Hi! I've only just finished my first OITNB fic – but this idea has been gnawing at me for weeks, so I thought I'd give it a go. This is a little short as my chapters go, but think of it as an intro. I'm just putting some feelers out there at the moment – hopefully you guys will like where it's heading!

Chapter 1

"Wake up!" Alex awoke instantly at the noise, due to the inconvenient schedule of her rather unorthodox occupation – she was a light sleeper. Her pinged open and she looked up to find a pair of dark, mascara rimmed eyes glaring at her.

Nichols.

Alex groaned, genuinely torn between blocking her ears with her pillow or suffocating Nikki with it. She blinked. The younger woman's eyes were wild – quite fitting with her hair, which – if possible, was even more untamed in the morning. The ends of her mane tickled Alex's cheeks. She felt a surge of irritation.

"Ugh." Alex pressed her hands against Nikki's abdomen and pushed her away. Resting her bodyweight on one elbow, she reached across the dresser to her glasses. Groggily, she managed to sit up. She pushed her the black frames on the bridge of her nose and squinted harshly at the light. "What the fuck are you doing?" The brunette said in a low, husky voice.

"Get up Vause – move! Kubra's been calling you all morning. You left your phone in my apartment, you idiot." She sat on the end of Alex's bed, and ran a tentative hand through her hair. "I answered. He told me that that little mule you recruited – uh shit. What was her name? Brooke? Brooke Soso."

The older woman regarded her blankly.

"Uh… The chatterbox who only shuts up when she's having her pussy licked." Nikki wove her fingers together. "She's been arrested with the stash."

Alex blinked again, harsher this time – her eyebrows rose as she digested the information. "Fuck!"

"…Yeah, that was my thinking. He wants to see you now."

"Shit. Fuck." Alex pushed past her friend and dove out of bed, throwing the blanket she'd just been cherishing down onto the floor.

Fortunately, she was already wearing sweatpants and a baggy shirt - she'd fallen asleep whilst on her laptop into the early hours.

Alex threw herself towards her wardrobe and grabbed her Doc Martens, she shoved her feet into them, bending over and knotting the laces quickly. She stood up again and grabbed her jacket hanging off of her desk chair. She ran out of the room breathing heavily with a bemused Nichols watching her, half entertained and half apprehensive.

Alex ran back in, "where the fuck is he?" She said, with her dark hair sticking up at all angles, emerald eyes smudged with day-old eyeliner.

"Warehouse 223." Nikki answered, throwing Alex her car keys off of the bedside table. Impressively, although in a zombie-like trance the brunette still managed to capture the jingling metal between her fingers.

"Of course, a warehouse." Alex nodded, more to herself. "He's going to fucking kill me."

"Nah. If he was gonna kill you he wouldn't call first."

"Hmm." Alex reasoned. "Could have been a courtesy call."

"Kubra doesn't do courtesy." Nikki was only contributing to her friend's quickly plummeting mood.

"Alright, whatever. I'll see you later, would you mind getting the fuck out of my apartment and going back next door to, I don't know – where you actually live?"

Nikki huffed, kicked off her shoes, pulled the duvet off of the floor and tucked herself beneath it. "I didn't pay my gas bill." She shrugged.

"Again?" Alex studied her from the door frame. "Oh fine. Just lock it on your way out. I'll see you later, potentially as a ghost."

The younger woman laughed uneasily. "Bye."

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Piper leant over in her chair and stared out idly at the New York skyline, she still couldn't get enough of the view. Buildings upon buildings stretched on for miles and miles, people below hurriedly filtered in and out of each other – going nowhere and everywhere.

It was late September and the early morning sunshine bounced off of the blonde's pine desk – devoid of her usual papers and files. Instead, her empty lipstick-rimmed coffee cup stood beside her computer screen, which showed a screensaver of the NYPD logo bouncing around relentlessly.

The detective sighed, wondering about the people below. Wondering about the lives they led, the jobs they had, the crimes that they committed. Not one was brought to her desk. This was New York City dammit and she was sitting here looking out of the window.

Stubbornly she had to admit it to herself. She was bored. Bored shitless. Since she had been promoted to detective three years ago, Piper couldn't remember single occasion prior to this morning where boredom had evaded her so wholly. Over the years she had been frustrated, yes, angry, yes – sad, of course. Never bored.

In the back of her mind she knew why. Yet she pushed the thought away over and over, not letting herself capture the essence of it completely. She watched the busy precinct around her, and felt like she did as a teenager when she was being punished – being grounded and not being allowed to go to a party. She tried to focus on her paperwork but her mind drifted aimlessly, down, down and settled to the dark place she forbid herself to ever venture into.

It was because of that case.

Piper Chapman had had an undisputed reputation of successful cases. She'd been the golden detective, top of her game. Her sharp eye, quick mind and notorious intuition meant she had quickly rose through the ranks. She had gone beyond what was expected of her, snapping case after case closed in record time.

Until that case.

She frowned, following the logo bouncing around her screen with her eyes – a sigh escaped her before she could stop herself.

In the last year, cases had come to her slowly – they were minute, monkey-solving cases. It was during those past few months in the wake of that case - that made Piper realise she'd gotten cocky. She'd taken her eye off of what was really important. She'd become arrogant, drunk on the high of being on top.

Piper was very aware of the fact that in the past few weeks she hadn't received a single case at all.

At first she'd told herself that she was being silly. She was just being paranoid – they were going through a quiet period. That maybe New York wasn't as dangerous as it used to be.

However, as time passed and she watched her colleagues thrive, she had to acknowledge something wasn't right. The denial had only worked for so long. It hurt to admit it. It hurt more than she'd ever imagined it to. Piper remembered how much being a cop meant to her, and how foolishly she'd taken it for granted.

She had gotten to the point where she was doing the paperwork that she'd spent her whole career avoiding.

Piper heard footsteps approach her desk. Her heart leapt, then sank as she turned and saw Detectives Maritza Ramos and Flaca Gonzales striding past. The blonde had thought both women rather flighty – she had wrongly assumed they weren't ambitious.

To her dismay they were quickly becoming a dynamic duo in her absence.

Piper scrunched up her nose as they brought in yet another interviewee, a beautiful Asian-American woman with cuffs bound to her struggling wrists. They took her into the interview room, Flaca turned around and smiled, flicking her hair towards the blonde before she shut the door firmly.

Damn it. Piper thought angrily pushing her empty cup off of the table altogether.

"Fucking hell, Piper. Would you cut out the little girl lost act?" Polly said from her desk – pausing mid-type. "Your sighs are blowing all your bad mood all over me. Not to mention your coffee breath. I'm on a roll here – bitch." She added for good measure.

"Pol, I'm sorry but I am struggling to remain positive here. Look at me." She gestured wildly. "I'm a human wasteland, I mean holy shit – people are gonna start dumping their trash at my desk before long."

The brunette rolled her eyes. "Stop being so overdramatic -" Her attention was diverted by Captain Healy walking purposefully towards them, he moved past the Polly's desk and paused next to Piper's.

"Chapman, a word please." He said simply before striding away – indicating that she should follow him back into his office.

Piper looked at Polly. "Shit." She said. "Shit. Shit – fucking shit." Her chest tightened as she stood up, legs shaking as she walked towards his office.

Polly frowned. "Good luck in there."

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"You see my problem, Vause?" Kubra said, his dark eyes following her with furrowed brows.

"Yeah, yeah. Completely." Alex responded, trying her best not to show that she was on the verge of shitting herself. He was just one man, but somehow had the ability to make her tremble.

Not in a good way, either. He was her boss' boss. He mercilessly killed anyone who went against his wishes.

Like poor Tricia.

Alex shuddered and tried to push it from her mind.

"This is the third loss we've had in less than two months. Pennsatucky tried to go solo, Tricia attempted to do a runner – and now, Soso has gotten herself arrested." He shook his head, and stood over her. "They were all your recruits, Vause. Yours."

Alex nodded slowly. She knew. Of course she knew, all too fucking well. She had had a good track record, if she did say so herself. Everything had been going swimmingly. She transported her shit and got her money. Simple, easy, done.

She wasn't going to deny the fact that she found women attractive, and in return, few had the power to resist her charms. That was what made her so damn good at transporting drugs. Her confidence, her charm, more specifically her drive made her perfect for it.

Once she got talking to these women, most of them were intrigued by her – and were more than willing to listen to what she had to say. After that, that was it really. They were either in or out.

Thanks to her, they were usually in. Sometimes a bit of light persuasion was needed – a bottle of wine here, a bit of foreplay there. Nothing too complicated.

Eighteen months ago – Pennsatucky tried to set up on her own. Get a little heroin business running. She'd failed, of course, Kubra was the undisputed drug king in the city – though somehow she'd escaped to another state with the stash and her deadbeat junkie boyfriend.

He'd been furious. That had been strike number one.

Number two had come with Tricia. Alex acknowledged that she had never been a good idea really, the kid hadn't taken much persuading. That should have sent the alarm bells ringing. She was naïve, young and consequently, homeless.

She'd run with the stash and she'd paid the ultimate price.

Alex closed her eyes and pinched her forehead between her index finger and thumb, sighing heavily. She wanted to escape from his heavy gaze for just a moment. Thinking about the kid laying on the pavement with no one to mourn her, made her heart hurt.

Alex wondered if Kubra had sent Aydin to kill Tricia, or whether he'd done the job himself to send the ultimate message.

She squared her shoulders. She was in too deep now, there was no escape. Soso was the third strike. "I know." She practically whispered.

"That isn't good enough and you know it." His lips fell further at the corners. "We're dangerously low on mules. I need you to up your game. Pick someone who you know is going to stay loyal." He knelt towards her. "I need you to make someone fall so head over heels in love with you, Vause, that they cannot say no."

Her heart pinched but she nodded. She adjusted her glasses. "Yeah. Yes. Okay."

"Good. I've got my eye on you."

She didn't like the look on his face. His piercing eyes held a sinister edge that made her go cold. She grimaced – got to her feet and left, his watchful eyes still following her until she disappeared out of the exit.

She stood in the heavy sunlight, sweat pooling at the small of her back. Alex ran her hands through her hair, digging her nails into her scalp. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

She had to up her game.

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Ten minutes later Piper was sitting opposite Healy who was typing away at his desk, hanging in dread and anticipation. She coughed quietly, hoping to remind him of her presence once more.

He looked up at her over her readings glasses. "Yes, Chapman, I know that you are still there. I will be with you in a moment."

Chastened, she nodded and clasped her hands together, adverting her gaze from his. She looked around the Captain's office, and noted it was remarkably absent of family photos – just one singular little photograph of his Russian wife. This woman seemed to be the core reason for the constant frown on her boss's face.

Piper fiddled nervously with her badge, recalling the wonderful moment when she'd first been given it. She was reminded of how hard she worked to get here.

She wasn't ready to let that go.

He wasn't going to let her go, was he?

She had a vision of him taking her badge and gun away from her, and her falling to her knees and begging. Please, please don't do this to me. This is all I've ever wanted.

Finally, Captain Healy's fingers stopped typing, the room suddenly seeming rather vacant in the absence of his clicking fingers. Piper was aware that she was breathing rather loudly, she tried to suck in her breath, but ended up almost choking instead.

"Relax, would you?" Healy said, his voice softer, but his blue eyes were still somehow hard and judgemental. She shrank in her chair.

"Sorry Sir." She said.

"It's perfectly fine, Detective. Now, I won't beat around the metaphorical bush here – you're aware of the young woman Ramos and Gonzales just brought in?" He paused to allow her to nod, she had to stop herself grimacing at the memory of Flaca's smug expression.

"Yes." Her voice was clipped, lips tight.

"That young girl is called Brooke Soso. She was caught with a shitload of heroin – no big deal, you'd think? Typical Tuesday in the office, hmm? But here, Chapman look," he dug in his briefcase taking great effort to lean over his own bulging stomach in an effort to get to it. He handed her a sealed transparent bag with that a familiar white powder inside.

Piper closed her shaking fingers around the light package, she weighed it in her fingers and turned it over in her hands. On the other side of the bag was a snake symbol in the shape of an 'S'. She looked at it and then back up to her boss, eyes wide in recognition. "Shit." She hissed. "It's back."

Her mind wound backwards. One year ago, Tricia Miller had been found brutally murdered on the corner of 125th Street. She was discovered to be a homeless nineteen year old girl – Piper had found it heart-breaking that there had been no one to mourn her. Not even a friend.

So, she took on the responsibility herself. She thought that she could avenge her death, and give the poor misguided youth the justice she deserved.

It was evident that it had been more than one person. In her autopsy, Tricia was found to have multiple contusions to her upper chest, lower abdomen and back. Though it was discovered a fatal head wound had caused her death.

It had been concluded that she had died slowly, painfully. In the girl's back pocket, a pouch containing heroin had been discovered stamped with symbol that entire NYPD was familiar with. The snake.

Over the years there had been similar run-ins in the same area, the same sort of wounds – circumstances, and there was that symbol again. There were always young girls, all under twenty five years old – evidence of heavy drug usage evident in their bloodstream. It was always the same sort of story, too, no family or friends to speak of to come forward. No one to campaign for their killers to be found.

Her whole career, Piper had followed these cases – and had never actually come close to one until one year ago. When she'd been put on Tricia's case.

All of the cases linked back to the symbol. To the heroin. It wasn't a coincidence. The exact same symbol was graffitied on the floor of elusive warehouses – predictably vacant by the time the NYPD arrived.

It was that symbol, that heroin – that was responsible for a sudden surge in New York over the recent years. Every trail they'd come to so far was a dead end. The case, she had thought - died with Tricia.

Along with her career. She shook herself slightly, and tuned back in to what Healy was saying.

"She's a bag of nerves, this kid, Brooke - barely past puberty. Conscience the size of the moon, came completely clean about everything. And before you ask, Detective, yes, everything that she knows."

"Why would she do that?"

"Why indeed? I'm guessing she's just a kid who knows she's fucked up. She's trying to make it right. She was short of money, and she was approached by a woman – and in her words, she said she couldn't say no to her. She said it was like she was being hypnotised."

"Did this woman hurt her in any way?"

"That's the thing, no – she just said that this woman was very persuasive."

"Did she give a name?"

"Alex Vause."

Piper nodded, taking it all in.

"Not to mention several names of people she had already come into contact with." Healy allowed himself to smile. "I think we could nail 'em, this time Chapman, I really do."

"I'm sorry Sir, but what does this have to do with me? I hit a dead end with this case and everyone knows it."

Healy's eyes softened slightly. "And no one knows that better than you, Detective. I have a proposition for you."

Piper's stomach tightened, he had piqued her interest, and she sat straighter – pulled apart her interwoven fingers in an effort to look more poised. Confident.

"Now this is big. I mean huge. I've talked to some of the big guns about this and they agree, you're perfect for this assignment…"

"…Sir?"

"…I want you to go undercover. I want you to pose as a vulnerable post-college grad. I want you to be the type of woman this Alex Vause would approach. You do that, you're in – I want you to do whatever she asks. Don't worry you'll be completely safe – we'll be behind you every step of the way." He stood up and began pacing. "Soso has given us information, but not enough, it is however sufficient enough for you to set up a cover. We need you to lead us to this elusive leader. After all these years we have a chance to finally get them, Chapman – and we, I - want you to be the one to do it. So, will you?"

Piper blinked, still digesting the information. He wanted her to go undercover. He was right, this was huge. Her first undercover assignment. She felt a thrill run through her, an exhilarating adrenaline coursing through her veins, a mix of fear and trepidation making her heart violently pump in her chest. She pictured her empty desk, her sad screensaver. She needed to prove herself again, she needed to show them she still had what it took. That Piper Chapman was a good fucking detective. "Yes." She said, lips curling upwards. "I will do it."

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A few hours later, after talking things through with her boss, Piper was on a high - that was until she got in her car and abruptly wondered what she'd tell Larry. She thought about the way he'd perceive it, the extra hours, the danger - not to mention the repercussions of getting into something like this. She rolled her eyes, but couldn't help yet couldn't help thinking about these things herself. These people weren't amateurs, they killed people for betraying them. They were very dangerous. She'd be putting herself right out onto the firing line. It was going to be terrifying.

Even so, she couldn't help feeling electricity shooting through her body as she started up the car.

She got into the apartment late that evening.

It was decided that the following night, she was going to go to the bar that Brooke had been approached by Alex Vause in, and see whether she'd be approached herself.

That was going to be her way in.

"Hey, babe!" Larry called, looking up from his laptop – with Piper couldn't help notice that it held a Word document void of anything but the word The. She sighed inwardly, looking at the discarded wrappers next to him.

"Hey." She responded, heading towards the kitchen.

"How was your day?"

She thought about telling him, about this amazing opportunity that she'd been given. She opened her mouth, pausing in front of him. "Fine."

This is kind of a set-up sort of chapter – just to show you where Piper and Alex are in their lives. In case you couldn't tell this is very AU. I'm really excited about this story – I start my second year of uni in two weeks, so I'll try to update as much as I can.

That's if you even liked it anyway? Let me know what you think and whether or not this is worth continuing?

Thanks for reading!