Kubra's flight was going to land three hours after Piper's. She had went straight to her brownstone after getting out of JFK international. Her old house. A Brooklyn brownstone gifted by her grandmother. She hadn't lived there much. It was where she always came back to after finishing missions.

She took a quick shower and got into her work clothes. The standard cop ones. A white shirt (with bulletproof vest underneath) tucked neatly into dark grey trousers along with a grey herringbone blazer. She tied her hair in a clean ponytail and packed a bag with surveillance gear. Mostly, binoculars, signal blockers, camera loopers that kind of stuff.

She placed the bag in the front seat of her Mythos black Audi A3 and drove towards the airport once again. She would have to follow Kubra from the moment he lands here.

She parked her car in the parking lot overlooking the arrivals gate and settled in with a cheese burger she had gotten while getting here. Kubra was expected to be here in less than an hour. She made a mental note to call Alex once again whenever she gets time.

She ate the burger in total bliss with some melancholic song playing on the radio in the background. The cheese burger tasted like heaven. She wondered how she survived this long without one. If Alex were here, she would have devoured it too.

Her eyes stayed glued to the arrivals. And as expected, Kubra showed up right on time. Strangely, Piper noticed, he wore a fedora hat and black sunglasses and had two never seen before bodyguards at his sides. Thinking that it probably was a disguise of some kind, she waited till his Limo was at least half a mile away.

She slowly but steadily drove behind him through NY traffic. His limo was headed to Upper East Manhattan. It was hard to follow from such a distance but she couldn't risk getting caught. It was better to play safe.

Her phone vibrated on the dashboard of her car. She was losing the limo as the streets started getting more clustered and limo seemed to be moving a bit recklessly. She ignored the first call and the next. She was too focused on the back of the limo but it disappeared when she rounded a corner.

"Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit." Piper muttered under her breath as she pulled over on the side of the road and got out to look in the distance. His car was nowhere in sight. She lost him. Fuck.

Her phone vibrated again and she picked up this time.

"Yes?" She nearly yelled out in frustration.

"Agent Chapman, are you in fucking New York right now?" It was Caputo. His voice was seething with anger.

"Yes-"

"For the love of God! What the fuck are you doing in New York? Did it ever fucking occurred to you to inform the agency of your whereabouts?"

"It had to be a quick decision. I didn't have the time-"

"Oh! For fuck's sake! Your plane landed like five hours ago. What the fuck have you been doing, Chapman?"

"I was busy-"

"You know what? I don't fucking care. I need you get your ass back to the office. Right. Now."

"Caputo, I can't."

"Was I unclear? Get your ass here as soon as possible or I will drag you here and fire you for insubordination. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir. I do." Piper replied through gritted teeth and hung up. Such an asshole.

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The field office in New York was bustling with activity when Piper stepped in. She met the staff waiting for her at the entrance. He led her through the chaos to the elevators where she was instructed to go to that floor.

She followed the instruction and went to the conference office where they had had their first briefing about the mission which literally changed her life. She looked through the glass to see Caputo talking animatedly to Agent Benett. She entered the room thinking that he might forget about her if she became stealthy enough. But no.

As soon as she walked in Larry piped up like a childhood friend.

"Piper! You're back."

Caputo turned to her so fast that Piper didn't even had the time to blink. His face, an angry shade of red.

"Finally, Agent Chapman has graced us with her presence? Now, please explain why the fuck are you here? Who the hell gave you the orders to abandon your mission?" Caputo hissed with his arms folded in front of him. All eyes in the room trained on her.

"With all due respect, sir, I didn't abandon the mission." Piper retorted solemnly. "I am here because Alex Vause told me to fuck off."

Caputo chewed back whatever he was going to say next. Natalie Figueroa stood up with sudden curiosity.

"She dumped you?"

"Yes, mam. She believes I have been having affairs with Agent Carlin." Piper nodded towards Stella.

Stella Carlin dropped the tab that she was holding. Surprised by hearing her name, she sputtered out,

"Me?"

"Agent Carlin?" Joe repeated.

"Yes, Kubra Balik had pictures of us having a nice little chat in an outside cafe in London. He was doing a background check. Apparently, Carlin was bragging about having fucked me."

"No, it wasn't about you. I was no-" Stella tried to explain but Caputo stopped her.

"Even if that's the reason why didn't you inform me?" He demanded.

"I had another lead I was following."

"What lead?" Figueroa inquired.

"A possibility of an attack in New York." She had to give them something.

Caputo and the team uttered curses under their breath and took a moment to regain their composure. They all seemed equally shocked. Piper glanced at every face but couldn't figure out which one was faking it.

Fig was the first one to break the air of uncertainty. She started very calmly,

"We have to inform Homeland and the FBI. Monitor the airports, railway stations. The VP is in the city as well." She turned to Piper. "I need you to take a break. Then come back here to tell us everything that you know. Is that clear?"

"Yes, ma'm."

Piper exited to go to the ladies' room with Poussey on her heels. She nodded sideways in acknowledgment and entered the washroom, locking it as soon as Poussey was inside.

"I couldn't find them." Poussey declared gloomly. "I am not even sure they exist, in our team. I can't say the same about Figueroa. I don't have access to her."

Piper nodded in the mirror upfront.

"I have no idea what to do, anymore." Piper's eyes dropped to the floor. "I was following Kubra. But I lost him, somewhere near Manhattan. And Alex-" She chuckled. "She still thinks I cheated on her with Kubra. I am sorry, I just needed to say it out loud." Piper stopped when she saw Poussey getting a bit distracted on her phone.

"Yeah. No big deal. But I gotta go, they need me back in the pit. Something happened. They need me." Poussey went out with an apologetic smile. Piper washed her face and took a few more minutes to get out.

The commotion on the outside startled Piper. Agents were scurrying around the floor with phones in hand. She walked quickly to their designated conference room.

Everyone's eyes in that conference room was glued to the television screen broadcasting a building on fire in Brooklyn. The attack that she was here to warn about had happened already. She looked at her wrist watch. Alex's flight must have landed two or three hours ago.

Figueroa quickly scampered outside with the phone stuck to her ear. Probably the higher ups are asking for intervention. Caputo too seemed to get back his gears too as started barking orders immediately.

"Alright people, a bomb has been detonated on American soil, let alone in a children's hospital. We do not let the people responsible for this get away. We catch them. And we avenge those who have fallen." Caputo growled. "Carlin, Benett, I need you on the ground with FBI and DHS. We need to know what they know and more than what they know. Washington and Bloom, shake down every fucking surveillance equipment in that area. I want all eyes and ears on the ground." He finished and turned to Piper.

"Chapman, what do I need to know?"

"It's Kubra Balik. He is in New York. I was following him and then I lost him."

"How did you know about the attacks?"

"Stock market fluctuations. And an overheard conversation."

"So, you are saying Kubra Balik is involved in this?"

"Yes. He's the mastermind behind this. He landed in NY two hours after me." Piper glanced at Larry behind Caputo and said, "Run a search through all the arrivals and you'll find him." Larry nodded and started typing.

"What about Alex Vause?"

"She doesn't know about any of the terrorist operations. I heard Kubra say it. They might try to set her-"

"No Kubra Balik landed in New York in the last 24 hours." Larry spoke up.

"What?!" Piper exclaimed. "That's not possible. I saw him."

"Check again." Caputo added.

Larry shrugged. "Nope. He's not here. At least according to the data we have. But-" he stood up with his computer and placed it in front of Caputo. "I found someone else."

"Who?" Piper and Caputo said in unison.

"Alex Vause." Larry grinned with all his teeth. Piper wanted to knock them all out. Just what she needed.

Caputo glared at the computer screen which showed complete details of Alex's ticket and her moving around in the airport and getting into a taxi. He gripped the edges of the table.

"She got out of the airport. Took a taxi. Guess where she was going?" Larry prompted. "Brooklyn. Few miles from the blast site.

"Washington, what the footage around the blast site say?" Caputo demanded.

"On it boss."

"Chapman, what is this?" Caputo asked Piper again.

Piper could tell them about Diane being sick but at the same time, she couldn't. Alex always shielded Diane from the cartel business. They didn't know about her, she didn't know about them. Even Kubra with all his thorough searches assumed Alex was an orphan. It was her way of protecting Diane from the dangers of her job. Piper assumed the same role after getting to know Diane. She didn't lie. But she never told the agency anything about her either. She never even mentioned her name.

Caputo took Piper's silence as an affirmation to the accusations being put on Alex.

"Washington?"

"We've got video footage that places Vause in Brooklyn. She got out of her cab and walked a few minutes with a bag in hand to this hotel and checked in. She gets out half an hour later and walks towards the blast site."

"Bloom, what is the bomb report saying?" He inquired.

"It's too early to say anything surely but Homeland says the bomb was placed their beforehand and then demoted remotely from a safer distance within range. They are not sure about the range yet, sir."

"So we've-"

Fig barged into the room, stopping Caputo from whatever he was going to say.

"I have the director on the line right now and guess what, we are the only unit who had any information about the attack. I have to go to the Capitol and brief the President in three hours with the director. I need a name and a location and a plan of attack. Now." Fig demanded.

Before Piper could say anything, Larry spoke up again with a smug look on his face.

"The name is Alex Vause. And we will have the location when she comes out of whatever hole she's hiding in."

"Alex Vause? How much evidence do we have against her?"

"Enough to put her name on the report. She was around the area when the blast occurred." Caputo replied.

"Strangely, the surveillance footage after the attack is not recorded. This could've been done by an insider to remove any evidence. But we have got the recordings before the attack showing Alex Vause walking towards the location." Poussey said.

Fig nodded taking in all the information.

Piper's phone vibrated in her pocket.

"Good work team-" Fig started but soon got cut off by an enthusiastic Larry standing up with his tab.

"Wait a sec. I think we have a location on her. She's using her cellphone. Just five seconds."

Everyone stared at his tab screen as the milliseconds decreased. But Piper took the phone out of her pocket and it was indeed Alex's voicemail. Fuck.

"Yes!" Caputo held his fist in the air. "We've got her. In the fucking library."

"Good job, Bloom." Fig praised. "I am going to inform the director. Caputo, prepare a response team. Get FBI and Homeland on the line. Tell NYPD to roadblock the area. But don't share too much. This is the agency's win. We take control after we arrest Vause. Let's prepare a response team. Chapman, I want a full profile on Vause."

"What about Kubra Balik?" Piper asked.

"We will worry about Kubra Balik after we get Vause. Only she can connect him to the bombing. Otherwise, his name has no business getting involved."

"Yeah. If only you could keep her alive." Piper muttered under her breath.

"Excuse me?" Fig raises an eyebrow.

"Nothing, mam." Piper answered. "I'll do what needs to be done."

"Good." Fig said. "Caputo, you're with me. We have to inform the Capitol before we go all in."

They exited together, leaving Piper, Larry and Poussey in the room. Piper dashed to Larry as soon as they went out of earshot.

"Hey, Larry." She said sweetly. "What's the exact location of Vause?"

Larry, too astonished that Piper is talking to him, blurred out the exact address on 6th avenue while Piper and Poussey were in a staring match. Poussey figures out what Piper was thinking and tried to stop her. But it was useless. Piper was too determined to care about what anyone else said.

"Thank you." Piper said and darted for the door. Larry couldn't comprehend what just happened. But Poussey stood up.

"Chapman. Are you-"

"The less you know the better, Washington."

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I apologise for the late update. I had to change a couple of things which took some time. Good news is that there will be another chapter. So, next chapter will be the end of Part 1.

Thank you for all the reviews and likes so far. You guys have no idea how much you inspire me to write this story. This exists because of you guys.

And lastly, I have a question.

How do I reply to comments? I skimmed through the website but couldn't find an option. I always read all the comments but couldn't find a way to respond or to answer questions. So, let me know if you guys know how to.

Happy reading :)