A/N: Hey guys. Here's the next bit. After this one it's going to start getting a little more intense, but for me personally, it's super important to get the whole intensity between Piper and Alex first, and then speed up the plot. Don't worry though, it's all written down on a trusty piece of paper now, so I know exactly what I'm doing with the rest of it. Thanks for the follows/likes/reviews as ever. Love ya x

'Wear something sexy.' Alex's gravelly tones resonated furiously throughout Piper's head as she aggressively stripped down to jet black, finely detailed, lacy underwear, tossing yet another dress over her shoulder in a random direction, for once completely neglecting the fact that having a messy room would cause a spike in her stress levels. Turning away from her mirror and advancing rapidly across her spacious, almost exclusively white room towards her wardrobe, which took up its own wall, Piper groaned, telling herself that she would clear this mess up later because, right now, she had far more important things to do, such as picking out an outfit for a date with simultaneously the hottest yet most intimidating woman she had ever encountered. A date with a woman was still confusing enough for her, but then Piper remembered, oh yeah, and you're meant to be building a case against said woman. Piper sighed and, without any hesitation, downed the remainder of the small glass of white wine that she had helplessly employed in order to suppress the panic that was slowly bubbling up in her chest. Her previously frequent reminders to herself that Alex was technically her enemy were beginning to become a great deal more sparsely included in her inner dialogue, and the more Piper cast even the tiniest, most diffident little thought over Alex Vause, the more she started to dislike the idea of having to effectively imprison the tall, frustratingly striking woman that had occupied so many of her lazy daydreams over the past week; most of which had taken place at work, and had thus resulted in Piper getting nothing productive done over the past few days in the office, even the most basic of paperwork. Feeling like she was fighting a losing battle, Piper shakily lowered herself onto the edge of her bed and rested her head in her hands, exhaling deeply. Why? She cast her eyes up to the ceiling, asking whoever; whatever, was above. Piper was unsure if these unseen forces were truly malevolent, or were just purely taking the piss when there was a knock at the door. Piper's head whipped round, her eyes focussing immediately on the clock on her nightstand, seven o'clock exactly, it read, and Piper broke into nothing short of a cold sweat as she stared listlessly at herself in the mirror, makeup on, but slightly mussed hair and a severe lack of clothes. It was safe to say that Piper was not ready.

'Holy fucking shit.'

Piper blindly scrambled through the abundance of clothes that were oh-so-helpfully littered all over her floor, and finally she spotted and grabbed her white, silk robe, cursing herself for not bothering to clear up earlier. It was so ridiculously typical that this one time, where she desperately needed the covering of her trusty robe, was also the one time where it looked as if a tornado had devastatingly swept through her wardrobe, evicting all of the once peacefully hanging garments from within it. Before long there was another, more forceful knocking at the door, and Piper leapt into action, skittering out into the open plan living area towards the door, taking a second to quickly straighten a cushion on the way, and, most importantly, checking that there were no work-related items or files or papers or anything around the room. No, you locked them in the chest of drawers earlier, stupid, Piper's mind scolded her for panicking. As her slender fingers nervously closed around the door handle, Piper took one last look around at her bright, sleekly furnished flat, in which every kitchen surface was a shining pale granite, every wall was showcasing a selection of modern art, and every DVD on the far shelf was most certainly alphabetised. Pristine, she nodded to herself in approval of her home before hastily unlocking the door and opening it. Piper was immediately glad that she'd had that tiny amount of wine, because she was going to need all the bold confidence she could muster this evening considering the vision before her. There stood Alex, as tall and speechlessness-inducing as Piper remembered, but this time, with her previously straight hair in loose, cascading curls which were as dark as night itself, more pronounced eyeliner flicks, and an outfit to end any of the outfits that were currently lying on Piper's bedroom floor. Alex wore an immaculately black midi dress with a plunging neckline and long sleeves made of a fine, dark mesh, along with one of the most stunning necklaces that Piper had ever seen, a daintily bejewelled choker made of the finest, most glimmering stoneswhich Piper ogled thinking, fuck me, they could even be diamonds... The whole outfit clung to Alex's body like a second skin, and Piper didn't even try to resist roaming her eyes over every faultless curve of Alex's. Her ass looked amazing, her boobs looked amazing, and her face looked fucking amazing. Piper felt like a horny teenager as she so openly admired the wonderful form of Alex Vause; so wonderful in fact, that Piper hadn't actually said anything since she'd opened the door. You, Piper mentally kicked herself, embarrassed, are a fucking idiot, Piper. A fucking idiot.

"Hey, Pipes." Alex's smirk was obvious; it looked like she was almost laughing, and the little voice in Piper's head scoffed. Yep, she's got you, Chapman, you're done. Good luck, you fucker. With that, the voice departed, and Piper's head was comfortably empty. She shyly smoothed out the creases in her robe, which she was now realising was scandalously short, and cleared her throat, before looking up at Alex. "Hey there." Piper said sheepishly. She smiled a little and started to feel her cheeks flush when Alex raised an eyebrow questioningly and cast her eyes over Piper's form in the most painstakingly slow and blatant fashion that Piper had ever experienced. Long, toned legs, a fucking robe that only just skimmed Piper's thighs and tousled blonde hair was all glaring Alex in the face, and there was little she could do to avoid commenting.

"So, did you dress for after the date before we've even beenon the date?" Alex leaned casually in the doorframe, folding her arms and chuckling that low chuckle that had fast become one of Piper's favourite sounds. "Bit presumptuous, Pipes, dontcha think?" Alex wiggled her eyebrows and Piper smiled goofily, hanging her head to conceal her embarrassment before explaining to Alex that she simply hadn't picked an outfit for the evening yet and was running a bit late, and so Piper insisted that the taller woman wait in her apartment for a few minutes. Alex crossed the threshold into the apartment and looked at Piper again, seeing that she was a little nervous and thinking it sweet, even though 'sweet' was not typically an adjective that resided in Alex's vocabulary. But tonight, Alex could've sworn that cardiac problems were imminent due to the blonde's irradiating shyness, yet subtle sexiness that was currently rendering Alex's lungs useless.

Fuck that fucking robe.

It was at this moment that Alex Vause decided that she would play nice this evening, by toning down her regular, crude comments in a hope that she would have more success with Piper, which is ultimately what she wanted. Well, no, ultimately she wanted Piper to cum, actually. All in good time, Alex licked her lips; eyeing Piper as she sauntered off into what the taller woman imagined must have been the blonde's bedroom, somewhere that she so desperately hoped that she would become familiar with sooner or later...hopefully sooner. The deliciously scheming raven-haired woman gracefully lowered herself into a plush armchair and crossed her legs; all in good time, she told herself again.

Generally, Alex prided herself in being quite a patient person; she was pretty chill. But when Piper failed to emerge from the bedroom after nearly fifteen minutes, even Alex and her mellow attitude were getting fidgety. Standing up, she decided that she'd give Piper a little longer and, in the meantime, have a snoop around her apartment, which was perfectly reasonable considering that the majority of it appeared to be contained in this airy expanse of open plan living. Alex trailed her hand delicately along the granite breakfast bar which divided the kitchen from the rest of the space, and noticed how there was not a speck of dust anywhere, and clutter was completely absent from every corner of the apartment. Neat freak, Alex quickly deduced, and this somewhat unsurprising observation was quickly confirmed as Alex pulled open a couple of kitchen drawers to find pots and pans fitted perfectly around each other, crockery stacked meticulously, and the utensils adequately arranged so that they could all be seen. Alex's eyes bulged a little at that final drawer, her eyes scanning each carefully placed utensil curiously, lingering on a fair few and her mind simply thinking, what the FUCK is that? Honestly, anything past a wooden spoon or a whisk was a little too technical for Alex; the last time she checked, you did not need half of these strange items to eat Chinese takeaway, which was the style of 'cooking' that she was more accustomed to. Gently shutting the drawer, Alex sauntered back into the main living area, and with there still being no sign of Piper, she wondered over to a nearby chest of drawers absentmindedly. Had the key not been sat welcomingly in the lock, Alex wouldn't have dared inspect the second drawer down in understanding that it most likely housed something, or things, that were sentimental, or important, or kinky. Alex rolled her eyes at her fleeting thoughts as she tried to ignore the burning desire that had been set alight within her: she wanted to know what was in that drawer. The key is right there, Alex. Her mind taunted. She's practically left it there for you to use. Go on. The dark voice prompted and prompted her, but quickly as Alex reached out a hand to make her discovery, she retracted it. Whatever was in there was private, and so Alex would respect Piper's wishes and keep it that way. If it was anyone else, then she probably wouldn't have spared them a second thought, and would have eagerly unlocked the weird, secret keeping drawer. But Piper is different, for fucks sake. Alex wondered two things at this point: one, how someone had managed to finally instate good-girl morals in her, and two, why this someone was running so late.

Having had enough, Alex stormed over to the bedroom, and, without thinking, flung open the door, which suddenly brought her face to face with Piper, who had obviously been about to exit the room. As Alex's gaze fell upon Piper, her train of thought crashed, leaving her brain deathly silent and her mouth unfortunately incapable of forming any words. Instead, Alex just looked; she looked Piper up and down, for a good ten seconds. The blonde wore smart, black shorts that weren't a great deal longer than her previous, skimpy robe, tucked into which was a white chiffon blouse which boasted a delectably plummeting neckline, and thus showed off a long, slender v-shape of lightly bronzed skin, which appeared as if it would be irresistibly smooth to touch. Alex swallowed nervously and willed herself to say something, but it was safe to say that for once, despite all these years of badass-ness, she was speechless. Yes, Alex Vause was practically speechless, and Piper Chapman was:

"Beautiful..." the word softly escaped Alex's mouth as if it was an accident, and colour began to spread across her porcelain face immediately.

Piper looked up at Alex with widened, blue Bambi eyes. Her cheeks were flushed and her expression was once of the sweetest innocence intermingled with the tiny flecks of anxiety that Alex could see so clearly in the shorter woman's blue orbs. For a moment, Alex had exposed herself; she had let her sarcastic, hard exterior come crumbling down, and this had left Piper in a state of shock. The shorter woman's mind, which, for the past fifteen or so minutes, had been buzzing and trying its hardest to focus Piper on matters of work, slowed down to a sluggish and unresponsive pace, and it was at this moment where Piper first saw Alex as something other than a dangerously attractive criminal. It was at this moment where Piper saw vulnerability, warmth, and the tiniest flicker of bashfulness in the usually steely eyes of Alex Vause, and Piper was helplessly drawn to it, much like the pole of a magnet to its opposite.

Alex cleared her throat a little awkwardly and began to move towards the door. "Shall we go?" She smiled crookedly, trying to regain the confidence that she usually harboured within her but was finding increasingly hard to tap into where Piper was concerned. Piper nodded and joined Alex on the other side of the room, where the taller woman had already opened the door. Piper mentally recalled the answers that she needed from Alex this evening, despite the fact that they were becoming fuzzier and fuzzier, as was the whole 'work' segment of her brain. Satisfied that she could just about remember them all, but worryingly, becoming gradually less keen to gather this information, Piper locked the door behind them, before turning round to see Alex standing, gazing at her; waiting for her. Piper stared back intently. Who cares if she's a woman, the little voice was back, apparently with a new perspective on things, she's fucking wonderful.

"What?" Alex's amused, low tones filled the empty corridor as the pair waited for the lift to get down to street level. Piper shrugged and half-smiled at her, to which Alex cocked her head, smiling back. "No, seriously, what?" She said, more fixedly, "you gotta tell me." She whined, nudging Piper in the arm, who turned to look at her, the blonde's expression was something that Alex couldn't quite read.

"You look beautiful too." Piper said quietly, before a sudden ding indicated that the lift had arrived, slashing through the comfortable silence that had descended on the pair.

As they stepped inside the lift, neither Alex nor Piper could hide their smiles.

Hook, line and sinker, Vause. You're a gonner. Alex adjusted her glasses, still reeling inside from what Piper had said to her. There was something about Piper. She wanted to blindly trust Piper with all of her deepest, darkest secrets. Maybe she should.

You're about to have a massive problem here. Piper knew her conscience was right. You're going to have to make some choices. Some very hard choices, and very soon. Right again, Piper wanted to wince. She knew what was coming, she knew what she was feeling, and she knew that a terrifying ultimatum was hurtling her way. Piper shivered.