Present

They brought her to the hospital in a simple black minivan. Of course, there was nothing simple about it. She had two agents watching her every move. She couldn't itch herself if she wanted. She laid her head back on the cold metal of the minivan and took a shuddering breath.

The whole arrangement seemed like overkill to Alex. She wasn't going to run away now, was she? With her hands cuffed and legs tied she could barely walk. Piper would lose her mind if she saw her. The orange jumpsuit with a white undershirt. God, it was awful.

The vehicle stopped with a jerk breaking her thoughts. The two agents got out when the door was opened from the outside. She waited for them to give her permission to get out. When they did, she took slow steps towards the sunlight, squinting her eyes. She was not used to the shackles. The weight of the shackles and chains dragged her down with each step. They rubbed against her skin. The heat of the day made things worse.

Turned out, they had emptied an entire section of the hospital for her. With guards stationed at every corner, she wondered where they kept her mom. Was it worth it to tell them about her?

When the agent walking in front of her opened an unmarked door, she figured it wasn't worth it. The agent politely closed the door giving her some time alone.

Her mother's room reeked of sanitizers and medicines. A horrible combination making Alex feel nauseous. Diane was laying down on her bed in the middle of the room. A white sheet covering her body. A pipe through her mouth. The machines that gave her life beeped in an ugly symphony. The fluorescent lights made her features harsh. She didn't look peaceful. She looked like she was in pain. Alex wanted to throw up and run away. But she didn't do any of that.

This was Diane after all. Loving, caring, beautiful Diane. Her mother. She sat down on the edge of the bed with an awkward clanking of metals that bind her. She selfishly wished that Diane won't wake up right now. She couldn't face the prospect of her mother seeing her like this. Then she scolded herself for thinking that even though the realist in her knew that Diane probably wouldn't wake up ever.

She let out a dry sob at that thought. Was she supposed to talk to her? She was here on borrowed time. Could Diane hear her at all? She couldn't, Alex knew that for a fact. Yet she put her hand gently on Diane's feet and said,

"Hey, mom. It's Alex. I-I'm going away for a long time. You'd probably think that it's one of my business trips but it's not. It's not a trip. I'm going to this horrible place and I don't know how the fuck I'll survive.

And the worst part is not going there or living there. It's leaving Piper. I won't be able to see her as often if at all. And it's hard. It's so fucking hard. I remember her face, mom and I can't live with the fact that I made her cry. That I left her."

Alex wiped her eyes. It felt strange talking to her mom like this. Like she was talking to a tombstone. Alex dismissed the thought immediately.

"I know you would say something like - Al, it would be okay. Al, everything will be fine. I say those things too. Over and over and over again. And every time I say them, I feel they get more meaningless.

Piper wants me to be good and strong and all that. And I don't- don't know how. I had to stay strong for her but- I-I feel like I'm drowning."

Alex sniffed and scratched her wrist that had turned an ugly shade of red thanks to the cuffs.

"I tried my best and it still wasn't good enough. I guess this is what I deserve. Better than what I deserve. I-it's just sometimes it feels so exhausting-"

A faint knock came from the door before it opened to reveal the agents standing outside.

"Vause, it's time to go." One of the said in a booming voice, holding the door open.

She nodded and got up quickly to leave a kiss on Diane's cheek.

"Please come back," she said. "I miss you and I love you."

She glanced back one last time and imagined her mother reciprocating in a tender voice,

"I love you too, Al."

She followed the agents back to the car waiting to arrive at Litchfield.

—

Four Hours Ago

Piper suggested that they take the table right beside the glass overlooking the street. Alex found it very specific. Piper didn't have any time to explain as a familiar slender figure entered the cafe with a dominating presence. Piper felt her spine straighten unconsciously. She figured Alex must have felt it too, although she had never seen the woman, she stood up as well.

Piper cleared her throat and informed Alex that this was the negotiator. Alex apprehend the sunglasses wearing woman who walked down the aisle with an intimidating vibe and looked around a bit to see if anyone was paying any attention. They weren't.

Piper took a step forward to partially cover Alex protectively as she extended her hand offering a handshake. The woman smirked before taking her hand.

"Mrs. Figueroa," Piper said shaking her hand firmly. She looked at Alex's frown as Alex finally connected the dots - This is Jason Figueroa's wife.

"Agent Chapman," Natalie said with the ever present smirk on her face. "Alex Vause," she extended the hand towards Alex after her.

Alex gave a tight-lipped smile. Piper couldn't help but look sideways into Figueroa's sleeves. It wasn't uncommon for the agency to use poisons to terminate potential targets. She had done it herself. One little pinch and the enemy dies instantly.

"I did not come this far to poison you, Piper," Figueroa said noticing Piper's concern. She pulled a chair for herself and sat down, one leg over the other. She removed her sunglasses and hooked them to the front of her blouse.

"I was taught to never trust an enemy." Piper replied, sitting down along with Alex on her right side. "However, I am surprised to see you here, given-"

"Good morning, beautiful people, what can I get for you today?" A waitress with a sunflower smile and a notepad interrupted them.

"Nothing," Piper and Alex said in unison.

"A black coffee, no sugar, please." Natalie said with a smile.

"Sure, be here in a minute." The waitress said scribbling down at her notepad.

"Shall we get to it then?" Natalie suggested.

"Why are you here?" Piper asked bluntly. "Shouldn't you be out of the job by now?"

"Same could be said about you." She replied with a smirk.

Natalie sat back and exhaled calmly. She took out a cigarette from her front pocket and lit it with a lighter as the waitress came back with a cup of black coffee. She took a long drag before putting it down to the ashtray.

"I resigned once I realised the cluster fuck you uprooted. I am not an idiot but perhaps I was blindsided by his speeches and political glamour. And trust me, I wanted to run away from this as fast as I could." She took a sip of her coffee. "But Uncle Sam had other ideas. They sat me down and berated me on my failures as a deputy which I pretty much expected. But then it turned out that they still wanted to keep it close to home. They don't want people to know about the fucking failure they have been. So, they thought I would be a good communicator given I already knew pretty much everything there is to know and I was the legal consultant before I lost my fucking mind and became deputy director. So, here I am."

Both Piper and Alex was unsure on what to say to that.

"Look," Figueroa started. "I don't want to be here either. But if I wrap it up for them, they will let me walk free. Please, try to make this quick."

She's trying to play the good cop, Piper thought to herself.

"There's a long list of charges pressed against you, Ms. Vause. I am taking the luxury of not narrating each one of those." Natalie continued. "Now, the United States Government has agreed upon an eighteen year sentence at a maximum security prison-"

Piper blanked out.

She felt the earth slide away beneath her feet. Her vision got blurred for a minute and she tuned out from all of it. Eighteen years. Eighteen fucking years. How is she going to live without Alex for eighteen fucking years? She can't even go on a ten minute walk without worrying about assassins. They have been inseparable since it all blew up. And every time she left Alex, something terrible happened. She blinked a few times when she heard Alex's voice over her cloud of dread.

"-you're violating my fucking constitutional rights. I don't have proper legal representation, I am not getting a fair trail and you expect me to accept your deal as a fucking charity-"

"Ms. Vause, the deal is not up for negotiation. A public trial would be the worst choice you could make right n-"

"It would be the worst for you," Alex stated vehemently. "You're here to talk because they need us as much as we need them. And believe me, you don't want us to go to the press and spill every single detail of your failure to protect this great country. Perhaps we would come out as heroes, the public will be on our side. We saved your government from going into a maniac's hand while you stood and watched like fucking idiots-"

"Don't take this for granted, Vause. There are other ways that can be used to resolve this-"

"But you are not choosing those ways, are you?" Piper said. "Maybe because this is way too big to cover up. Maybe too many people are involved. Maybe you, Natalie, don't want Jason to die a hero. You want the truth to come out, don't you?"

Natalie sighed. Alex slipped her hand on top of Piper's and squeezed under the table.

"Okay," Natalie said. "Perhaps we want the truth to come out. But not all of it. We want the story straight."

"We will narrate any story you want," Alex suggested. "But you have to think from our perspective too. We risked our lives for what?"

"No one asked you to do that. You were a fucking drug dealer working for Kubra Balik." Natalie reminded. "That doesn't constitute as an innocent American citizen. The drug crimes alone would warrant a longer sentence than what you're currently being offered-"

"Yes, but I never got involved in any terrorist activity. Yet, you pulled my photo on every fucking screen and accused me of being a terrorist. That caused emotional damage on us. I bet a jury would love to hear about that-"

"Don't get fantasies about going to a court," Natalie said leaning closer. "As I said, we have other ways to handle things like this. You see that building out there," she pointed to a multi-storey building. "There's a shooter waiting for my signal on the twelfth floor. He is itching to pull the trigger on my command. A 9mm bullet will shatter this glass over here and go straight into your heart before you could say 'court'."

Alex went still in her seat.

"As I said," Natalie said with a smug face. "This is the best you can get."

To be continued…

—

A/N:

Thank you so much for the reviews! You guys made my day.

It's a bit small but I felt like updating so yeah.

Also, Vauseman is endgame. It looks painful now but it will ease out a bit in the next chapter. Trust me.

Hope you enjoyed this one :)