A million thank you's to those who have left a review! It does indeed motivate one to write more, huh? ;) Enjoy!

"Chapman, you're late," grunted Luschek, his face looking surlier than usual. Nicky looked up from the wires she was untangling, her eyes widening. Piper had raced there as soon as she could, feeling like she was on cloud nine. Her sweet morning shower with Alex had caused them to both miss breakfast. They had split a Twix bar and ran off to their perspective work places, smirking about the secret they both had.

"I'm sorry, there was-"

"You're in the cage today," he interjected, his arm pointed towards the fenced in rectangle that would house her in there like an animal. Sitting in there was literally the last thing she wanted to do today, and there was already one of the suburb girls in there.

"Can't I work on the light switches-" Piper started, frustrated that the girl who was in there smirked and left her position in the cage.

"Are you arguing with me, Chapman? Get your ass in there." Piper sighed in defeat. There wasn't anything she could do.

Luschek began sending them out to fix various things, always keeping a couple of girls back in the room. After Piper had distributed various tools, she began to reorganize the wrenches. She debated whether she should do it by size, brand, or quality. God, this was going to be a slow day.

As lunchtime rolled around, Piper began to get antsy. Most of the girls had left on their own as the time approached, but Luschek hadn't dismissed her yet. Once five minutes had past when she would normally leave, Piper debated saying something. She wondered where Alex was sitting, worried she wouldn't get to have lunch with her. Nicky had been one of the first to leave and her tools were turned in long before Piper suspected she would be late to lunch, so it wasn't as if Nicky could relay to Alex that Luschek was just being a douche.

Another several minutes passed before Piper's stomach let out gurgle. "Um, sir, would it be alright if I went to lunch? I missed breakfast…" Piper noticed that he didn't even turn to look at her. He slowly walked around the tables, making sure all the lights were turned off. Painstakingly slow. Piper gritted her teeth, resisting the urge to say something.

Piper's stomach rumbled again. He chuckled to himself, clearly enjoying his power trip. Finally he turned his gaze to her and ran his hand through his unruly hair.

"You know, I've had a pretty shitty weekend. I think what would brighten my day would be rearranging the tools the opposite direction. Everything hung up just the way it is now…but going the other way. It'll probably take you a while, so I'd take advantage of that lunch break," he spat, walking towards her as he spoke. His eyes looked like they had darkened a few shades.

"Must've had a pretty shitty weekend.." Piper murmered, her anger threatening to bubble over.

"One more word, Chapman," Luschek was directly in front of the cage now. Piper turned and began taking down every tool. She knew this would take her a long, long time. His gaze was trained on her every move, but she refused to play into his games. It was an excruciating hour. Luschek had moved to his desk and ate his lunch. Girls filed in, but Piper refused to turn around unless one of them had a tool to turn in. She cursed out loud when she realized she hadn't accounted for several of the bigger tools, which messed the order up.

"You doing alright, Chapman?" Nicky whispered as she stood by the cage door towards the end of the work period. She hoisted the sawzall up as Piper turned to answer.

"This was completely unwarranted. I was 30 seconds late today." Piper muttered, taking the saw from Nicky.

"I bet his girlfriend dumped him. Maybe he's jealous he hasn't got a ladylove like you, College," Nicky smirked. Piper's heart fluttered at the mention of Alex. She missed her. Piper found the hook she'd nailed in for that specific saw.

"Whatever's got him pissed earned me – "

"Shit, Chapman, watch out!"

The nail had come loose, ripping the sawzall down from the wall. As Piper had reached to catch it, the cutting blade made contact her palm and left a small yet deep puncture wound. The heavy tool fell to the floor with a deafening noise, parts of the plastic shaft breaking off.

"Shit! That fucking hurt!" Piper yelled, not really caring how much of a ruckus she was causing. Luschek stormed over, digging for his keys to unlock the cage door. Several inmates came closer to see what had happened. Nicky winced, looking at Piper's cut.

"Damn girl, you need that shit wrapped. Luschek, let me walk her to the clinic?"

"You broke our best sawzall, Chapman. I'm writing you up for that. Finish putting the tools away and then get the hell out of here." Luschek picked up the broken tool and went to lock it up in his desk.

Piper was seething. "Turn in your damn tools!" It was almost dinnertime and she had had it. The pain in her hand was making her nauseous and she just wanted to bandage it up before she got more blood on her khakis. Nicky went around, trying to round up the girls who were finishing up. When all of them were accounted for, Nicky took Piper by the arm and quickly walked her down the hall towards the clinic. Once they got there, Piper tried to calm herself down. She was pissed beyond belief.

"Hey, can you go let Alex know what happened so she isn't freaking out?" Piper murmured to Nicky. She winked and headed back towards the cafeteria for dinner. One inmate was being seen and another was waiting. Piper cursed under her breath as she sat down to wait. All the had to look at where old diagrams of vaginas. When it was finally her turn to be seen, the nurse didn't really ask questions as she cleaned and bandaged the wound. By the time she was ready to head back, dinner was over and most people had made their way to the rec room. Piper just headed straight for her cube.

Lying down on her bunk, she kicked her shoes off and curled towards the wall, trying hard not to acknowledge how hungry she was. One angry tear slid down her face as she thought about how terrible her day had been. Selfishly, she hoped Alex would come looking for her. Since Nicky had surely found her and let her know where she'd been, she wasn't worried about having to explain anything. Piper just wanted Alex to comfort her. She laid there for a couple of minutes before she felt someone against her back. Cool arms reached out to pull her close against them. Piper lifted her head as one curled under her neck. She lay back down and sighed, content to have her near. She didn't feel the need to turn over. Neither of them spoke for a while.

As Piper's stomach gurgled for the hundredth time that day, Alex's fingers dipped under her shirt and caressed her midsection gently. "I brought you some food. I also was able to get some snacks from a few other people," she whispered softly in her ear, sweeping a lock of blond hair behind her ear. Piper smiled and turned, nuzzling her face into Alex's delectable neck. She kissed her skin with an open mouth, smirking as she heard Alex's throat rumble. "How'd you manage that?"

"I have my ways. How about it, kid?" Piper nodded and sat up, wincing as she used her injured hand to support her. "Oh, Pipes…" Alex's voice caught in her throat, taking Piper's bandaged palm into her hand. After examining what she could, she held it reverently and laid a feather-light kiss onto her palm. Piper's cheeks flushed. Alex leaned over to kiss her temple, whispering for her to stay there. Within seconds she had come back, her arms loaded with food.

"Holy cow, Alex. How did you get all of this?"

"I told you, I have my ways. Despite what you may think, I can be quite charming," she said with a coy smile, handing Piper her favorite chips first. She finished the bag in record time, reaching for the dinner roll that was wrapped up in a napkin. It reminded her of the time Alex had delivered bread to her when Red was starving her out. Alex sat on the foot of her bed, flipping through the pages of a magazine. Every so often Piper would catch her watching her out of the corner of her eye, making sure she ate every crumb.

"Okay, three bags of Doritos down and all the stuff you managed to sneak out of dinner. Can you just come snuggle with me now?" Piper made her pouty face.

"Nope. Eat everything. You missed breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Eat." Her voice was stern. She lifted her eyebrow expectantly at Piper, making it clear she wasn't taking no for an answer. Picking up a rice krispie treat, she tossed it into Piper's lap and returned to her magazine. One hand drifted over to Piper's knee and circled her thumb over it as she read.

Once Piper had consumed more junk food than she had thought possible, she stretched out on her bed and put her head in Alex's lap. "Thanks for taking care of me, Al," she whispered softly, breathing in the scent of her shirt. Alex's smell…something like a combination of honey and clean soap, made her mood calm even more. Alex glanced down, put her magazine on the floor and began stroking Piper's hair.

"Anything for you, kiddo. I was worried about you all day. Is there anything else I can do?" She asked innocently, concern still present in her eyes. Piper decided to milk it for all she could, remembering how she'd do this when she was sick.

"Can you lay with me?" She used her most pathetic voice she could muster up, flashing Alex her puppy dog face again.

Alex laughed out loud, catching on to Piper's pity party but withholding any wisecracks. She glanced over at the bubble, making sure no eyes were on them as she pulled Piper down into her arms once again.

"I'm sorry you had such a rotten day, babe," she said in her adorably raspy voice. Piper nestled deep into the sanctuary of her strong arms, closing her eyes and just content to be. Alex planted several firm kisses on the top of her head and brought one leg to rest over top of Piper's protectively. Piper laced their fingers together and squeezed, nonverbally thanking Alex for being there.

Neither of them paid any attention to anyone else who walked by. They lay there, tangled up in each other's worlds. Content to just be.

Okay, I want an Alex Vause to do this to me when I have crappy days. Hope you all enjoyed!