The man holding Alex on gunpoint was distracted, his eyes snapping back and forth. Alex tried to take advantage of the moment by taking the gun away from his hand. But he was holding it too tight. Alex failed and he grabbed her by her wrist and twisted her around. Her back to his front, a disgusting smell of alcohol and cologne, a hot muzzle pressed on the base of her neck, burning. She grunted in pain as he twisted her hand even more. She tried to reach for the gun on her back but it was thrown away by him. He must have felt it. His breathing was heavy. He hesitated. Alex figures she could stall what was going to happen next. She could live if she used the right words.

"You don't have to do this." She said as calmly as possible.

"Shut up. Shut up. Shut up." He was frantic as he looked around. He was waiting, Alex figured. He was waiting for Piper to make a move. He was scared for his life.

"You could let me go. And run out of here."

"You d-don't under…stand." He stuttered. "Please j-just shut up." He dragged them right out in the middle of the parking lot. "Come out of you little hidey hole, you bitch or I shoot her. Come out."

Seconds passed. Piper calculated the risk factors. The guy was nervous and scared. Maybe he was new to this. Maybe she could talk out of this. She waited and watched as he dragged Alex right out in the centre. If he has waited this long then he is willing to talk. She stood up on her feet and came out.

It was an odd kind of face off. The guy was literally shaking. But his grip on the gun was firm. He was holding Alex like she was his only chance at life.

"Alex, are you okay?" Piper asked, not paying much attention to the man. She still had her gun pointed at him. Only if she could get a safe opening.

Alex nodded. "Yes."

"Look, man," the guy mumbled. "I'm just the getaway driver. I-I don't want to do this. B-but you have to let me go."

"Then let her go." Piper said calmly.

"No! You will shoot me. L-look I told you, I want to live. I promise…I have a wife and a kid-"

Knees. His knees are exposed. Four inches away from Alex. Piper pulled the trigger. He screamed out in pain and his knee gave out and buckled under his weight. He let go of Alex. Too preoccupied by the pain that was killing him. Piper shot him again. In the chest. His blood splattered on Alex's face as she still standing close. His body dropped to the ground. Piper walked up to him and kicked the gun away from him. He was writhing in pain. Piper shot him again, standing over his body, right in his head.

Piper knelt down to search his pockets. Indeed there was a key in his pocket. She took it out and pressed the button. A black SUV in the corner signaled back.

Piper stood up and walked to Alex who was still a bit shaken by the whole ordeal. Piper wiped the drops of blood on the side of Alex's face with her thumb.

"Alex, we have to go. The police will be here any moment." Piper said. Alex nodded not looking at her. They rushed back to their SUV. Piper backed up and drifted away from the parking lot.

—

The car smelled like cigarettes and dead things. But Piper had no other options. What if they had already informed someone about them. What if they come following the car. If was good this away. She hadn't left any evidence of their presence anyway.

"You didn't have to kill him," Alex said.

"What?" Piper was surprised.

"You didn't have to kill him. You shot his knee and that was enough. You didn't need to kill him."

Piper scoffed. Seriously. This was bothering Alex. Like she didn't deal in heroine and worked for a drug cartel.

"Can we not do this right now?"

"It's always like that with you. Not dealing with things. And I get it. I get that we are really in a fucked up situation. But Piper," Alex was sad. Her voice heavy and pained. "It's moments like this that makes me think that I don't know you. That I never knew you. That I fell in love and still fucking love the person that never was there."

Piper's knuckles turned white on the steering wheel. She was barely controlling her tears.

"Al…" she gasped out.

"No, let me finish. I get it. The whole keeping your identity secret thing. Lying and betraying. And I am grateful for what you did for mom. But Piper, I am not okay. I am not okay with this. And I hope you wouldn't force me to be. Please, Piper."

Piper nodded. Blinking her eyes a few times to clear the haziness in her eyes.

"It's okay not to be okay, Al. And I am sorry if I ever made you feel that way." She sighed. "And I hope you understand why I killed him. He tried to hurt you. And Alex, I can't let him get away with that. It's a flaw on my part but … I just couldn't see you getting hurt. And I am sorry."

"It's okay," Alex said, eyes fixed on the road where a bunch of police cars were rushing in the opposite direction. Probably to the hospital. "We can't go back to your place." She said after a while.

"Yeah, I know."

"Where are we going then?"

"I don't know."

"So, you're just driving around?" Alex chuckled. "Unbelievable."

"What? I don't know where to go. I am still thinking. A hotel or something…"

"I am pretty sure no hotel will take me in." Alex said, amused. "Take the next left. I know someone who can help."

"Someone you trust?"

"Kind of. She has a very pliable moral compass."

"A moral compass pliable enough to harbour an alleged terrorist and a rogue CIA agent?"

"You'll see. Trust me, she's one of a kind."

Alex called her from Piper's burner phone from under the bridge in the middle of the night. Whoever Alex was calling, thankfully picked up. Piper was a bit away from Alex, searching the car for anything worth using. The night wind was cold, making her shiver. She cursed herself for not adding another layer.

Alex threw away the phone into the Hudson River after the call ended. Piper hesitated before going up to her. Alex was in deep thought, eyes staring blankly on the flow of water. Hair flowing freely and hands tucked deep in her pockets. Piper walked up and stood beside her in silence. Feeling the same sense of peace and wind soothes her face.

"She is okay with the whole thing. She is expecting me in an hour. In Queens."

"Okay." Piper said softly.

"I need to learn how to use a gun."

"Yeah. I can teach you."

"Okay." Alex replied and folded her hands. "We should probably go."

"Yeah. We should."

Piper relished in these moments when it felt like Alex was trying. When it felt like Alex was not giving up. It made Piper hope that there was still something left between them. Not something - love. Some hope that by the end of it they will be okay. And together.

—

2

The friend of Alex's came speeding into the alleyway at 4 in the morning with horns banging and Highway to hell blaring through the speakers of her Chevrolet Corvette 1962. And god, she was a sight to behold.

Alex and Piper had been waiting on the back alley of a beat up Russian restaurant. She lowered the volume of her speakers and jumped out of her car in pure enthusiasm, headlights still on. Piper rolled her eyes although she couldn't see who got out of the car thanks to the blinding headlights. This certainly was a bad idea. But Alex held her ground.

She was all glitter and sparkle and shiny teeth like this was the best day of her life. The golden jacket on her back hung loosely over a sinfully fitted black shirt. Her height was lifted at least five inches by some very pompously characterised boots.

"Well, well, well…" She announced in a dramatic fashion. "Isn't it the finest night in New York?"

Piper was stupefied by the voice. The unmistakable drawl and distinctive accent mixed with tantalising sexiness. Piper would have recognised her even in her sleep. She stepped forward, hand shading her eyes, along with Alex.

"Nicky!" They both said in unison. Alex certainly in a more happy voice compared to Piper's utter shock one. As they covered the short distance between them, lines got a little sharper and faces clearer. It was Nicky's turn to get stunned.

"Holy mother of god!" Nicky said in a way that her voice got louder with each word. Her eyes traveled back and forth between Alex and Piper. "Can above average consumption of alcohol cause hallucinations? Or am I really seeing Piper fucking Chapman?"

"Wait! You two know each other?" Alex was out of her depth here.

"You can see her too?" Nicky questioned. "Then I am not fucking hallucinating. C'mere blondie."

Just like that, Piper was shaken out of her shell shocked-ness. She was engulfed in a hug.

"I still don't get it." Alex mumbled, confused.

"Don't stand and brood over there, Stretch. Come join us." Nicky opened an arm wide enough for Alex to fit. Alex hesitantly gave in. It was awkward at first but then she eventually melted into it. Maybe it was the kind of touch she had craved.

"Great." Alex grunted. "Now, we are three idiots standing in a circle, hugging. That's gonna solve all of our problems."

"Why so pissy, Stretch." Nicky let go of them. "When was the last time you got laid?"

Instinctively, Alex and Piper turned to each other with mutual longing.

"Holy shit!" Nicky shouted. "You two are eye-fucking!"

"No, we are not-"

"Shut up, Nick-"

"I know dyke-drama when I see it. And you two long legged lesbians certainly make a pair."

"Nick." Piper interrupted. "Seriously, not now. We are not…not together."

"Yeah." Alex said, amused. "But how the fuck do you two know each other?"

"What can I say, eh? It's a small world." Nicky winked at Alex. Piper let out a disgusted sigh. "I assume you contacted me due to your dire need of a shelter. Now that you're famous and all."

"Nicky," Alex warned.

"Nick, can you help?" Piper asked softly.

"I wouldn't have brought you here if I couldn't help you. I was amazed at how Vause managed to fend off the cops for so long. And now I know some of it, I would love to know the rest, eh. Come follow me." Nicky took out the key from her car and gestured towards a red door. "After you, my ladies."

Alex rolled her eyes at her friend's antics. The room they entered was a stockroom of the restaurant. Nicky took them through a strait case at the back of some boxes. The stairway eventually led to an open space flat.

"Mi casa es su casa." Nicky bowed in dramatic way. "Bathroom's on the right. Bed in there. Although, I don't think it's safe… on the bed and the couch. We did some nasty things-"

"Nicky, why don't you just flag all the unsafe places-"

"Then there will be no surface left. What? I like to be thorough in all my deeds. So, there's like make-love-to-me-on-the-window-sill and then there's let's-fuck-hard-and-break-the-bed."

"Ew, Nick…" Piper tapped her head lightly.

"Beggars can't be choosers, I guess." Alex sat on the sofa and closed her eyes tiredly.

Nicky had retracted back to the door which they had come from.

"Where are you going?" Piper questioned.

"I didn't tell Ma about you guys. She will be here in ten minutes. Make yourself at home. I'll just have to talk to her, yeah." Nicky grinned and got out of the place closing the door behind her. Piper smiled in amusement.

"So…" she started, "how do you know Nicky Nichols?"

Alex opened her eyes and contemplated a few moments before answering.

"Met her at a rehab."

"Rehab?" Piper was shocked. "You were in a rehab?"

"To sell drugs. Early days. I guess it was a test. I had to sell drugs to recovering addicts at this fancy rehab. You have no idea how much those rich-ass people were willing to pay." Alex scoffed. "Then I met Nicky. And she was just… I couldn't do it anymore. She was a friend and I couldn't sell to her. But I was in too deep to quit. So, I asked Fahri and he got me into this importing gig. But how do you know her?"

"Boarding school. She was there because she was a troublemaker and I was there because I kissed a girl. My mother was stupid enough to send me to an all girl boarding school that also a school and luckily I met Nicky. She helped me through…some stuff."

Piper was momentarily distracted by a tape recorder on the corner table. It seemed familiar. Piper lifted it to find the initials P.E.C carved on the back of the recorder. Oh. It was the recorder they had used in boarding a school to send their mothers very inappropriate audio clips in mail. Nicky to Carol and Piper to Nicky's mother. Piper smiled at the memories and pocketed the audio recorder to tease Nicky later about it.

A loud noise came from downstairs. Piper glanced at Alex who reflected the same confusion. Piper stepped back, closer to Alex.

"MA! Relax! They are harmless-" Nicky yelled.

"Harmless?" A thick Russian accent growled. "A terrorist is harmless!"

"Alleged! I have known her-"

"I do not care how long you have known her. She is enemy of the state. She is enemy of mine."

Her voice was seething with rage as she climbed the stairs one step at a time. Thump. Thump. Thump. Like a predator going on a hunt. Piper was ready with her gun. Alex behind her.

The door opened with such force that Piper thought it might come off of its hinges. A force so powerful that Piper jumped at her spot. By the time she regained her composure, she was staring down the muzzle of a shotgun pointed right between her eyes. Her own gun aimed for the other women's heart. Blood was rushing to both their faces. Breathes heavy and laboured. Eyes too stubborn to look away.

"Put your gun down, blondie. I am here to deal with your partner. I hold no fight against you. Give her up."

"Over my dead body."

—

Thank you so much for the comments, favourites and follows. Hope you enjoyed this chapter.

The next updates might be a little late. My exams are here so… see you next week with the new chapter. Have a nice day!