew lot of people like her on the outside. Angry, tough talking, loud mouths, more often than not they were cowards who used a surly disposition as a shield against aggression and trouble. For all her tough talking Alex had never seen Watson get physical with anyone, and doubted she ever would.
Gonzales answered the complaint quickly and in a way that everyone in prison understood meant it wasn't up for discussion.
"Hold your horses already. Business is business," the girl said with commanding confidence. Gonzales, Alex knew, was the type of girl who was not to be trifled with. The tear drop tattoo on her face, which she hadn't bothered to explain, lead Alex to believe she'd earned it through some act of violence. The girl was a bit creepy and had a way of looking through you as if you weren't there. Piper said the girl's advice column in the now defunct prison newsletter often had to be censored because her 'solutions' often required violent responses to simple problems. Out of the two of them Alex feared her more than Ramos. Ramos was aggressive but she was small, Alex could probably take her in a fight. Gonzales would probably kill her without blinking an eye.
Intent to keep up the ruse Alex turned to Piper and made a big show of her 'victory'.
"After you my lady," she said as she led Piper to an empty table and sat down for breakfast. The entire room was staring at them but Alex could handle that. A huge part of being successful was attitude. If you acted important people treated you as if you were important. If you acted as if you deserved something usually nobody questioned it. She pushed the attention to the back of her mind and enjoyed her breakfast as if what had just happened was par for the course. It was what someone in her position was supposed to do.
XOXO
Piper wanted to scream. Nichols had made herself comfortable beside Alex and even though she understood their sexual shenanigans wouldn't be repeated Piper couldn't help but think about them together. She wasn't in a position to complain about it, she'd chosen Larry over Alex in a foolish attempt to salvage a life she thought she was supposed to have. She'd practically pushed the two of them together. It likely didn't mean much to either of them, Nichols slept with anybody, and Alex was on the rebound, still it hurt seeing them together.
"You've been back what, less than 48 hours, and you've already made quite the splash." Nichols was smiling, she was always smiling and Piper wanted to reach across the table and smack her in the mouth.
"Just settling in," Alex said diplomatically. "Not trying to step on any toes."
Nichols nodded as she sipped her tea. "I know. Red was just curious."
Alex gave her a careful look. "Tell her don't be. Tell Red I'm not open for business of any kind. I just needed everyone to understand who Piper and I are. I heard things got a lot weird while I was away. A stabbing, an assault, cigarettes, drugs. I just want everyone to understand what sort of reach we have on the outside and what sort of influence we can wield on the inside if we were so inclined."
Piper wanted to groan. "But we're not. We want to do our time quietly."
Alex shrugged. "You heard the lady."
Nichols nodded. "What exactly did you do for the Mexicans?"
"Hispanics, they're not all Mexican. And I promise discretion above all else. If you want to know, ask them."
