14
The brunette's breath catches in her throat, her shoulders remain still. She lifts her head slowly from the grasp of her own hands, and realizes she's not breathing, she lets out the air trapped in her chest. She replaces her glasses on the bridge of her nose and slowly turns over her shoulder. Her arms cross over her chest her hand covers her mouth,
"what?," asked the woman who had taken her with her to the other side of the world simply as a companion. The same woman who lavished her with some of the finest hotels she had ever been privileged to stay in, and provided her with premium cuisine and liquors. She'd never forget the mix of terror and ferocity that consumed Alex's face when she jumped off the edge of that waterfall. She'd thrived off of attending to Piper, whether the motive was to protect her prized possession versus genuinely caring for her; it wasn't relevant she decided, she was fine with either, because she was confident that Alex wouldn't let anything happen to her ... in other words, she'd taken care of her, in the best way she knew how, surely she could do this for her.
"I can help you, I mean you're down a soldier right?"
She smiled at her naivety, "it's not that simple," she whispered.
"Then fill me in on the complexity," she challenged in an obvious attempt to gratify the brunette.
She was flattered by the offer, but her pessimism overrode the blonde's sudden need to prove her gallantry, "there's just a lot you need to be able to do," she paused, "and not do for that matter..."
Piper moved her hand in a circular motion, urging the seated woman to get on with it.
"No, Pipes," she stood up from the chair and ran a hand through her hair and walked away. She felt a tight grip on her arm pull her back,
"You go out all day looking for people to travel around the world, to get the job done. I'm right here telling you I can do it and you won't even give me the chance?" Alex opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by the now pacing blonde, "you spend all sorts of time on other people teaching them what to do and what not to do, why not me?," she looked herself over trying to justify what was wrong with her, insulted by the other woman's underestimation of her abilities.
"Well for one, you'd need to keep your mouth shut for an entire hour, for which I've yet to experience... you even mutter in your sleep."
"You're such a fucking smart ass."
Alex pursed her lips and thought about how Piper hadn't shied away from as much as she thought she would; she was not the delicate flower she and her friends had initially perceived her to be.
"As fascinating as the trip may be, you need to keep your head down, don't talk to anyone and for fucks sake if I ever let you do this, don't do any of the drugs!," she said angrily as she thought of the demise of her last mule.
"I don't do drugs," she said with offence.
"Um I beg to differ dance dance revolution," she teased knowing full well that Piper would never lay a hand on anything lethal.
Piper stood with her mouth agape astonished, "you gave it to me!," she screeched an octave higher than her voice had been previously.
"You took it! Are you saying you failed to restrain yourself? Don't blame me." "You're an enabler!"
"And you're seducible," she laid out flatly.
"Fuck you," she said exasperated.
Completely satisfied with her innate skill to rile the blonde so easily, Alex compressed her pride, "I'm just saying if I've made this out to be peaches and cream it's not."
"Yeah well the extravagant journeys and your delusions of grandeur have made it really formidable."
"I have a target on the back of my neck Piper...," she saluted the back of her hairline,
"And I have a Macropodus Opercularis on the back of mine," Piper grabbed the nape of her own neck, "that symbolizes one of the best days of my life."
She stared silently at the eager blonde for a long while battling her conscious, "I'd need you to carry a bag," she said reluctantly but without sugar coating.
"Of drugs, right?," she nervously asked not expecting Alex to surrender.
"No," she answered quickly, "just money."
"What do I have to do?"
Alex sat her down over the course of the next few weeks, explaining the absolute dos and don'ts of the operation, " keep the headphones in, read your magazine, don't hold a conversation with anyone for more than five minutes, don't fidget, you make slow movements, don't consume anything that alters your consciousness, you wear nothing that will make you easy to describe."
She spent an ample amount of time rehearsing her character with the blonde in case she was ever stopped at customs. With each day, Piper grew more anxious and had second thoughts about what she'd signed herself up for. Each time they'd review, she settled herself by thinking she was back at school preparing for a role in an upcoming show. She went out with Alex to several different stores in search of a costume to match her character.
They left for Paris on a red eye a few nights later and stayed in a contemporary boutique hotel near the airport. Alex left her for only a few hours to meet up with someone to retrieve the bag that Piper was to carry. The following morning she explained,
"I'm gonna take one of the morning shuttles, these are your plans," she said handing her a small manila envelope and placed it in her black handbag, "your shuttle is at 4P.M, your ticket is on top," Piper listened intently and nodded. "I'll meet you outside the airport, here," she points to a spot on the map of the Brussels airport, she folds it up and placed it into the purse as well, "you just get your bag, go through customs and walk straight out to meet me, okay?" Piper silently nodded and tried to remind herself why she volunteered for this when she could've just stood idly by and let Alex figure out her plans.
They bathed together in the small Parisian hotel room shower. Piper sat in her towel in a daze while Alex moved about the bathroom and got herself ready. She stepped out of the bathroom and saw that Piper hadn't moved, she read the regret on the girls face, she wanted to run. Before the cogs in the blondes brain could continue turning, she snapped her out of it. She took Piper by the hand and stood her up, "let's try all this on."
She helped Piper into her business casual ensemble, and waved the blazer open and closed, fanning the sweat spots that formed underneath the blonde's underarms. She helped apply her makeup and secure her jewelry when she saw the blonde's sweaty hands shaking. She adjusted the wig and straightened the shoulder pads. She asked Piper to hold the bottle of concealer while she unscrewed the top and dabbed some on a triangular sponge,
"It's gonna rub off when I sweat," she said nervously fixing her wig.
"No, it won't, it's waterproof, " she finished dabbing, and lowers the blonde's hands away from her compulsory actions, "stop...so when this dries," she blows softly on the back of her neck, "should be good to go," she reassures her and pecks her on the ear.
"How am I gonna get it off?"
"Acetone," she says shrugging nonchalantly, having covered dozens of tattoos before.
"Alright Alex, I don't," she falters, "I don't know if I can..."
She picks up on the doubt in blonde's tone, no no no, you're not backing out, "hey, hey, hey, hey," she shushes her and grabs her arms, with a firmly solid pressure to calm her, she feels the trembling in the novice's hands and for a brief moment contemplates calling the whole thing off. But she stares at the blonde all made up in the full length mirror and the adrenaline, that always accompanies the blood that rushes through her veins, the moments before her plans are set into motion, starts pumping and her arousal doubles at the prospect of this particular woman following out her course.
"Shh," she holds her tight against her body, making her feel secure and lowers her tone, trying to re-focus the blonde on her character, "you, are a nice young lady, aren't you? A proper young lady," she caresses and cups her breast in an effort to ease the blonde at a touch that is familiar in an unfamiliar setting, "just picking up her sensible bag in the baggage claim, before heading on to her mid-range hotel to go over her schedules, museum visits and fancy dinners."
She turns the blonde around and locks eyes with her. Piper looks into her eyes and gets lost in the gaze, trusting in the confident flickering flame behind the thick black frames.
"It's all fine," she removes her glasses, wanting the blonde to peer into her eyes without any barrier between them, demanding her full attention, "it's all good, and I will meet you in Brussels and everything will work out perfectly, babe. I promise," she lets her hands dance flirtatiously on Piper's hips knowing the blonde can't resist the touch of her hands, "it's all gonna be okay," she kisses her seductively, gathers her personal belongings and heads for the airport.
Almost two hours pass after Piper's expected arrival and the blonde never walks out of the sliding doors of the airport. Alex tries to calm the quickening pace of her heart beat as she parks her rental car in the airport parking lot. She re-freshens her makeup in the rearview mirror, adjusts her glasses and pulls back more of her hair and re-pins it half up in her Fendi belt buckle hair clip.
She exits her vehicle and walks into the Brussels airport where she sees masses of people exiting customs, happily reuniting with their families, being talked into tourist attractions and looking for transportation, but no Piper. She contemplates calling the hotel that she left her at earlier when she feels a similar hand brush her arm and the sweetest voice greet her, "bonjour," she gasps with great relief to see the blonde, "bonjour, welcome to Belgium," she kisses her and realizes she may have kissed her one too many times. "All good?," her hands wander her body unable to control the exorbitant amount of relief she feels at the sight of this girl standing in front of her, in one piece. Piper looks at her just about as relieved to see the mastermind.
She inhales, "I was starting to worry, where did you come from?"
"Over there," she says pointing to a door separating the exit and baggage claim.
"You didn't go through customs?"
"No, I just walked out of that door and it brought me right here."
"You skipped customs!" she chokes back her giddy laughter, she whispers, "holy shit, thats's genius!"
"Well should I go back?," she asks worriedly.
"Fuck no! We're going to the hotel! I'm gonna eat you for dinner," this blonde couldn't make her wetter if she tried. She was stopped in her tracks by a shaking boney hand,
"Alex, I was so freaked out when the bag didn't show up I almost bailed."
"Well it's a good thing you didn't, there's over fifty grand in that bag, Kubra would've had you killed, c'mon!"
"Had-You-Killed," the words stung and felt like the wind was knocked out of her, her feet stood frozen in place as the brunette became smaller and smaller as she walked further toward the exit as the frenzy of travelers hurriedly made their way through the airport and continued to bump into her. She felt a clammy hand grasp around her wrist and drag her through the crowd out into the western European air. She silently rode beside Alex in the rental car, having no recollection of the drive, the walk through the hotel lobby, nor the check in process. The bell from the hotel elevator chimed and she watched the golden door slide open and felt Alex gently push her by the small of her back out into the hallway before walking to their room. She saw the brunette start to smirk as she quirked an eyebrow and slid their room key into the slot before pushing her way in. She swiftly turned around ready to ravage the blonde, but her eyes went wide as she watched the blonde collapse to her knees gripping her chest. She started breathing rapidly, overwhelmed with the burning sensation in her cheeks, she was so hot. The sweat continued to form on her forehead, she pulled the wig off her head and threw it to the side. Alex knealt down beside her, "Pipes, you're okay, slow your breathing," but the blonde's head shook rapidly back and forth and pushed Alex back, "I can't breathe." She placed her hands on her knees to open her ribcage like she was taught to do when she ran track and needed to get more oxygen but it didn't help. She felt the walls of the hotel getting closer and closer, and pulled her arm away as the brunette tried to comfortingly rub her shoulder. She crawled to the bathroom and dry heaved repetitively around the toilet. Alex kneals behind her again on the bathroom floor and rubs her back, Piper wants her off but needs the contact. As the cramping in her chest starts to resolve, she takes a deep breath and holds it, trying to regain her composure.
"Can I get you anything?," Alex asks with genuine concern.
Piper whips around and screams, "you knew if something bad happened, this guy would try to kill me? You're supposed to protect me!"
She went through everything with the blonde, there were no secrets, she knew exactly what her role was, and while she wanted to yell back and throw this in her face, she feared more for the blonde's health and just hugged her tight. Piper struggled underneath her arms while Alex held her tighter and told her to stop fighting, eventually she calmed, went lax in her arms and cried. She laid in the brunette's lap, her arms still tightly around her. Her heart broke, foggy images of any future they had together shattered into a million pieces. She felt taken advantage of, was all of this a ploy? Alex had supervised countless amounts of people go through this and knew how terrifying this could be; if she truly loved me, she wouldn't have let me go. She looked up at the brunette with a look that Alex didn't recognize, she would never be able to see her the same way again. Alex helped her to the bed and undressed her, covering her with a sheet. She ordered room service but couldn't get the blonde to eat anything. She went through the practices she'd known to calm the blonde in the past without success. Piper just stared straight ahead for hours on end barely saying a word. She fell asleep beside the blonde, awaking easily each time the younger woman roused just to see Piper still awake, almost trance-like. She watched her all day as she lethargically changed positions in the bed or made her way to and from the bathroom, still refusing any food. The second night had fallen and Alex typed on her laptop in bed while Piper sat on the edge before standing up and wobbled, holding onto the bed to steady her balance. Alex tossed the laptop aside and held Piper upright,
"you have to eat something Piper."
Piper pulled her head back and stared at Alex, "what's...the point?," she asked her shaking her head."I should turn myself in, I can't walk around out there every day not knowing if they're going to arrest me or do something even worse." She pulled her arm away from Alex and slammed the bathroom door shut, Alex could hear her lock the door.
She went out in search of something to ease the blonde, food, booze, drugs, she didn't care. She couldn't bear to sit beside her zombie of a girlfriend. She returned with the Belgian version of Pepto Bismol, an eyedropper bottle of valerian root and some cookie spread that was loaded with sugar. At least if she didn't eat, she could smear some of the sugary butter across her lips and she wouldn't pass out from hypoglycemia.
"Will you please take this?," she wiggled the bottle of the anti-anxiety herb in the blonde's face.
"What is it? Will it kill me?"
"No," she said abruptly.
"Then don't bother."
"Jesus Piper, stop it. It's an herb, it will calm you down."
"And that?," she asked pointing to the jar of Spekuloos.
"It's some dessert butter made from a cookie."
She unscrewed the cap and pulled back the foil, she dipped her pinky into it and held it to Piper's lips. Piper raised her eyes at Alex, staring daggers into the grey-green orbs, and grasped the brunette's hand, sucking the cookie butter off her finger. Her eyes widened, and she exhaled, "that's delicious." Alex re-dipped her finger in the jar and repeated. She went to the vending machine to get some pretzels in exchange for her hand as a human spoon and fed Piper until the jar was empty before running down to get two more jars.
After much coaxing she convinced her to take some of the valerian root and sat with her out on the balcony of their room.
She has to care about me, she's shown me that time and time again, and I...I asked her to do this, she didn't want me to. She justified as the reel played over and over in her mind, her body was exhausted and her mind was now finally catching up. She stood up and walked across the balcony, slid the door open and stood in the doorway; it felt like eons before anyone had said anything, when she heard the blonde's voice crack, "I will never do that again," and she slid the door closed behind her and settled into their room.
AN: So I of course wrote this well before season 4, and love that I assumed Alex would never expect Piper to do any hard drugs. When the show writes things that line up with my brain, I get an odd satisfaction!