Bea stood by the door to her room as Boomer, Liz, and Doreen all said their goodbyes to Maxine, who hugged them all one by one as she prepared to leave for her operation, speaking to them as if she would never see them again. Even Sonia emerged from her room to give Maxine a kiss on the cheek and a farewell hug. Finally, Maxine turned to Bea, taking her hand in hers.

"Thank you for everything…" whispered Maxine.

Bea's eyes began to tear up. She let go of Maxine and hugged her.

"Thank you…"

"Look at me…" began Maxine, taking Bea's face in her hands. "Life is too short to worry about the ifs and maybes…"

"…What…"

"Darling, don't let Allie be an 'if'…You be sure to make her a 'when.'"

Bea opened her mouth but couldn't say anything. Tears began streaming down her face as she smiled, peaceful for having received her best friend's blessing. She hugged Maxine tightly, who finally gave in and began to cry as well.

"I love you, Bea."

"I love you too, Maxine…I'll see you soon okay?"

Maxine nodded, knowing well that might no longer be a possibility. As she let go of Maxine, she turned to see Kaz and Allie enter H1. Kaz glared at Bea before turning her attention to Maxine.

"Good luck, Maxi," said Kaz, handing her a box of cookies.

Maxine softly laughed and nodded, mouthing a thank you to Kaz, who immediately turned to leave the block. Allie came close and hugged Maxine.

"We'll see you soon, Maxine," whispered Allie, as she hugged Maxine and made eye contact with Bea.

Maxine hugged the girl back, despite them never actually having had much contact before this moment. As they separated, Maxine grabbed Allie's hand.

"You take care of our queen, you hear?" Maxine whispered.

Allie's eyes went to Bea then back to Maxine.

"Always," Allie replied, softly smiling.

Maxine nodded, content with knowing that Bea was in good hands. The women all followed her out of H1 block towards the block exit. Allie and Bea were the last ones of the group, and as Bea walked by Allie to follow Maxine, Allie grabbed her hand and held tightly onto it as the other women walked in front of them. Bea wanted to pull away, but the warmth she felt upon grabbing Allie's hand was too calming to not surrender to.

As Maxine headed for the exit, Boomer gave her one last hug, distraught that she was unable to accompany her friend to the hospital, as her petition had been denied by the governor. Vera opened the door with her keycard, letting Maxine pass through. Boomer watched her leave then glared at Vera, who stopped to speak with Jake. Once Maxine was led out of sight by an officer, Boomer tackled Vera.

"YOU FUCKING BITCH!"

Bea let go of Allie as she darted towards Boomer to try to pull her off of the governor. Boomer elbowed Bea in the face and knocked her to the floor as she continued to strangle Vera. Will and Jake struggled to pull Boomer off of Vera, leaving her gasping for breath. The two officers dragged a screaming Boomer down the hall, taking her back to the slot. Vera leaned against the wall as she tried to compose herself, and Allie helped Bea up off the floor. Liz and Sonia checked on Bea while the rest of the women began to clear out.

"Back to your units, all of you!" yelled out Vera. "…Smith, get to medical," she added as she noticed the blood coming out of Bea's nose.

"I'm fine…" Bea replied as she wiped the blood from her face. "Are you?"

Vera nodded and mouthed 'thank you' to Bea. She dusted herself off and as she walked past Bea, she placed a hand on her arm and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"Come on, let's get you cleaned up," Allie remarked.

"I'm okay. I just have to…"

Allie took Bea's hand in hers and pulled her down the hall. Upon witnessing this, Liz shot Sonia a look of confusion, while Sonia simply smiled and raised her eyebrows. A smile also came from Ferguson, who had watched the entire encounter from the end of the hallway. As Allie and Bea walked past her, Bea tried to let go of Allie, but Allie refused to loosen her hold, choosing instead to hold her hand tighter as they made their way past the Freak.

…

"You shouldn't be so obvious."

Allie chuckled as she wiped the blood off Bea's face with a towel. They sat side by side on Bea's bed, as Allie gently made Bea tilt her head back to try to stop the bleeding.

"Well, given you knocked Juice out with a barbell to defend me and Ferguson already knows something is going on between us…"

"Wait, what?" Bea's eyes went straight to Allie's.

"It's fine, don't worry about it…" Allie said as she tried to get Bea to tilt her head back again.

"Don't worry about it? What do you mean she knows?" asked Bea, swatting Allie's hand away.

"She…" Allie shook her head. "She made a comment to me about having to bark for two masters and…I don't know, warned me about you or whatever."

Bea rose from the bed and walked over to the sink, resting her hands on it as she stared into the basin. She let out a small, incredulous laugh as she brought the towel back to her face to wipe away the blood and turned back to face Allie.

"What did she say?"

Allie's eyes shifted.

"About what?"

"About me."

"I don't…Bea, it doesn't matter, I don't…"

"Tell me," demanded Bea.

Allie groaned as she slid back on the bed against the wall.

"She…She mentioned, I don't know, how I should be careful, because if you could slit your wrists to get out of prison, then you weren't above throwing me a bone if it meant getting back at Kaz."

Bea brought down the towel and stared at the blood, recalling how initially she had wanted to use Allie to keep tabs on Kaz and Ferguson. Ferguson wasn't completely wrong, and it hurt Bea to admit that to herself. It hurt her even more to admit to herself that she had developed feelings for Allie, feelings she had never had for anyone else. Being with her, being near her felt right, safe, and hopeful.

Now, Ferguson, Juice, and who knows who else were aware that something was going on between Bea and Allie, and it was only a matter of time before Kaz found out. What perplexed Bea the most was that Ferguson would mention knowing of their relationship. Recalling everything Ferguson had done before, Bea ran through dozens of scenarios, trying to understand what Ferguson's motivation was. Knowing her manipulation, Bea questioned what her plan exactly was, but she was unable to come up with a situation that would spell anything other than harm for Allie.

Bea gazed at the bloodstained towel in her hand. Thoughts of Debbie, Simmo, Jodie, Jacs, Brayden, and even Harry raced through her mind. Every death, every act hit her all at once. How she had steam pressed Boomer's hands, how she had struck Juice, how she had bashed Will all played like a horror movie in her mind. Even Maxine, her only friend, was now staring death in the eyes. Franky's words to Bea so long ago echoed as Bea thought of all the harm she had caused, all the deaths she had witnessed, all the blood she had made others shed.

You're not a protector. You're the grim fucking reaper.

"D'you believe her?" asked Bea, refusing to look at Allie.

Allie laughed. "You're kidding right?"

Bea looked up and met Allie's eyes. All she could do was shake her head.

"No."

"Of course I don't believe her. Why would you ask me that?"

"Because she's not lying," Bea immediately shot back.

Allie opened her mouth to speak, but all that could come out was the same small, nervous, incredulous laugh.

"Not lying about what?"

Bea sniffled, checking to see if the blood had cleared from her nose. The action caused her a little pain as she kept bleeding. Bea brought the towel back up to her face and tilted her head back as she leaned against the sink.

"She's not lying."

Bea could feel Allie staring at her. Allie's eyes shifted from her to the door to the window, suddenly feeling lost and dissociated from her surroundings. Bea cleared her throat and turned around to wash the towel.

"That day in the showers when you made it…abundantly…clear what you wanted from me… I figured, I had a shot at breaking up Kaz's cult and once Ferguson was moved to your block, well… two fucking birds with one stone. I could keep tabs on her through you as well."

Allie's eyes began to glisten. Bea's words wounded her, her demeanor shattered her. Allie stood up and took a step towards Bea, suddenly afraid to get too close to her.

"Bea…What are you doing?" her voice cracked.

Bea turned back around and forced herself to look at Allie. It took all her strength to not break down at the agony in her eyes. Bea sniffled again, simply shrugging and pursing her lips, as blood continued to flow from her nose, no longer caring to wipe it off.

"Nothing anymore. I mean, if the Freak knows something is going…was going on between us, then, I mean, you can understand how pointless it is for me now to keep up with this charade."

"…Charade?"

"Kaz doesn't seem like such a problem anymore. Twelve years in here with me, maybe she'll finally back off. And I can't count on you getting me any info now that Ferguson knows what a starved dog you are. Hell if anything she might give you wrong information knowing that you'll feed it right back to me. I can't take that chance. This isn't worth it anymore."

"…Bea…If you're afraid of…"

"Afraid? What could I possibly be afraid of? Me? A murderer? A lifer?" Bea laughed as she shook her head.

"Afraid of something happening to me."

"You're full of yourself," Bea scoffed.

"You feel something for me…"

"I feel you pissing me off, that's what I feel. You can go now," Bea ordered, nodding towards the door.

"Bea, I'm not going anywhere…"

"Just get the fuck out, will you?" Bea shouted.

"No!"

Allie grasped Bea's neck with her two hands and kissed her, hoping that she could feel what she had felt before. Bea dropped the towel, shoved her back, and struck Allie across her face with her right hand with a force that knocked Allie to the floor. Bea breathed heavily as she watched the blood flow from Allie's lip, just under where Bea's own blood had touched her during their kiss. Allie brought her hand up to her lip, then stared as if in shock at the blood on her fingertips. Tears began to stream down her face as she looked up at Bea, both women visibly fractured. Allie picked up the towel Bea had dropped and struggled to stand up. Bea fought back her own tears, the most difficult thing she had to do as she watched her only source of bliss break down because of her.

Bea's breathing was heavy, while Allie's was barely perceptible. Allie swallowed hard, a painful lump forming in her throat. She handed the towel to Bea who refused to take it. Allie placed the towel on the sink behind Bea and turned to walk out of the room, quietly shutting the door behind her.

As soon as Allie left, Bea broke down and fell to the floor crying. She gripped and pulled her hair as she rocked back and forth, her emotions frantic, her mind ravaged, her soul devastated, her heart crushed. Bea buried her nails in her scalp, dragging them sharply and deeply enough to break the skin and cause her to bleed. As she brought her hands in front of her, she caught sight of Allie's blood on her right knuckles. Bea brought her hand to her lips and kissed her knuckles, vowing to never have anyone else's blood on her hands again.