CHAPTER 2: MEET THE FAMILY
It was close to 7 by the time Alex got back to her barracks room that evening. She told Piper that to meet her and the rest of the group at the main doors of their building at 8, so she still had a little over an hour to get ready. She flicked her key in the lock of room 205 and was just stepping inside when she heard a familiar, intrusive voice from the hallway behind her.
"What the fuck, Vause, you avoiding me or something? I haven't seen you all day!" Alex turned around and saw Nicky Nichols' familiar unruly red hair coming out of room 203, a couple feet down the hall.
"No, Nic, I'm not avoiding you. My new 2 I/C got in today, and I was showing her the ropes." Alex said, as she stepped further inside her room, gesturing to Nicky to follow her (although Nicky didn't really need the gesture, she was following the brunette into her room regardless).
"'Showing her the ropes', huh? That's what they're calling it these days?" The red-haired woman shot back, smirking.
"Wasn't like that, Nichols. She's nice, and good police. Had my back when shit got hairy with Mendez out there today." Alex said, smiling as she remembered how calm and level-headed her new subordinate had remained, even as she very nearly had to shoot the belligerent captain that many in the 91st had nicknamed "Pornstache".
"Fuck yeah, I heard about that. I also heard you gave him a nice long treatment with some electroshock therapy. Douchestache over there had it coming, you ask me."
"Officially, I 'deployed my conducted electrical weapon as an alternative means to subdue a belligerent suspect in a situation in which lethal force was justified.'"
"You actually put that in the report? Did you remember to note the abnormally large stick firmly lodged in your…"
"Nicky! What else was I supposed to say, 'Douchestache had it coming'? Because I'm sure General Mendez would have loved to have read that." Alex retorted, removing her camouflage blouse and duty belt, taking the Browning M9 out of its holster and expertly clearing it before placing it safely in its lockbox under her bed.
"You know you can carry that thing off-duty, right? In fact, LEOSA recommends it. Something about police officers being 'high risk targets' or some other highfalutin bullshit." Nicky remarked, pulling her leather jacket out of the way to show the taller woman her own weapon, situated in a low-profile black holster on her belt.
"Yea, but I'm going to be drinking tonight, and guns and liquor don't really mix, ya know?" Alex said with a chuckle as she grabbed a change of clothes and stepped into her bathroom to change.
"I never really subscribed to that particular school of thought. In my opinion, guns are cool and beer is cool, so guns and beer together are like, double cool. Speaking of drinking tonight, did you invite your mysterious new 2 I/C? I'd love to uh, become acquainted with her. Besides, she's the first new NCO we've had around here in months, we could use the new blood. In more ways than one…" Nicky shouted to her colleague through the bathroom door.
"Seriously Nic, do you actually ever think with your brain or is just your ladybits that do the brain work for you?" Alex questioned, emerging from the bathroom with her long black hair flowing around her shoulders, now wearing a dark pair of tight-fitting jeans and a black v-neck t-shirt.
"Little bit of both, boss. Little bit of both."
…
It was 7:58 by Piper's watch when she emerged from the front door of building 1-91 to see a group of 3 women standing in just outside the door. In the middle stood her new supervisor that she hadn't gotten a chance to see since the two had parted ways after the incident with Mendez.
"Hey Chapman, glad to see you could make it," Alex spoke up from the centre of the group, causing the other women to turn around and face her. "Guys, this is Corporal Piper Chapman, my new 2 I/C on 3 Patrol. Chapman, this is Sergeant Nicky Nichols, and Sergeant Lorna Morello," the brunette continued, gesturing to each woman in the group as she introduced them. "Nic and Morello are two of the other patrol commanders on our watch."
"Nice to meet you both," Piper greeted, shaking each of their hands and subconsciously noting that as she was the junior Soldier present, she'd have to behave herself, although she was slightly distracted by Alex's tight-fitting outfit that seemed to hug her body in all the right (or maybe all the wrong) places, and her flowing dark locks that fell effortlessly around her face, past her shoulders, framing her face which still featured those thick-rimmed glasses in front of her addictive eyes. "So, how far is this bar from here?"
"Oh not too far, just a five minute walk that way," the woman that Alex had identified as SGT Morello pointed down the street towards the commercial section of the base. "Shouldn't be too busy, it's pretty much just MPs that go there, and 2 Watch is on patrol right now, and 3 Watch is in the field. It's a nice spot, owned by this old Russian lady who only goes by Red. Just don't insult any of her food and you should get along fine."
Piper nodded, registering the small woman's unsolicited review of the place. In the young CPL's opinion, so long as they had booze and no fights, she'd be happy.
…
The women opened the door of the small bar to be greeted by quiet jazz music playing in the background and the unwelcoming aroma of stale cigarettes and fried food.
Sensing Piper's negative reaction to the establishment, Alex gently placed a hand on her upper back before explaining to her that this was the only place within 20 miles that hadn't been overrun by guys from 10th Mountain, and so regardless of how "cozy" it was, it was this or nothing.
The group moved together to a table in the far corner, amidst sideways glances from other patrons that Piper assumed were the women's subordinates. The one with the crazy hair that seemed very close with the small dark haired one (Nichols and Morello, Piper had to remind herself), gestured to a black woman behind the bar to bring them their first round. A few minutes later, the woman approached the table with a tray carrying four shot glasses and a bottle of tequila.
"Thank you, Suzanne. Go ahead and start a tab in my name, put all of our drinks on it." Alex said with a smirk as she slid a credit card and a twenty-dollar bill across the table to the woman.
"You got it, Vause. You guys need anything else right now?" The bartender asked, directing the question to the whole table.
"Just keep the tequila coming, Suzanne, and we'll be happy customers all night." Nichols smiled as she wrapped spoke to the bartender and, almost unnoticeably inched closer to Morello.
…
Alex couldn't take her eyes off of Piper the whole time the four women were at the bar. By the time they were ready to close their tab, it was almost midnight and the group had just polished off their fourth bottle, Alex noting that Piper had remained slightly reserved, not drinking as much as the other women.
"You know, I get that you're out drinking with the boss and everything, but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy yourself," Alex said as they stepped outside into the quiet, cool outdoor air. Nicky and Morello were a few metres ahead of them, already getting a little handsy.
"Yea, I know," Piper began, smiling towards her own feet, "it's just, hm, I don't know, it sounds stupid to say out loud."
"It's fine, you can say it, I'm drunk enough that I probably won't even remember in the morning." Alex slurred at the younger woman.
Piper laughed, before responding, "It's just, uh, you know, first day at a new duty station, with lots more responsibility than I had before, I wanted to make a good impression, and getting shitfaced doesn't exactly scream responsibility."
"I'm gonna let you in on a little secret, kid," Alex began, moving closer to the blonde, "I don't give a shit how much you drink, so long as you show up every shift sober, switched on and ready to go. And the whole sober thing is only because you have to drive." She added the last bit to lighten up the serious statement she'd just made.
"Thanks, Sarn't. Means a lot to be treated like an adult. My last patrol commander made a habit of treating me like shit because I was an NCO but not a sergeant."
"You can cut the whole 'sarn't' shit, kid, we're all friends here. Actually, I think those two," she continued, gesturing towards Nicky and Lorna, who had slowly lengthened the distance between the two pairs, "might be sleeping together. So they're a little more than friends."
Piper chuckled at the older woman's observation of the other two women, who had been too distracted with one another's mouths all evening to carry on much of a conversation.
"So, Chapman, any reason why an attractive young woman such as yourself isn't seeing anyone?" Alex continued, smiling down at the shorter woman.
"Well, I guess I was sort of in a relationship back when I was stationed in Alabama. Nothing too serious though, it was this Australian chick named Stella who turned out to be batshit crazy. She was never really 'The One' though, you know? Other than that, I've been pretty, uh, how do I put this, non-monogamous since I got back from my last tour."
"Yea, I get that. I just got out of a relationship myself, she also turned out to be batshit. Left a literal bag of burning shit outside the barracks."
"Holy shit," Piper began, before cracking up laughing at her own, unintended, pun.
"Yea, I guess you could say that." Alex laughed.
"Well, I guess this is it." Piper said, gesturing to the front door of their barracks building.
"I guess so," Alex began as she held the door open for Piper. The two women advanced through the lobby, hitting the elevator button and immediately being greeted by a 'ding!' and opening doors.
"After you," Piper slurred, the alcohol finally starting to really affect her.
Alex walked in and punched the number two button, before turning to Piper, who was holding onto the handrail for balance. "Jesus, that shit hit you really quick, huh?"
"Mmm, I guess so." Piper slurred, her eyes half closed.
"Floor?" Alex asked, smirking at Piper's sudden heightened level of intoxication.
"Three. Wait, fuck, no, two. Yeah, two." Piper said, leaning her head back against the wall of the elevator and closing her eyes. It was then that Alex got to really take in the younger blonde's appearance: long hair falling in loose curls, a loose, white tank top that was probably cut too low for a night out with her new boss, and dark ripped jeans that were so tight it looked they might have been painted on. Alex bit her lower lip to contain a moan as Piper flipped her hair to one side.
DING! The obnoxiously loud elevator broke Alex out of her distracted state, as the doors slid open to reveal the second floor of building 1-91. She grabbed Piper's arm as the shorter woman stumbled out into the hallway.
"Which room are you in?" Alex asked as she tried to remember which rooms on the floor were vacant recently.
"Uh, 226. That way." Piper responded, grabbing the brunette's shoulder for balance as she pointed down the hallway.
"Alright, kid, let's go. Do you have your key?"
"Psh, of course I have my key. Whattaya think I am, boss, stupid?" Piper put extra emphasis on the last word, smiling up at the taller woman and pulling a key ring out of her brown leather purse. "See?"
Alex took the key ring from the blonde and led her down the hallway, before stopping in front of the door that read 226.
"Alright, kid, here we are. Room 226." She gestured to the room number as she slipped the key into the lock and flicked it open. She swung the door ajar, revealing a room not unlike her own: bathroom door to the immediate right, a closet to the left. Further into the room stood a double bed adjacent to a dresser which held a television. Finally, furthest from the door were a desk, on which sat a MacBook, and in the far right corner was an old couch. The room screamed "uninhabited", with unpacked boxes littered around the floor and barren walls, devoid of any personalization. "Looks like you just moved in." She observed, referring to the state of the room.
"Hm, well, that's what happens when your irresponsible new boss forces you to go drinking with her, on a weeknight no less." Piper slurred, turning around to face the older woman with a smile.
"Huh, that's funny, I seem to remember things going a little differently…" Alex said, trailing off as Piper slowly closed the already small gap between the two women.
"Really, it's fine, boss. So long as you're OK with making it up to me," Piper's voice was barely more than a whisper and she continued to inch closer to the taller woman. Alex could feel the blonde's warm breath on her neck as she looked down to see Piper, the younger woman's eyes firmly fixed on her lips as she caught her own bottom lip beneath her front teeth. Slowly, Piper brought her hand behind Alex's head, weaving her fingers with the raven hair that she found there, and brought their faces together until finally she caught Alex's lips with her own.
At first, the kiss was slow, gentle, exploring. Alex, taken aback at her new subordinate's forwardness, took a moment to register exactly what was happening, before giving in and sweeping her tongue across Piper's bottom lip, the younger woman immediately granting access. Their tongues automatically fell into a battle for dominance, before both sides surrendered and allowed the other to slide into their mouths and explore. They stayed there for what seemed like forever, before Piper started to slide her hands under Alex's black t-shirt, raking her fingernails across the alabaster skin she found there, feeling the slight twitch of the brunette's abdominal muscles under her touch.
When the realization of exactly what was about to happen hit Alex, she pulled away, causing Piper to let out a small moan in protest. Both women pulled back, slowly opening their eyes before they caught each other's gaze.
"I, uh, I'm sorry, but we can't do this. Not like this. Not with you like this." Alex rasped, bringing one hand up and running it through her tousled hair.
"Wha- what do you mean? I though you, uh…" Piper began, before the older woman spoke again.
"I do. And I'd definitely like to pursue this. You. But you're drunk, kid. And in my experience, relationships that begin with drunken sex rarely end well. So go sleep this off, and I'll see you at work in the morning." Alex explained, before turning and leaving the room.
…
A/N: Thank you all for the great feedback for chapter one. Slightly shorter update this time, only because I really wanted to get some more material out as a thank you. I've already started work on chapter 3, and I hope to have it up by mid-week. To everyone that left reviews, thank you, and I'll try and incorporate as many of your suggestions as I possibly can. You didn't actually think that I'd be able to avoid having Nicky in this, did you? I promise that she'll play a pretty big supporting role later on. Once again, thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed the update, don't forget to leave a review with your thoughts!