Alex didn't have much time to dwell on anything. By the time she and Piper had gone over a few things and warmed up, everyone else began to gradually arrive. Red showed up with Larry in tow, chot chatting like they'd known each other for years and Alex had to turn her head so no one could see how much she was rolling her eyes. Really, she couldn't pin point which one of them annoyed her more. Poussey had come shortly after that, sans Nicky, who'd apparently told Poussey she'd had to grab something and would meet up with them later.

She had waltzed in a half an hour before sound check and Alex only had to shoot her a look for her to know she was fucking pissed. She left the lecture to Red who swore in Russian a few times and took the bassist outside the alley of the theatre. When they joined everyone onstage, Nicky looked thoroughly chastised and dutifully got through sound and lighting check without too many snarky comments.

"Red really let her have it, huh?" Piper remarked quietly to Alex as they walled back to the dressing room.

Alex smiled. "Red's bark is worse than her bite. She and Nick actually go back a long time. Red and her husband owned a restaurant in Queens that Nicky used to go to all the time. Turns out she has all these connections in the music industry. Her husband died kind of suddenly so she gave the business to her sons and came on board with us. The rest is history, I guess. I seriously think about firing her every single day but she's fucking good. She knows how to talk, ya know?"

"I've seen it firsthand," Piper agreed, laughing. "She was pretty persuasive when she called me for an audition."

"Good thing too." The brunette felt the goofy smile forming on her lips before she could really stop it. Thankfully, Poussey caught up to them in the hall and chose that moment to swoop in between them, slinging her arms across both of their shoulders.

"Ya'll ready to kick ass tonight?" Her grin was infectious and Alex couldn't help but grin back at her enthusiasm. In the wake of Lorna's departure, morale had been at an all time low and it felt damn good to have a reason to be excited again.

"Ready as I'll ever be, I guess." Piper said and to Alex's relief, she seemed to be less nervous and more in control. If she had to guess, Alex would have said that her secret had weighed heavily upon her and now that someone else knew, it made things alot less scary.

"You can sing, man." The drummer offered, tapping her shoulder. "Like your fuckin' life depends on it. Just go out there and fuckin' take names, aight?"

"I'll do my best," Piper replied seriously. "Thanks. For everything," She told the other woman, pulling her into a hug. "You've been so nice and I really do appreciate it."

Poussey ducked her head. "Ah, it ain't no thing. I'm just glad we found someone good, you know?"

"Hey, I hate to be the one to break up this little love fest," Nicky suddenly appeared, blocking the trio's path, "but we gotta get dressed. It's that time."

Becoming Alex Vause, rock goddess, was admittedly one of the best parts of doing a concert. Getting to shed some of her standoffish personality and pour it into a Bettie Page type sexy persona was freeing. She knew that although her bandmates didn't say as much, they felt the same way.

It also meant they got to kick a reluctant Larry out of the dressing room. Red took him to the box office to check on the latest ticket sales. His leaving was not without exchanging unnecessary (at least in Alex's eyes) kisses and hugs with Piper and the promise he'd be "right back." Nicky and Alex. shared eye rolls galore over he and Piper's heads while they kissed and Poussey simply pulled a disgusted face.

Finally they left and Solitary Confinement got ready to transform. Nicky sat at the make up mirror, straighting her trademark unruly curls with a flat iron while Poussey applied gold glitter eye shadow to her big brown eyes. Alex carefully put on thick, black eyeliner, winging the tips with precision. Next to her sat Piper, a make up brush in her hand, hovering in the air as she stared at her reflection in the mirror.

"You okay?" Alex leaned in. "You getting nervous again?"

Piper shook her head. "No, no. It's not that. Uh, this is gonna sound kinda stupid...I uh, I don't know where to start. I mean, my make up is usually really simple, even for gigs and you guys look so fierce and I..."

"Just do your normal make up, just a little darker so you won't get washed out with the lights." Alex advised. "And Red found you something to wear, right?"

She nodded. "Uh, yeah."

"Good. It fits OK?"

The other woman reddened slightly, her cheeks tinged with pink. "Yeah."

Alex raised her eyebrow but left it at that for the time being. She was, however, intrigued as hell as to what the blonde meant.

They finished up quietly and everyone got dressed. Nicky, in her leather pants and lace top, Poussey in her customary plaid shirt, ripped fitted jeans and red Converse boots, and Alex with her black dress, fishnets and boots, hair done in Bettie's trademark waves and sporting her ususal red lipstick.

Piper had gotten dressed silently in a small corner of the room, apart from the chaos that was the tossing around various clothing pieces and random cursing.

"Do you mind zipping me up?" She asked Alex softly, stepping out from the shadows.

"Um, yeah. Sure." She obliged, doing so wordlessly.

Alex knew she was staring and she should probably look away but she couldn't. Piper wore a very fitted green and black patterned dress, so flush against her body it clung to every slim curve. It showed just the barest hint of cleavage and with it she wore thigh highs and black knee boots. She'd taken Alex's advice and applied her make up a few shades darker, the smoky eyes she'd given herself making her blue eyes appear even bluer.

"Damn girl," Poussey noticed as Piper stepped forward.

"Is...do I look OK?" The singer asked, looking down self consciously. "Red said I would stand out in this but honestly, I don't know if I wanna stand out."

"Yeah you do. You're the singer." Nicky, who had been quiet, piped up. "You look good, Chapman." She turned to Alex, a mischievous glint in her eye. "Vause, doesn't Chapman look good?"

"What?" Alex blinked rapidly as she realized what her friend said, her face flushing. "Yeah, you look great," She replied lightly. "You are such an ass," She mouthed to Nicky when Piper turned toward the mirror to assess herself.

"Well, if you guys think it's alright, I guess-" Piper started.

A loud rap on the door interrupted her. "Everybody decent?" Larry poked his head in. Red pished past him into the room, all politeness be damned.

"You ladies all look marvelous. I was right about that dress on you," She said to Piper, pointing. "You're a knockout, honey."

"Stunning, Pipe," Larry agreed, kissing her cheek. He held his hands behind his back. "I didn't know if I should wait until after the show but I figured you might need a confidence boost. " He handed her the most obnoxious bouquet of red roses Alex had ever seen and she considered snidely asking if he was taking her to prom.

"God, Larry, they're beautiful. Thank you." She kissed him, setting down the bouquet on her make up area. "Definitely the confidence boost I needed."

"Welcome. I'll be right in the front with Red, ok? If you feel anxious or anything, you can find me."

Piper smiled. "Thanks, but Alex has me covered in that department. Right?"

For a second Alex thought she'd lost the ability to speak. Or to form a coherent thought for that matter. "Uh, yeah. Yeah," She said more confidently. "No worries, I got her."

"Thanks for taking care of my girl," Larry grinned, taking her hand. "Piper's told me how much time you've spent making sure she's feeling good about going out there and well, I just want you to know how much I appreciate it."

"It's no big deal. She's amazing. I don't have to tell you that, though." If there was a rock for Alex to crawl under and die, she would have found it and done precisely that.

Mercifully, Red interrupted. "Half an hour to places, ladies."

"One last thing," Nicky grabbed her bag off the shelf and rifled through it. "Here we go. Reason I was late." She procured a bottle of Cristal and a wine cork.

"You mean besides oversleepin'?" Poussey shook her head.

Nicky threw her the bird."Make yourself useful, woman." She handed the drummer a short stack of red solo cups. "And Larry, if you'll do the honors and open her up..."

After the champagne had been opened (rather clumsily by Larry) and poured, Nicky raised her glass, looking directly at Piper. "A toast to our newest band member. I had my doubts about you, kid, I did, but you didn't have it easy, learning all this shit in two days and I have to admit, you really stepped up. Let's face it, without you, there'd be no tour right now or else we'd all have to endure Vause singing..."

"Fuck you, dude,"Alex called out but she was smiling.

"So yeah...I think you're gonna be great. Let's go show this hick state how it's fuckin' done. To Chapman." This was Nicky's way of extending an olive branch, Alex recognized and she smiled gratefully at her friend.

"To Chapman," They repeated and Piper's grin said it all.

Alex loved everything about performing. She loved the adrenaline rush it gave her, the second she got out there, the second she dove into their first song, guitar blazing, the lights hitting her, the audience already primed and cheering. She loved meeting the eyes of her bandmates as they played, as if they were all in on some big secret no one else in the world knew about. She literally loved every fucking thing about it. All of it.

Tonight was different. Right before they went on, she felt herself on edge, guarded. Knowing it wasn't condusive to good playing, she tried to shake it. But she was worried about Piper. It wasn't for her own sake or saving face ; she could easily cover if she had to. It was more about how upset the singer would be if she froze. Piper was harder on herself than anyone else could ever be, a feeling Alex was all too familar with herself.

As it turned out, Alex's concern held no merit. The moment Piper stepped out on the stage, the second the lights came up and before she had even opened her mouth, her eyes sought out Alex's. And when she got the reassurance she'd been looking for, there was no doubt she was going to make that crowd love her.

Every so often, she'd turn to Alex, blue eyes connecting with green, her face radiating pure joy and Alex would lean into her guitar, pouring every ounce of her soul into her playing. For a few brief blissful moments, it felt as though they were the only two people on that stage.

And Alex thought dizzily, This is what it must feel like to fly.