A/N: Merry Christmas! I didn't mean to start this up again but I found a half-written chapter on my old laptop and thought 'what the heck'….. Since so many people have messaged me for an update or sequel, I thought I'd share it. No promises about further updates at this point as I certainly can't write as often as I used to. Hope you've all enjoyed a great Christmas break, however you chose to spend it!

XXXXX

"Piper, I won't say a word. I'll sit on the opposite side of the room even."

"I'm not negotiating on this. I'm stressed enough without having you two shooting daggers at each other and worrying if there's going to be one of you sporting a black eye after every recess. No Alex." She rinsed the coffee mugs out and put them onto the drainer to signal the end of the lengthy discussion.

"I can't believe you'd rather have him there than me."

"I'm not choosing. Steve is involved in the case, so he's going to be there. You've got a crane to fix and $2million to save. You honestly have more important things to do than sit in the court room today."

"….Fucking Nicky?!" Alex looked to the ceiling and sighed.

"Yes, it was 'fucking Nicky'…and it's a good job too because you weren't going to tell me." Piper dried her hands off and dropped the towel before turning to put her hands on her hips. "How long has your phone been switched off?"

"It's not. It needs charging."

"Yeah, right. In the 10 years you worked for Kubra; that never happened once. Are you telling me it's a coincidence that it happens for the first time when I'm in court?"

Alex rolled her eyes and pulled her boots on.

"I'm serious Al. $2million is a fuckload of money and you will NOT lose that on account of me." Piper moved over to where Alex was sitting on the sofa, moving the long hair that was hiding her face. "I'll give you the A for effort. But I would be much happier knowing you were doing something useful."

"Pipes, I want to be there for you. I told you, you're more important to me than anything. Let me prove it." Alex stroked Piper's cheek before leaning in to kiss her softly.

"$2million buys us a fucking awesome holiday when this is over. Then you can prove it to me over…(kiss)….and over (kiss)…..and over (kiss) again."

"Are you seriously trying to seduce me into leaving you on your own in that court room today?"

"Hell yes. And I'm serious about you taking me on an awesome holiday afterwards too. Show me the money Vause…..and brochures. Show me the brochures too." Piper kissed her on the nose quickly before standing up

XXXXX

Piper was finished with the cross-examination and any additional questions by lunch time. It had been two and half days of stress and anxiety, but her part in it was done now and she met her Mother and Steve outside in the corridor.

"Hi Mom." She gave her a brief hug before stepping back. "Where's Daddy?"

"He had to work sweetheart. Something came up this morning, so he had to drive home."

"Oh. Well at least it's over."

"You look exhausted dear. When was the last time you had a facial? You're skin's never been so sallow….Except when you were wearing that awful prison boiler suit. Orange has never suited your complexion."

"It was a uniform Mom and they didn't have a colour range to choose from."

"They didn't even have your size dear! I'm sure they could have taken them in at the waist a little more. No definition to your figure at all."

"Well, it's a fashion faux pas I don't plan to repeat; if that makes you feel any better about it."

"It does."

"Can you just give me a minute? I need to talk to Steve."

"Of course dear." Her mother immediately brightened. "He's been so worried about you. Been here every day you know. Did you see him in the Gallery? He's been such a sweetheart."

"That's nice. Would you mind waiting outside for me?"

"Oh…Alright. I suppose you want a little alone time." Her mother winked as she left and it turned Piper's stomach a little that she would be so excited about her pairing with Steve. She smiled a little as she thought about how sallow her mother's skin would be when she introduced her to Alex though.

"Hi Steve."

"Hey."

"I just wanted to say sorry for leaving like that last night."

"I guess the stress was getting to you a bit. It's OK." He shrugged, avoiding her eyes.

"Well, it's not really OK. You've driven all the way up here to support me and I shouldn't have bailed on you like that. I do appreciate it you know." Piper moved to touch her arm to catch his attention.

"Here's your key."

"Thanks."

"I have to get back for a shift tonight, so I'm going to get some rest at home."

"Oh, OK. I really a-"

"I'm not going to apologise for what I said last night. She's no good for you. You can do better."

Piper drew breath to counter and Steve raised his hand before she could get a word out.

"I know you don't agree. I don't understand what you see in her. I don't like her…" He sighed, catching himself behaving like a spoiled teenager who wasn't getting their own way. "It doesn't mean we can't be friends though, right?"

Steve offered a small smile and Piper rolled her eyes and sighed. She had a niggling urge to make everyone be friends. The Chapman way of doing things was for everyone to smile and pretend like it was a theatre production for a couple of hours, then they could go back to looking down their noses from afar. Prison Piper used those skills to weave between the dorm cliques and tried not to choose sides if she could see any way to avoid it. This felt a lot like choosing sides and she didn't want to lose Steve's friendship. She'd known him a long time and he'd been loyal to her and she knew she could count on him in a sticky situation. He'd proved it by saving her from Darryl doing something far worse to her than he had gotten away with. He was in court supporting her. But Alex had been so good to her too. Rubbing the back of her neck, she decided to weave between the dorms again.

"Of course we can be friends. I need you to try though, with Alex. It's not like we see each other a lot anyway. Please….just be civil will you? For me?"

Steve shook his head. "I honestly don't think she's capable of-"

"You don't know her Steve. You don't know her at all. You're judging her on something you actually know very little about. I'm not asking you to pick her in your soccer team every Sunday. I'm asking you to be civil and not stick daggers in each other all the time. I'll say the same to Alex. Please?"

"Don't look at me like that. That's underhand to look at me with those eyes." Steve closed his eyes, wrestling with the dilemma.

"Pleeeeeeease."

"Alright. I'll try. But if she –."

"Thank you!"

Piper punched his bicep playfully and he pulled her into a hug.

"I'm sorry for stressing you last night." Steve spoke quietly, but sounded sincere in his words.

"I'm sorry for being a bitch about it." She mumbled into his warm coat as they had a long embrace.

They stepped apart. "See you next time you're home?"

"Count on it."

XXXXX

Brooke was humming along to a Miley Cyrus song on the radio when Piper came into the store. Piper couldn't stifle a small giggle as she watched her swinging her hips to the chorus.

"Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt." Piper waved at her as Brooke tried to take evasive action to stand behind the counter.

"You didn't interrupt anything. I was just restocking."

"Is Polly in?"

"Yeah. Do you still work here?"

"Yes. Afraid so."

"She's in the back with some guy I've never seen before."

"The door is closed. Is it a meeting?"

Brooke only shrugged her shoulders before heading over to talk to a customer by the door.

Piper pressed her ear against the door to try and work out who Polly was in there with. She really didn't think Polly would be so brave as to bring Pete into the back office while Brooke was manning the store. Best to be sure before she opened the door though and she could only hear muffled voices from where she was craning her neck. She knocked before pushing the door open and peering inside.

"Piper! I didn't think you'd be back so early…." Polly stood up from the desk, where a College age guy dressed in baggy pants and a football tee was sitting and facing her.

"I finished early I guess, so I thought I'd come in and give you a hand."

"Oh, you didn't need to. I think we've got it covered here, haven't we Cory?"

"Yeah."

"Oh! This is Cory by the way."

"I see that." Piper cocked an eyebrow at Polly suddenly blushing.

"Cory is going to help us with the website design. I was just going over a few things with him."

"I see that too." Piper said as Cory faced his laptop once again and Polly glared back at her.

"How about we run through what we've done so far?" Polly pulled a chair out for Piper to join them.

XXXXX

"Rob, I'm going to assume you understand all of these legal terms and you're not having me sign up to anything that you wouldn't sign yourself in my position. Am I right to assume this?" She glanced over her glasses as she put pen to paper for what felt like the hundredth time that day.

"You are absolutely right to assume it Alex. Don't worry, I spent a large chunk of my night preparing this and nothing is binding you to buy it at this stage. It's purely to declare your interests, let them do some background to check you're a legit buyer and – "

"Am I? A legit buyer I mean? They aren't going to find anything in this 'approval to dig' form I'm signing that will compromise anything are they?" Alex dropped the pen and sat back, lifting her glasses into her hair and watching Rob closely.

"It's just checking you have the funds. They aren't interested in your family tree." He chuckled as he reached to refill Alex's cup of coffee.

"I'm less concerned about my tiny family tree than the funds."

"I know. Honestly, it's all about the here and now. The wealth you have is legit Alex. I know you are paranoid about it, but it is all signed and sealed and official. As your legal representative, I wouldn't work in any other way, I can assure you."

"Do you think this is a stupid idea?" Alex pushed the pile of papers aside and sat back in her chair as she looked at Rob.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because. It feels like I should have done more market research. Does it feel rushed to you?"

"That's not the kind of advice you pay me for."

"I know. I'm not necessarily asking you as my Lawyer…." She stood up and walked to the window, looking out over the city.

"Are you having second thoughts about this?" Rob sat on the edge of the table, concerned that Alex wasn't fully invested.

The whir of a photocopier in the background filled the silence in the room as Alex considered her answer. "NY Logistics was a legitimate investment, built from the ground up with skills I already had. I've been building that and focusing on only that for years now. Suddenly I'm branching out by buying the place in Newark and getting involved in maintenance for Christ's sake. What the fuck do I know about maintenance?!" Alex leaned back against the window and waited for Rob to impart some wisdom to tell her she was indeed losing the plot and should do something different. After a few seconds, Alex raised her brows to indicate it was a question she wanted him to answer.

Rob shook his head and smiled in reply. "Not my decision Alex. I'll read over whatever contracts and legal text you need me to and will pull in whatever expertise I can to help you though…..What's on your mind?"

Alex rolled her eyes. "Did I ever tell you I hate people sitting on the fence? Yes….I'm having second thoughts….I needed a crane fixing….not another company to keep me awake at night."

"So get the crane fixed and walk away." Rob picked up his coffee and drank as Alex stared back out at the city scape below them.

"You make it sound so simple."

Rob laughed. "The law is simple, how we interpret it and apply it to our circumstances is what makes it complicated."

"I won't tell you my thoughts on the law." She turned and leaned against the window. "This is just fact finding at this stage, right? Just seeing what a deal might look like and them just checking I have enough collateral to follow it through?"

"Exactly that. No promises are made, no money changing hands. Just an official expression of your interest in purchasing this business for them to give you the information you need to make a decision. You'll get their books, their contracts, their real estate agreements, staffing portfolio, the whole shebang."

"Shebang?" Alex cocked an eyebrow.

"A legal term." Rob grinned.

XXXXX

Piper went back to Polly's for something to eat when the locked up the store. Catching her up on what happened in the court room, Polly was shaking an angry fist and calling out the bad guys in all the right places.

"I can't believe they would even try and make out like you were leading him on like that! Honestly, all the evidence is so fucking obvious you were being set up by him!"

"Yeah, well….I've seen my fair share of defence and prosecution in action and they have to pin their case on any small shred of reasonable doubt." Piper shrugged as she reached for the bottle of wine to fill their glasses.

"Are you staying tonight?"

"What? Here? I haven't brought any clothes."

"Borrow something and head over to your place before work to change in the morning."

"I can't."

"Come on Piper, I feel like I haven't seen you in weeks."

"I mean I can't come in to the store tomorrow."

"Why? I thought you said they were done with you?" Polly finished her pasta and pushed the plate aside.

"They are, but the case isn't finished."

"But your part is. Why would you want to put yourself through listening to more?"

"Because there are other women who he hurt. Other women whose story needs to be told."

"Other women his defence team will tear apart? I don't think it's a good idea you going back in there."

"What difference will it make?"

"My point exactly. You can be at the store to help me with the website designs instead."

"I'd say you and Cory have it covered. Three's feeling like a crowd."

"Fuck you. He's barely started shaving."

"Probably with his Mom's razor."

"I think she dropped him off yesterday."

"He can't even drive?! I feel like we're asking our kids to work the remote to the TV already and I will not be that person at my age."

XXXXX

She stayed at Polly's for the night and they were up until the small hours, catching up and Piper finally negotiated that she would go to the court room every day, but do the stock figures for the web sales when she finished each night to help Polly out. They needed to place their production orders with the manufacturer to have the stock ready to ship at the point the website went live. They could agree on a final website design when Cory had sent them some samples through for them to agree on.

Being in the court room gallery the next day was strange because her family and Steve were missing and it was strange being on the side of the observer. A petite woman called Sheree was giving evidence today and she had shoulder length blonde hair and a slim figure as she walked up to take the stand. She looked maybe 5 years younger than Piper and her eyes darted around the room as she nervously waited for some instruction from the court clerk. Seeing her in the witness box for the first time as Sheree gave evidence sent shivers down Piper's spine and she wondered if that is what she looked like when she was giving evidence for the first time in her life; all wide eyed and afraid of all of the courtroom protocols and legalese being used. The prosecuting team was questioning first and it was clear that the woman was expecting to be tripped up at any moment, not realising that this was the easy part. The prosecution led her into the questions slowly, helping her to relax some before the bigger questions were broached. Piper saw a young man sitting in the front of the gallery, where Sheree kept nervously looking as she talked about the night she met Darryl.

They broke for a recess and Piper went to get some air outside the court, sitting on a bench with a bottle of water. The circumstances that Sheree was describing had striking similarities to what Piper experienced. Group night out, friend of a friend invited her along, went to a crowded bar as a group….It was hard to separate herself from the testimony that was being given already. She was focused on turning the bottle in her fingers as she felt someone sit down beside her.

"How do you move on from this?"

Piper looked to her side to find the man Sheree had been looking for had taken the space up next to her.

"Honestly? I don't know if moving on is the right phrase." Piper moved her hair behind her ear nervously.

"I feel so useless. What can I say to help?"

"I'm definitely not the right person to ask for advice." She held her hands up a little. "I'm pretty much the master of saying and doing the wrong thing."

They were quiet for a moment, both watching people coming out of the court and hurrying to their cars with arms of paperwork. It was big business for those fancy suits to be here. They probably saw more of the insides of those court rooms than their own kitchens. Except for Alicia Florrick, who seemed to actually work in her kitchen most of the time.

"Do you mind?" The man held a cigarette up to light and Piper shook her head.

"Is she seeing a therapist or a counsellor?"

"Yeah. For a while already." He took a long drag of the cigarette and watched the smoke disappear as he exhaled.

"It helped me. I think so anyway. I'm still processing."

"You seemed composed when you gave evidence."

Piper laughed without humour. "I'm glad it looked that way. I was using all my energy not to throw up all over my best suit."

"Dry cleaning is so expensive in the city right? " He turned the cigarette between his fingers slowly. Piper watched a young woman in a smart dress searching her purse for change at the parking meter as they sat in silence again.

"Could he walk free at the end of this?"

It was a simple question. One that Piper had thought in her mind every day since this investigation started. What would she do if he did walk free? Would it be something she could live with? Would she become someone who sought out her own justice by tracking him down and delivering it another way? Her grip tightened on the bottle as her bench companion awaited her answer. The woman at the parking meter got her ticket and walked away from them.

"I suppose that is always a possibility we have to consider up until the verdict is given." Clearly not the right words to calm a very nervous partner. She told him she was terrible at this. It's his own fault for asking. Piper felt obliged to continue and improve on that last poor effort.

"She has to focus on being very clear and precise with her evidence; that's as much as any of us can do." He nodded, watching the cigarette burn down in his hand. Piper drained the rest of her water and stood up.

"You'd better get back in there. She needs you to be positive through this."

XXXXX

Instead of going back to the court room, Piper went to pick up some groceries as she'd had way too many take outs at home this week and really didn't want to impose on Alex to cook for her yet again. She restocked her kitchen shelves and made herself something to eat before grabbing her gym kit and heading over to PoPi, making sure to make good on her promises last night to Polly of getting more involved in their expansion plans from now on. She worked through the figures for the main product line in the back office and Polly left her alone until closing time.

"Are you trying to burn that calculator out?"

"Until it tells me the numbers I want to see, yes. I need smaller numbers and it's not playing nicely."

"We're all closed up out here. Are you leaving with us or locking up?"

"Leaving with you. I'm going to meet Jess for a workout." Piper saved her work and closed the laptop down.

"Good idea. Take it out on the gym instructor instead of the calculator." Polly threw Piper her coat.

"I'll be back tomorrow to carry on with this though, don't worry."

"OK, whenever you're ready."

"I'll be here in the morning." Piper knocked the light off and closed the door behind her as they walked out of the back door.

"I thought you were in court all week?"

"I'm not going tomorrow. We have those interviews to do for Alex."

"Alright. Text me if you change your mind so I know your Instructor hasn't killed you." Polly hugged her quickly before they went their separate ways.

XXXXX

Piper was sore when she woke up on Friday morning, having done an intensive session with Jess with free weights. She was sore all over, but exhausted enough to sleep through the night without wanting to have a drink. It had shaken her to hear Sheree's testimony yesterday and she knew it would be more intense in the afternoon as they talked about her rape. She felt anxious about hearing the details from someone else's personal Hell. It was such an intimate and personal experience that would be shared with a whole room of gawking onlookers. Piper shivered and wondered if the man she had sat next to the previous day was truly prepared for what he had heard in that court room. A few hours of listening to such graphic descriptions would change someone forever.

She was the first to arrive at PoPi that morning and spent a great deal of time on internet research for interviewing logistics roles in preparation for helping Alex with their recruitment. Polly was far less interested in the prep and wanted only the bullet list of what they should ask as they headed over to NY Logistics in the afternoon for the first interviews.

"So we're basically looking for someone who is organised, good at time management, works well under pressure and has a pulse?" Polly yawned as they searched for a parking space outside.

"I didn't mention the pulse. You added that."

"Wow, even less to be choosy about then."

"No! They need to be self-motivated, committed, ambitious, willing to travel too…."

"Piper, these guys are fresh out of College. Let's stick with the pulse and self-motivated bits for now. Anything more is a bonus point." Polly slid out of the car and wandered up the stairs with an arm of CVs in her grasp.

"Hey, it's the PoPi partners! Good to see you guys!" Nicky spun around in her chair, pulling her headset down around her neck. "Are you here in force to complain about something? If so, you'll get my out of office."

"Hi Nicky. We're actually on a recruitment mission. Where do you want us?"

"So many ways to answer that question….The small meeting room next to Stretch's office to start with." Nicky showed them in and helped Piper set up the room for interviews while Polly went to the bathroom.

"All done with the court case now Chapman?"

"Kind of. It's still going on, but I'm not needed."

"Ah. Is it too early to celebrate anything?"

"Yes. Until he's locked up, I'm kind of holding my breath."

"Can we plan a little party when that happens? We need to celebrate something around here. It's all work and no play these days."

"I like the sound of that. Alex working you too hard hey?"

"Yes! But she's also flat out herself….as you know."

"I do. She's always been that way. You get used to it." Piper shrugged as Polly came back.

"Well, maybe when you hire us some whizz kids we can all chill the Hell out for a bit and get an actual life again."

"Aw, is your poor liver almost back to fully functioning Nicky?" Polly interjected as she switched the thermostat up.

"Hell will freeze over before I let that happen."

XXXXXX

Alex met three preferred candidates from the interviews and was impressed with all of them. They seemed a good fit to the work ethic they had going and had some interesting ideas for improving the way the rapidly growing company might adapt to the changing industry for logistics. She was working out the best fit for each of the candidates to be located in the company and was poring over a new organisational structure when her phone started ringing.

"Hey."

"Hey yourself." Alex smiled and put her pen down, pushing her shoulder back to stretch her aching back.

"I'm just calling to remind you that you get another full 24 hours credit to work tomorrow and you don't have to finish it all today." Piper yawned into the phone.

"Thanks for that. I don't recall setting up that alarm on my phone. It's amazing what these new iPhones can do these days."

"I could impart my tech wisdom on you in more detail if you moved away from your laptop once in a while."

"I'm nearly finished, I promise."

"You said that two hours ago Al."

"I know, but then I had another idea and I think this will work better."

"I'm sure it will." Piper hung up.

"If you stopped calling me, I'd be finished sooner too." Alex laughed as Piper pulled her phone from her hand and circled her arms around her neck before kissing her hair.

"I don't like office Alex being in my house so much. Can I have bed Alex now please?" Piper moved to sit herself across Alex's lap, blocking her laptop screen.

"So demanding." Alex pulled her glasses into her hair and kissed Piper on the side of her mouth.

"And cute. Don't forget how cute I am."

"How can I when you're literally blocking my line of sight to anything but how cute you are?" Alex raised her eyebrow and tried to reach around her to start closing her mails down.

"I'm sorely tempted to close the laptop right now and make you stop and come to bed, but I'm slightly terrified of how much that might cost you since you're such a big shot exec these days."

"Wise move. Your holiday would definitely be downgraded if I lost what I am working on. Do not touch that keyboard with your nimble fingers." Alex pulled Piper's hands away from the laptop before rising up and pulling Piper towards her, carrying her away from the table and dropping her onto the sofa.

"Hmmm. You have other plans for my nimble fingers then Ms Vause?" Piper pulled Alex towards her by her shirt and kissed her.

"Yes." Alex kissed Piper slowly before pulling back and dropping a holiday brochure onto her lap. "If you don't choose something, we won't be going anywhere at this rate." Alex ruffled her hair as she went back to her laptop.

"Ugh. Who books holidays from brochures any more? You're so old school."

"It's for ideas. We can book whatever you want, just make a decision already and you can use my card to book it." Alex was already back in front of her papers and only half listening as she finished up what she had been working on.

"I don't care where we go…..Here. Book that." Piper flipped to a random page in the brochure and dropped it onto the table next to Alex's hand. The dark haired woman pulled her glasses down and screwed her face up.

"You really want to go to Cancun and sit on a crowded beach with a bunch of privileged rich kids spending Daddy's money?"

"Sure." Piper shrugged her shoulders before dropping onto the chair opposite Alex and leaning her chin onto her folded hands.

"You'd hate that. Pick again."

"No, YOU'D hate that."

"Fine. I'd hate it. Pick again." Alex sighed as she tried to send off the open emails she had while Piper peered at her impatiently.

"We should have a party."

"What?" Alex creased her brow as she closed her programmes down and closed the top on her screen.

"To celebrate something. Nicky thinks it would be a good idea."

"Nicky always thinks parties are a good idea." Alex rolled her eyes as she gathered the papers into her bag. "Especially the kind she doesn't pay for or clean up afterwards."

"I'm serious. We should organise something. It's weeks since everyone let their hair down and I think we all deserve it."

Alex raised her eyebrows and waited for Piper to present a more pressing argument.

"What? You don't think we deserve it?"

"Only you would think people have to deserve a party." Alex chuckled as she pulled Piper by the hand and walked her to lock the doors and turn the lights out.