Author's note: Hello again! Here it is, the first chapter of the new story. I apologize in advance, the chapter is a bit short and it focuses mostly on just getting things rolling. I promise there will be more interaction in future chapters.

Enjoy!


Piper Chapman,

Because of your area of expertise, you've been requested to take part in a research project concerning plastic. The idea of this research is to engineer a plastic-eating enzyme but also other ideas and suggestions concerning the subject are welcome. The project will be done in a group of four (not counting different specialists who may consult at times).

The research will take place at Stanford University and has been estimated to last at least 3 months. National Science Foundation has funded this project and you will be paid an hourly rate, so you'll also be able to continue your current job if you have one. (Keep in mind that the project will need your contribution, so the minimum hours working together at the university will be 12 hours per week.) If the research will turn out successful, you'll be paid accordingly.

The project will start on April 1, 2020, at 1 p.m. at Das Lab, Stanford University. In case you're interested in taking part in this project, please confirm your participation to this e-mail by February 29, 2020. If you haven't been in contact by then it will be considered as declination. Also, if you have any further questions, please contact the project manager Nicole Nichols (this e-mail).

Das Lab address: 279 Campus Drive Stanford, CA 94305

Stanford University, The Department of Biochemistry

Best regards,

Nicole Nichols


Piper stared at the email dumbstruck. She was 27 years old, had gotten a Master's degree in bioengineering a couple of years ago and was now and working toward Ph.D. at UCSF. She was also more than a little surprised that she had been requested to take part in something that could turn out to be pretty big.

The project manager or whoever it was who wanted Piper to be a part of this project must have read her master's thesis about how would engineering enzymes that help destroy harmful materials work in theory. Her professor had been quite proud of it.

Stanford was only about half an hour away from UCSF and because the project required only 15 hours per week working at Stanford, it shouldn't interfere with her classes and taking part in this project would definitely be interesting and would give her valuable experience.

Piper didn't think much more about it before she was already confirming her participation.


On the first day of April Piper was stepping into the Das Lab, excited to meet the people she'll work with. There was only one person in the lab, sitting on one of the desks and doing something on her phone.

The woman looked up when she heard Piper enter and a wide smile spread on her lips. "Hi. Are you also going to work on this plastic project?"

"Hi and yeah, I am", the blonde nodded as she walked toward the other woman and held her hand out. "Piper Chapman, I'm currently studying my Ph.D. in bioengineering."

"I'm Polly Harper", the other woman, Polly, shook her hand. "I'm also studying my Ph.D., but in chemistry."

"Cool", Piper grinned. "It's always interesting to work with someone from another department."

"Agreed. Do you-"

Whatever Polly was going to say was interrupted by three people entering the room. First came in a short brown-haired woman with bright red lipstick who was talking animatedly to the following woman with wild dirty blonde hair. The last person to enter the room was a tall, raven-haired woman who was wearing black rimmed-glasses and scowling like she was about to murder someone- and oh crap... Piper knew that woman.


"Is this seat taken?"

Piper looked up from her almost empty margarita when she heard that deep, husky voice and was met with the most gorgeous green eyes she had ever seen. She glanced at the empty barstool next to her before smiling. "No, it's not."

The mysterious woman had black hair with blue tips and was wearing hot glasses. Piper wasn't even ashamed to admit that she was blatantly checking her out. The other woman sat down and waved at the bartender. "Dry martini. Stirred", she ordered before glancing at Piper's glass. "And another one of what she is having."

"That's quite presumptions, wouldn't you say?" Piper asked with raised eyebrows.

"Well, you seem to be far too interested in me to be leaving now", the other woman gave her a small cocky smirk. "Or am I wrong?"

Piper drank the rest of her glass as she examined the other woman. "I guess not. I'm Piper. Piper Chapman"

"Alex Vause."

The bartender brought their drinks and Alex immediately took a generous sip. "So, Miss Chapman, what brings you here at this uneventful Thursday evening?" the brunette inquired, surprising Piper with the formal name but oddly enough, Piper liked to hear her name said like that. It sent a pleasant jolt through her body and she forgot for a while that she was supposed to answer.

"Just to unwind. I've had quite a stressful week. What about you?"

"Work... kind of. Things didn't go exactly as planned", Alex grunted with a sour face.

Piper gave a sympathetic hum. "Do they ever?"

"No. Usually not", the raven-haired woman agreed before looking at Piper with something between curiosity and hunger. "There wouldn't be a chance of you wanting to join me to my apartment and help me to forget those...mishaps, would there?"

The blonde swallowed hard. It wasn't the first time she had received such a blatant suggestion by any means, but this was the first time she wasn't disgusted by it. After a while of pondering her options, Piper took a sip of her margarita. "Why not. I could also use some help at taking the mind off things."

Alex grinned somewhat wolfishly. "Excellent."

Unsurprisingly, the older woman turned out to be a very skilled lover (Piper came seven times!) and the night was something she wouldn't forget for a while, if ever. In the morning Piper had to leave early for a class but she had left her phone number. Alex never called though.


Piper watched as Alex saw her and recognition flashed in those green eyes before her face settled into even deeper scowl. The blonde felt simultaneously embarrassed that she had left her number when the other woman didn't want to contact her again and a bit sad that the other woman obviously wasn't happy to see her.

Alex had changed from the last time Piper had seen her. The tips of her hair weren't blue anymore and she appeared to be overall tenser than before. She seemed older even though it hadn't been more than a bit over a year when they had last seen.

"Excellent, you two are here already", the wild-haired woman interrupted Piper's thoughts as she walked to the two of them. "Let's start with introductions, shall we?"

There was one bigger table in the lab and they all sat around it.

"Alright, I'll start", the same wild-haired woman began, and Piper suspected that she was the project manager from the way she led the conversation. "I'm Nicole Nichols, but please call me Nicky. I was given the fancy title project manager by this one", Nicky chuckled as she pointed her thumb at Alex who was sitting next to her.

Alex rolled her eyes, but Piper could detect a small smile on her lips.

"So, yeah, Alex here came up with this whole project but I'm taking care of the practical side of things. You'll see me around probably a lot, but I'm not involved any of this nerdy stuff. Oh, and don't let her resting bitch face fool you, she's actually a teddy bear", Nicky winked.

Polly and the other woman whose name Piper didn't know smiled amusedly, but Piper was still too astounded to fully register the joke. Alex, in turn, was glaring at Nicky exasperatedly. "I would love to get into the problems with your allegation but for the sake of these poor people who are witnessing your questionable sense of humor, I'm going to talk about the project", she started, and her voice was just as deep and raspy as Piper remembered. "I'm Alex Vause and I've completed my Ph.D. in biochemistry. Currently, I'm working as a professor here at Stanford University. I chose you three by myself and I was glad to find out that all my first choices were able to join this project. You all are working or studying in a bit different fields because I thought it would be the most useful decision to have a wide range of expertise. I'll let you introduce yourselves before I delve further into the project."

Piper was staring at Alex with curiosity. Alex couldn't be more than a couple of years older than her and to complete her Ph.D. and get a position as a professor at a respected university before the age of 30, Alex must be extremely talented and hard-working.

The blonde was interrupted from her thoughts as the petite brunette started to introduce herself.

"Well, my name is Lorna Morello and I have a Master of Bioinformatics. I'm currently working as a bioinformatics programmer, but I might start studying my Ph.D. soon."

Polly and Piper also introduced themselves and Piper could feel Alex's eyes on her the whole time she talked but refused to look at her and find out what kind of expression she was wearing.

When the introductions had been done, Alex spoke again. "As you know, the idea of this research is to engineer an enzyme that will destroy plastic. We'll plan it out and when it's complete in theory, we'll really start working on it. I'm sure you already have some ideas and questions, but before we fully start the project, I'd like us to establish the days we'll be working here together."

After comparing their schedules and preferences, they came to the result that they'd work three hours on Fridays and four and a half hours on Saturdays and Sundays.

"Now when that's settled, I'd like you to sign these", Nicky announced as she gave them all a contract.

Everyone except Alex read it carefully through and Piper suspected that Alex had been involved in making this contract. The contract covered the salary, the working hours and the acceptable reasons to withdraw from the project. There was also a non-disclosure agreement attached which wasn't unusual in research projects.

After everyone had signed two copies, one for themselves and one for Nicky, Nicky took the ones intended for her and left with the promise to see them again soon.

"Okay, the first question", Piper started, and everyone turned their eyes on her. "We need something to produce this enzyme, right? Are we going to engineer also some kind of bacteria or cell to produce this particular enzyme or is the idea just to generate them always in the lab? Wouldn't it be easier to just outright create a bacterium that destroys plastic?"

Alex's eyes narrowed. "Well, Miss Chapman, bacteria are more complicated to engineer and would take more time. There is also a higher risk of failure since bacteria have quite a high mutation rate and they can obtain some undesirable traits. But yes, it is also important to think about how we will spread these enzymes and we'll think about it when we are at that point of the research."

Something about the tone which Alex used made Piper feel like an idiot, but Alex's words indicated that it was a valid question. The use of her last name brought up some memories and even though Alex wasn't trying to seduce her this time it still sounded as alluring as back when they first met.

Piper nodded her understanding as she studied Alex. Suddenly she was hit with a thought that she was glad that she wasn't studying at Stanford because she might be on some of Alex's classes. Even if they hadn't slept together, it would be hard to focus if Alex would turn up wearing sexy heels, tight pencil skirts, and blouses that revealed a hint of cleavage like she was dressed now.

Alex glared at Piper as she noticed her not so subtly checking her out, but her attention focused quickly on Polly as she started to ask the next question.

They discussed how the project would progress and how everyone was expected to use their areas of expertise to help this research. When Polly asked how Alex had come up with this project, the professor tensed, and her eyes turned cold. "That's personal. All you have to know is that plastic waste is a global problem and I want to do something about it."

Everyone was surprised by the brusque answer but no one questioned it further when they saw Alex staring at them icily. "From this point forward, I'd like to stay away from any personal questions and focus on the project. Other questions?"

No one seemed to have anything to say anymore and Piper wasn't sure if it was only because of Alex's sudden coldness. There was obviously something more and Piper's interest piqued. She wanted to know what made Alex to come up with this project and as she more closely thought about it, she simply wanted to know more about Alex. Even though Alex had never called her, Piper still wanted to form some kind of relationship with the woman who was still mostly an enigma. Be it either a friendship or something more.

"Great. I think we're done for the day then. Miss Chapman here published a couple of years ago a paper about engineering an enzyme that would destroy harmful material. I'll send the link to you later today and I wish everyone would read it by Friday because we're going to use this paper as a basis for our enzyme. Please, think about it from your point of view because it's a bit different with all of us since we're working in different fields."

It took a while for the words to register to Piper but when they did, her eyes widened, and her mouth dropped open in surprise. "What? Why? I was writing theoretically! There is no guarantee that it actually works. Isn't there something more reliable to use?"

Alex turned her intense gaze to Piper. "I read your paper and didn't find anything wrong with it. As you said, you were writing in theory but what better time to test it than now? It could work or not work in which case we would do the required changes. But you're our bioengineering expert here, so if you think there's something better to use then feel free to tell us."

"I... uh-" Piper's brain was stuck in the prospect that Alex thought her theory could actually work. She shook her head to clear her thoughts before trying again. "No, there hasn't been published anything about this particular topic at least to my knowledge-"

"That's settled then. Unless you don't think that you're proficient enough?" the professor raised her eyebrows challengingly.

Temper flared in Piper as always when someone doubted her abilities. She raised her chin a bit as she stared Alex defiantly in the eyes. "No, I do not think so."

"Excellent", Alex smirked like she had anticipated that kind of reaction. "So, we're all in agreement about this or does someone else something to say?"

Polly and Lorna shook her head as a no as Piper frowned at Alex, realizing that she had been provoked to give an answer Alex was hoping.

When the older woman noticed Piper's frown, she gave the blonde a quick smug grin before starting to look for something from her purse.

The two other occupants of the room were watching curiously this exchange and neither Polly nor Lorna could deny that odd chemistry that Alex and Piper had together.

Alex handed over her business cards that she had dug from her purse to Lorna and Polly with an instruction to contact her if they had any questions. She hesitated for a couple of seconds and looked at Piper calculatingly before giving her one as well.

"For project-related things only", Alex warned with a lowered tone. Her expression was something between sternness and amusement, and Piper turned bright red at the insinuation. She was not that desperate, and she had enough self-respect not to throw herself at Alex.

Piper was about to tell Alex just that but opted for a safer choice instead. "What else would I be contacting you for?"

The younger woman couldn't quite suppress the self-satisfied smirk as Alex's narrowed her eyes at her. "See you on Friday, professor."

At that Piper followed Polly and Lorna out of the lab leaving Alex staring after her surprised and mildly impressed, not that she'd admit that to anyone. She had been afraid of how Piper would act but so far, she had been professional. It was too early to say if the fact that they had slept together would impact on their working relationship, but Alex was fairly confident they could work professionally together.


"So, what did you think?" Polly asked Piper as they were walking together at the campus.

"About the project? I think it's interesting. I'm eager to start working on it."

"Yeah me too. And what about Doctor Vause? What's your opinion on her?"

Piper coughed awkwardly. "Uhh, I don't know. Probably highly intelligent that one, if she is already a professor... Could be less of a bitch though."

Polly snorted. "Yeah, she doesn't seem to be planning on making any friends during this project. But... I couldn't help but notice this weird connection between you two", she grinned suggestively.

Piper's eyes widened slightly as her cheeks reddened. "What do you mean?"

"Well... you two were looking at each other a lot when the other one wasn't looking and then when you actually spoke to each other it seemed like you two forgot Lorna and I were also there for a moment. You just kind of went into your own little bubble with your intense gazes and glares and what nots."

"We didn't make any intense eyes", the blonde mumbled.

"Oh, you totally did. I couldn't quite figure out if you hated each other or had hots for each other", Polly grinned.

"What?!" Piper shrieked. "I do not have hots for her!"

"Mmhm", Polly hummed skeptically.

"Yes, she is very, very attractive, I have eyes. But like you said, she obviously wants to keep our relationships professional, so that's what I'm also going to do", the blonde announced, closing the discussion.

Polly glanced amusedly at her new friend but decided to leave the topic at that. She was willing to bet that something would happen between those two during this project. She should talk with Lorna and Nicky, and find out what they were thinking about these two.


Thanks for reading! So, what did you think? Was it too nerdy? All kind of reviews are appreciated :) Hopefully I'll be able to update soon. And like I said earlier, this story is probably going to appear at some point also on Archiveofourown with Once Upon A Time characters.

- Iina