This chapter has been updated and edited since I last posted because I was so freaking tired when I first uploaded it that it was riddled with mistakes. Please forgive me.

I am so sorry for the delay in this chapter! I've had uni deadlines and exam and it's all been pretty hectic on this side. I appreciate all the follows, favourites and especially the reviews so much and I really hope that you're all still with me! Exams are nearly over and so I hope to return to business as usual very soon!

As always enjoy!

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Piper stood outside her cubical, hands folded together in front of her as Mendez trashed her little room. The mattress had already been flipped off her bed and Piper couldn't help but grind her teeth a little as she heard a book thump against the wall. And then another. And another. After the final thud, Piper was positively fuming and her hands were now curled into tight fists, an action that didn't go unnoticed by Yoga Jones who stood serenely beside her. Mendez seemed to be taking a particularly long time searching through Piper's half of the cube, sure that she would have contraband, but he eventually had to move on. Exiting the cube, he yelled a loud "CLEAR" in her ear, nodded once at Jones with a smug smirk and then moved onto the next cube. Looking over at her bunk mate, Jones gave Piper a small, calming smile. Piper knew that her bunkie would have some calming words for her as soon as the inspection was over and she wasn't wrong. As the women of the subs began to pick up their things and tidy up their lives again, Piper felt a pair of eyes firmly on her.

"Sometimes it's easy to get agitated by the petty behaviour around you but it's often even easier to give them a smile. It will always set them of guard, Chapman. People don't expect you to be nice, especially not in here. It will confuse them and then you know you've got the upper hand. Being pleasant is easier than revenge. Don't give Mendez the satisfaction." Jones turned and began to sort her blanket out, leaving Piper contemplating her words for a moment. It never failed to amaze Piper how Jones could give advice that applied to any number of situations. Sure, Mendez was a petty bastard who took pleasure in making the inmates lives hell, but wouldn't it be easier to just be pleasant to Alex too? Trying to step around her and avoid her was more draining than she ever thought it could be. Maybe they didn't have to sort everything out now. Maybe they didn't need to talk through all their problems and iron out all the creases immediately. Maybe it should all start with a smile.

"You might be right, Jones" Piper said quietly, turning back to her books that were scattered across the floor. Jones simply nodded.

x-x-x

Piper wandered into the kitchen and glanced around her. It was an area that she had, of course, been in before but not in a work capacity. Much to her surprise, Caputo had called her into his office and told her that she would be working with Red in the kitchen. Gloria was still working there and the two feisty women had come to some kind of bitter agreement that involved them both working together. Neither would admit it, but they had learned an extraordinary amount from each other and the inmates were all grateful for the changes that had been made. Barbs were still thrown, but the pure anger and bitterness was weakening as the pair learnt to work amicably together.

"Ah. Newbie" Red said with a smile as she caught site of Piper looking suitably lost and unsure what to do with herself. "How good are you at cooking?" she asked, beckoning her over to where she stood slicing vegetables. Piper shrugged.

"Okay, I guess. I can make a couple of things". Red smiled her lopsided smile at the blonde.

"Well you won't need to. Do what I instruct and you'll be fine". Piper nodded. She could do that. Red pointed to a giant bag of carrots and a knife and waited for Piper to get to work.

"Come on, girl. Don't just stand there looking retarded". Pipers eyes widened slightly.

"Ohh" she breathed, before picking up the knife and beginning on the never ending tide of orange.

It didn't take long for Piper to get into the swing of things in the kitchen. It was kind of nice actually. They were allowed to have the radio on which they weren't allowed in the workshop, and the chatter between the Spanish girls was priceless entertainment- when they were speaking in English, that was. Although she had a small understanding of Spanish, they girls chatted away so quickly that a large percentage was lost on Piper. She never realised just how much those girls gossiped, and she kept a constant ear on them as they discussed every kind of drama going on in the prison, some of which was about people Piper had never even heard of. They switched fluently between English and Spanish, apparently not even realising at times and Piper listened with fascination as she cut up the carrots and then the potatoes systematically. A couple of times, she saw them glance in her direction and she was sure Alex and herself were mentioned, but she figured that they weren't the only ones talking quietly about her in the prison and there was nothing she could do about it but keep her head down and stay out of trouble.

Daya stayed oddly quiet as the girls talk, earning her her fairshare of glances and frowns. Now heavily pregnant, the rumour mill wasn't short of stories about who the father was and what she was going to do with the baby – Piper had heard everything up to a distant cousin in England looking after it until Daya was realeased. And as for the father, there wasn't a single guard that hadn't been discussed at one point or another, but it pretty much boiled down to Bennett or Mendez. Obviously.

Piper was so focused on her work and listening to the talk of the girls that she didn't realise Daya was stood beside her until she heard her speak.

"Are you nearly done with that?" she asked quietly. The timidity of the girl struck Piper and she wondered when it was the spark in Daya had started to go out. Sure, she was glowing but there was such a sadness around her. Piper looked down to the knife in her hand that Daya was indicating.

"Oh. Erm. Yeah nearly. Why?"

"It's the sharpest one we have and I need it to do my work" Daya told her matter-of-factly. Piper nodded.

"I'll just be a minute or two". She expected the girl to wander back to her station until she was done, but no. Daya stayed beside her and watched Piper continue to chop up the last remaining potatoes.

"So how are you?" Piper eventually asked, trying to get of rid of the awkward atmosphere that was swiftly settling between them.

"I've been better"

"Ah. Of course". Silence. "How's the baby?" she worried that it would be too personal, seeing as the women didn't really know each other, but Daya didn't have a chance to tell her to back off - or anything else for that matter.

"Chapman! What the hell are you doing in here?!" Mendez frowned at her in annoyance and then dropped his gaze to the knife in her hand. "Put that down immediately, inmate! We don't want another little situation do we?! Come with me!" Piper looked at him in shock.

"But… I've been assigned to the kitchen" she stuttered, painfully aware of all eyes on her and Mendez. He wasn't having any of it.

"Not likely, Chapman," he scoffed "put it down and come with me". Piper sighed and handed the knife to Daya. She gave an apologetic shrug to Red who gave her an eye roll in return, knowing full well how the prison worked by now.

As Piper made her way over to Mendez, the look of questioning concern that he gave Daya wasn't missed but there was no chance to linger on it as he quickly turned and pushed her towards the door and to Caputos' office.

x-x-x-x

Piper would never get over how freaking unorganised this place was. Caputo had seen no problem with her working in the kitchen until Mendez had pointed out that she probably shouldn't be working with knives after nearly killing a person with her bare hands. Caputo had looked blank for a moment before seeming to realise the flaw in his plan.

"Ohh yeah" he sighed, no doubt thinking about the paper work that he would now have to do to change Piper to a different assigned job. Piper had struggled to keep her sigh of exasperation from being audible. Seriously. She had thought it a little odd that she had been assigned to the kitchen, but she didn't realise the fact she would be working with knives and sharp objects had barely been considered at all. It was good to know the staff were so involved with their jobs here…

"Well bring her down to laundry then. Everywhere else has sharp things that she could use as a weapon". The urge to mention she was right there and didn't need to be spoken about as if she weren't was strong, but Piper bit her tongue and settled for an eye roll as Mendez barked a quick "come on" at her and chaperoned her out the office.

"You heard. Laundry. Off you go".

Laundry with Alex.

Fantastic.

x-x-x-x

"My my my, you just can't stay away, can you" Alex smirked at her, folding sheets quickly.

"It's your dazzling personality. I can't resist it" Piper said deadpan.

"You never could" Alex replied with a smirk which soon faded as neither knew what to say next. A moment of silence passed between them before Alex looked up at the blonde again.

"Can I help you?" she asked. "Where's your shit? Throw it over there and I'll sort it in a second." Piper shook her head.

"I'm not here for washing. I've been assigned to laundry". Alex looked at her blankly for a second.

"Oh" she says shortly and then a wry smile falls over her. "Well they really want to make your life hell don't they" Piper let out a small laugh and nodded.

"It's as if it's planned". Neither of the women speak for a second until Piper breaks the silence, painfully aware that a moment too long and the quiet could morph into awkwardness.

"So are you gonna show me what I'm doing or what?"

x-x-x-x

An hour later and Piper had the hang of pretty much everything. Laundry wasn't really an overly complicated task and Alex easily showed her the ropes. The hardest part was avoiding the death glared that she was receiving from Leanne. Tucky had clearly been moved from laundry – Piper didn't know where to – and her little sidekick wasn't too happy about it. But glares and glances Piper could cope with just fine. Folding shirts wasn't the most engaging task but Piper hummed lightly to herself as she worked. She had missed the fact that Alex's head had shot up when she had started humming. It was a habit that she had had ever since Alex had met her, humming whilst she was deep in thought, and the sound of the once-familiar habit had startled the dark haired woman, catching her attention straight away before she went back to work and tried to block out memories that infiltrate her mind.

Piper wasn't sure how much time had passed since, but it didn't seem like long before Nicky made her way down into the laundry room. After a quick explanation as to why Piper was working there in answer to her questioning look, Alex and Nicky retreated to a corner a little bit away from where the girls were working, much to Pipers curiosity. Looking over at them, she saw Nicky leaning against a wall and Alex stood with her arms crossed over her body, a hip casually popped. She couldn't hear what the pair were talking about and she tried not to be too obvious in the fact that she was eavesdropping, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't catch anything except from Nickys dirty laugh and giggles from Alex.

She hated herself for getting so annoyed at the sound. Their conspiring and secret talk and laughter brought out a pang of jealousy in her that she had so hoped would not appear, but she stubbornly fought it down and tried to ignore their laughter and pretend she didn't care what it was they were talking about.

It didn't work.

"Vause" Leann suddenly barked from over at a dryer she was emptying. Alex looked over at the sound of her name but quickly dismissed Leann.

"Fuck off" she said simply.

"Suit yourself. But they ain't gonna be happy when they find out you ignored this" she said. Alex, Piper and Nicky looked over to what the hick was holding in her hand.

At first Piper wasn't entirely sure it was she looking at. Stepping a little closer to get a better look, she saw that it was some kind of homemade weapon. A sturdy looking lid of some form formed the centre of it and four sharp razors had been melted into it so they jutted out each side dangerously. There had obviously been a lot of time put into ensuring the razors were set into the lid securely and tt was clearly made to inflict some pretty intense damage. But why the hell had it turned up in the bottom of a dryer?

"Holy shit. That's a shuriken" Nicky breathed as the pair came over to get a closer look. At Pipers blank face, she rolled her eyes. "Like a throwing star? They're some Japanese weapon shit. You can hide them pretty well and they can cause some serious damage. You throw em'. Who the fuck made it?" she asked, looking at Alex who shrugged and gave her a "don't fucking ask me" look back.

"Well what are we going to do with it?" Piper asked. Leann was looking at the makeshift weapon as if it were going to bite her. For someone who had been willing to stand guard as she was potentially killed, she sure looked scared of the item in her hand now.

"We gotta get rid of it"

"Yeah. Throw it out so someone can find it and have a little bit of sweet revenge. Great idea" Alex deadpanned.

"We could hand it in" Piper suggested. "Tell them we found it"

"Mhmm. They'll believe that. Next person to piss them off will have this lumped on them. You know what they're like" Nicky quickly shut down the idea. The four women stood in silence for a moment, all eyes trained on the star in front of them. Leann opened her mouth to make another suggestion, but before she could say anything, a voice cut her off.

"Well well well. What is it we have here ladies?". The women exchanged wideeyed looks which quite clearly all said the same thing.

Oh shit.

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So there's something a little bit different going on now and a plot is finally starting to form! Thank you so much for sticking with me and any thoughts on this chapter would be greatly appreciated if you have a moment!

Thank you.