STAY WITH ME

Thump, thump, thump…

Was it her heartbeat? Was she hearing her heartbeat? No, it's Piper running towards her. Something happened. She heard a bang, like a gunshot. But then… where did the bullet went?

Oh, right.

She remembers now. The madness in Figueroa's eyes. The bullet leaving the revolver and the casing clanking on the floor. The slow pour of something hot from her right shoulder. Blood. Her blood. The air got thicker. Standing straight was hard. Like someone knocked the wind out of her. And then sharp unbearable pain in her shoulder. Oh, that is where the bullet went.

This was how getting shot at felt like. It definitely is overrated.

But she fell down after a while. That is when she saw a blurry figure (she assumed Piper) running towards her. She is not dying, is she? It's just her shoulder, right. Jason took a lousy shot. Why is the warehouse filled with so much light?

But, no. Something else is happening. Her vision is all fucked up. But the shock is washing away and she could she see Piper supporting her back up to a sitting position on her lap. Piper pushing a firm hand on her shoulder, pressing hard. And god it hurts. It fucking hurts. Her jaw is shut, teeth grinding and fists clenched so tightly around Piper's biceps that they will definitely leave bruises. Why are there so many flashing lights?

She blinked. Piper has tears streaming down her eyes. Piper is visibly shaking. Piper is holding her like she's saying goodbye.

I'm okay, kid. Alex wants to say. But she can't quite say it. All she could hear was her own blood pumping in her ears. Everything is going to be okay, Pipes.

But, Jason. Where's Jason? Oh, wait. Jason didn't took a lousy shot. His hands were shaking. He was shocked. He was shocked because the empire he built was crashing down around him. He was so furious that he missed. He was furious because suddenly the emptiness in the warehouse was filled with sirens.

And light. At least a dozen police cars had came to a screeching halt outside the warehouse the moment he said he was done with the bullshit. Alex mentally laughed. The police was there. And it had shook Jason to his core. Alex looked at Piper.

Piper had something else in her eyes. Alex had missed it the first time. Now she recognised it as relief.

"It's over, Al. It's over. We are going to be okay." She heard Piper's soft voice over the rapid pumping of her heart. Everything was more clearer now. Making more sense. Her initial shock was going away.

"Pipes?" She murmured.

"Yes. Yes." Piper replied tucking a piece of her hair behind her ears. "I'm here. I'm here."

"This is the federal police. All occupants of this building are ordered to surrender-"

"This is Joe Caputo. I advice you to come outside on your own. Don't make us go in."

Jason Figueroa had his gun still trained on them. But soon, Piper and Alex watched him withdrawing the revolver back to himself. More precisely, pointing at himself.

He smiled looking straight in her eyes and said,

"You ruined me."

He placed the gun between the centre of his eyes and pulled the trigger.

Nothing happened.

Alex blinked. Piper gasped. And Jason looked surprised. But then grief clouded his eyes as he realised that the revolver was in fact empty. He had wasted his six bullets on his enemies. He had no bullets for himself.

He fell to the floor on his knees. He laughed. He laughed holding his stomach. What a circus. Now, all he thinks is if he could just go back to the last few minutes - he wouldn't shoot Alex. He would save the last bullet for himself. His mirthless cackle echoed through the warehouse.

"This is your last warning. Empty the warehouse. Come outside with hands over your head. Don't make us come in."

He went down on his four. At first Piper thought it was one of his antics. Then he started crawling towards the nearest gun. Literally crawling.

Piper would've let it slip had it been someone else. But it wasn't. She couldn't just let him take the easy way out. For all that he had done to the world, to innocent people, to her, to Alex. All the pain and suffering.

She laid Alex carefully down on the floor and got up. She picked up the gun before he could. He turned his head looking up at her. His eyes begging for mercy. But his mouth still forming a sinister smile.

She wanted him to feel the pain, suffering and consequences of his actions for the rest of his life. But she needed him to tell the world that Alex was innocent. That he was the fucked up person to blow up an entire hospital.

She pointed the gun on his shoulder blades and fired two bullets left and right, causing him to fall on his face. He withered in pain. Blood soaking into his shirt and eyes getting hazy.

Piper smirked. Call it a character flaw or crooked moral compass or sociopathic, Piper felt good doing that. The police will be here soon enough to revive him. And he will live to suffer. She felt relieved after that. Like she fulfilled her duties. But she had not. Not yet.

She went back to Alex and pulled her up with her good side. Alex leaned on her and stood up grunting in pain.

"We have to get out of here, Al." Piper said taking small steps.

"Yeah." Alex said lowly. "It's just it hurts so fucking much."

"Not for long. Just keep the pressure on it." Piper replied. "We will be out of here soon."

Piper led her through the backdoor into open air. Alex felt slight relief. And dizzy due to the blood loss.

"Careful now." Piper held her hand getting into the boat.

—

Joe Caputo had never seen anything like this in his whole career nor had he imagined. When his phone rang three hours ago letting him know that he had to take his agent Poussey Washington to talk to a suspect with promising information about Alex Vause, he thought it was some kind of an elaborate prank. Turns out, it wasn't.

Caputo already felt betrayed by Piper. He was at a loss, trying to make sense of the situation. And then he let Chapman go away in front of his eyes. On the other hand, Natalie wasn't able to get ahold of Jason. There was not much evidence to go after him either. The pressure was building up on them to catch Piper and Alex.

And then came Nicky Nichols demanding to speak to Poussey Washington and cinnamon rolls. It took them awhile to get things in order to sit down with her and some more time to find a working cassette player. But Joe was sure that it was legit. That this was what Piper was going to give him.

Nicky gave them a whole lot more than that. From Larry Bloom to Aydin to Kubra, she had an insight in everything. She was as forthcoming as she could be, probably because she wanted to impress Poussey. But she insisted that they take action as soon as possible.

"This is a very big deal, Ms. Nichols. We can't just go after him. We have to prepare a team, make a plan of action-" Joe tried to explain.

"Yeah do whatever you have to do. I don't care. But they are in danger right now. He has Alex and Piper went after him like the idiot she is. If anything fucking happens to them, I will not hesitate to tell the world what a lousy job you have done."

Nicky looked scary even in her hospital gown. Probably something she learned from the Russian woman outside, he thought.

"Alright. I'll call in the A-team. But do you know where they are?"

"How the hell would I know? It's your job. Hack into his phone or shit. I thought you were the CIA."

"It's not that easy to hack into a US secretary's phone. There are a lot of hoops-"

"Locate him." Natalie who had been sitting silently the whole time spoke up with raging disgust at her husband. "Locate him. You have my orders. He is a terrorist. He will be treated like one. We will use whatever combat teams we can arrange. In the meantime, I want you to let the higher ups know that I am resigning."

"Nat-"

"They will put me away anyway, Joe. He is my husband after all. I should have seen this coming. But I didn't. I would like to go away on my terms. I trust you handle the rest of this mission and get your agent out of this alive."

Joe nodded solemnly.

Joe Caputo had never seen anything like this in his whole career nor had he imagined. They were cornering a U.S. Secretary (soon to be Vice President) for suspected assassination a U.S. Vice- resident.

He looked at his men and sighed. They were either outnumbered or too late. The warehouse was too quiet from the outside. He had personally warned the occupants in hopes of a peaceful surrender. He knew that it was futile. Given the inactivity inside and outside of the place, they were late, he was late.

"Sir, we have four NYPD cars stationed and armed, two of our own. I got agents scouting the perimeter. So far nothing."

"We need more people. Where's the back up? The FBI? Homeland? Our surveillance?"

"Three minutes hardly for the drones. The choppers will be in the sky in five, the backup is seven minutes ETA. What are the orders?" One of his agents asked.

That was the best he could do in ten minutes. He gave them orders to engage.

"Alright, get your team, we are going in."

The warehouse looked like someone butchered his or her way through it. A sea of dead bodies.

"Holy shit!" One of his agents murmured.

"HANDS WHERE I CAN SEE THEM!" Two agents rounded up on a moving figure laying at the centre of the floor. He was in what seemed like an expensive suit. Caputo moved forward, getting interested.

He was shocked by what he saw. Jason Figueroa bathed in blood oozing out of both of his shoulders. Someone (Caputo assumed his agent) had left him there mercilessly to die. He looked away quickly as his agents called in the medic showering their own curses of surprise.

"Sir!" One shouted excitedly. "We have Kubra Balik over here! Dead!"

He walked over and indeed he was dead, a bullet hole between his eyes. His head spinned thinking what possibly went down here. He was holding his breath hoping that Chapman wasn't in one of these piles of bodies.

His agents were quick in identifying the possible victims as they concluded Chapman and Vause weren't here.

"Caputo, come in." His radio chirped up.

"This is Caputo."

"Sir, this is Eagle One, we have visuals on what appears to be a speed boat crossing the River, 10 degrees North."

"What do you suggest?"

"I suggest the suspects might be in it, we should interfere."

He pondered over the information. Did he really want to interfere? No, he did not.

"Eagle One, this is Caputo, I just got confirmation from my associate that it is civilian boat. We don't need to hassle civilians now, do we? We already have a PR nightmare as it is." He lied.

"We certainly do not, Sir."

"Signing off Eagle One, we have everyone accounted for, here in the warehouse."

"Signing off."

Joe felt a sense of pride booming in his chest. He had done the right thing. He gave them what they deserved.

—

They were escaping. Leaving all this behind. Piper fiddled with the motor and started it. She steered it away from the shallow waters towards more depth.

"Again, why do we need to leave?" Alex said settling into her seat. "When they arrest him, wouldn't it prove that we were right all along? Why are we still running?"

Piper turned towards her and huffed. She picked up an orange life jacket, a duct tape and some straps, turning the boat's steering in automatic towards the general direction of Manhattan. She sat in front of her.

"I can't take the risk to trust them. Our government works in shady ways, they will do anything to sweep it away. Lift your arm a bit." Piper gestured towards her injured shoulder. "How's the pain?" She asked removing the rag Alex had been pressing there, inspecting the wound.

"Worse. I could use a Tylenol." Alex hissed, clearly one more than she was letting on.

"That's because of the adrenaline washing away. Everything will be catching up fast now. I can feel it too. God, I could use a bed." She tied up the straps creating a makeshift brace for her shoulder.

"Me too." Alex sighed, leaning back on the seat. "I can't wait for this to be over."

"But there's still a lot to do. We have the upper hand now. We can negotiate a deal for the fucking mess. Come here."

"What kind of deal are we talking about?".

"Well, we have evidence that you weren't involved in the terrorist activities or the bombings. But as far the um-" Piper hesitated. "The drug crimes go, I don't think they will let it slip."

"Oh." Alex seemed like she hadn't considered that.

"But," Piper said quickly. "We have the advantage here. They pretty much dragged your name through the mud. They will probably want to negotiate a deal so that you don't go to the press with all the actual facts once the news gets out. It'll be a PR shitstorm for the Federal Government. We just have to wait it out and let them come to us."

Alex nodded chalking it up to think about it later. Piper held up the life jacket.

"I know how to swim, you know." Alex smirked.

"Yeah, but not with an injured shoulder, smartass." Piper replied cheekily. "Now, come on."

"Ow, ow, ouch." Alex struggled to get her hand through the jacket. Piper giggled. "You're seriously laughing at me? This is a life threatening injury right here."

"It's not."

"And how do you know that, Dr. Chapman?"

"You'd be unconscious by now due to the blood loss if it had hit any major arteries-"

Alex instantly squeezed her eyes shut and hobbered into the seat, pretending to be unconscious. "Does it look serious now, Dr. Chapman?"

Piper tried to keep a straight face. "Dr. Chapman is my dad. You can ask him when we see him. You're cute, though."

"Shut up, please." Alex looked furious but she didn't hide the smile. Alex asked as Piper finished buckling up her life jacket.

"Wait." Alex sat up straight. "You said when not if. Are we going to your dad, Pipes?"

"Yes." Piper said anticipating her reaction.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Alex said incredulously.

"Because I decided it like two minutes ago when you said Dr. Chapman."

"But why, Pipes? I -"

"Because you still have a bullet in your shoulder and we both need some patch up. And it's not like we could just walk into a hospital. We will just go to my parent's place. You have nothing to worry about, he's cool."

"Wow, I never thought I would meet your parents. This is a nightmare come true."

"Um- you already met him back in the hospital?"

"Yeah. But that was different. We were not- we were not like, you know, it wasn't like-" Alex struggled to describe whatever it was between them back then. But Piper was having a mental dance thinking that something changed. Alex thinks something changed.

"Why? What changed?" Piper asked outright, unable to contain her thoughts.

"Well," Alex smiled at the evident eagerness in Piper. "I am not that mad at you. Maybe a little bit. But not that much."

Piper grinned goofily. "So, we can be friends again?"

Alex laughed. "Christ, we were never really friends, Pipes."

Piper agreed. They were never really friends. Alex had always been clear in what she wanted. They always had this strong connection. If Piper was being honest, it was more of an emotional thing than sexual. The attraction was undeniable. The way Alex made her feel wanted and loved and cared for. Piper craved that, missed that.

Piper looked down and fiddled with her hands as they sat in silence. Alex put her hands on hers making her stop. Piper looked up. Alex was looking at her apprehensively. She blinked. Alex adjusted her glasses. They were so close. And Piper's lips seemed so soft, if she could just kiss her.

"Alex," Piper said. "I work for the Central Intelligence Agency. And I am sorry that I had to lie to you. I am sorry I left you back in Paris. And I am sorry that I have been a shitty human so far. There's no excuse." Piper sniffed. "I was selfish. I thought I could just be your Piper then we can still have our relationship. I- I was scared that I'll lose you."

"Hey-" Alex pulled her closer, hugging her with one hand. "I get it. I get why you did what you did. And I- I forgive you. I wish I could stay mad but it's a lot of work. And I am exhausted. Besides it's hard to stay mad at your cute face, babe."

Piper pulled back smiling. Nose red and eyes wet.

"See, you have snot coming out of your nose-"

"No! I have not!" Piper wiped her nose with the back of her hand. "You liar!"

"Could say the same about you." Alex chuckled.

"You'll never let me live it down, will you?"

"Nope."

They sat next to each other watching the sun come up. Fingers intertwined and a content feeling in their hearts. The water rocked them gently, wind caressing their face. Suddenly Piper turned to Alex,

"Alex, will you be my girlfriend?" Piper asked chewing her bottom lip.

Alex grinned without missing a beat and said, "Yes, you idiot."

Piper smiled wide. Alex leaned in to kiss her. Hands on her neck and noses touching. It was soft and slow like the colour spreading in the sky at the brink of dawn. And tender like the waves moving them. The rhythm was there as always. They both closed every bit of gap between them. Piper could feel Alex smiling into the kiss. She did too.

They pulled back to catch their breath and giggled like stupid teenagers.

"I heart you."

"I heart you too, kid."

—

A/N :

I don't know exactly how many chapters I will write. But I will let you know when its the last one.

Thank you so much for the kind reviews. I kind of left you guys on the cliff there, hence as an apology here's 3k words chapter, the longest one yet. Hope you enjoyed it:)