AN: Wow. Thank you guys so much for all your reviews, faves and follows. I was blown away by the response! Hopefully this chapter lives up to your expectations. Leave your thoughts in a review, or if you have any questions you can PM me. All mistakes are mine (and there are probably a few because it's rather late). As usual, I don't own anything, yadda yadda yadda. Hope you all enjoy :)

Chapter 2:

"Alex. My name is Alex."

Piper was speechless for a while, which apparently alarmed Alex.

"Piper? Did you die on me?"

Piper swore she never heard her name pronounced more sensually in her life.

"Uh yes, hi," the blonde replied awkwardly.

A husky chuckle was heard over the line followed by, "Wow. You're kinda a shitty conversationalist, you know? I think I preferred you over text."

Piper could tell she was kidding but couldn't help the slight blush that spread over her cheeks anyway.

"Sorry I was just... Distracted."

"Right," Alex began, "I wanted to apologize for the first phone call. I kinda work a lot and when I'm sleeping people know to just leave me the fuck alone. I shouldn't have gone off on you like that."

Piper smiled despite herself, "You're right. You shouldn't have. But I'm a nice blonde lady with a big heart, so apology accepted."

"Why thank you then, nice blonde lady with a big heart," Alex snickered back.

"Don't mention it. So uh, what do you do, Alex? Except get angry at people who call you in the middle of the night."

"Only because you thought I was your mother and I didn't think I'd ever have my voice mistaken for one either. Makes me feel old."

"Oh! No, that's not at all what I meant, you don't sound motherly at all! Not that you sound mean - well you did during our first phone call - you have a very nice voice but yeah it's definitely not motherly and-"

"Piper! Calm down, don't have an aneurysm on me, okay? I was just messing with you, kid," Alex explained, trying to calm down the rambling, flustered Piper who already figured she made a huge ass out of herself in less than two minutes into the conversation.

Piper abruptly stopped and took a deep breath. "Sorry, I ramble when I'm nervous. Habit, I guess. But you do have a nice voice. I like it."

Piper meant that. The other woman's voice was very sultry, low, and sexy, pronouncing words perfectly from what Piper imagined to be full, red lips. She licked her own suddenly dry lips.

Alex's amused chuckle sounded again.

"Thank you. Do I make you nervous, Piper?"

Piper gulped. Fuck yeah, she made her nervous.

"A little. It's not every day I talk to random strangers on the phone, y'know?"

"Really? I figured it was a regular occurrence in your household," Alex said, joking.

"Oh please woman, will you let it go? It was only once! And I was really tired from work, it was a crazy day."

"Mhm," Alex replied. "Well Piper, I gotta run. Work and shit. Take care, ok? I'll give you a call back soon."

Piper didn't even have time to bid goodbye before the line went dead. She couldn't help but feel as if this was the start of something beautiful.

It was only later when Piper was lying in bed thinking about Alex, did she realize that the other woman totally deflected her question about what she does for an occupation. Piper didn't think much of it.

Alex was sitting in a small, kind of seedy pub waiting for a client to show up for a meeting and she had a few moments to spare. She was casually sitting in one of the booths, tapping her foot to the beat of the old 80's song that filled the pub. As usual, she had her phone in hand. It wasn't a surprising sight these days – between calls from her business partners and texting Piper, Alex was glued to her phone.

Her friend Nicky called her out on it the day before, saying that she was smiling at her phone and that she was scared Hell was going to break loose.

"Tough as shit Alex Vause smilin' at her fuckin' phone screen, eh, would you look at that! Don't go all soft on me, Vause. I was just starting to like you."

Alex had obviously scoffed at Nicky and told her to fuck off, but she couldn't stop herself from looking forward to texting Piper daily. She was already more addictive than heroin, and Alex was definitely not complaining.

They had been texting for a week now, and today Piper has decided to attempt and guess what Alex looked like. Alex refused to exchange pictures yet but had agreed to give her some clues on her appearance.

From: Piper
Blonde or brunette?

To: Piper
That's not a 'yes' or 'no' question. Next.

From: Piper
Gahhh. Dark hair?

To: Piper
Yes.

From: Piper
Black?

To: Piper
Maybe ;)

From: Piper
That's a yes. Are you tall?

To: Piper
Yes.

From: Piper
Do you wear leather a lot?

To: Piper
Kinky… But yes.

From: Piper
I've decided. You're motorcycle chick with long, black hair and aviator sunglasses pushed on top of your head, dressed in leather from head to toe. You also have awesome biker boots. You probably wear band t-shirts and skinny jeans too and you were probably one shit of a rebellious teenager.

Alex looked down at her phone, completely amused at the almost accurate description Piper gave of her. Granted, she did give her a lot of clues, but she still thought it was rather impressive. The girl was good.

To: Piper
Almost right. I wasn't rebellious. My mom's my best friend so I behaved.
You do know that you sound ridiculously shallow, right? What does it matter what I look like?

From: Piper
No! I didn't mean to! I just wanna know who I am talking to. Don't you?

Alex supposed she understood where Piper was coming from, but she was so used to scoping out people to use as drug mules that she really wasn't interested in seeing if this girl fit the criteria (which, if Alex was being honest with herself, she probably did). But Alex was never put off by looks; she had long ago learned that people especially must not be judged by their exterior. If the interior is rotten, then the shiny exterior will eventually give out too.

To: Piper
I like the element of surprise when it comes to these things.

From: Piper
Oh. I'm sorry, I didn't know.

Before Alex could reply, she felt a tap on her shoulder and then looked up to see her client sliding into the seat across from her. She smiled at him politely, "Just a second, please."

To: Piper
Don't get your panties in a knot, I really am just poking fun at you. Listen, I gotta jet, but I'll call you later, yeah? Have a good day, kid.

Not waiting for a reply, Alex turned off her phone and stuffed it the breast pocket of her leather jacket before getting back to the man in front of her.

It was about 11pm when Alex bid her work "buddies" goodnight and called it a day. Arriving at her amazing New York flat (hey, the drug industry provided very solid income when you were on the supplying side), she turned on her TV to some irrelevant channel and dropped down onto the couch. She groaned as her muscles relaxed into the cushions and mentally thanked herself for investing in one hell of a good couch.

She thought about her previous phone conversation with Piper briefly. She felt bad that she brushed off Piper's question about her job before, but she planned on telling her soon. She just preferred real life interaction - you can never be too careful about what you say on the phone when you're part of what she does.

Plus, she couldn't imagine bringing it up over the phone. "Hey Piper, yeah, listen. I hope you don't mind, but I'm kinda working for an international drug cartel. Wanna fuck now?"

Yeah, no. Piper seemed like a nice enough woman to not want to be involved with someone like Alex. This was obviously starting to be problematic, seeing as Alex couldn't help that her brain kept on screaming at her about the prospect of a romantic relationship with the other woman. She responded to her flirting over text, but what if she thought it was just friendly, fun flirting with no further undertone? She didn't even know if the woman was gay. Piper didn't even know she was gay, for Christ's sake.

Alex debated whether or not she should call Piper at this point, but seeing as she'd already promised the woman that she'd call, she decided to give it a go.

"Is it my turn to yell at you now?" Piper's groggy voice asked, obviously having been roused from sleep.

"Ha ha ha. Shit, Pipes. I'm sorry. Thought you night owl would still be up but I can see you called it in early so I'll leave you be. Night!" Alex was about to pull her phone from her ear when she heard the other woman protest.

"Nooooooo Alex, come back!" Piper's childish, whiny tone and drawn out words were adorable.

"What's up, kid?"

Piper grumbled something into what Alex assumed was her pillow. She chuckled. Damn, this woman will definitely be the end of her.

"Now in English, please?"

"Missedchu," Piper sleepily repeated.

Alex's left eyebrow shot up. Had she heard her right? Alex figured she was too tired to realize what she was saying at this point, but her stomach twisted in a knot anyway. She wasn't usually the sappy romantic, but she couldn't help what tumbled out of her mouth.

"Missed you too, kid. Go back to sleep and call me back whenever, 'kay?"

Alex got back a sleepy mumble in response.

"Sweet dreams," she said into her cellphone before ending the phone call.

Choosing to forego food, Alex washed down in the bathroom and then made her way to bed. Before she fell asleep, she could only think about how she hoped that Piper had actually meant what she said, because Alex had definitely missed hearing her voice too.