A/N- Wow, so I'm pretty overwhelmed by the response to this story! I'm honestly astonished at how many of you like it so much. So thanks for that! also, this may possibly be the longest I've gone between updates ever lol. Sorry about the "delay". Special thanks perpetually to the Person Who Read This for assuring me it was suitable for general consumption (believe me, I was worried... but then when aren't I?). Honestly couldn't do it without you! Thanks again to my buddy reverse-swing for the Po-EM at the start (poetry is a talent I do not possess). And I also forgot to mention last time that she suggested the (awesome) title as well...

Chapter 2- love in the time of zombies

And There's shadows
And there's space
A trace of a smile upon your face
But remember this my love
Black Roses never wilt
In the pale moonlight

The first week was the worst. As determined as Piper was not to be a burden, to prove that she could keep up with these people, handle everything that this new situation could throw at her, being tossed into this life demanded a period of transition. There were few people who would be able to handle such a thing without some period of adjustment. Getting by on 6 hours or less of sleep a day was one of the first things she had to adjust to. Constant physical activity was the second.

From the second she woke until the instant she collapsed into bed she was moving. Alex moved her along unrelentingly that first week, practically pushing her out of bed (most of the time vampires weren't permitted in the human living areas, but obviously Alex couldn't be her probationary anything if she couldn't wake her up in the morning) as her half dozen tent mates watched with varying degrees of amusement. She blearily pulled on her fatigues and was then led through hour after hour of weapons training (guns and knives mostly), hand to hand combat training, patrolling the perimeter, and doing various rotation duties. By the time Alex dropped her at her tent at light's out, she was ready to collapse (Alex herself didn't sleep, so she just went back to her tent).

Alex herself was giving the blonde whiplash. When she'd first found Piper, she'd been tough but reasonable, ordering her around but with no real malice. Ever since she'd learned she was to be Piper's probationary supervisor (or ExieSitter as they were derisively called by the troops), Alex had been brusque and stentorian, bordering on rude. She spoke to her only as much as she needed to in order to explain things and snapped when Piper didn't immediately hop to. It was adding an extra layer of stress to an already difficult situation, especially given just how much time they were required to spend together.

Probationary Supervisors spent every nearly waking moment with their assigned probies, even eating meals with them. Since there wasn't enough personnel to spare for dedicated training classes, Alex was the one giving every single one of them.

Finally, on day three, Piper had had enough. It wasn't like Alex had been her best friend by any means, but she'd thought she had felt some sort of tentative admiration in the vampire's gaze when they'd spent that time together when she first got here (something in the green gaze was captivating, and had seemed fascinated on some level, but that fascination had been covered over by annoyance).

At the end of the day she dropped Piper off. Piper muttered a "thanks", and Alex replied by grunting and muttering, "Yeah, yeah princess..." as she turned to stomp away.

Piper felt her temper flare. She knew she should just turn around and go into her tent, knew that she was exhausted, that every muscle in her body was screaming from the unaccustomed activity... that in this state she might say something she regretted. But she didn't care. She scowled and snapped, "You don't have to be such an asshole all the time, you know?"

Alex frowned, turning back. Piper shared a tent with some of the girls from Washington's unit. They were out on patrol with Nichols, who was leading the unit Alex was usually in charge of, and Alex was even more irritable today than usual at the thought that she wasn't with her guys.

"What?" her own eyes flashing, revealing just the barest hint of crimson shading the green of her irises. Piper knew that, aside from Nicky, most of the camp dwellers (of every race) showed Alex deference. She was a skilled fighter and a good leader, well respected, tough but fair. She wasn't used to being called out, but Piper was too goddamn annoyed.

"You heard me! You've been treating me like shit ever since you found out you had to watch me, taking it out on me! But it's your own fault! i read the regulations. You didn't have to rescue me. You could've left me. Rule 22.4 states that if you're on patrol on your own you're under no obligation to help Exiles or strays, that you can choose to leave them if the risk to your safety is too great, so you only have yourself to blame!"

The vampire stood, frowning down at her, her expression unreadable. Then the corners of her mouth twitched upwards slightly, and the glower in her eyes was replaced with a sort of bemusement. She tilted her head, "You read that manual?"

"Well... yes..." Piper said, brows furrowing, "I mean, you said I should so..."

"I mean, I know what I said, kid, but no one reads the fucking manual! It's 163 pages long! It reads like stereo instructions..."

"What's a stereo?"

"Never mind," the small grin had turned into a full on smile, "When did you find the time?"

"Um, after you dropped me off the first night..."

"But you were exhausted!"

"Well, yeah, but the manual... you said it was required."

"It is but..." the vampire shook her head, bemused, "you're right kid. I have been kind of a dick. I'll try to rein it in, okay?"

Somewhat astonished by the ease with which Alex had conceded, Piper could do nothing but nod once, trying to keep her face stern when confronted by Alex's grin.

"Get some sleep, kid..." Alex said, nodding once before she turned to go, and giving Piper a short, appraising look that the blonde was convinced once again held that note of intrigued fascination...

Piper's constant stream of questions and talk soon became a background soundtrack to everything they did. And for reasons that Alex couldn't fully comprehend (or didn't really want to), they never bothered her (which was even more astonishing because she was normally exactly the kind of vampire who would answer the question "you're a vampire? what's that like?" by extending her canines and giving the questioner a very hungry looking grin).

"So... You drink blood. All kinds?

"Human is best," it was three weeks in and Alex was surprised Piper hadn't gotten around to this one yet, "animals work. But it's like the difference between a good steak and tofu."

Piper frowned, nodding, concentrating on the gun in front her. She was disassembling it so she could clean it, "And... you've... uh... fed... from a... an actual... live... pers-" she stopped short, not sure if she could finish the question.

Alex glanced at her sidelong, "Yeah, kid, I have, though the last time was decades ago. Feeding from a person doesn't necessarily have to kill them if you do it right. It actually can be quite a rush for them..." her eyebrow cocked as she said this last, almost unconsciously.

A long pause, then, "Ummmm did you ever... kill..."

Before Piper could stammer out the rest of her inquiry, Alex said, politely but firmly, "Next question."

Piper glanced up at her, but didn't push the point. Alex was almost certain she didn't really want to know...

It was surprising to Piper how little she missed most of what had been taken from her so abruptly. Her life in the Safe Zone, her family, her friends. Although, truth be told, as soon as she had begun to learn how that safety had truly been established and maintained she had begun to lose her taste for it. She had begun to see beneath the lies they were all told, the platitudes they were all fed. The saddest part to her was how easily it would have been for anyone to seek the truth, but they were all so content... and when people did see the truth they ignored it, either because they didn't want to believe, or because they were afraid to lose it. Why would they risk their own comfort to expose a truth they believed didn't even matter anymore?

It was that kind of thinking that had actually lost her most of her friends. By the time she was kicked out, only Polly remained, and she spent most of their time together warning Piper not to take things any further, not to actually commit any of her whispered conversations to print.

And the only thing she had to miss about her family was Cal. The rest of them... the rest of them wanted her to be something she could never be. It angered and saddened her even to think of it. For a long time, she had thought she wasn't good enough for them, but the more she began to see how much they had kept from her (how much they knew) the more she thought that maybe they weren't good enough for her (which did not, much to her chagrin, keep a part of her from craving her father's approval until the last).

The more time she spent in camp, falling into its rhythms and routines, learning the skills she would need to survive, the more the memories of safety and security faded. Yes, she had to get up before dawn, had to patrol the perimeter, do KP duty, muck out toilets, train endlessly... but she felt truly useful for the first time in her life. As though she was holding her own, earning her keep.

And the entire time, Alex was at her side. After the initial antagonism (which Piper had come to understand was more because of the general indignity of being a "babysitter" rather than anything to do specifically with her), they had fallen into an easy routine. It had taken remarkably little time for Piper to feel entirely comfortable with Alex, which was astonishing, considering that the woman was a goddamn vampire.

Rather than frightening her, Piper found that this made her more intriguing. Not, she thought, that she needed much reason to be intrigued by Alex Vause. The aura of mystery the woman gave off was irresistible, and even after she had gotten to know her better, there was still... something there. Something more. Something Piper wasn't sure she even truly understood herself.

Alex was patient with her, and after that initial burst of pique, never treated her like a burden. Perhaps more importantly, she never doubted Piper's abilities. Never questioned whether she was capable of this, always gave her encouragement when she did well and prodding when she thought she could do better. Never treated her like she didn't belong... It was a novel feeling, not just in camp, but maybe in Piper's whole life...

They doing a sentry shift in the guard tower overlooking the front gate of the camp today. Probies only ever did day sentry shifts. The Infected were generally less active during the day, and it was a good way to ease them into the duty without terrifying them... not that Alex believed Piper really needed the coddling.

"What about the glasses?"

Alex glanced over at her, "What about them?"

"Well, I mean, I was doing some reading..."

"Some reading?"

"About vampires... Jefferson has a book..."

"Of course she does..." Alex chuckled, softly.

"...and," Piper continued as if she hadn't been interrupted, "I thought vampires had perfect vision. Better than perfect really. That whatever kind of eyesight they had as humans, it would be automatically corrected..."

"There was an incident. I took some damage to my eyes..."

"But don't you heal...?"

Alex scoffed, a hint of bitterness touching the edges of her voice, "Normally. But not from prolonged exposure to the sun. It will scar if it hits you enough to injure but not enough to kill you."

"How did it happen?"

The vampire's eyes skirted off towards the horizon, "Next question..." she said, so softly that Piper almost wasn't sure she'd heard her correctly.

They were silent for a long moment. They were high enough up and the day was clear enough that they could actually see the towers of Safe Zone 1 along the horizon.

Piper frowned, "Why don't you fight them?"

Alex started slightly, drawn out of whatever place Piper's last question taken her to, "What?"

"Why don't you fight the government? Get them to let everyone in? There's more than enough room..."

"It's just not a priority kid. I mean we'd love to but we've got enough to contend with out here and not nearly enough people to be effective."

"The vampires don't have nukes or something?"

"We've got heavy weapons but the Council would rather not go scorched earth on the zones. They're full of people like you. Who don't know anything about what's really going on. If we attacked, we'd only be proving the Government's lies about everyone on the Outside being vicious and violent and wanting what the Government has."

"It's not right... what they've done..."

Alex sighed, "I know it's not kid. But when you've lived as long as me, you learn that governments seldom do what's exactly right..." she frowned at the half dozen stray Infected wandering aimlessly in front of the fence, "And to be entirely honest, not everyone out here is someone you'd want to be locked behind 150 foot walls with..."

"They're all humans..."

Alex sighed, "Look, kid... I like you. You're making a lot of progress and you seem to really... get a lot of things in a way most Exies don't.. but you haven't been out on patrol. You haven't really seen what it's really like out there. You haven't ever encountered a Scavenger Gang... or a Lone Feral."

"But..."

"No buts, Piper. Take my word for it. Some people aren't worth the trying to save. Some people are barely better than the Infected... hell, some of them are even worse than the Infected... at least the Infected are just brainless undead. The Scavengers are rabid dogs who know exactly what they're doing..." her voice was harsh, practically spitting out the last.. she took a deep breath, trying to calm herself, looking back over at the blonde, "Sorry... I've just lost more than few friends to 'people' like that..."

"Sorry... I didn't mean to..."

"Don't apologize. You didn't know," Alex sighed, "I only hope you never have to run into those bastards." Although even as she said it, she knew it was unavoidable... If Piper survived long enough, patrolled long enough, she would eventually encounter a Gang... the thought made Alex sick to her stomach... she could only hope she was by the girl's side when it happened...

While Alex was perfectly content to answer Piper's neverending stream of questions, very few others had the patience. Piper suffered from the automatic handicap of being an freshly squeezed orange, a relatively new Exile. People usually avoided Exiles like the plague at least until their probationary period was over, and sometimes beyond. The life they lived was a harsh one and no one liked getting too attached to anyone they might very quickly lose (there were way too many people to lose as it was).

(Exiles were also mocked for their inexperience or given shit for the fact that they'd lived for so long in the comfort of a Zone but that particular brand of hazing hadn't happened much to Piper. Alex's presence was enough to keep most mouths clamped shut. The one time someone had tried, Gloria's skinny wolves Flaca and Maritza jeering at Piper one time at dinner, Alex had ripped them a new one and given them the kind of look that might actually be able to kill. After that no one even talked behind the blonde's back)

But Piper was doubly cursed, at least in the eyes of most of the camp residents, by her tendency to either ask questions of or ramble endlessly to people who came within her orbit, either incidentally or because they didn't mind being around Exiles. Her bunkmate, Tasha, didn't mind as much because they talked about books, but aside from her only Nicky and Alex hung around her regularly.

Nicky hovered around at first because Alex was her best friend and her CO and she liked her company and Piper just happened to be around her all the time. But eventually, the scruffy werewolf became fond of the precise, rambling Exile. As she once told Alex, the blonde tickled her, and as far as Nicky was concerned, there were few enough amusing things in the world not to appreciate Piper.

Piper was pleased to have someone aside from Alex to question. After a month or so she was running out of questions for the vampire and would instead spend meal times listening as Nicky waxed lyrical in her inimitable manner.

"So you actually, physically turn into a wolf?" Piper was asking one day as she shoveled reheated beef stroganoff mush into her mouth with the enthusiasm of someone who was engaging in physical activity all day.

"Yeah, once a month. Like having female troubles except your whole body gets ripped a part and turned into a slavering dog."

"And you got bit?"

"Yeah. Back when I was in my early 20s. I was going through a... rough patch at the time. Not hanging around with the nicest crowd. One of my... associates turned out to owe a debt to a dealer who turned out to be a wolf. Guy came to collect, Joe didn't have the money... and the guy lost his temper. A little..."

"And you don't age either?"

"Oh I do. I'm not a paragon of immortal elegance like Vause here. I age, just slower than most humans. My tissue doesn't deteriorate at the same rate as a normal human's or some such bullshit."

"And you can just... go back and forth at will?"

"I only have to be during the night of the full moon and the day before and after it. The imperative is too strong then. No way to resist it," she waved a hand vaguely, "Whole thing waxes and wanes with the moon. Night of the new moon, I'm at my weakest physically, but not nearly as prepared to give in to my urges."

"And they just... let you wander around camp?"

"When I'm a wolf? Nah. Those three days, all of us go out and run. When we're wolves, the Infected aren't near so interested in us, though we still have to be careful. We retain a lot of our awareness, so we can be careful."

"Don't let her lie and tell you she doesn't enjoy it most of the time"

"I'm in touch with my inner beast," Nicky grinned, "Plus I always liked my steak rare..." she waggled her eyebrows, "Like a lotta things pink and juicy actually..."

Piper furrowed her brows at Nicky's bold vulgarity. Alex rolled her eyes, "Nice, Nick. Classy..."

Nicky raised an eyebrow at Alex, "really, Vause? Classy? Any other night you'd be..."

Alex gave her a long hard look. Nicky went quiet, the grin remaining on her face, a thoughtful look in her eye as she turned back to Piper, who had seemingly barely noticed the short exchange and was already opening her mouth to ask another question.

When Alex left Piper at her tent that night and turned back towards her own quarters, she could feel the blonde's blue eyes on her. Alex was always extremely aware of her surroundings, it was part of being what she was. All her senses were heightened, and it created an almost uncanny sixth sense, invaluable for someone who always had to be wary of who and what was around them. Usually it applied equally to everything around her, but in the six weeks since she had begun spending every waking hour with Piper, it was as though the blonde had become some sort of beacon to her.

The more time Alex spent around her, the more she saw of her stubborn determination, her willingness to do whatever task was put in front of her, her constant need for knowledge, her intelligence and cleverness, the more prominent Piper became.

She was always aware of where the blonde was (her senses were sharp enough that, if she concentrated or knew someone's scent well enough she could pick them out, even in a camp where 70 other people lived and worked), even of how she was feeling (vampires were especially skilled at reading pheromones... no surprise)...

At first she'd tried to tell herself it was just because Piper was her responsibility, that she was just doing her job by knowing where she was and what she was doing, but she'd never been good at lying to herself.

Alex knew what it meant when she became this aware of someone. She knew because it had only happened twice before. She had feelings for Piper... which was troubling on more than one level. She couldn't gauge whether Piper was even interested. The girl was clearly fascinated with her, seemingly almost as aware of Alex as Alex was of her, but that could mean anything. Humans were always fascinated with vampires for one reason or another (though the lingering looks Alex often caught the blonde giving her would seem to suggest something more)

But more than that, Piper was human and...

"Humans are trouble, Vause... you know it as well as I do."

Alex looked up, frowning. She had gotten so absorbed in her own thoughts she hadn't been keeping track of where she was at. She was all the way back to her own tent, which she shared with Nicky and the rest of her unit. The shaggy wolf had been sprawled lazily on one of the crates arranged outside the tent that served as makeshift seats. She was smoking a cigarette and seemed to have been waiting for the vampire's return.

"The fuck are you talking about Nicky?" muttered Alex, frowning at her, although she was well aware that Nicky knew her better than about anyone else in the world.

"Blondie there..." she jerked her head vaguely in the direction of Piper's tent, "you been working the tall ass vampire charm on her..."

"I haven't been working anything on her," growled Alex, irritably, crossing her arms over her chest. She considered pushing past Nicky into the tent, but knew the wolf would just follow her and persist in talking about it.

"It's fine to fight by em and even be friends with em," Nicky continued, as though Alex had agreed with her, "I mean I like Washington and her crew as much as anyone but i wouldn't fuck around with any of them."

Alex made a frustrated sound, "I'm not going to fuck around with her. She's not interested."

"Really? You think so? Cause I thought you had eyes."

"You know I have a vision..."

"Vause, you may not have eagle vision like the rest of the bloodsuckers..." Nicky rolled her own eyes, "but you know that's not what I'm talking about. She follows you around like a puppy..."

"I follow her around. Because I'm supposed to. Because I'm her fucking babysitter."

"Probationary supervisor," Nicky said, mimicking Red's voice, "And that's not what I mean. You're her ExieSitter for what? 14 hours a day maybe? But she's around you all the time. And she looks at you like the sun is shining out of your pale ass."

"If the sun was shining anywhere near my ass I'm pretty sure I would be crispy as the outside of a marshmallow."

"Oooo deflecting with humor. Never heard of that one before."

Alex rolled her eyes. "You fuck around with humans all the time. All the girls think your fucking shaggy dog act is adorable."

Nicky grinned and shrugged. "But I don't fall in LOVE with em. And they know the score from minute one."

"Whoa. Hold up," Alex snapped, "I haven't even admitted what you're saying is anything more than your wishful thinking. When did the fucking L word come into it?"

Now Nicky was really grinning, "Which one? Cause there are a few that apply..."

"Fuck off Nick. How'd we go from 'she follows me around' to 'I'm gonna fall for her?"

"I've seen how you look at her too, Vause."

Alex's jaw tightened, "I don't do love."

"Just cause you never have don't mean you never will."

"You don't."

"That's cause I'm a heartless bitch with mommy issues..." Nicky tilted her head, examining Alex as the vampire scuffed the toe of her boot through the dirt on the ground and refused to meet her all too perceptive brown gaze, "I'm not gonna say I'm not surprised. I mean, I never thought I'd see you look at anyone like that, but first time for everything..."

Alex finally raised her eyes to meet Nicky's. She said nothing, but whatever Nicky saw there was enough to make her half shrug, taking the last long pull on her cigarette before crushing it out and putting it in her pocket for disposal later. She hauled herself up off the crate, "See ya tomorrow, Vause," she said, nodding amiably before disappearing back into the barracks.

After the door to the barracks closed behind her, Alex sat heavily down on the crate and ran a hand through her hair, staring blankly up at the half moon in the sky. Alex had never been in love before. She'd been turned at young age, had had to learn so much on her own before she'd managed to find Red and the others, who had taught her how to handle herself. There hadn't been time for love, hadn't been time for much of anything aside from learning to manage her urges (a process that had involved more than a little tragedy, more than a little trial and error).

And as much as she tried to deny it to Nicky, she knew there was something between she and Piper. But she was right. Humans were trouble. And love was best avoided...

But as much as she tried to deny it, to tell herself it was best if she never got involved, Piper was always there. Alex wondered when the girl's curiosity, her fascination would finally boil over into action. She almost hoped that it wouldn't. After her conversation with Nicky, she tried to pull back, to become more aloof, stop the subtle (and not so subtle) flirting that seemed to highlight any of their conversations these days.

It lasted about a day and a half before Piper said something about it. They were in the armory alone, putting away the weapons they had just been using out on the makeshift range where Piper was practicing her marksmanship (although she was taking to everything quickly, she wasn't even close to an expert marksman; she was much better with her fists to be honest).

Alex had turned to lock the gate that led to where the rifles were stored and when she turned back, Piper was a foot away. Alex had known she would be there, of course, but couldn't have accounted for look in her eye. She didn't have to be a mind reader to know what it meant.

"Piper, what...?"

"What's wrong Alex?"

Alex frowned, "What?"

"you've been weird the last couple days... why?"

"Piper…"

"You like me."

"Of course I like you, dumbass," Alex said fondly, shaking her head.

"I like you too... a lot."

"i know you do, kid. But it can't ever be anything more than that."

"Why not? I've read the regs. There's no rule against it... not even between vampires and humans..."

"No. No there isn't. But... that's not the point. It's... we're... impractical…"

"You make me sound like an inconvenience…"

Alex shook her head, "No you're not. You couldn't ever be. It's just that... this sort of thing… it never works out. I've seen it before. And it fucking hurts. Badly."

"I wouldn't hurt you…"

"You wouldn't hurt me on purpose. But the plain fact is I'm never going to age. Ever. You're going to get old… you're going to die, and I'm not."

"Yeah but in the meantime…" she raised an eyebrow suggestively. Somehow she'd managed to get closer than she was before, almost into Alex's personal space.

"Piper don't make light of this…"

"I'm not… I wouldn't. And I don't even... I don't even know if it would ever be anything, but you like me and I really like you and... what's the harm in exploring that?"

"You're not the one who's gonna get left."

"You'd give up years of happiness for…"

"And that's another thing. Let's stop pretending we're both even going to last that long."

"You're 100 years old."

"That doesn't mean much in this world. I've seen 500 year old vampires bitten and die instantly or, worse, turn into..." she shuddered, not wanting to think of it, "It's not pretty and I don't care how much 40 pound armor I wear, it could happen. Hell, if I accidentally get too much sun I'm dead. If I go without food for more than a couple of weeks, I'll start to go nuts. Not to mention I might try to eat you... and not in a good way..."

"Alex... I don't care about any that," Piper was close now... very close. It wasn't that she needed to be close for Alex to smell her, but the closer she got the more overwhelming it was, the power of it.

"Well you should..."

"I don't... and I don't think you do either..."

"One of us has to..."

Piper leaned forward so fucking close, "just let go..." she breathed.

Before either of them could close the gap, they heard the heavy outer door lock disengaging. Someone else was coming in. Alex shook her head once sharply, recovering the restraint that she'd been about to toss aside and took a quick step to the left, striding forward, taking long deep breaths. She reached the door just as it opened, revealing Maria Ruiz, one of Mendoza's wolves who threw her a hard look before pushing past her into the armory. Alex stepped out and held the door open for Piper, who brushed past her. Their eyes met, and the look there told Alex this was far from over.

They barely spoke fro the rest of the day. They ate dinner in near silence as Nicky glanced from one to the other, also being uncharacteristically quiet. As they were going from dinner back towards Piper's quarters (Piper wondering what she could say to Alex once they got there that would convince her to get past her objections), Poussey Washington called out from behind them, "Hey, Chapman!" she said, "Miss Claudette wants to see you."

Piper glanced at Alex, but Alex just gave her a little half shrug. evidently she wasn't sure what it was about either. Piper nodded, "Okay. Thanks." Then she and Alex changed course back towards the command tent. Washington gave a half wave and kept on towards the mess tent and her own meal.

When they got to the tent, they found Claudette, her other squad leader, Watson, at her side, both leaning over the large table in the center of the room that held the huge map of the camp and the surrounding area (the walled expanse of Safe Zone 1 some 20 miles distant). They looked up as Alex and Piper approached. Watson narrowed her eyes, her jaw tightening as it always did when she was around a vampire. No one had given Piper the details, but she gathered that Watson had had a bad experience with a vampire or two in the past and didn't trust them. She was always on best behavior, knowing the peace had to be kept because the vampires and (more importantly their Council) were vital to the human's survival, but her thoughts might as well have been written on her forehead.

Claudette glanced at her, finishing, "Tomorrow 0600. You and Mendoza's people?"

watson nodded curtly, "Yeah. I got it."

"All right, dismissed."

Watson gave Alex a final glare (earning a bemused eyebrow raise and sardonic half grin from the vampire herself... Piper had found very quickly that anti-vampire sentiment barely phased her), then left the tent, giving her a wide berth. Piper stood up a little straighter. There were a lot of matters where people didn't observe strict military discipline (few of them, after all, had started off as soldiers), but chain of command wasn't one of them. Claudette, Red and Gloria had all earned their positions and were all held with respect by everyone in camp.

"You wanted to see me, Miss Claudette?"

"Yes Chapman," said Claudette, gesturing her closer to the map, "You've been making a lot of progress, more than is usually to be expected from a fresh Exile after such a short period of time. Everyone is reporting good things."

"Well, I've had a lot of help," Piper said, allowing a short glance at Alex, who was standing next to her with that complete stillness that Piper had found so unnerving at first, but now found strangely comforting (like a lot of things about Alex).

"Still," Claudette said, "even so... you're doing well. Not perfect yet of course, but very well. Well enough that I think you can go on patrol..."

"What?" asked Alex, the word sharp. Claudette frowned at her, not appreciating the interruption, "It's usually at least three months before..."

"Yes... it is... but Chapman has done well. Your own reports..."

"I know that, Commander, but..."

Piper frowned, turning towards Alex, her temper activating, "You think I'm not ready? You told me I was..."

"I told you you were a fast learner... that you're making progress," Alex said, mouth turned down in a dismayed frown, eyes moving from Claudette to Piper, "Patrol is an entirely different thing... doing well in the camp, in a controlled environment... that's good... but the Outside..."

"It's a supply pickup. Easy."

"From one of the usual drop points?" asked Alex, looking at Claudette, who didn't look thrilled at the interruption, but seemed willing to let it pass. Alex was almost as respected around camp as the commanders. People knew she was good, so they gave her some latitude.

"No. But it's close."

"A tip off?"

"yes."

Alex frowned, "From someone we trust?"

"Mendez. He says a SZ supply ship was downed about five klicks from here. Says that he and his people managed to scrounge some items from it. Valuable items. Ammo. Food."

"Mendez? I don't trust that son of a..."

"His information almost always proves good. And you know we need the supplies."

Alex sighed. They really did. Half the monthly shipment of rations from the last Council supply drop had been lost when the drone dropping them had gone awry and set them down in the middle of a lake. There wouldn't be another drop for nearly a month. It was why Alex had been out scavenging when she'd found Piper. They needed all the supplies they could get right now...

"It should be easy. You'll go with Washington's unit, they're at full strength right now so there'll be plenty of people around to watch your back."

Alex still didn't look pleased. Piper was still mildly annoyed that Alex might not think she was capable. "I won't let you down." She said, firmly.

"And of course, Vause will accompany you as well."

"Yeah," said Alex, "especially with Mendez around."

Claudette frowned at her, "Mendez is an ally."

"As long as we pay him more than anyone else he is," Alex muttered darkly.

"Tomorrow morning. 0800. Briefing is 0700."

"Okay."

Piper barely got any sleep. It seemed like she had hardly closed her eyes when Washington was prodding her awake, "Let's go Chapman. It's time..."

She pulled herself out of her bunk. All around her, the seven human members of Washington's squad were pulling on their fatigues. Black Cindy, never serious, was cracking jokes loudly, slapping everyone else on the back. She slung an arm around Piper's shoulders, "Remember everyone, we got a nice white lady with us today, we got to take care of her... get her out to her organic groceries in one piece... make sure she get the locally sourced free range eggs this time..."

Piper half smiled. She had gotten more used to Cindy's constant stream of jokes over the past few weeks. She could tell they didn't mean any harm by it, but she was so full of nerves, she couldn't quite participate. Taystee was putting on her rich white lady voice, much to everyone's amusement, "Well, we can't have that! The last time I bought chicken that wasn't raised cage free I got the most dreadful case of the shits..."

By this time, it everyone was dressed. They walked in a loose line to the armory, where they met the vampire and werewolf members of their squad. Every squad had a mix of vampires, werewolves and normals. It was meant to decrease unease, and for the most part it worked. Today, in addition to the two wolves and two vampires that were normally attached the squad, Alex was there as well. As usual, her eyes immediately snapped to Piper when she walked into the room. Piper met them and nodded. Alex nodded back and went back to the task at hand. The tension from the day before still lingered, but this wasn't the time to push things.

She was directed to a locker, where there was a set of body armor waiting for her. It was light and flexible and meant to buy time if they got caught in a bad situation. She pulled it on and then pulled on the utility belt and holster, fully stocked. The wolves were wearing nothing but their fatigues and a belt with a pistol on it. If they got attacked, they'd use their natural talents. The vampires were in the heavy full coverage armor she'd seen Alex in before, meant to protect from the sun.

As soon as everyone was suited up, Washington led them all to the briefing room. They were given a quick rundown of the mission by Claudette and then they all marched to the front gate where they walked out into the rising sun, Piper feeling both apprehension and anticipation at the thought of her first patrol...

Mendez had told them to meet his people in one of their drop points about two kilometers away from the camp. Alex disliked it from the second she laid eyes on it. She hated that they were trusting Mendez, that his past good information afforded him this kind of trust. No one had run recon on this place. It had only one clear exit point, the way they were going in. On either side of them was heavy overgrowth, and directly ahead was a dropoff. Alex could hear the slavering of Infected at the bottom of the dropoff, which was perhaps 20 feet below from what she could tell.

There were four men standing near the edge of the dropoff when they walked into the clearing, Washington halting the fourteen people in her unit. They all spread out into a loose defensive formation as she and Taystee took a few steps forward and stopped about six feet from the four men. "You Lincoln? Mendez sent us... said you had supplies... for us..."

The leader of the rag tag group was a tall man with thick hair and beard both brown shot through with gray holding a large dirty Harry style .44 magnum. He was wearing what looked like the tattered remnants of a uniform of some sort. Not army. Maybe police. Underneath all that dirt and hair he might once have bee handsome. His piercing blue eyes stared at them intently.

Behind him on his right was a skinny man with a thin face that could only be described as rat like. He had a mop of stringy, dirty hair that hung in a scraggly curtain over his eyes and what looked like a prepubescent boy's idea of facial hair, spotty pube-like goatee and pencil mustache. His eyes were brown and squinting dumbly from behind heavy eyelids. It was topped off by a large mole on his right cheek that looked like it was living thing. He wore a pair of battered jeans and motorcycle boots. No shirt, just a leather vest. He has a crossbow slung over his shoulder.

The other members of the group were just as dirt caked and feral looking... and as they stood there more of them appeared, slowly emerging from the brush around them as Alex realized with a sinking feeling in her guy that they'd been lured into a trap. Fuckin Mendez...

And of course this was Piper's first goddamn patrol. Supposed to be a goddamn milk run. Easy as fuck. Just go get some supplies. No heavy equipment.

"Well well look who's on r'teeetory, Dickie," said the leader in a barely comprehensible mush mouthed mutter, ignoring Poussey's inquiry.

"Mmmmrrhgh," said the skinny man with the crossbow.

"We aren't trespassing," said Poussey, frowning, her hand on her pistol. The rest of the squad had tensed when the rest of the other group had started emerged. There were at least a dozen of them, almost matching the squad's numbers, all of them armed somehow.

"Mmm, not fr'm where wur' standin'..." muttered the leader, "where wur' standin' looks like y'r intrudin'... try'n to take what's arr's... can't let'cha do' 'at..."

"look... there's obviously been some sort of misunderstand..."

Before Poussey could finish speaking, a shot rang out from one of the men on the side. the bullet hit Poussey in the midsection and she cried out, going down in a heap. In an instant, the clearing was a whirlwind of activity.

The squad was well trained, disciplined and better armed, but their opponents were Scavengers, thin and hungry and barely human anymore, fast and vicious. There were no guarantees about who would come out on top.

Taystee grabbed Poussey, gritting her teeth and crying out a string of profanities, by her collar and dragged her back towards the loose defensive circle the squad had formed, guns drawn and taking shots at the Scavengers as they converged.

With Poussey down and Taystee concentrating on stabilizing and protecting her, Alex found herself in charge by default. She turned to the wolves in the squad, "Get that fucker!" she snapped at them gesturing at the leader as he took a shot at Black Cindy, the bullet slamming into her shoulder. The wolves changed instantly and ran at the leader, dodging projectiles and flying bodies with uncanny speed, leaping on the leader, who cried out, gun flying out of his hand.

Alex turned to assess the rest of the situation and her eyes found Piper just as the stringy haired crossbowman (the leader had called him Dickie) tackled her. He pulled back his fist and punched Piper in the face. Piper cried out but gritted her teeth and punched him back, hard. It was a good punch, but the stringy little man was obviously tougher than they would've thought. There was no conscious thought involved as Alex abandoned her position and charged towards them, a growl that even she might not have entirely recognized tearing itself from deep in her chest.

Alex's boot connected hard with Dickie's ribs causing an audible crack. He went rolling off of Piper with a low grunt, rolling twice but somehow ending up scrambled to his feet up in a crouch his crossbow at the ready.

He aimed and fired at Alex. She took a half step to the side faster than the eye could follow her hand snapping up to pluck the bolt out of the air as it tried to get past her. He racked and fired again, quick as a whip, but the second bolt suffered the same fate.

As soon as both bolts were in her hands she hurled them back at him without breaking stride. One of them tore into the man's gut, slicing through the meat of his torso, lodging in his stomach the other tearing a chunk out of his neck.

He ignored both, a feral growl of his own tearing from his throat. He went to pull another bolt from the holster at his hip, but before he could, Alex was on him, knocking him over and putting her knee into his balls with all her weight behind it. Her right fist gripped the shaft of the arrow she'd put in his gut and ripped it out of his stomach. It was a nasty homemade thing designed to hurt much more coming out than going in and it did its work, essentially tearing his stomach open, blood spattering Alex's fatigues.

Despite a low pitched groan of pain and tears of pain running from beneath his heavily lidded eyes, cutting tracks through the caked on dirt and sweat on his face, (not to mention the blood flowing freely from the wound in his neck, soaking the ground beneath them) he thrashed hard below her, his right hand managing to pull a bolt his holster and trying to drive it into her throat even has her right fist pounded into his face, likely shattering his eye socket

She grabbed his right wrist with her left hand, twisting hard until she heard a snap and it dropped from his hand. Still he was struggling his free left hand, knocking it into her ribs with surprising strength. She grabbed that one too and twisted, cracking it hard before springing to her feet and pulling him up by his shattered wrists and dragging him towards the dropoff, hollering and swearing the whole way.

She got to the edge and looked down. There were about a dozen infected wandering aimlessly at the bottom of the dropoff.

She shifted her grip, letting go of one of his wrists and grabbing him by the neck, her grip pressing hard into the wound there. He glared at her, "Wha? no justuce?

Her eyes flashed, "Not for you."

"You kill me, my folk'll riot... they'll kill yuh..."

"They can try..." she snarled.

And then she dropped him. He fell all twenty feet and landed on his back with a thud.

The Infected at the bottom descended on him instantly, pulling at his already exposed guts, sinking their teeth into the wound on his neck. She waited until his high pitched screams faded off before turning away, back towards the fight...

The action was fading off, the others in the group making easy work once the leader (currently lying in a heap, his throat ripped out, his eyes wide and staring) and Dickie were gone.

She scoffed, thinking back on Dickie's last words, "Yeah. Big fuckin' riot."

Her eyes found Piper, who was kneeling next to Cindy, pressing a bandage to her shoulder, but her eyes were on Alex. Alex was half afraid to find revulsion there (and considering what she'd done to Dickie, she wasn't sure she could blame her), but instead the look the blonde was giving her was that same intense gaze she'd been wearing in the armory the day before... the look that told Alex she was well and truly fucked.

By the time they got back and were all properly debriefed and cleared by medical, it was nearly lights out. Most of the Scavengers were dead, with the last few having retreated when they saw the way things were going, but they'd managed to inflict a few casualties.

Washington was still alive and would probably be all right if they could get her back to camp in time. Half the rest of the squad had various injuries, a couple bad enough they couldn't walk. They'd called for evac and the truck had come to take them back to camp.

Once everyone was cleared, they'd all eaten a quick meal before retreating back to their tents.

Alex's own squad, led by Nicky, was out on a long recon mission and wouldn't be back for another day, so she had the whole barracks to herself. As squad leader, she had her own small room. She sat on her bunk and stared at the door, waiting. It had gotten so bad that she could sense Piper's exact position within the camp, but even if she couldn't, she knew what was coming was inevitable...

She didn't have to wait long. Fifteen minutes after she sat down, the door the barracks opened, and then Piper was standing in the doorway to her quarters. Alex stood up. They stayed that way for a long moment before Piper took two steps forward. "Alex..." she said softly.

"Piper..." Alex responded, "Are you sure... are you positive this is what you want?"

"yes..."

That was all Alex needed to hear. She knew this was probably a mistake, a bad one that could only end with her heart broken, but right now, at this moment, she couldn't find it in herself to care. With one swift sharp movement that Piper could barely even track, she shifted them both and suddenly Piper was perched on the end of Alex's bunk, leaning back on her hands. The vampire's arms were braced on either side of the blonde's fatigue clad legs as she leaned into Piper's personal space. Piper felt as though every nerve ending was simmering, her skin hypersensitive. It was like something inside Alex was calling to her. Like her entire being wanted nothing more than to respond.

"This what we're about Piper... seduction..." the gray green eyes were boring into hers with an almost unbearable intensity, radiating heat... her normally husky voice pitched an octave lower, breathy, soft, persistent, dripping with desire, "it's practically what we were built for. Every predator has to be able to attract its prey... and ours is humans..."

She grinned wolfishly exposing her canines, which had sharpened to points in a way Piper had never seen before. Piper was wearing only her standard issue tank top. Alex leaned forward towards Piper's exposed collarbone and laid a kiss there, so soft Piper barely registered it, although it still sent a shiver through her entire body... but that was nothing compared what she felt when Alex ran the tips of her fangs along the edge of her collarbone.

The sensation was like nothing she'd ever felt before, like someone running a live wire over her skin, sending heat straight to her core, "Fuck" she breathed and she felt Alex grin. How the fuck was she doing this? She'd barely even touched her, they hadn't even kissed...

As if reading her mind, Alex lifted her head and kissed her putting her arms around Piper and lowering her gently to the bed. When Piper slipped her tongue into Alex's mouth, she ran it along the tips of her canines and she felt Alex smile again.

Alex broke the kiss and drew back slightly so she could look Piper in the eye. The desire Piper had seen there earlier had only intensified, but there was something else there too... something that looked almost like insecurity. "Do you trust me?" she asked, her voice low.

"yes.." Piper breathed, and it was true. Somehow she knew instinctively, despite what Alex had said about predators and prey, that Alex would never hurt her.

A sort of relief flitted through Alex's eyes before being replaced by something else, something more primal... the look sent a shiver down Piper's spine. Alex leaned down again, kissing Piper again on the mouth before working her way slowly, torturously across her jawline... down to her neck...

Instinct said that Piper should've been terrified that a vampire was anywhere near her neck, but all she could do was shudder slightly in anticipation. She felt Alex trace a slow line over the pulse point of her neck with her tongue... and then there was a short sharp pain followed by the most intense feeling of pleasure she'd ever felt in her life... she felt it everywhere all at once and let go a noise that was somewhere between a moan and a gasp that would likely have embarrassed her if she'd had the ability to think in any sort of coherent way.

the only thought in her head at that moment was that she would never want or need anything other than this for as long as she lived...

Afterwards, Piper dropped off to sleep almost immediately, which wasn't unusual given that she'd lost about half a pint of blood (not that she hadn't enjoyed it immensely). Alex lay awake, staring at the ceiling. She felt completely energized, her awareness even more heightened than usual. She hadn't fed off an actual living breathing human for nearly a decade and she'd forgotten just how amazing it felt... especially when it was done like that.

However, her euphoria couldn't entirely drown out the voice in the back of her head. The one that was whispering to her what bad idea this was... the one that always took things to their worst possible conclusion. Normally she didn't overthink too much because she had faith in her ability to make things work... but this... she wasn't sure how she could deal with this. There was no way to fix the fact that Piper would die... no way that didn't involve turning her... and that was something Alex wouldn't even begin to allow herself to contemplate... ever..

A/N- Well there's chapter 2. this one is going to be relatively short compared to my others, probably only three chapters at best... fair warning lol. Please let me know what you think, good bad or indifferent...