A/N: Well, hi. Okay, so, for those of you who are here because you read Reading Glasses, THANK YOU and I'm really sorry but that story is on... indefinite hiatus. I didn't really have a direction for it, and I will most likely pick it up again if/when I work out where I want it to go. This story however I'm really enjoying writing, and I have it all planned out for once. The general premise is inspired by the show White Collar (which is fabulous, by the way). Also, this chapter is mainly exposition, so I'm sorry if you feel like you're being bombarded with information! I just really need to get all this out in the first chapter. Please let me know what you think of this idea because I'm kind of shooting in the dark here! Thanks x

They have history, Piper Chapman and Alex Vause. Though perhaps not in the way one might expect; it's a history of hands slammed on tables and chairs kicked over in frustration, of wildly inappropriate comments and unrelenting smirks. Piper and Alex have seen a lot of each other over the years, and are about to be spending much, much more time together. This has been weighing on Piper's mind for several days up to now. She's aware of how tirelessly infuriating she finds the woman, of how she somehow has the power to make her want to punch something with just a few words. The truth is, it doesn't matter- Piper Chapman needs Alex Vause, much to her dismay. She's far too valuable of an asset to set aside over pettiness. At least, that's what the Captain had said. True, Alex Vause is sly, slick, slippery- all qualities undesirable of someone you're forced to put your faith into. But Detective Chapman does so anyway, and her footsteps feel especially weighted as she steps into the high security prison where a certain con artist has been residing for the past two years.

"So how is this going to work, exactly?"

"Fuck, Brook, I'm not explaining this again."

Piper sighs in annoyance, pressing two fingers against her temple. She had hoped that the brief silence since her rookie's last pointless utterance had been an indication that they were finished talking, but apparently not. She has no fucking idea how this girl even made it out of high school without getting killed, let alone the police academy. Piper would usually consider herself a fairly patient person, but Soso just talked so damn much.

"So she'll be free... within a two mile radius? But you're like, watching her?"

"She gets a tracking anklet," The detective begins as she leans against the wall beside the prison's admin desk. They've been instructed to wait for a guard to take them through, and Piper prays that the prison is as enthusiastic about punctuality as Soso is about the sound of her own voice.

"I'll get an alert when she's outside of her radius, and I can check where she is at any time. It's a work release deal, so she'll be consulting with us every day. And she's my responsibility."

"Wow," The rookie grins, standing much closer to her superior officer than is really necessary.

"She's super lucky. I bet the other girls are so jealous. I almost feel bad for them! I think more prisoners should be-"

"Detective Chapman?"

Piper exhales in relief as the door behind her opens and a guard beckons her in. It's immediately louder beyond the door, but the sound of alarms buzzing and inmates shouting is a welcome change.

"She's all yours," The guard almost laughs as she ushers over the inmate in question, unlocking her handcuffs.

"Well," The criminal grins, crossing her arms as she leans back against the wall. She's out of the khaki overalls Piper is used to seeing her in, the modest getup exchanged for tight-fitting jeans, a plain white shirt and leather jacket- evidently she still has people on the outside, close enough to be willing to drop off her clothes. Piper isn't surprised- Alex certainly didn't strike her as someone who was easy to get rid of.

"You're looking lovely today, Detective Chapman."

"Good morning, Miss Vause." Piper rolls her eyes. It's going to be a long year.

Allowing Soso to drive them back to the station- in hopes that the distraction of the road would put an end to her incessant talking- proves to be a mistake. Not only does she continue her incessant babbling about nothing in particular, but her driving is abysmal. And the rookie's squad car only serves as extra ammunition to the bespectacled passenger's snark.

"Ah, we meet again, old friend." Alex says with a smirk, pressing her hand flat against the window in what appears to be fondness.

"Familiar with the back seat of squad car, are we, Miss Vause?"

"Call me Alex, detective. May I call you Piper?"

"You may not."

Alex laughs throatily, propping her feet up between the front seats only to have them swatted away by the blonde.

"I might have spent a good few nights in one of these babies in my formative years."

"And recently?"

"Just once."

Piper looks up, meeting her eyes in the rear view mirror, unable to read her expression.

"Well, Soso is only here for her own benefit. We'll be travelling in my car, generally."

"I'm sorry," Alex laughs. "Soso?"

"Yes?" The younger officer responds, oblivious.

"Nothing. Great name."

Piper bites her lip to keep herself from laughing, looking away from the mirror to evade the brunette's gaze.

"I'm looking forward to getting to know you, Alex," The young girl begins, turning away from the road to face her for a moment before receiving a slap on the shoulder from the blonde.

"Watch the damn road, Soso."

Detective Chapman has to take a moment before she steps into the station with her new companion. Throughout her previous visits to Alex in prison on the hunt for information, the criminal had become notorious in her attempts to flirt with Piper- and whilst the blonde was only endlessly annoyed by this, the rest of the squad thought it was utterly hilarious.

So she's not surprised when she walks into Litchfield Police Station to be met by a round of applause. She opts only to roll her eyes and head directly for the coffee machine, pretending not to notice when her partner attempts to discreetly high-five Alex. Bennett is an idiot, but he's a good cop. The raucous is disturbed only when Captain Healy emerges from his office, shouting for quiet.

"Miss Vause, Detective Chapman," He says once the noise has died down, his laboured breath uncomfortably audible to everyone in the room.

"If you could step into my office, please."

Alex gives Piper a questioning glance and receives a shrug in response. The blonde strides purposefully into her boss's office, a coffee cup cradled between her hands, pretending not to notice the pair of eyes raking over her body as she walks away.

Healy's office is about as you'd expect of a cranky old police captain. It's bigger than it needs to be, with the entire back wall lined with filing cabinets that will barely close. A large, messy mahogany desk covered in mug stains is centred in the room, accompanied by an unnecessarily extravagant leather desk chair that sticks out like a sore thumb. Piper is familiar with the chair- Healy had purchased it to celebrate his promotion (when she was still a rookie), and claims that it's somehow symbolic.

"Okay, ladies," The man begins as he sits down, opening a drawer to retrieve a box.

"Lets go over the rules here."

The pair sit down opposite him, Alex's trademark smirk hidden by a hand covering her face. As much as she might be enjoying the attention or finding the police captain's uncomfortable demeanour entertaining, she does need this to go well. Prison is not where she wants to be.

"I'm told you're familiar with the conditions of your little get out of jail free card?"

"Yes," Alex sighs.

"Stay within my radius, be back at my listed address each night by curfew, don't fuck with the tracker, be here every day at 9am. Oh, and no crime."

Healy sighs so heavily that Piper almost worries that he might pass out.

"No crime is a basic requirement of everyone. It's known as the law."

"I always thought of that more as a guideline than a rule."

The greying man closes his eyes for a moment, making no effort to hide his pained expression before pushing the box atop his desk towards Piper. She opens it to reveal a thick metal anklet, open with a small circle of red light at the base.

"Alex." She says calmly, trying not to get annoyed as Alex's smug expression grows even more so as she props her leg up on Healy's desk.

"Wow, detective," Alex begins, enjoying the whole thing far too much as Piper sets up the anklet.

"Jewellery on the first date? Are you trying to get me into bed?"

She has to repress a grin when answered only by the blonde's signature scowl.

"I'll have you know I'm not that kind of girl."

"Miss Vause." She turns her head with raised eyebrows at the low, irked sound of the police captain's voice, his face redder than before.

"Behave yourself." He exhales heavily as Alex swallows a laugh and nods.

"Now," He says after a short moment, having regained composure in as much as the awkward man was capable of.

"I'll leave you in Miss Chapman's capable hands."

"I'm sure they're very capable, sir."

Alex maintains eye contact with the uncomfortable man as she stands up to leave, pretending not to notice that Piper, who follows closely behind her, is staring at her as though she's just killed her entire family.

"Hey," The detective says suddenly, turning around so that Alex is trapped between her and the now closed door.

"Watch your fucking mouth, especially in front of Healy. This deal is a privilege, not a right, and you're on thin ice."

She begins to walk away before turning back to meet the criminal's shocked eyes, her voice significantly lower.

"And I think we both know you're exactly that kind of girl."

Alex finds herself letting go of a breath she didn't know she was holding as she watches Piper walk away, adjusting her glasses as she tries to compose herself.

"Fuck," She says under her breath, almost laughing. This is going to be more fun than she ever could have imagined.

As it happens, the rest of the day is rather uneventful. Apparently having convicted felons released into your control comes with a lot of paper work. The rest of the squad were more than happy to fill Alex in on protocol, what with their inexplicable admiration of her, so Piper is free to get on with actual work, at least until it comes to the girl's curfew. The drive is about as expected- Alex says something inappropriate, Piper sighs. Alex says something reasonable, Piper responds, Alex says something even more inappropriate. She never expected anything less.

Alex's listed residence is the same apartment she lived in pre-prison, with one Nicky Nichols. She's most likely as sketchy a character as Alex- Piper isn't naive enough to think otherwise for a second, but honestly, she doesn't care. Alex is her problem, no one else. She doesn't wait around for introductions, instead checking the anklet one final time and ensuring the tracker is working before bidding the girl goodnight.

"You're quite the gentleman, Detective Chapman."

"You're a cocky asshole. Go get some sleep, Vause. We're doing actual work tomorrow."

The brunette winks before stepping into the apartment, closing the door behind her. The building is much nicer than Piper might have expected, though she realizes as she's heading down the spiraling mahogany staircase that it was close-minded of her to think it would be anything less than this. They're white collar criminals; of course they live in the lap of luxury.

Piper's apartment isn't bad, of course- it's about as good as it gets on a police salary and the minimal income of her underachieving, underemployed live-in boyfriend- but it's not even on the same planet as Alex's place. She doesn't care, though, and the thought is gone from her mind as she's hit by the ever familiar smell of laundry detergent, candles and coffee. Real coffee, too, not that swamp water they have down at the station.

"Hey," A groggy voice calls out, and Piper rolls her eyes. She knows he's spent the night asleep in front of the TV again.

"Hey, Larry," She responds, attempting to repress a sigh.

"How was your day?" He's up now, and peers his head around the kitchen door to where Piper sits at the breakfast bar, with her suit jacket discarded on the seat next to her, her now bare arms resting atop the cool granite of the countertop.

"It was fine." She sounds distant, disinterested; it's pretty much how most of their conversations go after she gets back from work. He's used to it, and she hasn't noticed.

"Didn't you get your consultant today? How did that go?"

"It was fine."

She sighs as he looks away, dejected.

"Sorry. I'm stressed. Can we just go to bed?"

She smiles slightly in relief as he nods before turning to head upstairs. Larry being mad at her is the last thing she needs. Truth be told, he's a home comfort, like warm chicken soup when you're sick or the cool side of the pillow in the middle of a hot night. She's happy right now, but sometimes it's not enough. Sometimes you just need something that makes your blood boil.