1

Three streets from their hotel, Piper stopped running. She took out her earphones and walked towards an outdoor café across the street. There was a woman sitting under one of the bright colourful umbrellas reading a newspaper. A woman Piper instantly recognised. Stella.

"I didn't know it was going to be you, Carlin. Where is Caputo?" Piper said sitting down in front of her.

"Good to see you too, Chapman." Stella folded the paper in her hand. "I must say the preppy look suits you."

"And you still look like a cop from a bad 90s movie." Piper replied smugly.

"Fine. Fine." Stella chuckled. "Caputo is busy. What's the update?"

"I met Kubra Balik." Piper said.

"And?"

"He has guards. Heavily armed ones. Some of them looked like ex-military."

"Anything specific?" Stella leaned in getting interested. She took out her laptop and logged into the system to process Piper's information.

"A man. Mid 30s. Bald. Mexican accent. A lizard tattoo beneath right ear. Moustache. He looked like someone important. He whispered something to Kubra while I was there. Check in military and criminal databases."

"38 matches with your description." She turned the laptop towards Piper. "Here, see if you recognise him."

Piper scrolled down till she found his picture next to a name.

"Found him. Gustavo Sanchez. Two years in the presidential guard. Fired due to insubordination. It's him." Piper said, ecstatic.

"Let's put a tail on him. If we can get him alive, uff, Kubra is in a lot of trouble." Stella said taking her laptop back. "What's up with you? Something you wanna tell me."

"Kubra...he, he killed some girls right in front of me. And I couldn't do shit. He said they were smuggled. So you can right down human trafficking as well." Piper scoffed.

"Not surprising for a guy like him. But that's not what's bothering you, is it?" Stella said.

"Alex's reaction to it. It was like she wasn't affected by it. I am afraid she's beyond saving. It scares me to think that she's one of them." Piper said with uncertainty. She wasn't sure on how to share this but she needed to share this.

"She's not... you are not supposed to save her." Stella sighed. "I've seen you in missions before. You... you are a brilliant agent because you get things done. No strings attached. She is a criminal. That's why she is so close to Kubra. You can't expect her to be compassionate."

It was a mistake, sharing that with Stella. Piper realised that her view on the world was still black and white despite being in the agency for so long. But Piper's beliefs were still strong. They refuse to see Alex as human because they don't know her she does. Don't love her like she does.

"Yeah. You are right." Piper said curtly. "I should go now. I'll send whatever else I can find. Have a good day, Carlin." Piper got up.

"Be careful. You can't afford falling for someone like Alex Vause."

Oh dear, I already have.

Piper smiled in reply.

2

Two weeks later

On an early Wednesday morning in Melbourne, Piper was splayed across Alex's lap. Her head in Alex's shoulder. Alex has a copy of Anna Karenina in one hand as she was reading out loud for Piper, stroking her hair.

"What happened to him in that moment is what always happens to those who are unexpectedly caught in some shameful deed. He had no time to adapt his face to the position..."

Slowly Piper zoned out of the smooth narration. She was soon occupied in an internal assessment of her current situation.

After the first meeting with Kubra, things between Piper and Alex mellowed down. Of course, they had a very rough and pleasurable night filled with a lot of makeup sex but after that Alex was back on her long working hours and Piper doing absolutely nothing. Things were back to normal. Except their weekly visits to Kubra's parties.

It was clear that Kubra had taken a deep interest in her whether it was because of her rich family background or her carelessness in front of him, she wasn't sure. But it surely worked in her favour. Kubra used almost no guard around them. They would joke and play until it was business time again. Alex would join them a bit later with some reluctance.

Alex clearly had a problem whenever Kubra was around Piper. Protective instinct? Maybe possessiveness. There was always an underlying rage in Alex's eyes whenever Piper laughed too fondly or he touched her little too long. Piper reassured her again and again that she loved her but she couldn't explain why she was like that around Kubra. Truth to be told, Piper loved it too because hangouts like those would usually end up in hot, desperate and rough sex. All the attention and affection would be shown on those nights.

And in the morning she would feel guilty again. For lying. For betraying Alex. She felt like she didn't deserve it. Like she wasn't worthy enough. She blamed herself for not finding a way out of this fucked up situation.

"Pipes?" Alex nudged her lightly. "Were you sleeping on me?" Alex was smiling adorably.

"No." Piper sat up. "I was not."

Alex laughed. "Did you hear what I said?" Piper shook her head. "Diane called yesterday. She was wondering if we could go visit her this weekend. So...what do you say?"

Piper loved visiting Diane. She was an amazing woman. She had so many happy memories with her.

"But..." Piper paused. "Kubra invited us to his party this weekend." She was hoping to get a chance to be near Kubra once again for one last trick.

In seconds, Alex went from joyous to melancholic. Thanks to Piper.

"Yeah. You're right. The party. Kubra's party. We have to be there." Alex adjusted her glasses absentmindedly.

"We can go next week. Maybe we could bring her some of those Belgium chocolates that she likes?" Piper said sounding optimistic.

"Yeah. She would love those." Alex said fondly.

Friday

They had a flight in four hours to Paris. But Piper managed to convince Alex that she needed to go run a few miles before leaving Melbourne. The flight was going to be long and exhausting so it wasn't that hard to convince.

Piper ran on the jogging trails of Albert lake park keeping an eye out for potential tails. Everything seemed just as usual. Soon enough, a man in a black cap and thick moustache was running alongside her.

"Could you please slow down a bit?" Joe Caputo said exasperatedly.

Piper chuckled and came to a halt behind a nearby tree. "Too old, Joe?" She chuckled.

"You're too fast, Chapman." Joe said panting. He took out a Manila envelope.

Piper laughed, taking the envelope and opening it. A small thumb drive and a small cube fell out on her palm.

"That's a special grade thumb drive. You put it in Kubra's computer, it copies every single file on his computer. Easy peasy."

"What about this? I don't remember them being so small." Piper held up the small black cube.

"Audio transmitter, 5th generation. It will record everything in 50 meter radius. Plant it somewhere close to Kubra, assuming you're going to that party thing this weekend." Joe said.

"Yeah. We are." Piper replied pocketing the devices. Caputo contemplated her for a few seconds. "What?" Piper asked.

"Let's take a walk, Chapman." Caputo said taking a few steps forward.

"What is this about?" Piper asked having no clue what's gonna happen.

"I spoke to Carlin." Caputo said. "She tells me that you're getting attached with the subject, Alex Vause. I am not going to say anything new. You are capable of understanding how dangerous that could be. This is a lonely job Chapman. And it's easy to get attached but that makes us blind."

"Is there a point of this conversation? You'll have a successful mission when I am done." Piper retorted defensively.

"I am worried about you." Caputo said. "This thing is gonna end with Kubra and everyone associated with him behind bars."

"I know that Joe. But I also know that Alex is not involved in any threat regarding our national security. She's a drug smuggler, yes, but I would never let her get accused of something she would never do."

"That is not up to you, Chapman." Joe scolded. "Your job is to get Kubra and everyone who is associated with him behind bars and trust in the system that it will do justice."

"Yeah, like it did with Fahri." Piper scoffed. "Can we go back to business please? How many people know about the bugs?"

Caputo sighed heavily and said, "It's just between you and me."

"That means you don't trust whether or not I'll be able to get it done?" Piper asked.

"Yes. And no. I trust your abilities but I don't trust the circumstances. I can't give false hope when this operation has more chances of failure than success, especially with deputy director watching our every move."

"Deputy director is in our team, now?" Piper asked, surprised.

"Natalie Figueroa, legal head got promoted to deputy director a week ago." Caputo explained. "She's heading the whole operation now. And she wants results and positive results. We can't give her any setback. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir." Piper nodded.

"Now, go be a good agent. Get this done." Caputo patted her back and took off in another direction.

On her run back, Piper smiled at how many people have already told her not to get close to Alex. It reminded her of her sophomore year girlfriend - Eliza.

She was her first girlfriend. Eliza was so good to her (God, she was such a goth). In a time when her parents and peers critiqued her about etiquette, Eliza was there to show what real care felt like. When Eliza kissed her for the first time, she freaked out. She enjoyed it, yes, but breaking rules was terrifying. And thrilling. The rush and passion of having secret love was overwhelming.

When her Polly Harper caught them making out in the bleachers. She clearly dismissed Piper saying that it was just a phase. That you don't get involved with someone like Eliza. Then it was her mother who caught them kissing in the backyard which was very unpleasantly followed by lectures on her status in society. How inappropriate it was for her to be associated with someone like that. Piper still has those memories of being shipped to boarding school thinking she did something absolutely horrible.

But this Piper knows better. It's selfish but she doesn't want Alex to be incriminated. She wants to be the one to save Alex. It's a redemption of her own for all the lies that she has told so far. And she will never let anyone else decide who she gets to love.

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