"Is she dead?!" Alex gripped Birdie's arm firmly, her eyes pooling with tears. Birdie bit her lip, "Honey I don't know what happened, I've been with you this whole time."
"Get her out of here!" Caputo yelled, his face, close to Birdie's now, was red with worry. Beads of sweat lined his forehead, his behaviour was erratic; the pressure of the whole situation was clearly resting heavy on his shoulders. "Sir, she's a witness, she's involved in this. I can't just…." Caputo grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her aside. "If you value your goddamn job, you'll get here out of here now. Hell, if you think anything of Vause at all you'll make sure she's not in here when Chapman dies."
"Charge."
"Ok stand back, this is the last attempt. Clear."
Alex dropped her arm and let her head fall back, eyes to the ceiling. "Why don't you sit down Vause." Birdie pushed a chair towards her, taking one herself. Resigned, Alex flopped into the plastic, elbows resting on her knees, head in her hands. "This is so fucked up. I TOLD her someone would be in here for me, if she would just fucking listen to me….I knew something like this was going to happen. I just assumed it would be happening to me."
"You couldn't have predicted this Vause. Don't blame yourself." Birdie offered gently, sympathy in her voice.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Alex raised her head to make eye contact. Her face was distorted with scorn. "This is all completely my fault. I sold the drugs. I fell in love with Piper. I forced her to be a mule. I named her. I brought her here in the first place." Forgetting any of Piper's more recent betrayals, Alex beat herself with blame. It felt right, considering Piper's physical injuries. Some mental torment was surely what she deserved.
"Look, I know what you two had was complicated…" Birdie shuffled her chair closer, ignoring the animosity that was filling the room. Unperturbed, Alex shot her another look of disdain and raised an eyebrow. "Had?"
Confusion spread across Birdie's face. "Had what Vause?"
"You said had, like we don't have it anymore, like she's actually dead!" Alex exploded, launching her body from the chair and kicking its unstable legs from the ground, into the air.
"Fuck!", bellowing, Alex's body thrashed, kicked and grabbed. She lost control of rational thought, her animal instinct to fight and defend taking over as adrenaline coursed through her veins.
"Vause. Inmate. STOP!" Papers were swiped from the desk, empty coffee cups thrown…the trashcan over turned. Birdie had no option but to tackle her at the waste, grabbing her arms and holding them tightly behind her back. Breathlessly, they struggled, until Alex gasped and her whole body was wracked with sobs. Loosening her grip, Birdie sank with her to floor, wrapping her arms around the brunette as she toppled to her knees and cried like the world had ended.