A/N Sorry about the short wait, I was a little conflicted about what I wanted to happen, but I think what I decided on finally is alright and probably could be worse.

Thank you as always for the wonderful reviews, you all are amazing.

This chapter picks up right where the last one left off, so please enjoy!


"Yes," Piper stated firmly. She had to tell the truth, there was no other option for her, not even for Alex. She desperately wanted to lie to be with Alex but she couldn't, not about this. Kubra needed to go away forever. "Alex introduced us, and I heard him give orders to her all the time,"

The prosecutor looked smug, but Kubra was just watching her, his expression unchanged. He appeared to be intrigued by something and Piper found that odd.

"You're positive it was Mr. Balik?" The prosecutor asked.

She glanced at the defendant again, gaining eye contact with him as she answered confidently. "Yes. Kubra Balik is the cartel kingpin who hired my ex-girlfriend to be a drug importer," She turned her attention back to the prosecutor.

"Is there anything else you'd like to add?" The prosecutor asked, somewhat satisfied with Piper's response.

"I didn't pay attention to what he did, or when he did it. I was there for Alex. She was what, no, she was who I paid attention to. I was there for her. I loved her and still love her with everything that I am," She stated. "Kubra, the cartel, the destinations, the drugs, it was all background. I was there for her and only her. Sorry, I can't help you more," Piper explained, relieved to have been able to tell the truth, but disappointed that Alex was undoubtedly still going to lie.


Meanwhile outside the courtroom...

Alex was sitting, straining to hear what was going on behind the closed doors, but it was no use, the room was sound proof.

She leaned her head back against the wall and closed her eyes. She willed herself to have to courage to tell the truth under Kubra's gaze. She knew it would be hard, she wondered if Piper was able to do it, although it would be easier for her, she had no idea what Kubra was capable of.

She heard footsteps approach her and she looked up as a guard approach her. She sighed and moved to stand up, assuming it was her turn to speak.

"Stay seated Ms. Vause, Kubra sends his regards," The man said handing her a slip of paper and waited for her to read it.

She looked down at the scrap of paper on her hands.

Tell the truth and the blonde will pay the price for your mistake

She looked back up at the man who gave it to her, definitely one of Kubra's recruits.

"One more thing Ms. Vause, we will be keeping a very close eye on your beloved while you finish your sentence, just in case you get any ideas," With that the man left her.

Her breath caught in her throat. She couldn't breathe. Kubra was threatening Piper to get leverage over her, and there was no way she could tell the truth now.

She barely had a chance to catch her breath again before a new guard came to get her. She had to lie.

She was led into the courtroom, to the place where Piper had previously occupied.

"Please state your full name for the record," The prosecutor said as soon as she sat down, but she was hardly listening. She glanced around the room, Kubra was grinning. Obviously, he could tell his plan was working.

"Um, Alexandra Vause," She said hesitantly.

"Ms. Vause, it is my understanding that you are currently serving time for crimes in connection to Mr. Balik's organization, is that correct?" The prosecutor continued.

"No. I-I'm serving time for drug smuggling as part of a cartel, I don't know this man, he wasn't my boss," Alex denied as convincingly as she could, but she doubted she would have been able to convince even a child with that statement.

"Ms. Vause, you are aware you are under oath?"

She nodded slowly. "Yes, I know that,"

"Right, so if you didn't ever meet Mr. Balik, who were you working for?" The prosecutor asked.

"I don't recall," She answered. That was how she answered every question from that point on. She wasn't allowed to remember, not if she ever wanted to see Piper again.

When the prosecutor had had enough of her evading his questions and denying having ever met Kubra, she was taken off the stand and led away to a holding cell where she waited.

She didn't know if at this point it would have been better that Piper lied or not. If she lied, they'd be sent back to prison together, but they'd both be in prison. Though if she told the truth, Piper would be free, but Kubra may try to kill her. There was no winning this situation.

After a few minutes of silence, she heard a familiar voice. She looked up to see her favorite blonde dressed in everyday clothes instead of her prison uniform. Alex should have been happy for her, but all she felt was anger that the prospect of being safe with her in prison was worse than being free and probably dead.

"Piper?" She said quietly, but getting the blonde's attention right away. Piper's lawyer stood to the side, but Piper told him to give her a minute, as she approached the cell.

"Al, I couldn't do it, I couldn't lie. Now, at least, you're safe," Piper said softly.

"You bitch!" Alex snarled. "He will kill you no matter what! And now I've probably got added time!"

Piper flinched and took a step away from her. "You knew what you were doing. You had a choice, and I told you what I was going to do. So don't blame me for what you did when I gave you plenty of warning," Piper stated flatly. Alex just glared at her, she didn't actually have a choice, but then again Piper didn't know that.

"Your life is waiting, why are you still here?!" Alex asked impatiently as if she really wanted Piper to leave. She didn't, but right now she wasn't thinking clearly.

"I could write and visit," Piper suggested hopefully after a moment of silence, even though she knew it was a lost cause right now.

"Don't bother, you made your choice," Alex snapped.

Piper's eyes hardened at that, and she was no longer trying to hide her frustration with the situation. "Fuck you Alex. I've made plenty of choices, and so did you, but this..." She gestured to the area around them. "This trial wasn't about us. The choice I made wasn't about us, but that doesn't matter anymore obviously. You chose this,"

Piper turned to walk away, considering whether or not to say goodbye.

Alex said nothing as she watched the blonde get further and further away from her, but Piper stopped and looked up at her one last time, speaking so quietly, Alex could barely hear her. "You know the funny thing is, is that I thought things were getting better between us since we got here, for a moment, I thought we could fix things. How wrong was I? How foolish was I? This can never be fixed if I'm the only one who tries," She looked away again. "Goodbye Alex" She didn't want to say it because saying goodbye feels like an ending, and Piper didn't want whatever they had to end, but she couldn't help it if Alex didn't feel that way too. So she said it for what she feared was the last time as she finally walks away.

Alex was left standing there in her holding cell, surrounded by silence, and the agony of knowing she was headed back to Litchfield while the love of her life was probably going to be killed execution style and there was nothing she could do about it.

The next days went by fast. She had no idea how the rest of the trial went. She heard nothing from Piper, and she returned to Litchfield the following week.

Back in the lousy orange uniform, she thought bitterly as she pulled herself into the van with other new prisoners to head back to camp.

"Well well well, if it isn't Alex Vause," The short Italian brunette grinned at her through the rearview mirror.

"Hey Morello," Alex stated flatly.

"I heard Chapman got out," Lorna said cheerfully as they got out of that van. "Isn't that nice? I must say I will miss her, though, she was such a good friend,"

Alex raised an eyebrow at her as they walked up to the familiar building. "How'd you know that?"

"Oh, Chapman wrote Nicky to get her on her visitation list already," Lorna shrugged. "They were really close. Don't get me wrong Nicky was happy for her, but she's a little down about the whole thing,"

"Is that so?" Alex followed Morello through the halls of the familiar building until they got to the temporary units where Alex and some of the other new inmates would be spending the night until they got their assignments.

"Let's see," Lorna looked down at the list of names and room assignments. "Vause, Soso, and Parker, you're in here," The short brunette gestured for the three of them to enter the room. Alex took the bottom bunk followed by a young half-Asian girl who took the bunk above her's, and an older looking African American woman who took the top bunk in the corner of the room.

"Yeah, Nicky'll get over it, in time, she just isn't too happy right now," She finally answered before holding some things out to her and the younger girl. "Here you guys go. toothbrush, toothpaste, you know the drill Vause," Lorna smiled up at her. "Well, I gotta get back to the van, oh and dinner's in about an hour I think,"

"Hey, you got some of those for me?" The older woman asked before Lorna could get very far.

"No, I don't sorry, one of the black girls should be around to help you out, I have to go," She said quickly. "See ya later Vause," Lorna said on her way out and Alex nodded.

Alex sat on her bed and cursed herself for letting Piper's safety get in the way of her own freedom when the blonde put her life in danger anyways.

At least, Kubra got put away for good, she thought. She tried to take solace in that as she laid down to try to nap.

She was not successful, though. With her mind on overdrive and the constant yammering of the girl above her, she hadn't slept at all in the whole hour before dinner.

Thank goodness for meals, though, because she didn't know how much more of that girl she could stand.

The cafeteria seemed like it was the same as before, everyone was with their groups, they were all where they should be, except now Piper wasn't there. She was probably off at some fancy restaurant with her family, already set up with a new boyfriend and everything. It made Alex sick.

Alex got her food and sat alone, not wanting to have to explain anything to anyone. She just wanted this day to be over.

She looked up when someone sat down across from her. She was not expecting to see Nichols, but there she was.

"Welcome back Vause," The wild-haired woman said plainly.

"Gee thanks. What do you want?" Alex questioned skeptically.

"I came to deliver a message, you know because I'm such a great friend and I couldn't say no," Nichols shrugged and Alex just looked at her.

"Oh yeah, what's that?"

"Piper, she wants to be on your visitations list, she wants to see you," Nichols elaborated. "I told her I didn't think it would happen, but she insisted I ask you anyways, so there you go,"

"You're right, it's not happening. I don't care what she thinks she has to say, I don't want to hear it," Alex grumbled, deciding she wasn't going to eat.

"Well then I'll toss out the letter she sent to me to give you, and I'll let her know when I talk to her again," Nicky said nonchalantly.

"Wait wait, you talked to her already?" Alex must not have been listening the first time, it hadn't fully sunk in yet.

"Yeah, I talked to Piper on the phone yesterday," Nicky said before taking a bite of her food. "Well, don't you want to know how she is?" She asked after a moment of silence.

Alex shook her head. "No, I don't care. Nichols, if that's all you came to tell me, why are you still here?"

Nicky just looked at her. "I'm trying to do the right thing here. We don't have to be friends, but I don't want to fight with you," Nicky was trying really hard to be friendly to the tall raven-haired woman, as per Piper's request, but it was difficult.

"Did she put you up to it?" Alex asked incredulously.

"Piper may have had something to do with it, so what?" Nicky said vaguely.

Alex nodded, but something was bothering her. "What happened to calling her Chapman?"

Nicky looked nervous. That was another subject she and Piper discussed over the phone. Nicky was on friendly terms with Morello now, and she had Piper to thank for it, but she had expected Piper to come back. They agreed that they couldn't continue their old relationship because of the circumstances. Piper promised to visit as often as she could, and to write whenever possible so they could remain friends, so that was a plus, but they didn't really talk about whether or not they should just tell Alex or not. Therein lies the problem, thought Nicky cooley.

"We're good friends, we got pretty close while you were in the SHU. I, ya know, I helped her get over her illness, and I kept her company while she tried to sort out her feelings and shit like that. Ya know, the sort of things friends do for each other," Nicky said trying to avoid any further questions on that subject. "Speaking of acts of friendship, she's stopping by tomorrow. I think she wanted to see you, but she'll have to settle for me instead. Anything you'd like me to pass along?"

"Yeah, tell her to go Fuck herself!" Alex snapped. She honestly didn't know quite where that anger came from, but it didn't matter, she didn't have anything else to say to the blonde.

"Right, okay, that all?" Nicky asked eyeing her carefully.

"Yeah, that's it. I don't want to hear about her anymore, I don't care. We both chose this, and I don't need updates on her every goddamned minute!" She barked.
Thinking about it, she actually was desperate for any information about Piper's well-being, but she couldn't allow herself to act like it. She was supposed to be mad at her. She was mad at her. So she was going to make herself suffer by refusing any news about her recently freed ex.
In the time she was thinking, she had only just noticed that the cafeteria got quieter and she felt like people were looking at her funny. "Why do I feel like people are watching me?"

Nicky glanced around and shrugged. "Fuck em. You beat up Doggett pretty good, and she knocked your face in too, they're just a little cautious of your temper. No one around here will mess with you again," Nicky smirked.

"Great" Alex rolled her eyes.

"Well, look at it this way, you won't have to wait in line for showers," Nicky chuckled before she stood to clear her tray away. "Hey, Vause, I'll see ya around, try not to fight anyone," Nicky said before leaving Alex alone.

After dinner, there wasn't much for Alex to do. She spent the rest of the evening in her bunk trying not to listen to Soso cry on her bed above her.

It was after lights out that she realized she wouldn't be able to sleep if the girl didn't stop crying, so she got up.

"Hey, I know this is a prison, and it sucks. But this phase is only temporary," Alex whispered. The girl looked up at her hesitantly. Alex was reminded of how good it felt to be able to comfort Piper when she was upset, but this wasn't Piper who was crying, it was some random girl who wouldn't shut up. "Soon you'll have friends, and everything will start to feel normal,"

"Really?" The girl said between sobs.

Alex sighed. "Yes, really, you'll get used to it, and you'll find friends in here, people you can trust," She said and was completely thrown off balance when the girl threw her arms around her neck and hugged her tightly. Alex rolled her eyes, she hated this.

"I think I'm finding friends already," Soso said quietly.

Alex managed to free herself and was able to hand the girl some tissues. "Yeah, well just try to get some sleep now," Alex said as she laid back down in her own bed thankful that it was now quiet in there.

It took her a while to fall asleep, but when she finally did, it felt like only mere minutes before she was opening her eyes again the next day.

She was assigned a bunk after breakfast. She was sharing a bunk with Red who wasn't too keen about it. She was assigned to the grounds crew, whereas Soso was thankfully assigned to the laundry room and things were alright, considering she was in prison still.

She was on her way outside for work when she passed the visitation room. She dared a glance inside and there was Piper.

The blonde was sitting alone, apparently waiting for Nicky to get there. She was looking around the room as different inmates came in to greet their loved ones. She looked nervous, or worried, or perhaps excited, and Alex couldn't help but wonder why.

She was just thinking about where Nicky was when she heard the woman's voice behind her.

"Let me get this right, "go Fuck yourself" -from Alex Vause, yeah?" Nicky asked as she caught Alex gazing at Piper through the window.

"You got it," Alex confirmed sadly.

"Well, catch ya later, can't keep the lady waiting," Nicky said as she walked around into the visitation area where she was patted down before she was allowed inside.

Alex watched as the two hugged and she caught Nicky's eye for a moment. When they sat down, Piper looked borderline depressed. Alex couldn't hear them but she could guess what they were saying. Piper looked over at her at one point. Alex did her best to keep her expression neutral. Alex was relieved when she looked away, but she also missed her soft gaze. She watched them for a moment longer and she could see the different expressions flash across Piper's face. For a second she looked angry but Nicky said something to make her laugh and she felt a hint of jealousy that it wasn't her sitting across from Piper and on the receiving end of her beautiful smile.

She shook the thoughts from her head and at that point she left to go work, there was no reason for standing there anymore. She needed to force herself to stay as occupied and distracted as possible so her mind wouldn't wander back to the blonde sitting in the visitation room across from someone else when it should be her sitting there. It frustrated her to no end, but she couldn't allow herself to lose her grip on her anger, not while she was still doing time because of her feelings for the blonde.


A few moments prior, in the visitation room...

"Nicky!" Piper exclaimed, smiling at the shorter woman. Piper jumped up and hugged her tightly. "I missed you!" Piper left a gentle kiss on her cheek.

Nicky hugged Piper back and caught a glimpse of Alex who was still standing by the window. "Yeah, I missed you too,"

They both sat down across from each other. "Do I even need to ask? How is she?" Nicky knew who Piper meant and she nodded to the window. Piper turned her head and there was Alex, looking very unamused. Piper couldn't hold her gaze for long though and had to look back at Nicky.

"Her only message for you was to go Fuck yourself," Nicky repeated Alex's words. "Eh, Piper, it's like I said, she said no obviously. I'll talk to her but shit, she is pissed off at you,"

"Of course, she is. Because that's who she is, she only has one perspective. Heaven forbid she try to see things from my point of view" She said angrily looking down at her hands. "Fuck, I can't believe I screwed up again,"

"Look it's not your fault she sent herself back here, but enough about her, how's the freedom working out for you?" Nicky asked trying to lighten the mood again.

Piper grinned. "It's alright, but I miss not having to choose what to wear all the time," She joked.

"Really?! The thing you miss most about prison is the wardrobe? Jesus Chapman that's messed up, even for you," Nicky chuckled and Piper nodded, smiling.

"I know I know, sorry. What I miss the most though seriously is the sense of community," Piper said. "I feel so isolated, so lonely. No one understands what I've been through and they're trying to toss me back into society without even thinking," Piper said, annoyance clear in her voice. "I mean, get this, it's been what, less than two weeks, and my parents are trying to set me up with Larry again! Can you fucking believe that?"

"You're screwed, I'm sorry," Nicky smirked and Piper just laughed. "Well, you could always rob a bank and rejoin the party," Nicky suggested jovially.

"No fucking way, Nicky, I prefer to be on this side of the table. I'll come and visit, but I don't plan to be a resident ever again," Piper said somewhat seriously, but she maintained her smile.

"Thank Jesus, for a moment there I was worried you actually enjoyed being in prison," Nicky replied. "Granted that was only when I was fucking you, so that must have been the reason,"

"Oh please, the prison was better for more things than just the sex," Piper countered.

"Oh really? Give me an example of something that was better," Nicky demanded playfully.

"I-uh-the food. Red's food was pretty good most of the time," Piper stated.

"Bullshit! You said that food tasted like crap the first day you got here. Try again," Nicky laughed.

"Well, what about the...the...the provided opportunity for remediation and self-reflection," Nicky grinned knowingly as she watched Piper struggle to come up with a better answer. Piper knew she lost. "You know what? Fuck it, you win,"

"Exactly, because there's nothin better about this place," Nicky said satisfied with herself.

"You'll pay for that Nicky," Piper grinned.

Nicky raised an eyebrow at her and leaned over the table. "Oh yeah? And how do you think that's gonna happen?"

"Oh, I'm sure I'll come up with something," Piper winked.

"Inmates, one minute!" The CO yelled.

"Until next weekend?" Nicky asked as she stood up to hug Piper again.

"Of course, I'll be here," Piper replied firmly, giving Nicky a final hug goodbye. "Call me whenever, you have my number,"

Nicky turned to walk away, "Count on it, Chapman!"

Piper watched the other woman walk away back into the prison. Nicky waved as she passed the windows and then she was gone.

A few weeks went by fairly quickly. Every Saturday Piper would come to visit Nicky at around the same time. She wrote letters to various people as well. Alex heard Piper had written to Red and Morello at least once. Alex got letters from Piper too, but she never read them. She kept them in a stack under her bed.

After Piper's first visit, Alex decided that even though she wasn't speaking to Piper, it didn't mean she couldn't see her for a few minutes on her way outside every Saturday. Alex had even started looking forwards to the weekends when she could see the blonde.

As the weeks passed, Piper looked worse and worse, though. She got thinner, if it was possible, her hair was disheveled, and she had stopped wearing makeup altogether. Alex wondered what was wrong with her, and it was growing harder and harder for her not to ask Nicky. Nicky had kept her word though and stayed away from discussing Piper with her at all costs.

The next week Alex couldn't take it anymore, she needed to know what was wrong. Piper hadn't shown up at all. Nicky didn't seem bothered by it, obviously, Piper had told her what was going on, and Alex wished more and more that she had just tried a little harder to fix things between them.

She gave herself hope that she could, though. She sat down and read all of Piper's letters before making the decision to call her. She knew Piper would answer, thinking it was Nicky calling, she just had to hope Piper would stay on the line long enough for them to talk things out. Hopefully, things weren't too far gone already.

As the phone rang, the more she thought about it, the more stupid she felt for not contacting her sooner. What would she have done if something would have happened to her? Hell, she may not have even known because she was too stubborn to ask Nicky about her.

The phone rang a few more times and she was about to concede that Piper wasn't going to answer, but she did.

"Hey Nicky," She heard Piper say.

"It's me, Pipes," Alex didn't bother saying her name, she knew Piper would recognize her by her voice.
There was silence and she was sure at that point Piper had hung up. "Are you there?"


A/N I'm not terribly happy with it, but in my opinion, it wasn't awful, although, I could always be wrong, so let me know what you thought, and stay tuned for more in a few days.