"Stop, Stop," Alex shouted over the din of the music, turning to Piper, "You're coming in late, you need to pick up the tempo." She rubbed her eyes under her glasses. "Ok, let's go again."

"Speakin' of late," Poussey yawned from behind the drum set, "It's almost midnight, man, how much longer we gonna be at this?"

"Yeah," Nicky agreed collasping in a heap on the ground, taking her bass with her and nearly crushing it in the process. "And she's not behind, Vause. I think it's me...I'm so exhausted," she moaned dramatically. "How much longer do we have to keep working on the same damn song?"

"Until we get it right,"Alex replied firmly. "She's almost got the whole set down cold but this song sounds like shit. And to be honest, I don't give a fuck who's coming in late. The important thing is we have to fix it and we're going to, even if it takes us all night."

"Hey," Piper piped up, waving when they turned to look at her. "Hi. I'm right here and I'll gladly keep going. I want the song to be perfect, just as much as you guys."

"I don't care about perfect," Alex knew she should probably soften her tone but Piper didn't flinch, didn't blink, didn't move. She stood perfectly still, her hands on her hips, ready for whatever Alex wanted to dish out. "Perfection is unrealistic. I want a concert that's worth $150 a ticket. And being late is high school garage band shit. Am I right?"

She heard Poussey suck in a quick breath and Alex knew exactly what they were both thinking; that they were used to the manic, angry, shit she pulled at rehearsals but Piper wasn't and if she kept it up, she could scare her away. But what they didn't understand was if she couldn't handle Alex's criticism, there was no way she'd make it in the industry.

"Absolutely." Piper met her gaze calmly. "So let's go again."

Alex had to admit she had pegged the blonde all wrong. Despite being a fucking amazing singer, she'd been certain Piper would fall apart under pressure or tell her to go to hell. She knew she wasn't easy to take but she was impressed with the other woman's composure. She had to be as exhausted as the rest of them, they'd been at it for nearly six hours with only a quick ten minute break, plowing through the tour set list and she hadn't complained once. The girl was a quick study too, picking up the music even more quickly than Alex had originally anticipated and it helped she was already familiar with their songs. And while the rest of them looked like complete crap , Piper was remarkably put together, having changed into a plain black fitted t-shirt and old Levi's, her hair tucked into a neat knot at the nape of her neck.

Nicky groaned, "Fuck, Chapman, you're as bad as the gestapo here." She lifted her head up from the floor. "Isn't your...manager...fiancee, whatever, like concerned you're out so late? And downtown too..."

Red had secured them a rehearsal space on Cole street and while it was small and kind of cramped, it had been both available and cheap. It wasn't big and nowhere as grand as the dressing room at the Fox but it was sufficent for what they had to do, though after six hours, it was starting to feel a little claustrophobic.

"He knows I'm rehearsing and that I have to stay until we're finished." Piper said evenly. "He also knows how important this is to me."

"Is it?" Suddenly Nicky was wide awake as she pulled herself up to a sitting position. "Ya know, it just occured to me...we know nothing about you. Nothing...other than you sing."

"Nicky," Alex started warningly. It was one thing to be an asshole to ensure they all were on the same page, it was another thing to be an asshole just to be an asshole. It was something Nicky let herself slip into with more frequency since Lorna left and while Alex got it, she really did, it made her want to punch her friend in the face.

"No, it's fine, Alex." Piper looked at Nicky. "What do you want to know?"

Poussey shook her head. "This shit is stupid, Nichols. Chapman, I don't need to know nothin' about you because you can sing your ass off and that's all I fuckin' need to know." She twirled her drum stick on an open palm. "Now can we please just get the fuck on with this so I can go back to the hotel and go to sleep before I gotta get up and do this all over again tomorrow?"

"Thank you, finally. That's what I've been saying, Jesus " Alex sighed. "Do this shit right and then we get the fuck out of here." She turned to Piper, her hardned expression melting ever so slightly. "You ready?"

"Yeah," Her eyes held a steely determination and it was then that Alex was completely and totally certain that not much would deter her. "I'm ready."

It was nearly two in the morning when Alex was satisfied enough with how the song sounded to tell them they could leave. Poussey and Nicky tossed around the idea of going to a bar since as Nicky so eloquently put it, "Fuck it, it's not like I'm sleeping now anyway."

"We're going again at ten." Alex reminded them as she placed her guitar back in its case. Her fingers were blistered from playing and she wanted nothing more than to jump into a hot bath back at the hotel and soak them for an hour or two.

"C'mon, man, Poussey complained. "I thought you said 11. I need some sleep."

"You guys are talking about going to a fucking bar," Alex replied, arching her eyebrow. "If you want sleep, go sleep."

""You coming?" The bassist asked her, "You always said the best time to drink is right before sunrise."

"Uh, yeah, that sounds like something you say," The dark haired guitarist laughed. "No, I'm actually going to sleep. You know that thing that normal people get eight hours of?"

Nicky shrugged. "Ah, shit's overrated." She turned to Piper who hadn't said anything since they'd finished. "Bye, Blondie. One more day till you have to play with the big boys. Tell Larry not to keep you up too late," she winked, slugging her in the shoulder. "Later, Saint Alex,"

"I'll make sure she don't get too fucked up," Poussey told her friend lowly as they were walking out and Nicky was out of earshot.

"Thanks, man, I owe you one." Alex knew Poussey was just as exhausted as she was but she'd go where ever Nicky wanted to keep her out of trouble. She was as stubborn as a fucking mule and once she'd made her mind up about something, there was no talking her out of it. One of them had to play babysitter since Phoenix when Nicky'd had done blow, gotten into a fist fight outside a bar and nearly gotten arrested. Alex certainly didn't have it in her to flirt with any more cops so she was grateful that the drummer was willing taking one for the team."

Poussey shook her head. "Nah, man, it's no trouble."

"Yo, are you coming?" Nicky screeched from the doorway. "Beer is calling!"

"Ten!" Alex called after them as Poussey rolled her eyes and went to meet her friend. "And that's a.m., not p.m!" The door slammed loudly behind them and she sighed. "Never fucking mind."

Piper chuckled. "You need help carrying this stuff back to the car." She grabbed a mike stand, disassembling it.

"Uh, sure. Thanks," Alex accepted her offer, pleasantly surprised. Piper Chapman was definitely not who her image projected and she felt guilty for making a snap judgement, especially since assholes haf been doing the same exact thing to her for as long as she could remember. It made her no better than them.

They carried out the instruments and stands, two at a time and shoved them in the rental. Alex locked the door to the studio. "I mean, we could have just left them here, since we're coming back but I don't trust anybody. I've gotten my guitar stolen before."

"Oh shit, really?" The blonde replied sympathetically. "That sucks. I'd be so bummed."

"Yeah...it blew, especially since I'd saved $500 to buy it. I busted my ass too, working at McDonalds, babysitting, whatever paid...it was my own fucking fault though. Left it in the back seat of my car at a gig in Boston. Dude took a baseball bat and smashed a hole in the back window, reached right in and..." She shrugged. "Whatever, it is what it is. I was only seventeen." She smiled ruefully." It was worth more than the car itself."

"You've been playing a long time then?" Piper instantly blushed. "Not that I'm saying you're old. You're not old, clearly," She over corrected, putting a hand to her forehead. "Oh shit, I'm making this so much worse, aren't I?"

Alex laughed, shoving the key in her pocket. "No, it's fine. Yeah, I guess I have been."

Piper's eyes sparkled in the street light and it was there, in downtown Missouri, on the stoop of 1051 Cole street, that the urge to reach out and tuck an errant strand of blonde hair that had come loose from the knot at her neck, was so strong that Alex had to literally put her hands behind her back.

"C'mon, I'll give you a ride back to your hotel," The brunette forced herself to stop staring, to stop being a creep, to stop thinking how comfortable it felt talking to her in the early morning moonlight, or how insanely beautiful she looked; no make up, Levi's and Converses, the light scent of her lotion drifting into Alex's nostrils.

Piper started to protest and Alex shook her head. "You haven't even sung at our show yet...can't have you getting murdered."

She smiled, conceding. "Good point," She got into the passenger seat of the Honda Civic. "Nice car," she commented.

Alex shrugged, buckling her seatbelt. "Red booked it. Not my first choice but it's in our contract with her I can't ride my bike while I'm tour. On my own time though..."

"Like a bike bike or-"

"Motorcycle," She grinned and started the car. "She's a beauty too. Keep her at my mom's house while I'm on the road. God, I miss that girl." Alex was not one who tended to worry about sounding stupid around woman, or anybody for that matter, but Piper was so put together that for a nanosecond, Alex thought the singer would think she sounded pathetic.

Piper smiled."I wish I did something dangerous like that. Like a good dangerous. I'm such a chicken."

"Oh but you're a performer. And you're about to sing in front of thousands of people. That's pretty dangerous in my book."

"Touche," She replied. They rode in comfortable silence for a bit until they stopped at a light about five minutes from the Holiday Inn Piper had given her directions to. She had cast several side long glances at her passenger who leaned her head on one shoulder, eyes closed.

"You asleep?" Alex asked quietly and Piper jerked up her head in response. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."

"No, no, I wasn't asleep," Piper straighted up and peered out the darkened window. "Are we here?"

"No, not yet," Alex cleared her throat. "Listen, Piper, I just wanted to let you know not to pay Nicky any mind. She and our old singer had a thing for awhile and it got really messy, she left and Nick really hasn't been the same. She doesn't mean to be a bitch but...she's still...recovering, I guess."

"No need for apologies. I get it. I've been there. Another story for another day," She laughed in response to Alex's quizzical expression. "Anyway, I appreciate it but it's all good. I've dealt with much worse than your friend. Again, another long story," She laughed. "Seriously, Alex...I just want to thank you again. This sounds like a really bad cliche, but this is my big break, like I was starting to doubt it would ever really happen for me. I'm thirty two, you know? Not exactly alot of time left for me to...anyway, thank you."

Her sentiment was so sincere Alex's ususal cynicism faded and for the first time in a long time with a girl, she couldn't find the right words.

"Uh, you're welcome."

They finally reached The Holiday Inn and Alex pulled into the parking lot. "Nice hotel," she teased, mimicking Piper sentiments earlier, laughing when Piper hit her arm.

"Sorry, some of us can't afford a five star hotel yet,"She joked. "I'll see you at ten," she got out of the car.

"Yeah, see you then. Get some rest, OK?" Alex told her. "Long day ahead."

"I will," she promised. "See you."

Alex watched her swipe her key card into the side entrace and she turned back and waved when she'd successfully opened it. "Thanks for the ride," She called and retreated into the hotel.

"Christ," Alex groaned when she was finally alone. She leaned back in her seat, squeezing her eyes shut. A huge fucking headache was developing and it wasn't just because it was two thirty in the morning and her hands fucking burned like hell and her feet hurt, even her fucking hips hurt from playing so hard she'd slammed the guitar into them more than once.

No, she realized, as she rubbed her temples wearily, the trouble she was about to get herself in had to be avoided or they were all royally fucked.

"Get it together, Vause," she murmured. "Grow the fuck up and get it together. She's so off limits, it isn't funny."

Driving away from Piper's hotel, Alex repeated it over and over like a mantra.

Now all she had to do was convince herself she believed it.