It had already been one week since Piper was dragged into SHU. Alex was almost mad with worry. She did her best to distract herself with work but the presence of Leanne always there nagged at her every second of the day. There was no escape from her. Leanne's smug smile whenever she saw Alex was near driving her mad and it was all she could do to think that it would help no one if Alex got thrown into the SHU too. That Sunday Alex was in the rec room, beating Nicky somewhat half-heartedly at scrabble.
"Oh, give me a break I swear the only thing I ever get is goddamn vowels!" Nicky growled as she stared down at her letters. When Alex didn't respond she looked up at her and sighed. "Damn it Vause, she'll be okay. Piper's tough as nails."
Alex smiled, appreciating Nicky's attempt to comfort her but she knew that Piper wasn't tough, Piper wasn't a strong person – not in the way she needed to be to survive SHU.

"I'm so glad college got thrown in SHU. She coulda' killed me; I always said them lesbians was crazy…" An all too familiar voice droned on.
The rec room got very quiet then; it was easy to say that Litchfield had been dreading the day that Pennsatucky got out of the infirmary and back into the prison. There was an internal groan as Pennsatucky and her faithful group of followers piled into the rec room and took up most of the space. Alex saw Nicky watching her carefully, as much as Alex pretended that she couldn't give two shits about Piper Chapman everyone knew that she was just trying to bullshit them and herself.
"Nicky, put your fucking letters down already." Alex muttered, doing her best to drown out Pennsatucky as she continued to slander Piper. Nicky put down each letter on the scrabble board very slowly, as if she was contemplating what each letter meant to her.
"I think it's safe to say I've lost this game, let's just go back to your bunk Vause." She said after a moment, discarding the rest of her letters onto the table.
Alex sighed, "No, I want to play." She replied, putting down her own letters.
Nicky looked warily from Alex to Pennsatucky and then back again before picking up her letters and trying to form a new word.
"If she had just accepted God's LOVE then NONE of this woulda' happened!" Pennsatucky was almost shouting now and Alex could feel her eyes bore into her skull. Alex shook her head, refusing to give Pennsatucky what she wanted.
"Of course, then nobody woulda' seen her for what she is… A stoopid, lesbian, whore!" Pennsatucky continued, "You see! GOD TOLD ME! What she really was… And I saw for myself the Devil that is PIPER CHAPMAN!" Pennsatucky had gone into full preach mode now and Alex couldn't take it anymore. She stood up suddenly causing her chair to slide back and fall behind her and she turned venomously to Pennsatucky. She saw her smile, showing off a great row of brand new pearly white teeth.
"You hate her…" Alex began voice cold and devoid of emotion. "I get it. No really, I do. She's pretentious, thinks she's too good for some people. Throws a fit when she doesn't get what she wants and doesn't give a rat's ass about anyone but herself. Sure, I can see why you hate, loathe and despise her. But I swear to God, yours and mine, that if you do not shut the fuck up about her right now…" Alex paused, giving Pennsatucky a cold and dark stare. "I will finish off what she started and your nice new teeth there? Well they'll look as bad as your face did when Piper punched your previous ones out." Alex stood strong, not breaking eye contact with Pennsatucky; she couldn't afford to look weak. She didn't want Piper to have such power over her anymore, that people like Pennsatucky could constantly use it against her like this. Alex would not let them win. Not again.

Alex stared Pennsatucky down until she and her gang left the rec room and once they were out of sight Alex stalked out, heading towards the track.

Alex slowed down as she got closer to the track and she sat down against a tree that stood facing it. She sighed and ran her hands through her hair before pushing up her glasses onto the top of her head. She briefly wondered how she had got into such a mess before she reminded herself that it was her own fault she was here. It was her who allowed herself to get dragged into the criminal lifestyle and while it was good, oh god it was good, she wasn't sure it was worth losing the one thing she loved more than anything over. The drugs had been a good escape for a while but it was their fault in the end that she got caught. She had already heard that a few others high up in the ring had been arrested and she knew better than to stay where she was but she couldn't get away from the drugs. It was a mere miracle that Robert had found her when he did... One of her most prized gay mules had saved her from the very thing that she thought gave her the freedom she had always craved and yet it had been one of the things that imprisoned her in the end. She could almost laugh at the irony. Alex shook her head; she didn't want to linger on the thoughts of those dark days. Alex let her head lull back against the tree and she enjoyed the warmth of the sun on her face and as she closed her eyes she almost believed that she was still free.

"Alex? Wake up, Jesus!" Piper exclaimed. "We're going to miss our flight if you do not get your ass up right now." She said sternly.
Alex groaned and stretched on the bed, opening her eyes she caught Piper's eye and smiled groggily. "I love it when you boss me around like that." She laughed and held her arms up to protect herself from the pillow that Piper threw at her. It took Alex around 5 minutes to throw on some sweat pants and a t-shirt and tie her hair up in a ponytail. It was going to be a long flight and Alex didn't see the point of dressing up when she was going to be cooped up in a flying metal object for 12 hours. Piper was rushing around the house, making phone calls to her family so they would know she was still alive whilst also running back and forth from the closet to throw piles of clothes into suitcases. Alex briefly wondered why they hadn't packed the night before but then she saw the bottles of beer that littered the living room floor and she smirked, remembering why. Alex slouched down onto the sofa, kicking bottles out of her way, and yawned again. She never made a big fuss about travelling anymore but she had to admit that travelling with Piper always gave her a certain thrill – one she had never felt before. This both scared and fascinated Alex, she wasn't the type to tie herself down to one place or one girl and yet she found that Piper made her almost want to do that. They were flying to Borneo today, even though the island was fairly rural and very remote she had some big clients out there who paid extra to have Alex deliver the goods herself. Alex could never say no to an exotic holiday. Alex must have fallen asleep again because the next thing she knew was Piper shaking her awake again furiously and then dragging her up and down to the cab that would take them to the airport.
"Jesus Piper, calm the fuck down." She muttered once they were both seated.
"Sorry, you know how I get when we're not prepared and we haven't planned." She mumbled.
Alex chuckled, "Mmhmm, and whose fault was it that I was interrupted in the middle of packing last night?" She asked, arching an eyebrow at Piper mischievously.
"Shut up. That was so your fault, not mine." Piper blushed anyway, provoking another laugh out of Alex. Alex pulled Piper close to her, wrapping her arm around her shoulders.
"Looking forward to an exotic holiday?" She began, "I'm sure we'll get to know our hotel room very well…" She whispered to Piper who blushed yet again.

"Vause?" A gentle hand was shaking Alex awake.
"Shhh, we can miss the flight..." Alex muttered, half-asleep still and not realising where she was for a moment.
"We can? That's good, where are we going again?" The voice asked.
"Borneo, we're exploring our hotel room…" Alex smiled groggily, she still hadn't opened her eyes and so when she went to roll over and felt her head hit something hard and definitely not bed-like her eyes snapped open. "What the…" She muttered and sat up, confused, rubbing her head.
"Oh Vause, you make me feel so special." Nicky laughed, placing her hand on her heart and pretending to wipe a tear.
Alex laughed and gently pushed her friend, "Oh shut up, I thought I was somewhere else."
"Evidently." Nicky arched an eyebrow at her, "So… You went to Borneo, I'm guessing with Chapman."
Alex groaned and stretched, "Don't start." She warned Nicky. She hadn't realised that she had fallen asleep sitting by the tree. The sun had gone in now and Alex shivered. "What time is it?" She asked.
"Dinner time. Come on, Red's got you something special." Nicky pulled Alex up to her feet and then led her to the canteen. Alex walked up to the line and got her dinner, noting that there was nothing special about it. What did Nicky mean by special? She held onto her tray and started to walk towards her table, it was unusually quiet as she got closer towards it and the women were murmuring something that Alex struggled to hear.
"Should we tell her… She would want to know… How would you feel…" Was all Alex could make out as she slowed her pace. When she was right up to the table she saw a few nudges and the murmurs stopped and were replaced by normal, loud, conversation. Alex frowned and kicked Nicky under the table.
"What are you hiding from me? And don't try to play dumb, I'm not fucking stupid." She said sternly, her eyes locked onto Nicky's face to catch any expression. Nicky's face didn't betray any kind of emotion she felt though.
"Red's surprise is in the kitchen, she said you should go in there when you've finished your food." Was all Nicky replied before joining in on the normal conversation with the rest of the women. Alex felt the familiar feel of worry knot in her stomach and she couldn't manage to eat as she wondered what was going on. She ended up passing the rest of her food to Big Boo before dumping her tray and then heading into the kitchen. She scanned the room for Red and saw the familiar fiery red hair; the Russian had her back to her. Alex could see that she was talking to someone; she had anti-septic wipes in her hand. Alex halted on the spot, her worry almost consuming her. She didn't like the look of this. "Red?" She managed to quietly call. She watched at the Russian froze and then turned slowly and offered Alex a tentative smile. Alex tried to peer around the woman to see who she was hiding or helping but all she saw was a red looking hand. "Nicky said you had something for me?" Alex continued, focusing her attention back onto Red. Whoever it was – it was none of her business.
"Ah yes." Red began, still not moving. "I uh.. I wonder if maybe now is not the best time to give it to you so maybe you should-"
Alex had stopped listening, she could see the reflection of the person Red was hiding in the shiny counters. Her eyes grew wide as she stared.
"Piper?" Alex asked, quietly, still looking at the reflection. She hadn't realised that Red had stopped talking now.
"Make her leave… please." Alex heard Piper say to Red.
Alex frowned as Red came closer towards her, "NO. Piper you don't tell me where to go! Piper! Why won't you just fucking talk to me?" Alex struggled against Red who was now trying to drag her away from the kitchen. Alex could see Piper now, she looked weak and had dark circles under her eyes. Her hand was cut.
"Piper, please." Alex quietly pleaded with her.
Red stopped trying to drag Alex out and she sighed, turning back to look at Piper. "Do you want her to go?" She asked.
Piper locked eyes with Alex and something in her face changed. Alex knew that she probably looked pathetic but she didn't care. Not right now, anyway. "No.. let her stay.."
Alex rushed up to Piper as soon as she was free of Red's grasp and picked up the frail blonde, hugging her tighter than she had ever before.
"Oh Pipes, I'm so fucking sorry…" She muttered into her shoulder.
"Me too, Alex. Me too." Piper responded, stroking Alex's hair.

Authors Note:

Trying to work on getting some longer chapters out but a little rushed for time at the moment because I have a shit ton of exams! I'm going to try and update this as often as I can though, apologies if they aren't very long but at least it's something, right? As always, leave a review and let me know what you think of the story so far. They encourage me to write! Thanks for reading :D