"Tell me that the pussy is mine, yeah. Tell me, tell me baby, that it's all mine." Tone deaf and laughably horrible, Piper prances around her dorm singing, not caring who hears or how many eyes are stuck to her cockiness.

She's the og in here. She knows what she's doing. She knows the ropes. This is her turf. And the new inmates know that from first glance.

Piper doesn't really think about what she's singing, or the 'non-birthday gift' that the song was a part of. She doesn't even think about Alex anymore. Not even once. The business is Piper's first priority in this place and instead of Alex being the only thing in focus, now she's the only thing in the background.

The panty business is growing to new heights with the introduction of the new inmates. The freshest meat possible with all their nervousness and predictability is a sure fire way to haul in some more dough.

Most of the old inmates are in the SHU due to their 'escape' down to the lake. Piper really wants nothing more than to rub it in their faces once they return. Piper's still standing. Still powerful. While the others have been drained head to toe by the isolation that is the SHU.

From the looks of things, the guards are preparing to bring them back into Litchfield as rumours and talk circle the prison. Besides the fact that Piper can brag about herself once the old inmates are back, she doesn't really want them to be in the prison. They don't have the same fear that the new inmates do. It's excites Piper. Makes her feel superior. Queen Piper of Litchfield.

…...

The new inmates have been placed into the dorms without any form of initiation. But the bed that lays next to Piper is still vacant, with Red's scent still lingering. Her bunk is her own personal haven that is isolated from the mess and chaos that is outside the walls. It's the best kind of solitude within the prison and even better when inmates are too scared to bother her.

With a business management book in hand, Piper rests her body on the bed she still hasn't quite gotten used to. She doesn't remember the exact feelings of having a bed that doesn't feel like she's laying on a timber slab, but she knows she misses it.

"Haven't I heard some shit about you King Chapman." Piper's eyes bounce from the pages of her book, to the entrance of her bunk. There she lays eyes on Nicky Nichols in all her glory. Although Nicky's charm still remains, her eyes look drained and lifeless, like she's the old Nicky trapped in a downgraded shell. It's almost as if she's trying too hard to look like herself again.

"Well look who it is." Nicky feels like a long lost friend. Her absence has stretched longer than anyone anticipated and it shows with every move she makes.

"How's the business treating you?"

"Great. You came here to be a part of it? I've got the panties all ready to go."

"Hell fucking no. I'm not having some perverted grandpa sniffing my dirty draws."

"Suite yourself Nicky"

Nicky's eyes trickle down to Piper's exposed arm. She squints her eyes in an attempt to recognise the letters that make up the words engraved into Piper's skin. Nicky grabs at Piper's arm and glares at the tattoo long enough to see the writing. Piper jolts to life, flinging her arm back, embarrassed by her reluctance to expose her tattoo.

A simple realisation has Nicky shifting her appearance and actions towards Piper.

"Who are you Chapman? Swear this wasn't how I remember you. You think you're some big shot badass now huh? Trust no bitch? Do you not remember the person you were when you first got here? You read a book on how to survive prison. Funnily enough, I liked you better back then. The things I've heard about you now, they are messed up to say the least."

"People evolve Nichols. Go ahead and have a problem but I'm not changing myself for you. Or for anybody else for that matter." Eyes wide, Piper confidently stands her ground, sitting up to make sure she doesn't seem small. It's all about appearance to Piper. It's all about how others perceive her and the upholding of power.

"Whatever kid. I'm not cleaning up people's messes anymore. Where is everybody else? Where's Red?"

"In the SHU" Piper re-opens her book and nonchalantly continues to read. She doesn't give an ounce of care that Nicky has a problem with her, or that most of the other inmates are in the SHU.

"You're telling me that the one person who is running a crime ring inside this prison AKA YOU, is still roaming around here while the rest are in SHU?"

"Damn right."

"This place never fails to amaze me with it's stupidity." Nicky scoffs and leaves, not giving Piper time to reply even if she wanted to.

Piper laughs to herself, knowing how proud of herself she is. This is the person she has always wanted to be. Someone that never gets stepped on. Somebody who stands their ground. Selfish and free.

...

At lunch Piper sits by herself. She can hear the whispers of the new inmates as she walks past with her plate of food. They envy her. They don't know what Piper's true capabilities are, but their assumptions are near perfect. Piper sabotaging Stella's release is enough to make any new inmates reek with fear.

Piper spots Nicky sitting at another table furthest from her all alone. She looks like she's struggling to make even the simplest of movements. She's in pain and trying to suppress it, but Piper can see through the fake exterior in an instant.

Nicky looks up to catch Piper looking at her, but before Piper configures an intimidating reply to the eye contact, she feels a light tap on her shoulder.

"Excuse me"

Piper turns her head to the right to see a frail inmate in a bright orange jumpsuit staring back at her

"What?" Piper's tone is like cement; rock solid.

"I, ah, I heard that you might are offering payments if I, uhh, wear panties?"

"Take a seat" Piper points to the chair opposite her and the inmate follows the command with caution.

"I give you panties, you wear the panties, you return the panties and you get paid. Got it?"

The inmate nods without hesitation.

Piper creeps into her waistband, keeping an eye on the guards snooping around the cafeteria. She crunches up the panties in her hand and passes them under the table into the inmates hands.

"Don't let the guards see you with this."

"Ok thank you."

"You can go now" Pipers eyes are wide. Making the new inmates feel worthless and more like a peasant than a human being.

Once the inmate has left the cafeteria, Piper puts the remnants of food on her tray in the bin.

Piper suddenly noticed that the cafeteria begins to feel small and full of orange, with little khaki to be seen. It's all of the inmates returning from SHU. Each and every one of them.

She's not bothered to stay. She doesn't really care. So she just goes back to her bunk and continues reading until Red disturbs her peace.

Red smiles from ear to ear as she watches Piper's eyes move from the words on the page to Red's face.

"It's good to see a familiar face in here. This place is overflowing with newbies."

"Tell me about it."

"Hows Alex been? You two are the only ones that matter to me that didn't come down to the lake."

Piper scrunches her face, confused at Red's remark. "How would I know how Alex has been?"

"I know you two aren't on the best of terms but you must at least see her around to know she's ok?"

"She wasn't at the lake?"

Red reciprocates Piper's confusion. "No, I thought she was in here with you?"

"So she wasn't in the SHU?"

"Piper, she would have come out with the rest of us. There's not a closed cell in there."

"You can't just lose somebody like that can you?"

"Prisons don't lose people."

"Alex is a big girl, I'm sure she's sorted." Although Piper finds it odd that Alex is nowhere to be seen, she doesn't put too much thought into it. Alex survived when Piper left her, and she'll survive wherever she is now.

...

Another week that passes. Piper has been occupied with her business, trying to keep a hold of distribution figures. She hasn't got a lot of time to think about anything else and she wouldn't have it any other way.

Piper's walking to collect a bunch of panties from Spanish Harlem. Her eyes focusing on the direct line in front of her, not paying attention to anything else. She's trying to calculate exactly how many panties she should be receiving and the amount she has to pay the inmates, but she hears someone calling her name.

The voice is soft and tender; worn to the core. It's damaged and weak, but when Piper looks up, the appearance of Alex Vause is more horrific than the sound of her voice.

Alex is being pushed in a wheelchair by a guard. Bruises paint her body with unnatural patterns that look more like a disease than an artwork. Piper follows the stitched wound that begins at the top of Alex's forehead and continues just below her eye. It makes the hairs on her arm stand up and her palms sweaty. It makes her panic.

Piper has never seen Alex's eyes show so much pain. Alex is broken and you only need to see the visual to understand how demolished Alex is as a person is.

"What happened to you" Piper is extremely careful as she moves closer to Alex, kneeling to be at eye level.

Alex bursts into tears. She's never been like this. Never let herself fall into the pit of her own emotions. Her pride has always gotten in the way. All she's wanted is to be in a state of control, but this is the furthest point from where she wants to be. The crying hurts her, inside and out as her chest is filled with terror and her lungs struggle to complete their duties.

"Alex, I'm here. It will be ok." Piper can hardly hear the words that leave her mouth over her pulsing heart. She can feel it thumping in her head. The panic is hard to control. She's so stupid. God how could she be so stupid. So careless. She did this to her. She tries to gulp down the lump in her throat but it just keeps growing and growing until tears that are fought escape, breaking down everything that was holding Piper together.

Piper takes Alex's hand in hers, stroking it, trying not to look into Alex's eyes. Alex's eyes are a mirror into the horrific person Piper is. This fake persona that she was so proud of possessing.

Alex's cries are irregular and childlike. They lack the strength and backbone to be anything other than destroying. She doesn't move. She doesn't have the strength. Alex has been beaten to breaking point and there is nothing left for her to fight for.

"She's going to be put in one of the smaller dorms. Just for now anyway until she can properly fend for herself." The guard interrupts the crying hysteria and makes Piper jolt with the presence of a new voice.

Piper nods, not really registering what the guard says, only recognising it as a statement.

"Counts in 5, so you better get back to where you need to be." The new guard wheels a destroyed Alex past Piper. Piper stays still registering what she just saw; a stranger that is broken and it's all her fault. It couldn't be real. That's not Alex. Things like that don't happen to Alex.

"Alex." The name comes out of her mouth like sandpaper. It rips at her throat until it is red raw. Until it feels like Alex's skin.

Piper can't breathe.