It took a couple of days of careful consideration for Oksana to come up with a plan. She had been stewing in the information passed on from Nadia, letting her anger bubble and thicken over time. Pargrave told Eve he was sorry, that he had been unprofessional. Oksana had concocted a vision of Eve stumbling out of his office and hurrying away, distressed by his advances. Oksana had never imagined Pargrave as that type of man, the type to use his authority to get what he wanted, to ask a colleague into his office and make her feel uncomfortable. Oksana had always quite liked Pargrave. Still, it just went to show that you really should never trust anyone. Another teaching from her father proved truthful.

Oksana didn't care for men who overstepped their boundaries. Or women. But mostly men. And to upset Eve? Well, that was unacceptable. Eve presented herself as an unflappable professional. Only Oksana was allowed to… flap her? Was that the phrase? Probably not. Even after all this time, and all the lessons from her childhood, there were still some English phrases that were just tangled nonsense when you tried to pick them apart. Eve was Oksana's though, if anyone was going to coerce her into an inappropriate liaison it would be Oksana, not Pargrave. Oksana was young and beautiful and exciting. What was Pargrave? Nothing. Not even the nice guy Oksana had thought he was.

The fact of the matter was that actions have consequences and Oksana had deliberated and decided on a consequence for Pargrave. She just needed a little help in securing a tool for the job. And that was why at this precise moment she was loitering in the canteen, watching discretely over the top of her nearly finished Thomas Hardy novel, and waiting for a card game to wrap. The canteen had emptied out since the last meal, leaving only a few inmates milling around in clusters. Oksana had seated herself purposefully at the opposite end of the long metal table, far enough away to be noticeable but not suspicious. And she had been noticed. Oksana was always noticed for one reason or another.

Finally the game at the other end of the table seemed to break up as one inmate from the group leant back in victorious posturing and began collecting up the cards as the others stood up and shuffled away, defeated. Now was Oksana chance. She turned the corner of the page she had not been reading and slid fluidly from the bench into a standing position before slinking down towards the other end of the table.

"Renate." Oksana said as she reached her destination and leaned casually against the table beside the seated woman.

The other woman pretended she hadn't seen Oksana and continued shuffling her cards expertly.

"Not talking to me, hmm?" Oksana pressed.

"I got a week in solitary because of you." Came the grumbled reply.

"You did stab me, Renate." Oksana pointed out with a pout but no malice.

"And you know why I done it." Renate replied, looking up furiously at last.

"I know," Oksana cooed, nodding. "And I have thought about it." She added.

Renate narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Oksana and waited for her to say more.

"It was nasty of me to reject you like that." Oksana explained sympathetically.

"You shouldn't of called me fat." Renate agreed.

Oksana didn't agree, but she would keep that to herself.

"I know." Oksana nodded understandingly. "It was unkind. And we all have… needs. Don't we, Renate?" Oksana asked instead.

Renate grunted.

"I wondered, do you still have that need?" Oksana questioned silkily, "Is there still an itch I could scratch for you?" she asked, catching Renate's eye and holding it pointedly.

Renate swallowed and Oksana watched as her gaze moved down and then back up Oksana's form appreciatively. Oksana fought her urge to laugh at Renate's hungry look. It was comical though, this huge woman slathering over her. Oksana wondered if she would have to make Renate promise not to get carried away and take an actual bite out of her. Not that Oksana was intending to let Renate do much of any touching at all.

"Maybe." Renate said carefully at last.

Oksana didn't know whether to rejoice or groan at the now solidifying prospect of having to pleasure this woman in return for what she wanted.

"Good, good." Oksana purred instead. "Well, as it happens," Oksana started as she picked up a plastic spoon that had been left on the table and began to twirl it in her fingers, "I have a need too." Oksana finished, her eyes on the spoon and then flicking up to meet Renate's.

Renate looked between the spoon and Oksana, remembering the moment that she had jammed a similar but re-appropriated spoon into the other woman's abdomen.

"You want to stab me back?" Renate asked loudly.

Oksana sighed in frustration and dropped the spoon back onto the table with a clatter. She cast her eyes around the canteen warily, but nobody seemed to have heard Renate's outburst.

"No." She drawled, forcing herself to be patient, "I want you to get me one like you had. You know, sharpened and… dangerous." She explained under her voice.

"You want a shiv." Renate concluded.

"Exactly," Oksana smiled sweetly.

"They are my specialty." Renate mumbled proudly. "But it's not for me, right?" She demanded, raising her voice again.

"Of course not!" Oksana exclaimed, wide-eyed. "I would never." She promised earnestly

There was no reason to believe her at all, and in fact Oksana judged the woman opposite for being dumb enough to accept her answer, but that is what seemed to happen.

"Alright." Renate grunted. "A shag for a shiv." She laughed.

Oksana laughed too and cringed inwardly.

"Exercise yard tomorrow." Renate said, "Dalton will be on duty and he's thick as pig shit, won't notice if we slip behind the offices."

Oksana already knew that, had already factored the when and where into her own plan. Renate so far was making this easier than she had anticipated. Clearly this large woman had heard of Oksana's talents and wanted to try them out for herself. Oksana had counted on that. Had counted that the promise of the Oksana Astankova experience would outweigh any lingering anger that the other woman was harbouring.

"I will look forward to it." Oksana lied softly. She could have winked, but decided that would have been overkill.

"Oh, me too. Me too." Renate replied luridly, sparing another appraisal of Oksana's chest.

Oksana smiled as convincingly as she could and walked away. The smile dropped from her face as it morphed into the kind of expression a child would have when it was told to eat its vegetables. The things Oksana was willing to do for Dr Eve Polastri.

Eve had read Oksana's prison record three times over now. She had it mostly memorised and she had drawn some conclusions from it. It seemed that Oksana's behaviour had been steadily improving during her time at the institution. There had been that one particularly violent altercation early on in her sentence and Eve wanted to ask Bill about that, see if he knew what caused it. Whatever it was must have been something particularly close to the bone for Oksana, as it seemed she had got herself into very few fights since then.

Eve wanted to pick Bill's brain. He had been adamant that Eve remains wary of Oksana, and yet her record showed that for years she had been difficult, yes, but not dangerous. There were questions circulating Eve's mind that she longed to put to her friend, he would hold so many of the answers that she clamoured for. And yet, could she ask them? Would she seem too interested? Too caught up in Oksana's web? Bill was already suspicious and Eve had managed to douse his doubts in cold water for now, but could she remain convincing? And was it worth the risk? Her unwanted feelings for Oksana were becoming impossible to ignore and harder to deny, even to herself, but she could get through the next few months without crossing any lines. She had to.

Perhaps Oksana herself would answer the questions Eve had. At times the other woman was open to Eve's enquiries. At times she was a total arsehole too. But Eve did have one other trick up her sleeve. Oksana's game from weeks ago had never been played and maybe it was time for that. Oksana was bound to enjoy it and maybe Eve could use it to her advantage. She had to be careful though, it was a game with two players after all and, like most games, there could only be one winner.

Eve was at the kitchen table cradling a cup of coffee and half reading the newspaper while Leo was performing his morning task of feeding the goldfish in the garden pond. It was a task he took very seriously. Eve was occasionally tempted to point out that when they went on holiday the fish seemed to cope without their morning feed, but she always bit her tongue. Boots was prowling around the patio outside the opened back door and Eve watched as she chased a stray leaf that skittered across paving on a breeze.

"THERE'S A FROG!" Leo yelled from the garden.

Eve looked up at his voice and saw her son jump excitedly a few times at the edge of the pond.

"THERE'S A FROG!" he screamed again before taking off at top speed towards the opened back door.

Eve had already stood, coffee in hand to come and see the visitor to the goldfish pond, so she saw almost in slow motion as Leo came charging across the patio, eyes wide with exhilaration and yet failing to see the crouching cat in his path. Boots yowled indignantly as Leo tripped over her and went sprawling onto the paving slabs, skidding a couple of inches on his knees before coming to a stop. There was a moment of stunned silence before he burst into tears both pained and angry.

Eve dropped her mostly empty coffee mug onto the table and strode swiftly out the backdoor. She crouched down to her sobbing son and reached to pull him into a hug.

"You're alright." Eve said calmly. "Let me see." she reached for the nearest grazed knee. It was bleeding and had a few bits of grit in it. She winced.

"I'm not alright!" Leo wailed before dissolving into more tears.

Eve shushed him gently and tried to pull him into a tighter hug, rocking him slightly in her arms. Leo pulled away, pushing Eve's arms from around him roughly.

"Where's dad?" he gasped through his tears. "I want dad." He hiccupped.

Eve glanced up at the house.

"He was just getting dressed. He should be down in a minute." She said, "Why don't we clean up these knees? Then you'll feel better." She suggested.

"Dad can do it." Leo decided. "You always make it hurt."

That didn't seem quite fair but Eve knew better than to argue with a distressed child. And there were still tears streaking down Leo's reddened face. Eve smoothed them away with the back of her hand, but more followed.

"What's all this?" Came Niko's voice from the backdoor.

"He tripped over the cat." Eve explained.

"The cat tripped me up!" Leo corrected furiously.

"Oh dear," Niko said gravely as he came to crouch by Leo and took a look at his knees thoughtfully, first one, then the other. "I think we're going to have to amputate." He said at last with a sigh and a shake of his head.

"No!" Leo exclaimed, but his tears had slowed and there was a hint of laughter in his voice.

"I'm afraid so, son." Niko nodded solemnly. "But did you at least enjoy your trip?" he asked.

Leo laughed properly this time, letting out his usual shrieking laughter and sending a bit of wayward snot flying.

Eve rolled her eyes. Such a dad joke. She stood up from the ground and dusted off her trousers before returning to finish her coffee.

"Come on Lionman, let's get these knees cleaned up before school." Niko said.

"Wait!" Leo replied, as though he hadn't been bawling just a moment earlier, "Come and see the frog first."

Back in the kitchen, Eve checked her watch. She had better leave now. She had a long morning of meetings and an appointment with a client before driving out to Hertfordshire to see Oksana. Their usual morning appointment had been moved to the afternoon due to some visiting speaker at the prison who was coming to give a talk on drug abuse. Eve didn't see why Oksana needed to attend that. She wasn't in prison for drug offences and didn't seem the type to go that way on release from prison. If she got parole, that is.

"See you later!" Eve called into the garden.

"Don't forget dinner with the Austins!" came Niko's response from over by the pond.

God, he had told her enough times, Eve thought. She couldn't forget if she tried.

"Bye Leo!" Eve called.

"Yeah!" Leo called back distractedly, waving a fishing net they had bought him at the seaside last summer.

The frog was in for a rough morning too.

Oksana would gladly never think about her rendezvous with Renate behind the offices ever again. It had certainly been the most unpleasant of her trade deals so far, and she had hoped that Renate would carry out her end of the bargain then and there too. But alas, apparently it took longer than 24 hours to secure what was necessary for Oksana's weapon of choice. Well, not choice exactly. In better circumstances she would opt for a real knife, like the one she had received as a thirteenth birthday present from her father, rather than a sharpened prison spoon. But needs must.

The outcome was that Oksana had been left with no means of attack but a desperate need to shower and brush her teeth in the middle of the day. That was OK, she decided, she could wait. She had become very good at waiting. Right now, for example, she was waiting for Pargrave himself to come and collect her to take her to her appointment with Eve. Oksana hadn't thought too much about it, her mind had been focused on carrying out justice rather than the wild-haired woman who had been consuming her thoughts the week prior. But now, with the imminent prospect of seeing her again, that unfamiliar warmth had taken up residence in the very core of her. And it wasn't desire. Well, not entirely. Desire was certainly there, but this was closer to… affection?

"Astankova?" Came a cautious voice from below the bunk on which Oksana was lying.

She rolled onto her side and peered over the edge of the bunk. She hadn't heard anyone come into her cell. Had she been that caught up in thoughts of Eve that she hadn't even felt the vibrations of the door grating on its metal hinges?

"Pargrave?" She replied mimicking his tone and eyeing him studiously.

She had seen him in passing a couple of times since Nadia's little spying spree. She had tried to keep their interactions as normal as possible, so she had teased him about this and that when they passed in corridors. She had squashed down the seething she felt inside. And now, face-to-face, it was back full force. How dare this balding man think he would be enough for Eve?

"I was waiting for you to leap down and scare me like you usually do." He explained with a chuckle.

"Not today," she replied, her voice saccharine.

"Must be my lucky day." He said jovially.

"Not mine." Oksana mumbled, and Pargrave looked at her questioningly but she said no more and instead climbed down the ladder of her bunk and stood next to him.

"Ready for your appointment?" He asked.

"Always," she smiled. "After you." She said politely, allowing him to walk out of the room before her. Where would she do it? In the back? The chest? Maybe the neck, that could be fun. She had seen one of her father's men stabbed in the neck once. There had been a lot of blood.

"You're in a good mood." Pargrave said conversationally, "And Dalton said he saw you talking to Renate the other day. I'm glad you've sorted things out."

Oksana smiled serenely at him and nodded.

"It's better to be friends than enemies." She said knowingly, "My father always said that."

"That's… actually very true." Pargrave replied with a note of surprise. He looked to Oksana as they walked side by side now along the hallways towards the appointment room.

"He is a wise man." Oksana agreed, "And he is right, it is always better to be his friend. His enemies never last long." She added with a laugh as though she had told an innocent joke.

"Ah." Pargrave let out. "Yes, I see what he meant by that then." That was far more in line with what he knew of Oksana's family background. Oksana's father was more of a fighter than a lover from everything he had heard of the man.

"Still true though." Oksana shrugged.

"Well, I'm glad you sorted things out with Renate anyway." Pargrave replied, steering the conversation away from Oksana's father's words of wisdom.

"We came to a mutually beneficial agreement." Oksana explained with a smirk and a singular raised eyebrow.

Pargrave sighed. He knew what Oksana's end of that arrangement would have been and guiltily he hoped she didn't spell it out for him. If he didn't know about it, then he didn't have to deal with it. And there was no point dealing with it. Nothing stopped Oksana anyway. Her habit of seducing other inmates was at least a victimless crime.

"And what did you get out of it?" He asked wearily and half dreading the answer.

"Something good." Oksana smiled excitedly. "You'll see."