Spoiler
-
Rating
M for Language, Violence and Sexual Innuendo [As well as my own safety]
Disclaimer
All rights of Orange is the new Black including the characters belong to Netflix, Lionsgate, Jenji Kohan and Piper Kerman. This product is a one-hundred percent non-profitably project.
Main Characters
Piper Chapman
Alex Vause
Nicky Nichols
A/N
I got the idea for this story while rewatching Weeds (S1-S3), another brilliant TV-Show by Jenji Kohan. You should check it out if you haven't seen it already!
have fun,
sincerely your roman soldier
~ Spliz
Chapter 1
Runner
New York City, New York
Queens
John F. Kennedy International Airport
05:26 PM
Orange light of the sunset shines through the big windows into the terminal. People are pacing while dragging big suitcases, some of them seem relaxed, and others hurried. A lot are hugging each other with tearful eyes out of sorrow or joy. Voices quack out of the speakers.
In the middle of this whirlwind stands a very impatient Alex Vause without her usually always present trademark smirk. She gazes repeatedly at her watch and the info panel which displays the incoming, outgoing and landing flights.
Flight LH-404 is for her the interesting flight; from Frankfurt to New York City; a travel duration of nearly 9 hours. A flight which landed nearly scheduled - Alex looks at her watch again - 32 minutes ago.
And she knows exactly that no one would normally need 32 minutes to get the bag from the baggage claim. She doesn't like it, not one bit. 30 minutes are the maximum to leave the plane, get your bag and send the first massage. 1 ½ hours you get to go through customs and send the second massage. Another 15 minutes later you have to arrive at your driver's position so he can send the third massage. If things get complicated or delayed, you also send a massage. It's an absolutely necessary fail-safe. But Alex didn't even get one message at this early evening.
She grabs her business mobile out of her pocket. Hesitantly she dials a number and sighs while she waits for the ringing to get interrupted by the person on the other end.
It takes a few seconds. It always takes a few seconds and Alex knows why. To tantalize her. She knows that he knows why she's calling. And she knows what he'll say. She knows this dialogue by heart. She knows what talk to expect later. She hasn't been the interrogated person often but every time is one too much.
After full 17 seconds he takes the call. "Alex", he greets her disappointed, yes, he already knows why she calls and what she's going to say, but as always he acts all ignorant, "what's the matter?"
She remains silent for a moment, hoping that she'll get a massage and can tell Fahri that everything is only a false alarm. But she can't indulge into that illusion. "We have a runner", she finally admits monotone.
"Which flight?"
"LH-404. Landing was", again Alex looks at the big board and her watch; everything must be in detail, "34 minutes ago."
Fahri says nothing. He checks the flight, whether the contraband is money or drugs and how much, who got assigned by Alex to do the transport and who he could send know. "I'll get Michael", he says what pleases Alex.
Michael is a decent guy, an employee at JFK, who always does what and how he's told quickly and accurately. He will grab the suitcase, get it through customs intact and bring it to the warehouse.
"And now about Leila-", Fahri begins but gets cut off by Alex. She knows exactly what will happen to her but she wouldn't bear to hear about it now. It'll be hard enough to be present when it's time.
"I know."
Leila is the mule Alex chose for the flight. It wasn't her first one but it was the first with this extent of drugs. Obviously the heroin was too much pressure on the young woman. A shame, Alex thinks. Leila was always reliable until now which was, why she thought she would be perfect for this job. Well, to err is human. And now Leila won't be able to do any other flight for the cartel. A big loss. She could've been one of their greatest mules.
For a few seconds the line is silent again, until Fahri sighs heavily. "Kubra won't like it", he says and sounds genuinely concerned for Alex, what makes her smile a little bit.
"I know", is her only answer until she adds "Leila neither" after another moment of silence and hangs up.
13 minutes full of nervous pacing have their end as Alex's mobile rings. She already wants to breath in relief, but then she notices that the ringtone doesn't announce a text message. And a call is never something good. A message means something positive or new instructions, a call however is mostly bad news. Especially in this situation.
She looks at the phone. The name Michael is displayed on the screen und Alex's nervousness is crawling back into her body even more intense. She accepts the call and holds the phone reluctant towards her ear.
"We've got a problem", is everything Michael says and Alex knows instantly what that means. She closes her eyes and breathes heavily once, twice and again, while she calculates her current situation and how much she's fucked. Kubra won't like this at all.
"Fuck…", it's barely a whisper. "Fuck", she utters louder. She would love to scream it, to smash her mobile to the ground and to crush it with her feet. Instead she stands there in the middle of the whirlwind of hurrying people. "Is it in customs?"
"They're examining it right now. And you know how thorough they examine unwatched luggage."
"Get out of there", she finally orders and goes straight to the exit herself, "we'll meet at the warehouse. And please", she bites her lower lip and stops for a moment in the middle of one of the big parking areas, "pray for me to what fucking higher power whatsoever you believe in."
"That won't be necessary", he tries to calm her down, "you're irreplaceable."
"Everybody is replaceable, Michael."
With these words she hangs up and grips the mobile hard. Since 13 years she works for Kubra Balik, since 9 years she recruits new mules and since 4 years she coordinates a bulk of the international smuggling. In this time she's lost sixteen mules, seventeen with Leila. Eight times she lost money because of the incompetence of others. But never before she lost drugs. There's a first time for everything but she always hoped it wouldn't happen.
Losing drugs is bad, way worse than losing money. A high amount of smuggled money makes the cops suspicious whereas drugs will imply the DEA starting an eager investigation. That's definitely nothing anybody needs right now.
With a grim gaze she gets into the black Mercedes which is parked in one of the lots.
"I didn't expect you", Billy greets her, his chocolate-eyes gazed at Alex. He turns the keys and starts the motor.
"Leila backed out", Alex mumbles.
He turns and looks through the rear window at the terminal before facing Alex again. "And the bag?"
She doesn't answer, she simply stares out of the window and Billy knows what that means.
"Shit."
"Indeed", she agrees and dials Fahri's number again. She still clutches her phone so tight that Billy thinks it would break any moment.
Fahri lets her waiting again, but only for 9 seconds this time. Alex chooses to close her eyes for the conversation, hoping everything is just a terrible nightmare and that she'll wake up in her apartment any second, clutching the blanket and covered with cold sweat, laughing nervously due to the realization that all of this was just a dream and she could start the day all over again.
"Alex", Fahri sounds surprised and concerned to hear from the importer again so early.
"Michael wasn't fast enough", Alex explains directly and without hesitation. She wants to get over with this as fast as possible, "the goods are gone."
Silence dominates the car. Merely her heavy breathing and the motor can be heard while Alex waits desperately for Fahri to answer.
"I pray for you", is all he says before he cuts the line.
"Fuck", she whispers again. She loses the grip on her phone which lands in her lap and takes of her glasses to rub her nose with the thumb and index. Wake up, Alex, she orders herself in her head over and over again.
Billy, who followed the short dialogue with an empathetic look, knows what kind of danger Alex is in right now. He takes his right hand off the wheel and brushes her shoulder. "It's all gonna be good. You're irreplaceable for Kubra."
Alex puts her glasses back on and smiles faintly but shallow. "Michael said the same."
"Cause it's true."
New York City, New York
Manhattan
DEA New York Division
05:57 PM
3 more minutes she'll be sitting here, staring at the clock, hoping for the time to pass faster. 3 more minutes until she can stand up, leave her office, then the building and grab a drink with a couple of her colleagues or go straight to the subway to drive the 40 minutes home. To Brooklyn, to her fiancé, to her cat, to a wonderful dinner and a cozy evening on the couch. 3 more minutes until end of work. And the phone rings.
"Just my luck", Piper mumbles annoyed as she grabs the phone which, she exactly knows that, is going to ruin her plans for the evening, "Chapman."
"Jackpot, Chapman!", an excited Caputo shouts into her ear, "drugs found at JFK, nab Nichols and get going."
Piper's gaze switches to the clock again and she sighs heavily. 05:78 PM. It would've been 2 more fucking minutes. Drug dealer really fuck up every tiny bit of joy of calling it a day. "Immediately, boss", she hangs up the phone and turns her chair around. She grabs a sheet of paper, scrunches it up and throws it into the wild strawberry blonde mane of her colleague.
"Hey!", Nicky yells and jumps up startled. She stares at Piper with a gaze she knows pretty well. It's her famous Are-you-fucking-kidding-me? face.
"We've got a case", Piper says turning back to her desk. She ignores the colorful curses of her colleague and dials her own house number on the phone.
"Larry Bloom", she hears her fiancé say a few seconds later.
"Hey, honey, it's me. I'll be home late today", she explains hesitantly with disappointment in her voice and adds a much quieter "if at all." She can practically see the sad look on Larry's face as she hears his sharp breathing. "I'm sorry, sweetie."
"Yeah, you're always sorry", Larry sighs whereby Piper feels even worse. It's unfortunately not really rare for her to work late or to get a new case close to end of work but that's part of the job.
"Larry, I-"
"I know, Pipes", he cuts her off, "I know. Just take care of yourself and try to come home at least anytime today, kay?" His tone is calm as always when he says that, but Piper knows what he's really thinking. Her work is the top issue of dispute between them, mostly induced by calls like this.
"Promise. I love you."
"I love you, too."
She replaces the phone and starts to snatch up everything she's going to need on a field trip. Nicky, already done with that, leans against her desk.
"Always this mushy-mush with you", Nicky shakes her head and sighs in relief, "fortunately I'm single."
At that Piper raises an eyebrow and watches her confused. "Single? What about this petite Italian girl… Lorna?"
"That's no relationship per se", she states shrugging.
"Only the occasionally flirt?"
"More like the occasionally fuck", she says with her always present smirk, after what Piper simply shakes her head and stands up, everything she's going to need gathered. "Apart from that she's engaged", Nicky explains further and makes air quotes at the word engaged.
"Engaged?", Piper inquires with the same emphasis and gesture.
"Well, I've never seen him."
"You don't really introduce your fiancé to your affaire. Or vice versa."
"Touché", Nicky winks with one eye and reaches for her briefcase. "So, where're we going?"
"JFK."
"I hate airports", Nicky grumbles and looks a last time at the clock before she hurries behind Piper, "and I hate rush-hour."
"Did I mention that I hate your driving, too?", Nicky inquires as Piper pulls her unlabeled police car over an hour later into the parking area nearest to terminal one and searches for some empty lots.
"So why do you hate airports?", Piper asks ignoring Nicky's question.
"Long story."
Piper ignores the typical meaning of those two words, "we've got a lot of time. It'll take forever to find a parking spot here."
"We're cops, Chapman. Just park near the entrance and keep the blue lights switched on."
She sighs, especially because she has to agree with that advice/statement. As DEA agents on duty they're basically allowed to park where they want, with few exceptions. She turns the car and drives to the front of the terminal to park the car in a taxi lot.
They exit the car and grab their things out of the trunk. "So, back to your hatred for airports."
"As much as I'd like to share my anecdotes with you, blondie", Piper rolls her eyes at the nickname Nicky casually calls her since the two met years ago, "I definitely don't have enough alc in my body to even think about things which could involve my mother in any way."
"Understood", Piper nods and drops the topic full aware of the strained relationship between Nicky and her mom. They enter the terminal and go directly to the information booth.
"Good Evening, we're from the DEA", Piper begins and draws her ID out of her jacket, "Agent Chapman, Agent Nichols."
"One second, please", the young woman reaches for the phone and apparently calls the security service of the airport. After a few seconds she devotes herself back to the agents, "Ms. Hayes will come to meet you shortly."
The two don't have to wait long until a big cart hurries over and stops next to the booth. A corpulent black woman gets off the driver's seat and goes straight towards the agents.
"Hey, ladies", she stretches her fist out and Piper and Nicky exchange some confused looks. Eventually they bump their clenched fists against the one of the officer. "You the DEA guys?"
Piper simply nods and points to herself "Chapman" and then at Nicky "Nichols."
"Black Cindy", the woman introduces herself, whereupon Nicky glances amused at Piper who in return mouths the name with a questioning look. "Let's get ya to the drugs", she continues and gestures to the electric cart.
Piper and Nicky seat themselves in the back, while Black Cindy takes place in front of the wheel again and drives astounding reckless through the crowd in the terminal.
"What exactly did you find?", Piper asks after they stopped at customs and got off the cart.
"Heroin. Dunno how much, didn't touch anything after we found the first bag and called ya."
Black Cindy leads the two agents to the rooms were the security checks the luggage and points to a big, black, wide opened case. Next to it lays a small plastic bag filled with white powder.
"We dragged it out here", she explains and points at a spot in the inside of the case where the seam is broken, "loosened during the transport. Wouldn't found it otherwise."
Piper simply nods and puts, as well as Nicky, a pair of latex gloves on. They start their work with unpacking the whole case. While Nicky searches through the stuff, Piper snaps some photos and opens more seams with her pocketknife afterwards. Gradually she pulls out one small bag filled with fine, white heroin after the other out of the lining.
"Man!", Nicky whistles astonished after she finished going through the luggage and turned toward the growing pile of heroin, "somebody'll be pissed."
"You bet."
In the end they found one-hundred small packages in the lining and stored them carefully into evidence bags. Piper removes one glove and grabs her phone while Nicky stores the bags in her briefcase.
"Caputo?", their chief answers after few seconds.
"Chapman here. We seized several pounds of heroin."
"Great. Bring everything to forensics, find out whose bag that is and… Just do your work."
Piper can only nod as Caputo cuts the line. This order ultimately ruined all of her plans for this day. She doesn't mind the extra work, she loves her job after all. But she has someone at home waiting for her and he won't be happy at all that this will be another night in which she won't come home, what will lead to a conversation she really doesn't desire. She turns to her colleague, who looks totally annoyed as she faces her.
"I know that look", Nicky shakes her head hard and grabs her briefcase, "does that fucker even know what's off-hours?"
"Crime has no off-hours, Nicky."
"Yeah, well, I'd appreciate 'em anyway."
to be continued…
Failure
A/N Before this question is asked in the reviews I want to justify right now why I put Nicky as Piper's partner in the DEA, since in most stories (especially A/Us) Nicky is Alex's (best) friend and normally I agree with that. (Although in my opinion Nicky and Piper have a strong friendship, too.)
But I wanted a partner for Piper who would fit into the setting. I had a few thoughts about other inmates or COs but no one really fit in. Besides, for this role I needed a character from the series which understands and accepts both Piper and Alex as well as their relationship. Nicky is, as far as I see it, the only person who even remotely applies to this condition.
I think during the story this thought I have will become a bit clearer and my choice maybe comprehensible. If not; sorry, hope you enjoy it anyway.