A/N: Okay, so I know the OC is annoying and still bordering on Mary Sue, but I kind of needed to set her up this way for where the story is headed, so please don't kill me!
XOXOXO
Nicky was headed back to her cube after lunch. She had been in a shitty mood most of the day and just wanted to take a few minutes to clear her head. Luscheck had been more annoying than usual and kept dragging her into his stupid jokes. She would have punched him if she thought she could get away with it, but that was unlikely. She wasn't up for any playground drama today and just wanted to lie low for a while - give herself a chance to clear her head.
Almost everyone headed outside after lunch so she knew things would be quiet. She'd had a headache since work, the low-key atmosphere was exactly what Nicky was looking for.
She was about to enter the dorms when Healey called out to her. "Shit," Nicky mumbled, under her breath. She slowly turned around to face the guard and gave him a questioning and annoyed look. "What's up?"
He walked closer before speaking. "I just wanted to let you know that you've got a new bunkmate - one of the new girls. I wasn't sure about putting her with you, I thought you might be a little… intense, but Red assured me you'd stay in line. Don't stir up any trouble and try not to traumatize her. She doesn't seem like the type who is ready to handle your mocking or sarcasm."
Nicky shook her head at him in frustration. "Look I know I was gone for a while, but when have you known me to cause that kind of trouble? I'm an addict, not some territorial inmate with nothing better to do than have turf wars like some junior high idiot. As for the sarcasm, if you don't think she could handle it maybe you should have bunked her with someone else."
Healy held up his hands in defense. "It was Red's idea not mine, take it up with her."
"Since when did you start taking orders from inmates?" Nicky asked curiously.
Healy just looked at her knowingly. "When the inmate is someone who can cause serious trouble for me. She's also baking me a cake."
Nicky rolled her eyes and started walking again. She had a feeling who her new roomie would be. What the hell was Red playing at? So much for a quiet break. She felt like she was fucking babysitting - something she knew she had never been good at.
Her mother had once forced her to babysit one of her friend's three kids. Needless to say, when their mom got home and saw the sharpie artwork they had done on each other's skin she was less than amused. The fact that Nicky had destroyed the kitchen trying to make food and had gotten into her good wine, was even less amusing. A few incidents like that and her mom had never forced her to hang around anyone's kids again.
When she got back to her cube Nicky wasn't surprised to see Red's pet project there. The younger woman was sitting on her bed forehead crinkled in thought, her bedding still neatly piled on her bed next to her. She hadn't noticed Nicky come in, which only made the older of the two sigh heavily.
"Hey kid," Nicky said, stepping into the cube. "You gonna make your bed or what? That shit doesn't get done for you around here."
The girl snapped to, as Nicky's voice echoed within the cinder-blocked walls. "Yeah... right, I'm sorry. I just wasn't sure if…" she trailed off, looking around their cube nervously.
The girl met Nicky's eyes and the redhead sighed. She sat down across from her. "Look, you live here now too. I'm not as picky as some of the other girl's. Just don't take my stuff and I won't mess with yours. There's basically two of everything. The stuff on your side of the room you can use."
"I don't have anything," she said quietly.
Nicky rolled her eyes, God this girl better not be this dense. "No one does when they get here. You'll get stuff don't worry." She saw the girl's eyes wander around the room again. She looked like she had no idea how she ended up here. Which wasn't unusual, but was annoying as fuck. "Kid, I don't bite - well not unless you ask me to."
She waited a beat, but there was no reaction to her joke, which just annoyed her more. "You could have ended up with far less entertaining company. Although, by the lack of reaction to my jokes maybe I'm the one with the bad company. What's your name kid?"
"I'm sorry," she said tears in her eyes, "I didn't mean to upset you. It's just all so new. I promise I'll try not to bother you or be in the way."
"Fuck," Nicky sighed. "Listen, you gotta toughen up in here. They're gonna eat you alive with all this naive nonsense you got going on. Snap out of it, just think of it like summer camp, but with more rules, less artwork, and you don't get to go home."
The girl nodded, processing this information. Something about it had apparently clicked because a brief look of determination washed over her features. "My name's Samantha, but everyone calls me Sam," she said, answering Nicky's earlier question.
"I'm Nicky, but it's all last name's here mostly, so everyone calls me Nichols. What's your last name kid?"
"Stephens," she said awkwardly. She was pretty sure that was going to be at least one Stephens already there.
Nicky shook her head. "Nope that's not going to work. We've already got a handful of them. Let's go with Montgomery. You don't do magic right?" At least this time she got a small smile in response.
Nicky leaned forward, hands on her knees as she chewed on her bottom lip. This was ridiculous. Is this what kindergarten teacher's felt like on the first day of school? She hated kids. "Don't worry, most of the girl's in here won't even get the reference, so the teasing will be a minimum."
After a moment of silence, Sam still hadn't moved. "Alright, up on your feet kid. I'll help you, but seriously you have got to snap out of it," Nicky said as she stood up and walked across the cube. She grabbed the girl's bedding and shoved a sheet into her hands.
They made the bed quickly and quietly. Nicky was ready to scream. Normally, by this point, she would have lost her temper and walked out to the yard, but then she thought of Red. Damn you. They were going to have a serious talk after dinner about all this.
For lack of a better distraction, Nicky grabbed one of the books on her desk and started reading. Well, she tried to read, but she couldn't help be distracted by Sam. Nicky was curious by nature – which usually ended her up in trouble, but this was harmless. It was just annoying as hell. She was trying to ignore the girl and all she wanted to do was ask questions.
She couldn't imagine what she was in here for. How the hell had this girl been brave enough to commit any damn crimes?
Sam sat there for a while, but now she was back on her feet. Nicky had thought maybe they'd made a little progress and the shock was wearing off, but it turned out that the shock had really just turned into panic. Fuck. She didn't say anything at first, but then sat up.
"Kid, you gotta chill out. You're making me dizzy with all that pacing," Nicky said, watching the girl tread a path in the floor. "Why don't you go outside, get some air. You'll feel better." Nicky knew prison took some adjusting to, but this was ridiculous. This girl would never make it unless she got a grip on herself and even then it was debatable.
When it seemed like Sam hadn't even heard her, she sighed and stood in the girl's way. She dropped heavy hands on her shoulders, but instead of calming her the younger woman jumped at the touch. Nicky looked at her incredulously.
"Hey, look, I'm only trying to help. Come on, sit down." She dragged the girl over to the bunk across from her own and shoulder bumped her when they sat. Sensitive wasn't exactly her thing, but she was trying.
She nodded a few times to herself, trying to figure out what the hell to say. She'd tried to be nice, but it wasn't working. Red always used tough love with her, but that didn't seem like the greatest of ideas either.
"Look, you missed lunch, but maybe I can go scrounge you something up in the kitchen. Would that help?"
Sam shook her head. "I'm not really hungry." Silence. "You shouldn't worry about me. I'll be fine. I don't want to keep you from whatever you would normally be doing."
"Hey, you're not keeping me from shit. It's not exactly like I'm headed to Disney or anything. This is prison - you'll get used to it. Still feeling panicky?"
Sam nodded. "Yeah, I'm not usually an anxious person…"
"Oh, I can tell," Nicky said laughing, not believing her for one second. "Come on, I got an idea." She stood up, but when Sam didn't move, she reached out her hand and pulled the girl to her feet.
They were walking out of the dorm, into one of the halls when Nicky spotted Fisher. "Hey, there Suzie Q. I got a favor to ask."
Fischer blushed slightly, but gave Nicky a warning look. "You know we don't do favors Nichols."
She was one of Nicky's favorite CO's and not just because she knew how to rile her up a little. "It's not for me and it's not that kind of favor. Although…" Nicky winked at her.
She waited a minute, enjoying watching Fischer squirm a little. "New girl here is going to work herself into a damn panic attack and it's making me a little crazy. Maybe you could take her down to the clinic and have them help her out a little?"
Fischer shook her head. "You know they're not going to give her anything like that. The clinic has to do a full evaluation before distributing any prescriptions and you know how long it can take for them to get around to that. Besides, they don't like to give those out anyways."
"Yeah, but I was noticing - her sinuses seem all sorts of clogged up and she's been complaining of a headache, must be allergic to something around here. Maybe they could give her a little Benadryl?"
As if on cue, Sam sneezed. Both Fischer and Nicky looked at her surprised, but neither commented.
Giving Nicky a knowing look, Fischer called down to the clinic to let them know she was bringing someone down.
Nicky continued to stare at Sam, who merely winked in response. Okay so maybe this girl did have a little potential. She caught on quick.
"Alright, follow me," Fischer said, as she started to walk towards the clinic. "I'm Fischer, by the way. What's your name?"
Sam followed in step, as she answered, "Samantha. Samantha Stephens."
Nicky chirped in, "I'm calling her Montgomery - too many damn Stephens already."
Fischer laughed, a little too amused by the joke. "Nicky, you know they're not going to let you in with her. Why don't you head back?"
Nicky smirked, "I'm merely her tour guide. I'll walk her back home when you're done."
"I can do that," Fischer said. It was rather obvious, she'd be headed back that way anyways, but Nicky knew Red wanted her to stick close.
"Yeah, but now you can head back right away. Besides, I've got to let her in on all the inmate secrets - you'll just bore her with all the serious stuff," Nicky said with a wink.
Fischer just shook her head, amused by Nicky and didn't say anything else on the subject. Nicky was one of her favorite's too. "So, Samantha, how long are you here for?"
"Three years," she said, quietly. It still hadn't fully sunk in. Time was funny that way, but saying it out loud had somehow made it more real again. Her breathing shook slightly and she stumbled.
Nicky shared a look with Fischer. "Oh no you don't," Nicky said. "Three years is nothing, kid. You'll be out before you know it." She tossed an arm around, Sam's shoulder and squeezed gently.
Fischer smiled at the gesture, but pretended to ignore it. If Red was the mother of Litchfield, Nicky was most definitely the big sister.
"Alright, here we are. Nicky, if you want to wait around you're going to have to stay out here." Fischer ducked into the clinic and let the nurse know what was going on.
"Alright, you're all set," she said to Sam. "Like I said Nicky, I can walk her back - it's really no trouble."
"I got her," Nicky said gratefully. She was grateful. Fischer did a lot for them and in return Nicky went out of her way to give her the same respect. "You get back to the circus. I'm sure they're getting into some sort of trouble."
"Let's hope not," Fischer said, smiling crookedly. "It was nice meeting you Samantha."
Sam replied, "You too, thank you." Since meeting Nicky, everything had seemed so surreal. None of this had been what she expected - even down to the building. She had expected cement, dirt, bars, and lots and lots of emotional scarring.
"Anytime. Just let me know if you need anything. Bye girls," she said, walking away with an awkward little wave.
Samantha looked at Nicky curiously. She hadn't expected Fischer to be so nice or polite. It was beyond bizarre. It was one more thing to add to the ever growing list of surprises.
"Don't get used to it kid," Nicky chuckled. "She's the exception, not the rule." She grabbed Sam by the shoulders and pointed her to the clinic. "Go get your meds."
A moment or two later, Sam came back out. Nicky was leaning up against the wall, talking to a tall thin blond woman. "Oh hey," Nicky said, standing up and walking over. "All set?"
Sam nodded and Nicky continued talking. "This is Chapman. She was you a few years ago, but look she survived - sort of."
The blond smacked Nicky playfully and grinned. "It does get easier. Nicky's right about that. Just, don't believe everything she says. She likes to screw around with the newbies. If you need anything let me know."
Sam nodded a little overwhelmed, the blond was much more intense than Nicky or Fischer had been, she seemed a little intense. "I appreciate it and I may take you up on that some time, but for now I think I'm okay."
"Course you are," Nicky said, once more tossing her arm around the girl's shoulder. She still thought she was going to be a pain in the ass, but it wasn't horrible spending time with her now that she wasn't cowering in shell-shocked fear.
Piper grinned. "Okay, you two have fun. I have to go track down Yoga Jones, she said she had some stretches to show me that could help with my neck. It's been crazy sore lately."
"Think it's from looking down on everyone so much there, Pipes?" In a hushed voice, Nicky leaned over and spoke to Sam, "Piper here is a little bit WASP-y, but we're working on it."
Piper glared at her. "Very funny. You know what I did to Doggett, don't think I'm not afraid to scuffle anymore."
"I do aim to please, but, uh, I like my teeth just fine as they are." Nicky added, a flirtatious tone in her voice, "Unless you want to do the other kind of scuffling."
Piper laughed. "Get lost perv. She's going to think you're as lecherous as you sound."
Looking at her with fake shock Nicky asked, "I'm not? You wound me Chapman, I must be losing my touch -gonna have to work on that."
"Bye guys," Piper said. "Oh! Sam, just a little tip, because this one is horrible about giving people a heads up, Red runs the kitchen. Don't fuck up and saying something you'll regret in front of her." She took off in the opposite direction, playfully shoving Nicky as she passed.
Nicky flicked her off and led Sam back to their cube. "So kid, how you feeling? That start to kick in yet? It's not a legit solution, but it's the best you're gonna get around here. If they started prescribing benzo's they'd spread just as fast as the drugs smuggled in."
"I feel about the same really, but maybe a little less scared?" Sam said. "I don't know why you think it's going to help though. You know the sneeze was fake right?"
Nicky walked along beside her, dropping her arm from the other inmate's shoulder. "Yeah, I know. Good job by the way, quick to catch on and not a half bad faker. That's always useful in here. Some of these girls are just plain stupid."
"The Benadryl though?" Sam asked again.
"Oh right. Well, my mom went through this pill-popping stage when I was a kid. Solely my fault I'm sure, drugs are bad - don't let her fool you. Anyways, the doctors didn't want to give her anything for anxiety after that, so they gave her Benadryl to sedate her a little. Man I miss those. It was the only time I can remember that she wasn't screaming at me," she finished, sounding a little wistful.
"Why would it have been your fault?" Sam asked, curiously. Everything about Nicky's story seemed out of context and she wanted to get to know her, especially if this was someone she was sharing a room with.
Nicky smirked. "I'm a junkie kid, everything wrong with her life is my fault or so she keeps telling me."
Sam stayed silent for a few minutes. "I'm sorry she's like that. It's gotta be rough for you."
"Not anymore," Nicky smiled. "I sort of got a fresh start in here. She's got her life and thankfully she's out of mine. Sometimes, you just stumble into where you're supposed to be." They were near the cubes and Nicky could see the effect of the medicine. Sam seemed more relaxed and a little sleepy.
"You mean like fate?" Sam asked, surprised that Nicky would buy into anything like that. "I wouldn't take you for the type."
The redhead shrugged. "Fate, destiny, kismet? Eh, not really things I subscribe to, but in here - things just started to make sense. Call it whatever you want, but I'm grateful."
They walked into the mostly empty dorms. There was a dark haired girl sitting in one of the bed's they passed, reading a book.
Nicky stopped to talk to her for a moment and not knowing what else to do, Sam stayed with her.
"Hey Vause," Nicky said, resting her hands on the wall. She dropped her chin onto her arms and cheekily said, "Ran into your girlfriend, said she was having neck problems. You gotta stop pulling her hair."
The other woman laughed, putting a bookmark in the book she'd been reading. "Jealous?" she teased.
"Just intrigued," Nicky said. "You'll have to show me one of these days. Or maybe I should get Chapman to show me? I'm starting to wonder if you're doing something wrong or I'm doing everything just right."
Vause grabbed a pillow and threw it at her. Nicky caught it before it hit her and laughed. "That all you got? Sheesh, this one might be able to take you," she said, nodding towards Sam.
"Ignore her," Alex said to Sam. "I'm Alex by the way."
Samantha was laughing at their banter. It was starting to feel normal. That thing about camp that Nicky had said, seemed really true. "I'm Sam, Nicky's been showing me around. She's been on her best behavior from what I can tell."
Alex laughed. "That's only out of fear. Wait until you meet Red? You'll see Nicky's weakness - no one else can keep her in line."
"You're killing me here Vause, I've got to bunk with this kid. Let me be a little scary."
"Oh you're plenty scary all on your own Nicky, don't ever doubt that." She stuck out her tongue and Nicky threw her pillow right back at her.
"Come on, let's let the bookworm get back to her anti-social ways," Nicky said, heading back to their cube. "You look half dead on your feet already. Feeling better?"
"I think so, but I'm really tired."
"Have you never taken Benadryl before? Geeze, that shit 'll knock you out. Come on, you've got time to take a nap before dinner." She gently shoved Sam towards her bunk. "No one will mess with you in here. Not yet anyways. Red has taken care of that."
Sam was lay down, facing Nicky. She hadn't bothered with the covers even though it was cold. "Is Red your girlfriend?" she asked, sleep coating her voice.
Nicky laughed. "God no, she's my mom. Not the pill-popping one," she added. "She kind of just took me under her wing when I first got here. She's pretty much the maternal figure to the majority of the suburb kids. You'll like her, just don't piss her off."
Sam nodded in understanding, trying to stay awake. She was too tired to even ask about the suburbs. Nicky smirked at her. "Alright kid, you get some shut eye. There's something I gotta go do." Without thinking about it, she grabbed the blanket Norma had made her and covered Sam up with it.
Nicky shook her head at herself and sighed. You're getting soft Nichols.
She needed to talk to Red. Sam was less annoying than she seemed in the beginning, but Nicky still didn't like being responsible for her. Besides, not annoying didn't mean she wouldn't be a dead weight. If she fucked up or got herself into trouble it would be Nicky's ass on the line.
Nicky just wanted an out. She liked her freedom and she didn't like rules that she couldn't break. You didn't break Red's rules though.
As she passed Alex's cube again, she stopped. "Hey, do me a favor? She's sleeping, but keep an eye on her for me until I get back?"
"It's going to cost you." Alex replied, grinning.
Nicky tilted her head back and sighed. "Can't just do it out of the goodness of your heart? Fine, I'll get Red to give you some extra dessert."
Alex smiled. "Oh right, because asking mommy for a favor is such a big deal for you," she said, exaggerating how much trouble it was for Nicky. "Go do your thing, she'll be fine with me."
"Yeah, yeah," Nicky said in amusement. "Cause it's not like she isn't twice as hard on me as the rest of you."
"Oh please. Remember who you're talking to? We both know you love it."
Nicky dropped her head and smiled a little. "I'll see you later." Knowing Sam would be alright in Vause's care, Nicky headed out of the dorms in search of Red.