A/N: I know you've been waiting for this and thanks for the prompts checking for a pulse - still alive! Sorry it's taken longer than usual to post, I've just been crazy busy. To be fair though, Laura Prepon has only posted a photo of vegetables since my last update and she has a whole PR team... On the plus side, over 300 Follows and this chapter takes the story over 300,000 words. I was tempted to post when we reached 1,000 reviews, but it could have quickly escalated to an angry pitch-fork wielding mob if I waited longer still! Not one person has guessed correctly in the reviews about the Investor meeting, so I'm happy to solve the mystery here now. Enjoy your weekend everyone :-)

"Piper! Wait a minute will you?"

Piper pushed the office door with so much force it banged against the wall and flew back to close behind her. Her strides were long and there was no way Polly could catch her without breaking into a breathless jog.

"Will you just listen for a minute?!" Polly caught the blonde's arm and tried to stop her, but Piper shook her off forcefully without even stopping.

"Can you give me a chance to explain?" Polly shouted to her as she realised she wasn't going to be able to stop her friend from tearing past. She sighed and held her palm to her forehead as she stopped in the car park, watching Piper storming out of it and down the street out of sight. "Jesus fucking Christ." Throwing her hands into the air, she turned to go and pick up the pile of presentation folders and samples they had left in the meeting room.

She opened the outer door and smiled apologetically at the girl behind the front desk. "She's…ugh…not great with surprises."

"Must have been one Hell of a surprise."

XXXXX

Piper wasn't even thinking about how she might get home or where she was heading when she left the building. She just needed to put as much distance between her and that meeting as physically possible. If there'd have been an airplane waiting outside, she would have written a check for any amount to fill the tank to the top and fly until it was empty.

The wind was whipping around her and her heels were stopping her from moving as quickly as she wanted to. She bent down to pull them off her feet so that she could walk faster along the uneven sidewalk. The blood was coursing around her body, thick with adrenaline and white hot rage at what had just happened. She'd travelled a couple of blocks when she had to wait at lights to cross the road. Polly's car pulled up next to her and beeped, her so-called friend waving at her from inside to catch her attention. Piper scowled and turned away, assessing whether she'd make it between the moving traffic to escape before the 'walk' light freed her from Polly getting any closer.

"Piper! You can't walk home from here. I'll give you a ride. We're miles away from anything." Polly had the window down and was shouting through it as she drove slowly along the road as Piper tried to walk further down the sidewalk.

"Will you acknowledge that I'm talking to you please? It's raining for God's sake and you haven't even got your purse to catch a cab. Fucking stop will you?!"

Piper suddenly realised that her coat and bag were in Polly's car and she was going to get soaked if she didn't get them. Clenching her jaw at the fact she would have to walk to the car, she turned and glared at Polly as she approached.

"Thank you. Will you just listen to me please? Just as long as the drive home takes is all I ask."

"We are NOT talking about this. THIS is not us talking." Piper waved her hand in the space between them. "I need my things." She opened the car door and pulled her coat out, putting her arms into the sleeves as Polly cut the engine.

"Piper please. Don't lose your shit over this. I was going to tell you-."

"Oh well that's fine then. If you were going to tell me at some point before you died of old age, at least you were going to tell me eventually."

"I know I should have told you sooner."

"You think?!"

"Look, I know you're mad at me right now…."

"Mad doesn't come close! Leave me the Hell alone while I process exactly how fucked up this is." She grabbed her bag and slammed the car door shut before running across the road and down between a couple of old buildings where Polly couldn't follow in the car.

She brought up location services on her phone to see where the Hell she was and if there was a subway station anywhere near where she was. Seeking shelter beneath a porch cover in the alley, she waited for the signal, only to find that the tall buildings all around her were bouncing the signal all over.

"What is the point of location services if they only work when you have half a clue where you are?" She muttered as someone pushed past her to head into the building behind her. She turned to make a comment about manners when she realised she was standing outside of a dive bar. "Or maybe this is exactly where I need to be right now."

XXXXX

Polly got home and threw her keys on the table before dropping onto her sofa and rubbing her face. "Argh, why does this have to happen right now?!" She tried to call Piper's phone yet again but it was going straight to voicemail. She'd already left messages to cover the full range of human emotions, from grovelling apologies to angry demands for a returned call, so she hung up when Piper's happy voice clicked in for the hundredth time.

She decided it was time to call Alex. It wasn't a conversation she was looking forward to, but she couldn't put it off with the way Piper had reacted. Yet another voicemail. Does nobody understand the whole point of mobile phones making people more accessible?

"Alex, it's me, Polly. We need to talk about Piper. Can you call me as soon as you get this message please? She's…um…well, just call me OK." Polly dropped her phone into her bag just as Pete came through the door in his work overalls.

"Oh, hey. I wasn't expecting you to be home at this time."

"Yet another person thrilled to see me today."

"Huh? Of course I'm happy to see you darl, I just wasn't expecting you til late. How was the meeting?" He kissed her on the head and went to drop his bag by the porch before washing his hands in the kitchen.

"A disaster."

"They wouldn't give you the money?"

"We didn't get that far. It blew up before we got as far as the check book."

"Shit…..You spent a lot of time on that babe. What happened?" Pete shrugged his overalls off and hung them by the door.

"I obviously spent too much time on the wrong things."

"You couldn't answer their questions?"

"It's Piper's questions I can't answer. What a mess…I'm going to run a bath babe. I need to chill out a bit." Polly stood and kissed Pete quickly before heading to the bathroom and running the hot water.

XXXXX

Piper had two tequila shots before the strange looks got the better of her and she headed to the bathroom to look in the mirror. Her mascara had run all around her eyes and her hair was plastered to her face, making her look like an extra from a horror movie. "What a catch." She gathered tissues from the dispenser and tried to at least clean her face up before shaking her hair out and tying it back into a tight pony. Returning to sit at the bar, she shrugged her coat onto the stool next to her and pushed the sleeves of her jacket up as she leaned onto the bar to catch the attention of the bar tender.

"Can I get a double vodka and diet coke please?"

"My advice would be to think about it for another 5 minutes sweetheart." He winked at her and nodded towards the clock.

"I don't need to think about it. I just told you what I want. Are you going to serve me or not?" Piper eyeballed him. He grinned and walked to put a pile of clean glasses away down the opposite end of the bar.

"Why does everyone think they know better than me about what I want?" Piper slammed her palm on the bar. The bar tender threw his towel to the side and sighed, walking back towards the blonde gathering her coat to leave.

"Hey, I was trying to halve your bill there. It's happy hour in a few and my boss watches the timings like a hawk. You look like you're in for a session and I thought I'd do you a favour. Sorry." He held his hands up and pointed to the vodka. "I'll start pouring shall I?"

"Ugh. Sorry. Shitty day. I didn't mean to be so rude."

"It's OK. I can't tell you outright because he's watching from the table behind you. You kind of look like you've had a rough one though. Hope you don't mind me saying."

"No, I don't. I'll have that double as soon as the clock hits the hour though, thanks."

XXXXX

Alex had been in meetings with her Lawyer all day and picked up her voicemails when she was walking back to the car. There was one from Lorna to say that one of their new drivers had been involved in a collision, but he wasn't seriously hurt. Alex listened to the message and called her back to check that their insurance would cover the damage and take care of any remaining deliveries. She was reassured it was all in hand though as Lorna had already made the calls to report everything and Poussey had picked up the packages to finish off his round already. She was back at her car by the time she put the phone down to Lorna and switched to hands free as she drove back towards the office, listening to the rest of her messages. Red wanted to talk to her about extending the return to work programme to somewhere new. She had more than enough ex-cons to keep her busy at the moment and she had decided to follow Piper's advice to get some qualified staff in the more skilled roles. She needed to focus on that at the moment before she drowned in trying to handle too much herself. The last message was a cryptic one from Polly, and Alex returned her call as she locked the car and headed up to her office.

"It's Alex. Just got your message. I've been-."

"Piper's gone AWOL. Maybe to a liquor store. Maybe to a gun store quite honestly." Polly sighed.

"What? Piper's against the common people having guns, so I doubt very much she'd be going to a store full of them. Unless it was a project with the debating society." Alex chuckled at the thought as she waved at Nicky before pointing to the phone and heading into her office to close the door.

"This isn't a joke Alex. She freaked out at the meeting today."

"Why?" Alex shrugged her coat off and dropped her laptop onto her desk.

"Because….She knows Alex."

"She knows….? Knows what Polly? What exactly have you told her?" Alex creased her brow as she waited for Polly to reply.

"I didn't tell her anything…..And that's a good chunk of the reason she stormed out of the meeting and disappeared on me."

"What?! Where is she?"

"I don't know. She won't answer her phone."

"Why didn't you go after her?!"

"Don't you think I tried? She wouldn't listen to me Alex and she disappeared down an alleyway where I couldn't follow in the car."

"Jesus Christ. Where was she?"

"We were up near Yonkers for the meeting."

"Is she still there?"

"I don't know. Like I said, she disappeared on me and won't answer her phone."

"Have you tried her at home?"

Alex went through a series of questions that frustrated Polly more and more and got her no closer to working out where Piper might be.

"Look, she's got her coat and money, so she can get a cab if she needs to. She probably just needs to blow off some steam and get some space."

"Right. Well, I seem to remember you telling me that when she's pissed, space and time alone are the last things she should be getting. You do remember that conversation? Exactly how pissed is she?"

"Very pissed."

"Pissed enough to be drinking vodka?"

Polly paused. "Yeah, pissed enough for that."

Alex stood up again and started pulling her coat back on, cradling the handset between her jaw and shoulder. "She could be anywhere Polly. Can you make a guess to narrow it down? I'll try and call her. She might answer me."

"I doubt it. I don't think she'll be picking up tonight for either of us."

"Well, I'll drive over to her place then. She might be home now." She switched the office light off and covered the phone to explain to Nicky that she had to go somewhere before heading down the stairs. "Call me if you hear anything. I'm getting in the car now."

Alex tried Piper's number and waited for the 'leave a message' speech to finish as she switched to hands free and started the engine.

"Pipes, it's me. I just wanted to know how the meeting went today. Holly said she doesn't know where you are and I'm just heading over to your place now. Call me when you get this will you?"

She drove to Piper's front door and knocked a few times, despite seeing the place in darkness. She hadn't thought about the potential for Plan C to come into play, so when calling Piper's cell and turning up at her front door was returning zero points, she was flummoxed for the next option. Drive around Yonkers in the dark and hope she might spot the blonde on the run at a stop sign? Where else might she go in New York? Would she call the gym instructor who had the hots for her? Alex considered finding the gym, if only to be reassured that this Jess person was at work and not working over her girlfriend.

XXXXX

Piper was turning a third double vodka and coke around in her fingers when she sensed someone sit beside her at the bar.

"Hey, can I get a beer please?"

Piper's head twisted to the side when she heard the familiar voice of her girlfriend calling to the bartender. Alex was shaking off her wet jacket and wiping the rain from her face as she turned to raise an eyebrow in brief salutation.

"How did you find me?" Her voice was a cool mix of resignation and frustration at being found before she was done with her self-help session.

"Call it intuition." Alex shrugged as she moved Piper's coat from the stool to sit down, taking the bottle from the bar tender as she settled. "I'm assuming you have a tab open?" Alex nodded to the large drink in Piper's hand.

"Yep." She took a couple of good glugs, as though Alex might take it off her if she didn't empty it first.

Alex took a swig of her beer and reached down the bar to pick up a sticky laminated menu, moving her eyes over the pitiful and very obvious bar meal options. Piper gestured for another drink of the same and still Alex hadn't looked up from the menu.

"I'm not hungry."

"Have you eaten?"

"No. I'm not hungry though."

"When did you last eat something?"

"What business is it of yours?! I said I'm not hungry." Piper's tone was strained and Alex returned to the menu.

"OK. Well I'm going to have a burger." Alex stood and walked to the counter near the kitchen to order. Piper watched her all the way and quickly turned to regard the sports game on the TV when Alex walked back.

Getting her phone from her back pocket, Alex swiped it open and started tapping out a text to let Polly know she had found her safe and sound.

"What are you doing here?" Piper didn't look at her as she spoke, but watched the bubbles pop to the surface of her drink.

"You got here first. You tell me."

"It's a free country."

"That it is." Alex sent her message and put her phone back into her pocket before lifting her beer for another mouth full.

They sat in silence, watching a ball game neither of them had any interest in until Alex's meal arrived.

"I must be fucking starving if this seems appetising when I'm sober." Alex mused as she cut her burger in two with a knife and picked up a half to bite into it. She signalled for the bar tender to come over and swallowed the burger down to get another drink.

"Diet coke this time buddy. You want the same again?" She nodded at Piper's nearly empty glass.

"Yeah."

Alex went back to eating her food, watching the game as though Piper was a complete stranger sitting next to her.

"Are you really going to sit there drinking coke while I get drunk?"

"Depends."

"On?"

"I'm going to sit here drinking coke because I'm driving you home. It's up to you if you're getting drunk."

Piper sighed. "Did it occur to you that I might not want a lift home from you?"

"Do you?"

"No Alex, I don't. I don't want a ride from you. I don't want you controlling every fucking thing about my life!"

"A bit dramatic."

"You think I'm being dramatic? Well I think you're a lying bitch who couldn't tell me the truth if your life depended on it!"

"Do you care to explain that?" Alex wiped her hands on a napkin and turned to face the blonde who was glaring at her.

"I'm so sick of this. I'm sick of thinking you might have changed. That you're being honest with me, then finding you're still keeping secrets from me Alex."

Alex's eyes were flitting back and forth over Piper's face for a clue that this might be a joke, then searching for a clue as to what the Hell this outburst was all about.

"Oh don't act like you're so damned innocent. You must have known I'd find out sooner or later when I was meeting with the mysterious 'investor' today."

The brunette's eyebrows were knitted together in confusion.

"You had plenty of opportunities to tell me before I found out from someone else. What makes it worse is that you were scheming behind my back with Polly all this time. I can't trust either of you!" Piper finished her drink and stood to pull her coat on, stumbling slightly as the alcohol rushed around her bloodstream fuelled with adrenaline. Alex reached out to steady her and her arm was swiped away by Piper as she walked to the door.

"Piper! I honestly don't know what the Hell you're talking about. Will you sit back down and tell me what you're so pissed at?"

The door swung shut behind the blonde as she exited the building, leaving an exasperated girlfriend and half eaten burger in her wake. Alex stood up and got the bill from the guy behind the bar, who was witnessing the blonde's temper from a safe distance. She headed out into the rain to look for her. It was a dead end in one direction, so Alex ran back to the main street where her car was parked and got inside. It was pouring down now and a full throttle thunder storm was brewing overhead. She started the engine and headed down the street with the wipers moving at full speed to clear the screen. Running her hand through her wet hair in frustration, she searched the street for signs of Piper sheltering from the rain. It took a few sweeps up and down the road before Alex spotted her crouched into a doorway, sitting against the wall of a closed store. Pulling the car over, Alex got out and walked over to where Piper was crying into her arms across her knees.

The brunette hurried into the doorway and crouched down in front of her, reaching out to put her hand on Piper's arm.

"Pipes. Tell me what's going on will you?" She didn't move her arm away, so Alex moved to sit on her knees so she could see her properly.

"I can't keep doing this with you Alex." She sobbed and wiped her face across her sleeve.

"Doing what? What happened today? Piper, I really have no clue why you're mad at me you know. What's happened?"

There was no answer, only the sound of sniffing as Piper's shoulders shook a little.

XXXXX

Piper had done a great job of presenting the plan and explaining the justification for the investment they needed for each part of it. Polly had gone through their plans for the new products, discussing and showcasing the sample sets they were proposing for the online sales. It had gone really well and they had gotten over their nerves about the presentation quite quickly as their enthusiasm shone through. It was towards the end of the meeting when it all fell apart in a way that nobody had expected.

Galina Reznikov had nodded sagely throughout the presentation, taking notes and peering over the top of her glasses in between to look at new bar graphs. She had prodded and probed the data she was presented to ensure it was genuine and the two girls in front of her knew their market well. She had been impressed with the hours the girls had been willing to put into this new venture to make it work and innocently asked if they had families to consider in these future plans. Both girls smiled and said there were no plans for babies for either of them at the moment. The red haired woman laughed and said you can't always plan when a baby wants to grow in your belly. Piper snorted and said she's pretty certain her girlfriend Alex wouldn't be sneaking any babies into her belly. The woman at the head of the table took her glasses off as she replied.

"Ah, yes. Sneaking a baby past Alex might be difficult…..What about you though Ms Harper?"

"Well….I'm not ruling it out. I would like kids one day. I mean….not like right away, but one day definitely."

"But we'd get some help in if that happened. We wanted to look into taking on staff from a rehabilitation programme. Maybe women who've been in prison we were thinking…We've had some help recently from my girlfriend's company from some ex-offenders and we think we could offer something more permanent…."

"Um….nothing's decided though. Just ideas at this stage." Polly cut in quickly.

She ran her hand roughly through her red, spiky hair in thought before replying. "I'm glad you girls want to get involved. But that would make things a little complicated."

"You don't want us employing felons?" Piper asked.

"I didn't say that. It's just not good for business."

"So you're prejudiced against people with a criminal record, is that what you're saying?" Piper's tone was defensive and Polly was wringing her hands to try and de-escalate this before Piper said something more serious.

"I don't think she meant that P.-"

"I was in prison you know. Would you have invested in my company if you'd have known that?"

"Ms Chapman….Please." Galina held her hand up to stop Piper from going any further. "I'm well aware of your past. It's the very thing that led to the investment in your company in fact. But involving the rehabilitation programme would not be possible without me speaking to Alex."

"What did you say? What has my girlfriend got to do with this?"