I hear the people talk.
I just try to block them out.
While their lips are moving,
Mine are locked with your mouth.

Piper stood up not 5 minutes after their brief conversation. Alex arched a brow but Piper didn't offer any explanation and only told her to "wait right there" before she walked out of the cube and left Alex alone once again. Alex sighed and drummed her fingers on the frame of her bed, unsure what to do whilst she waited for Piper to return. She brought one hand up to inspect the back of her head once again and attempted to untangle parts of her hair, Alex knew she should go to see the nurse but she didn't want to go through the effort of thinking up a suitable excuse. She knew that after her episode with the pills that somehow 'I fell over' just wouldn't cut it this time and she really didn't need to get locked up in psyche. She gave up after a few failed attempts and closed her eyes as she recited over various poems she and Piper had learned by heart during their week together in Argentina.

And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent

Alex remembered it almost perfectly and a small smile formed on her lips. She had recited that one to Piper before they'd made love on the balcony of their rented home. The feel of the sun on their skin whilst they showed each other just how much they loved each other had felt like heaven, like nothing meant more to either of them than that moment right then. Things had only gone from bad to worse after that. Alex's smile was replaced with a frown as she remembered all of the arguments they'd had about everything and nothing, it was so stupid - Alex could see that now. They had wasted so much time together, all that time spent ignoring or yelling each other that could have been spent in the others arms.

"You spoke my name, I answered in whispers soft, We listened in awe." A gentle voice recited in Alex's ear. The voice brought another hazy smile to her lips and she almost instinctively turned her head to kiss the lips that had recited those beautiful words. As they kissed, there was no sense of urgency and no battle for dominance. For the first time in a long time they worked together and allowed the other to almost melt into the other so that they formed one. Alex opened one eye when they both broke apart to breathe and chuckled quietly, Piper held up a wad of wet tissue and moved it to the back of Alex's head. Alex relaxed her shoulders as she felt Piper begin to work away at the back of her head.

"Good, just relax. If you move even an inch I will trip you and get Nicky to hold you down." Piper threatened into Alex's ear.

Alex felt her body shake with the laugh she was trying to keep in, "Ooh. Feisty Piper, how I have missed her."

Piper laughed and held on tighter to Alex. "I'm being serious, asshole." She paused to kiss Alex's neck. "The nurse will be here in a minute."

Alex sighed and pulled away from Piper, frowning. "I told you I didn't want to go and see the nurse."

"So the nurse is coming to see you, I haven't ignored your request." Piper smirked, proudly.

Alex opened her mouth but quickly snapped it shut at the sight of the burly nurse that was striding down towards her cube. He nodded at her, and she assumed that the grim line his mouth formed was some attempt at a smile. He didn't talk apart from to ask where she had hit her head, Alex was surprised. He had no questions? She sat patiently whilst he inspected the back of her head and finished Piper's job of cleaning it up, when he was done he told her it was fine but she should get plenty of rest just in case she had a concussion. Of course the ass wouldn't give her any painkillers. Eventually he left the cube, giving Piper an odd look. Alex shook her head and decided it would probably be in her best interest to not try to find out what that was all about. She pulled Piper towards her and kissed her again lazily.

"Hi my name's Alex, really nice to meet you." She said, her voice low. "I would really like to take you out to this nice place called 'nearest utility closet'"

Piper grinned and played along, "Nice to meet you Alex, what's a nice girl like you doing in a place like this? Of course I would love to go there with you but I must insist you state your intentions first, I'm not in the habit of kissing on the first date."

Alex chuckled throatily, "My intentions are to fuck you stupid but.. then again, with all that blonde hair maybe all I'll have to do is fuck you."

Piper smacked Alex on the arm and feigned offence. "How dare you, your arrogance just caused you a hot date."

Alex arched a brow and moved to kiss Piper again, "We'll see about that."

Piper pushed Alex away after a moment, her face flushed beetroot red. "Alex," She giggled. "We can't. You have to rest!"

Alex sighed but let out a smirk, holding up her hands in defence. "Fine, but I'm not going to be able to rest forever."

Piper pulled Alex's arm over her shoulders and snuggled down into her waist, it still surprised Alex at how well Piper fit into her. As if Piper was just part of her puzzle, the missing corner. She traced small patterns on the blonde's back with her thumb absentmindedly as she mulled over the last couple of weeks. She had wasted more time in her own selfish attempt to ignore it all, she couldn't do that again. Piper looked up at Alex after a moment and smiled.

"Write me another letter soon, won't you Alex?" The blonde asked.

As Alex looked down at her girlfriend she knew that she would never be able to say no to her. No matter what she asked of her, she would do it because seeing that smile on her face and that look in her eyes meant everything to her and she would do anything and everything to be able to see it everyday for the rest of her life. "Sure, kid." She replied after a moment.

Piper. It's been a while. I know I promised to write you this around a month ago but the words wouldn't come to me, truth be told - I felt so happy for a while that I didn't need to write anything. I guess this means something's wrong now, right? Ah shit, I don't know. Oh I forgot - 5 months and 2 weeks till the world around me loses much of its appeal.

I haven't felt like this in a while, as you probably know. I imagine it's much the same for you and I apologise for that. I put you through so much last month and it was all so selfish of me to put all of that on you. I promise that from now on I will do my best to be honest with you - no matter what it's about or where we are if you ask, I will tell you. I just have one thing to ask of you in return. Whilst I accept that you have said sorry for what you did and my reaction to it was in no way your fault, I would ask that you never go through my stuff like that again. I trusted you enough that you wouldn't go through that box after I told you what was in there and you kinda betrayed that. There were things in those letters that you read that I wasn't ready to reveal to you yet and it was hard for me to accept that you suddenly knew everything without me knowing. But that's it now. We're moving on from that. We've both said our piece and apologised and so we don't need to talk about it anymore. Perspective.

I can't fucking wait until we get out of here Piper, imagine it. Me and you back out in the real world, being free and just doing whatever we wanted. We won't have to check over our shoulders every time we so much as want to touch each other. Imagine that freedom. Our freedom.

I called your mom today, the first thing she did was tell me off for not calling her. Like, what the fuck. I told her I wasn't her kid and she didn't get to scold me like that but then she just told me off again. I don't see how you can put up with her, seriously. Anyway, she told me that they were making slow progress but things are looking up for me. I don't want to go into details yet in case I jinx it but hopefully I'll be able to get out of here soon, maybe you won't have to wait till you're old and crusty with cobwebs in your vag before you see me again. Yay?

Thanks for the radio by the way, Watson gave it to me this morning when I was walking past the track. I listened to it while I was working out, not the typical kind of music that I would listen to but it's better than nothing and the continuous replays of 'Milkshake'. Dear god, I hate that song now. Listen, whatever happens we are going to be okay. I'm not going to be strong for just you anymore, I'll be strong for both of us and no; that doesn't mean cutting off my own emotions. I have no doubts that you'll actually kick my ass the next time I do something like that.

I love you kid, really and truly.

Alex.

Alex paced up and down the hall besides the phones. It wasn't time for phone calls yet but she only had to wait five more minutes. The waiting was ridiculous, how could they expect her to wait another whole five minutes to call her lawyer without spontaneously combusting? Even Piper's soothing words of, "You'll be alright" and "Even if it isn't good, we'll still be okay." Hadn't worked at calming her down even a tad. She huffed and started to pace faster, her eyes watching the hands of the clock like a hawk watches it's prey. 5 seconds, 4, 3, 2, 1. Alex raced over towards the phone, picked it up and dialled the number she had learned off by heart. It rung two times before she heard the coarse, "Hello?"

"Kieran, Hi. It's Alex. What's the news?" Alex asked, almost tripping over her own words in her excitement to get them out. She needed to know.

Kieran, her lawyer, chuckled on the other end of the phone. "Jesus, it's 7am."

Alex huffed, her impatience showing even through the phone.

"Alright, alright. I spoke to the judge yesterday, he said he would be willing to review your case as your crime was non-violent but he's going to expect some more names and I know you know them Alex."

Alex nodded slowly, she began to conjure up names of the various mules she had left out before when Kieran interrupted her thought process.

"No more mules though, he wants the big guns."

"No." Alex replied, straight away. "That would put me and everyone who knows me in danger."

"Alex, this isn't going to work if all you give the courts are some pathetic mules who make next to no impact."

Alex sighed, knowing her lawyer was right. "Dammit! Alright. I'll try and think of a few who are higher up, maybe some importers. Jesus, I better be granted some protection."

"I'll do what I can. The court date will be arranged and I'll come and see you when I get some details."

"Alright, thanks Kieran." Alex hung up and checked behind her to see if anyone was waiting for the phone. When she saw no one was, she dialled the number for Piper's mom.

"Carol? Hey. It's Alex."

"Alex! Nice to hear from you, you must tell my daughter that she needs to call me more often."

Alex chuckled, "I will. Listen, I called my lawyer today..."

"And?"

"And he said that I'll need to give more names. But big names. This could be dangerous for me and Piper."

Carol was silent and Alex chewed on the inside of her lip whilst she waited for the woman to say something, anything.

"Okay. That's fine. I'll work with Kieran to make sure that you both remain protected. Just, stay out of trouble okay? Both of you."

"We will, Carol. Thanks." Alex hung up and sighed, part relief and part new stress. It was good to know that she was getting what she wanted, but when it came at such a cost she wasn't totally sure if it was worth it. So what if she got a couple years off of her sentence if it meant that Piper was hurt because of it. She would never be able to forgive herself if it happened. As she walked towards the laundry room, having finally been put back to work, she racked her brains to think of anyone she could give up that was big enough to knock a few years off of her sentence without putting Piper and herself in danger. Not an easy feat. She could never give up anyone like Fahri or anyone who had been on a similar level to her, that would be too risky but maybe some of the higher level mules who were always too eager to spend their money on fast cars and swanky mansions. The feds wouldn't know the difference between them and Alex besides the fact that the mules would have a mortgage. She smiled, yes. Maybe this would all work out after all. Maybe, just maybe, she would get what she wanted this time.

Authors Note:

Hey guys, short post today but I wanted to get the base of this storyline out while beginning to wrap up parts of the other. I'm not too sure where or what direction this story will take after June 6th but I will do my best to keep it true to the current direction I've been taking it in and not just abandon it. I would like to thank everyone who has reviewed the last few chapters, they have helped me a lot! Hope you enjoyed this chapter and as always, please leave a review and thanks for reading! Now I have six hours of math to prepare for!