Empty Spaces by Physhy

Orange Is the New Black Chapman/Vause

Picks up at the end of the season one finale.

Chapter One

Somewhere distantly in the background the sounds of the holiday celebration echoed faintly as the pageant wound down to a close. The winter air was bitter cold and the breeze that carried it cut like a knife. There was a crispness to the air that suggested a fresh snow would soon be falling. None of these things existed to Piper Chapman, the only thing that existed in her tiny little universe was the fiercely raging fear and panic that had kept her swinging long after the strength in her tiny waspy frame had run out. Nothing but the sludgey thump that accompanied the conact her broken and bloody fists made with each weakening lurch of her body. The red that stained everything including her own shriveling soul. Her energy spent she slowly collapsed in a motionless heap beside the lifeless body of Doggett.

The rest of the inmates were shuffling slowly back to their cubes trying to savor the festive atmosphere as long as they possibly could. There were lots of friendly bits of chatter and the occasional verse of some carol or other being bounced around the crowd. Days like this inside were few and far between and no one was looking forward to the crash of reality that morning would bring. Not Nicky who was still buzzing on the afterglow from her Christmas present and choosing not to think about the fact that come morning she and Alex were still gonna be hung on their respective exes. Not Alex who was still kinda proud of standing her ground when Piper had come running like she'd known she would. She knew that she'd forgive the blonde eventually, regardless of what she'd said about picking Larry. Alex knew Piper better than anyone ever had, knew that she was her other half. Larry was the man she had been raised to marry, but Alex was the one that made her feel alive. That didn't mean she was gonna roll over and forgive her the second she'd came to her senses, no it would be way more fun to make her work for it. After all she'd always been a fan of the ways the blonde had sought her forgiveness in the past. This thought led the raven haired beauty to happy little memory that floated her all the way back to her cube on a cloud.

Everyone in the suburbs went about their business getting ready for bed taking care of their nightly rituals until the light came on for final count. The lightly jovial attitude continued as the guards went from room to room with their annoying little clickers, counting them off as they went. Three recounts later the holiday cheer was ebbing and nervous little whispers were starting to replace the happy chatter from moments before. There were the usual jests about someone sneaking off for an extra special christmas present but a feeling of tension settled over the women just the same. Three recounts later and the tension in the room was getting thick. Someone was missing, recounts were pretty standard but three was a bit much even for this bunch. Everyone was craning around and taking stock, trying to figure out whose spot was empty.

No one was surprised when the alarm went off forcing the inmates to the ground while the guards went about their search. They were running around wildly checking every bathroom and utility closet. There would be more heading outside to check the yard for any stragglers. After all it wouldn't have been all that hard for a couple of girls to have snuck off for a little alone time. If they hadn't walked back from the pageant together Alex probably would have assumed it was Nichols and Morello making up. When the wave of whispers finally reaches Alex the light hearted thought dies cold as she whips her head around to her bunkmate Leanne and she isn't surprised at the gasp she lets out when the news arrives that Pennsatucky is missing. The scathing look the meth head throws her way, and the twisted little grin that follows make her blood run cold as an icy knot forms in the pit of her stomach.

A terrible feeling settled over Alex as she forced herself to focus hard.How long has it been since I've seen Piper, she had to be at the pageant everyone was there. Even Pennsatucky, she'd been the angel for crying out loud. She chased the thoughts round and round inside her head while the first real sounds of commotion started to echo up to them from outside. As hard as she tried the last she could remember seeing the blonde was when she'd come running to her earlier...and she'd chased her away. She focused hard on the memory, she'd been so dismissive she couldn't remember the look on Piper's face. Had the blonde been angry like she'd assumed or was it something else, had it been fear etched across her face. Heads raised across the prison as the alarm was cancelled and everyone was summarily ordered to bed. Alex was up in a flash pinning her "bunky" hard to the floor out of sight of the COs using body weight and leverage to make sure the crazy bitch couldn't try something.

"What the fuck do you know?" Her words were fierce but controlled as she applied just enough force to make sure the meth head understood that she was deathly serious about wanting some answers. That look had left no doubt that she knew something about what was going on out there, and Alex was not above hurting this bitch to get to the truth. The blonde beneath her tried to look smug but she really didn't have much time here. The brunette shifted her position applying more weight until the junkie started to cry out, wracked with pain her breaths getting shorter.

"Same thing everybody else knows. Tucky's been doggin' Chapman all week. Bitch disrespected her so she decided to finish things. "

It took every bit of strength the brunette had not to wrap her long fingers around the skinny little junkies throat and squeeze until her eyes bugged out but that would leave marks and her hands were distinctively large. Instead she pushed the girl harder into the cement floor beneath her, satisfied as a pained whimper escaped her ruined mouth.

" If any of you stupid hillbilly assholes so much as look in her direction again I will personally end you. Do you understand me?" A frantic nod was the girls only response as Alex suddenly realized she was essentially cutting off the girls air supply, still she held her down a moment longer just to make sure her point had been made perfectly clear. She released Leanne but couldn't resist a kick to the girls midsection as she tried to get up.

Alex was furious. She was furious with all those religious nut jobs who'd apparently been harassing her girl again. She was furious with Piper for picking Larry and causing their latest fight, but mostly she was furious with herself. She should have known something was wrong when Piper came to her so soon after being told to stay away. It's not like she had been unclear, sure she had known the blonde would come sniffing around for forgiveness eventually but that had been just too damn soon. She'd been so pissed that she assumed she would cave so soon aftr their fight she hadn't even tried to read the girl's expressions. She tried to convince herself that everything was going to be okay, that Piper was safely tucked away in her own cube somewhere. Tried to convince herself that she'd see her girl in the morning, but the rising cries of sirens in the night just wouldn't let her believe it.

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