Hey everyone! Here's chapter 2. Let me know how you like it so far and maybe some ideas of what you would like to see happen and I'll see if I can work them in!

Chapter 2 - Another Brick In The Wall

When morning came, Piper felt no less exhausted than she had the night before.

As she dragged herself out of bed and into the bathroom for her morning shower, her muscles ached from that shitty mattress and her mind felt no better.

"'ey, Chapman. Rough night?" Piper heard a familiar voice behind her and turned around in a fog. Even though Piper was not in the mood to talk, Nicky had always brought a smile to her face even during the most stressful times.

"God yes. I slept like shit," Piper ran her hands through her hair and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and as she became more alert, she could see Nicky was excited about something.

"So I see. Did you hear what went down last night?"

"No, what happened?"

Black Cindy came walking through the hall past the shower line and Nicky leaned in closer and spoke in a quieter tone. "Vee's dead."

"What?!" Piper hadn't meant to yell out, but she hadn't exactly expected Nicky's news to be anything this heavy. Usually most of Nicky's "news" revolved around which of the new inmates she had hooked up with in the chapel the day before.

"Shhh!" Nicky hushed her as Yoga Jones entered the next available shower ahead of them. "Geez Chapman. Can't make anything inconspicuous with you!"

"God, what happened? That's awful."

"Is it? The woman made this place into even more of a hell than it already is. I don't wish death on anyone, but not every death is a tragedy, ya know?"

"I guess so... What happened to her?" Piper had heard about Vee's escape last night, but she hadn't thought that something like this would happen.

"I'll tell you at work. Can't say it here with everyone around," Nicky told her. Finally the next shower became available and Piper began to make her way over.

After her shower, Piper headed to the cafeteria for breakfast. She made her way over to her usual table and sat across from Morello, who wasn't her usual chipper self this morning. She knew Morello had always been sensitive, but she didn't think her and Vee were close.

"I'm guessing you heard about Vee?" Piper didn't know what else to say to start the conversation as she stared down at her oatmeal, which she didn't have the stomach to tolerate this morning.

"Of course, the whole place is buzzing about it, y'know" Morello answered in her thick accent. "I'm not worried about her though. It's Miss Rosa."

"Oh yeah, how'd her appointment go yesterday? I haven't heard anything from her," Piper had always had a soft spot for Miss Rosa ever since she had been one of the first people that she'd met on her first day here.

"Chapman, no one tells you anything around here, do they?" Piper just stared at Morello as she managed to put a spoonful of oatmeal into her mouth. "Miss Rosa hit her with the truck."

Piper nearly choked on her oatmeal. "Jesus! How did she get ahold of the truck?" Piper could see the regret on Morello's face as she answered her.

"I gave it to her when we got back to camp yesterday. She got bad news... the doctor said she only had weeks. I just wanted her to be able to end things her own way... to not have to die here... I didn't-" Morello broke down into tears before she could go on, right as Nicky walked up and took her seat next to her.

"There, there kid. It's okay, you didn't know." Morello had leaned her head onto Nicky's shoulder as Nicky's eyes focused on Vee's usual table where her friends sat in silence with their heads buried in their hands.

Piper's mind drifted back to Alex and where she might be right now, and while she knew now was not the time to bring it up, she couldn't take her mind off of it. Piper saw Bennett approaching their table as she glanced up from her tray.

"Inmate. Caputo wants to see you about finding you a work replacement for today."

"Jesus Christ, can't she get a day off?" Nicky asked when Morello remained unresponsive to his words.

Piper could tell from Bennett's face that he wished he could comply with the request. "Sorry," he said quietly. "I don't make the rules. Just finish your breakfast and head over to his office when you're done." He nodded and walked away with his hands in his pockets, returning to his spot by the door.

"I'm gonna go. I don't have much of an appetite this morning," Morello picked up her tray and began to get up.

Nicky grabbed her shoulder and turned her around. "Hey, it'll be okay kid. We're here. Hang in there, okay?" Morello nodded and went on her way.

Nicky watched her walk away with a look of a sympathy on her face. "Poor kid. She's got a big heart, ya know? I think she feels like the whole thing's her fault."

"I don't blame her. I'd be upset too." Piper sipped her water, which was luke warm as always. Just another thing that she had taken advantage of until she'd ended up here-ice cold, refreshing water.

"What's on your mind, Chapman? You've looked weird all morning. Distant." Nicky put down her cup and looked across the table at her.

"I'm okay. I don't wanna bother anyone with my problems. Not with everything going on.."

"Hey, we all got problems. Tell me." Nicky responded, and Piper hesitated. "Well? We don't got all day."

"It's Alex. I called my best friend and told her that Alex was violating her parole yesterday," Piper told her.

"Well shit!" Nicky responded as her eyes bugged out of her head. "That's cold, Chapman. You miss her bad enough to screw her over like that?"

Piper felt herself getting defensive. "It's not like that. She was going to leave the state and go God-knows-where. She was in danger. I couldn't sleep if I didn't know where she was."

Nicky chuckled. "Well by the looks of it you didn't sleep anyway. You got it bad, Chapman. You two confuse me."

This wasn't the first time Piper had heard Nicky said something along those lines. "I just miss her," she said.

"Well, not to worry. You'll be seeing her soon now," Nicky smirked as she gulped down her water.

Piper heard chuckling from behind her. "Hey Chapman. Heard your girl toy is on her way back!" Big Boo said slyly as she slid onto the seat next to Piper.

"How did you hear? I haven't told anyone except for Nicky just now," Piper was confused.

"Eh, I was listening when you were on the phone. Walked by right as you said it. Nothing gets past me, Chapman," she leaned in closer to her and winked.

Piper rolled her eyes. "Well, I'm glad everyone else is getting amusement out of this. I've been worried sick about it. What if she hates me?"

Nicky smirked. "It wouldn't be the first time one of you has hated the other. That's never stopped you from, ahem, making up afterwards," Nicky answered as Big Boo let out a laugh.

"Who says you have to tell her it was you who ratted her out?" Big Boo asked as she slipped a piece of toast over to Little Boo.

Piper thought about what Big Boo had said and looked at Nicky. "You don't think she'd believe that, do you?"

Nicky shrugged. "You don't know how things went down. Maybe she'll think her parole officer was keeping tabs on her. That is what they're supposed to do, y'know."

Piper blinked and stared at her. "His name is Davey Crockett. Alex said herself that he's a joke."

Nicky laughed and looked back at Chapman. "Are you fucking kidding me? That's classic. Davey Crockett. That's fuckin' hilarious."

Piper looked around the room, half wondering whether she would see Alex any minute now. "I guess we'll see whether she knows that it was me or not."

"Inmates! Please make your way to the nearest trash receptacle and head to your work sites." A voice announced over the intercom as more of the guards came into the cafeteria. Piper got up from her seat and picked up her tray.

"I'm gonna head to work, but first I'm gonna walk around and see if I can find Morello. Kid looked like she could use another hug." Nicky said as she got up. "You wanna come with?"

"No, it's fine," Piper answered. "I'll see you in a few minutes," she said, and Nicky threw her tray away and began to jog out of the cafeteria.

"Nichols! No running!" Wanda yelled in a stern voice as she shot Nicky a look from where she was standing near the front of the cafeteria. Nicky slowed her pace and left the cafeteria.

Piper threw her tray away and made her way slowly out of the cafeteria, looking down at the ground as she walked. As she walked through the halls on her way to work, others buzzed past her, and she heard them talking of yesterday's events with Miss Rosa and Vee. Some of them laughed and scoffed and others spoke in a sad tone. Piper felt bad for not paying attention to the current situation, but her mind couldn't seem to focus on much else other than Alex. Piper sped up her walking in hopes of getting to work early so that she could talk to Nicky more before they began working.

As Piper walked, she paid so little attention to where she was going that she neglected to pay attention to the turn in the hall in front of her, and she walked straight into the wall and felt herself falling to the floor. As she landed on her side, she felt a pain in her shoulder and rolled over onto her back as she squinted her eyes in pain. When she opened them, her vision was blurry as she saw a figure looking over her as she tried to gather herself. As she squinted her eyes in an attempt to make out who it was, she began to make out the thick-rimmed glasses, long black hair and a familiar smirk.

"Guess this is a bad time to say hi."

Those were the last words Piper heard as she felt herself getting weaker and she felt herself lose consciousness.