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Aaliyah walked back towards the dorms, her arm around Suzanne. Most of the girls were already asleep. Aaliyah followed Suzanne to the cube, watching as Suzanne just sat down, all curled up. Aaliyah sighed, there was nothing much else she could do until morning. Suzanne was just frozen in a trance. Hopefully she was able to get some sleep. Aaliyah pressed a kiss to Suzanne's forehead before walking out of the cube quietly.

She walked towards her cube as she noticed Janae wasn't in her own. Aaliyah pulled up the blanket, spotting Janae laying down, sleeping with ear buds and music on. Aaliyah crawled into the bed, carefully pulling the iPod and ear buds from the girl. This ended up waking her up instead. Janae turned around quickly, her eyes widening at Aaliyah. "You're back."

Aaliyah nodded slowly, a small smile plastered on her lips. "Yeah, I'm back." Janae smiled, wrapping her arms around Aaliyah, tears pooling in the corner of her eyes. "Are you okay?" Janae knew something was wrong. Aaliyah was never seemed so distant and distracted before. "Not really. I was with Suzanne. And...and the guards...they made her fight. It was...disturbing."

"Fuck. Is she okay?" Janae asked, using her thumb to wipe Liyah's tears. "No. Not really. She's just in a trance right now. I can't do much 'til morning when T is up. Right now, I just hope she gets some sleep." Janae pulled Aaliyah into her chest, holding the crying girl. "She gon' be okay. T's gon' take care of it." Janae rubbed her back, pressing a kiss to her head.

"Thanks for gettin' me out." Aaliyah mumbles after a moment. Janae nods softly, "You'd do the same for me." Aaliyah pressed a kiss to her lips. "I'm sorry for puttin' you through all that shit. I should've controlled myself." Janae shook her head, "No, nah don't be sorry. You fought for me. No one's ever done that for me." Aaliyah's thumb ran over Janae's cheek, shaking her head softly. "I'd do anything for you. So stop blaming yourself."

Janae pressed her head against Aaliyah's. "I love you." There it was, another reminder that she still hadn't said it back. What was wrong with her? Why couldn't she just say it back? It was three fucking words. "Don't say it back. You not ready." Janae said, already knowing what Aaliyah was thinking. Was she that easy to read or was it just girlfriend's intuition?

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay."

Aaliyah huffs softly, laying her head on Janae's chest. "I'm so tired."

Janae pressed a kiss to Aaliyah's head, rubbing her back. "Then sleep. I'm not leavin' you."

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"This isn't your fault. You hear me? Everyone saw. Man, he made you fight." Taystee was currently attempting to help Suzanne but she just stayed in her trance. Aaliyah had explained everything to them when she woke up, Suzanne hadn't even slept a bit. She stayed in the exact same position Aaliyah seen her last. "You see? Nobody's mad at you." Poussey added.

Aaliyah sat in Taystee's bed, trying to think of anything that would help. "Man, I don't know what else to do." Taystee ran a hand down her face tiredly. "I mean, look, should we call her moms? Ask her if this happens sometimes?" Poussey suggests. "We can't let nobody see her like this. Man, they'll take her ass to Pysch, and we'll never see her again." Poussey happened to look out of the bunk, spotting Sankey, Brandy and Taylor make their way into the dorm.

"Ain't gotta worry about Pysch if the eight-eight get to her first." Aaliyah furrowed her brows, looking where P was. She stood up quickly, getting in front of the cube with Taystee and P. "We got a problem." Sankey says. Aaliyah glares at them, more specifically Brandy, who had a bruised cheek and busted lip, courtesy of Liyah. "Yeah, what the fuck do you want?" Poussey spat.

"You get Bald Eagle, and I got Coal Miner's Daughter here." Taystee says.

Aaliyah's eyes flicker to Taylor, who looked very distraught. She hadn't ever seen Taylor look so...broken. "It's the fucking guard, Humps." Sankey says, catching Liyah's attention. As that may have been true, he wasn't the real problem. It was all of the guards, and mainly CO Piscatella. He was letting his guards do whatever they wanted. "Come again?" Taystee was confused, clearly.

"We need to take care of that pus hole of a man." Aaliyah squinted her eyes as Brandy went to speak. "We didn't come here to fight. Enough of that going around." Brandy's eyes ran over Liyah's, both of them silently coming to a truce, a temporary one though. "You had me at pus hole," Poussey adds. "You know that pyscho locked me in a room? Made me yell him whether I'd rather eat my mom or my dad? Wouldn't let me go till I said. Having to think like that, it changes a person." Brandy said.

Aaliyah wanted to make a comment about Brandy being the last person to talk. As if she didn't have a confederate flag on her fucking neck. But now wasn't the time for that. Aaliyah looked to Taylor, she tilted her head, "What'd he do to you?" Taystee and P also couldn't help but be curious. The girl did look like a fucking mess. Sankey spoke for the girl, "She don't wanna talk about it." Then it must've been pretty serious.

Sankey looked behind Aaliyah, seeing Suzanne. "She all right?"

Taystee took a breath. "Not really. The other girl?"

"Down in medical. Ain't pretty." That was for damn sure. Maureen was practically unrecognizable when Liyah last seen her. "That asshole did this to them." Huh, Brandy actually may have had a heart, maybe little pieces of it. "We're aiming to get him out of here by any means necessary." Sankey stated. Still a word hadn't come out of Taylor's mouth.

Taystee scoffs, "By any means necessary." She looks at P and Aaliyah both of them having a silent agreement. "You in?"

"Well, hold up, wait. Ain't yall the people trying to reinstate slavery?" Poussey points out. She did have a good point. Brandy looked pretty speechless, not sure what to say, she looks at Sankey. "I guess it's like, uh..if you were gonna rank out hate, you guys are here." She lifted her hand just below her chin, "and Humps is here." She raised her other hand above her head.

Taystee sighs heavily, both she and Poussey glancing behind them at Suzanne. Taystee looked at Aaliyah who gave a barely noticeable nod. She turned back to Sankey, Brandy, and Taylor. Having a made decision. "We're in."

"But first," Aaliyah spoke up, pointing at Taylor. "I wanna know what he did to her." Sankey was quick to get defensive until Taylor put her hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. I'll tell her." Aaliyah snapped her fingers, "Now I'm in." Taylor followed Aaliyah to her bunk, sitting down on the bed as Aaliyah sat on the chair after bringing it closer to the bed.

"I was joking around with my friends and I made a joke about how a brush could be used as a weapon. I mentioned how my mom used to hit me with one as kid." Taylor begun, her foot anxiously tapping on the floor. "The next day, he locked me in a room. He had the brush in his hand. He forced me to get naked. And he beat me with it." She couldn't fight the tears that fell, quickly wiping them away.

Taylor pulled up her shirt, showing Aaliyah the welts from the brush. Aaliyah stood up, running a hand down her face, she kicked the chair angrily. "Fuck. I'm gonna kill him." She walked out of the cube, and towards Taystee and Sankey. "If we're gonna do this. We're gonna more help."

"Who else?" Sankey questioned.

Aaliyah smiled to herself, "I may have a friend, who's got more friends that may want in on this."

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Aaliyah walked into the salon. Maria raised a brow, "You finally decide to take up my offer?" Aaliyah pursed her lips, shaking her head. "Nah. But, I have some people who would like to speak with you." Maria and the girls all looked confused until Aaliyah called them in, immediately did they get defensive when Taystee and Sankey walked in. More so about Sankey. Ouija hopped down from the counter, stopping her movement when Aaliyah shot her a look.

"Go home." Ouija said, and Aaliyah sighed.

Sankey scoffs. "Hell, I didn't expect the red-carpet treatment, but at least pink." Aaliyah closed her eyes, tired of Sankey's shit. "No, you ain't got time for jokes, estúpida." Maria made a signal with her hand towards one of the girls, "I'll shut the door." Sankey went to go forward until Aaliyah pushed her back with an arm. "Okay, okay, chill out. Ouija, Maria, come on, we're friends. Hear them out, for me."

Ouija and Maria shared looks, both agreeing on it. "Just for you mamas," Ouija said. Aaliyah smiled, gesturing for Taystee to talk. "We here cause we need your help. Coalition style. We are the world. Common enemy."

"We gotta take down Humps." Sankey adds.

Maria scoffs. "Humps? Who gives a shit about him?"

"Stratman's the problem," Pidge added. As that was true. Both of them were the problem. "Stratman's an asshole, but Humps is dangerous," Sankey argues. Aaliyah leaned on the wall, nodding slowly. "You're just lookin' right in front of you, huh?" Maria questions.

"Where we supposed to look? Behind us?" Taystee shot back.

"Always."

"You got another fuckin' guard gettin' ready to search your ass." Ouija said. Aaliyah looked down, wondering how she couldn't forgot that. The guards doing those invasive ass searches for no reason. "Or kick it," Pidge adds. "Or stick his thumb in it." Zirconia scoffs, "I think that was his thumb." Sankey looked pretty grossed out hearing those things. "You got a problem with someone, you gotta look two feet above his head. That's your target." Maria explained.

Taystee shared a look with Aaliyah. "Piscatella." Aaliyah hummed. She must've been so distracted with Taylor that she completely forgot about Piscatella.

"Exactly. This ain't a one-man problem. See? You gotta knock out the top, take down the whole operation." Maria advised. Taystee and Sankey nod at the information, seeing where she was getting. "Okay, so we good now? Ain't nobody gonna kill each other? Cause the enemy of my enemy, ain't my enemy, right?" Taystee said.

Maria and Ouija shared a look before Maria turned back to Taystee. "All right...we're in." Taystee smiled, going to shake Maria's hand, she did it slowly and a little awkwardly. Taystee nudged Sankey before grabbing her arm, pulling the girl out. "Come on."

"Hey, good to see you again, Sanka." Maria and the girls laughed. Aaliyah walked over to Ouija, throwing an arm around her. "Thank you." Ouija hummed, roll her eyes in amusement. Aaliyah kissed her cheek before walking away, shaking Maria's hand and leaving the salon.

"You sure you ain't gay?" Daya questions. Ouija simply flips her off and they all share another laugh.

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They were currently sat in the cafeteria. Taystee explaining what went down in the library. "A peaceful protest is a great idea. I'm in." Brook said. Of course she would in, wasn't protesting the reason she was there? That was not much of a shocker. "Ain't nothing to be in on, girl. Them ladies is crazy." Taystee states. Aaliyah really didn't understand why they couldn't just put all their shit aside and stand together for once.

Aaliyah took her attention towards Suzanne, who was still zoned out. "Suzanne, sweets, you want a bite of food?" They all looked at her. "What about your bread?" Poussey suggests. Suzanne was still staring into space, "I did a bad thing. Bad, bad, bad..." She mumbles.

Cindy looks at Suzanne with a raised brow, "Shit, they really fucked her up."

"If there were a thing, I'd be there." Janae added. She hated the CO's, especially for what they did to Aaliyah. Last night she still had trouble sleeping, even with Aaliyah in her arms. She couldn't stop thinking about it. How alone she must've felt in the SHU. Even if it was only a day, the SHU could make it feel like forever. "Mmm, me too." Cindy added looking at Suzanne.

Taystee leaned forward, "Y'all for real?"

"Even I'd do it. Comes a time, people." Alison said. Cindy agreed, "Fight the power. You gotta fight the powers that be."

"I should just get my dad to become Warden and then he'll fire that stupid prick," Aaliyah mumbles. Taystee hums, "That's actually kinda a good idea. Except, I kinda like Mr. Caputo. He's cool sometimes."

"Not when he doesn't know what happens in his prison," Aaliyah shrugs.

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Janae and Aaliyah ran the track side by side. It was Janae's idea. She wanted Aaliyah to blow off some steam and try to get back to normal. Aaliyah's eyes landed on Taylor, and her running came to an abrupt stop, Janae stopped and jogged back over to her. "Why'd you stop?" Aaliyah ran a hand through her hair, looking up at the sky. "I'm gonna do it. Fuck it. I'm gonna do it." Aaliyah decides.

Janae knitted her brows in confusion. "What are talkin' about?"

Aaliyah looked at her. "I'm gonna protest. This isn't fucking right. These guards have too much power. They search us, they make us fight, they give us shots for no reason...they beat us. I'm tired of this shit. I have power, we all do. So I'm gonna get those motherfuckers fired even if it gives me extra time in here. I don't fucking care anymore."

"Then I'll do it with you."

Aaliyah smiles with teary eyes, wrapping her arms around Janae. "I wanna say it so bad." Janae nodded slowly, "I know. I know. Say it when you're ready. I'll wait."

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It was dinner time. Aaliyah was getting her tray when Piscatella walked out of the kitchen, holding Red roughly by her arm. "Listen up! Things have been pretty lax around here if you ask me. So lax, in fact, that one of my men was murdered on prison property by one of you. It seems that, somewhere along the way, everyone around here forgot the only thing that matters. You're criminals, and you deserve nothing. And if I have to make an example out of each and every one of you to get this place back in order, well, that will be my pleasure."

Aaliyah gasped when he shoved Red to the floor. "What the fuck is wrong with you?" Nicky stood up angrily. "Stay out of this, inmate." Maria went and helped Red up. "Make sure she starts working. Don't let her sit down," Piscatella orders to CO Dixon. It was silent. Everyone was in shock, even angry. Aaliyah surely was. Which is why she threw her tray on the station angrily. Everyone's eyes went to her.

Janae gave her nod. "Fuck this! Fuck you!" Aaliyah walked over to the table, standing on top of it, Piscatella looked at her in amusement. Flores was next, pulling off her gloves, and her hair net, she stood on the table next to Aaliyah. Piper was next, walking over and standing in between Flores and Aaliyah. Taystee was next. Throwing her tray on the floor and climbing onto the table. Janae was next, tossing her tray and climbing onto the table.

Hapakuka was next, climbing onto the table. Sankey was next, climbing onto her table. Vause after her, climbing onto the table. "Come on, fuck this!" Boo tossed her tray, climbing onto the table. After her, everyone joined in, tossing their trays and climbing into the tables and seats. Poussey helped Suzanne onto the table, sharing a look with Brook, mouthing an apology to her because of their fight.

"We are not going to move until you no longer work at this prison." Maria states for the inmates. All of them saying something to agree with the woman.

Piscatella holds his radio, "We need backup in cafeteria, now! Every man we have."

"We're not going to do anything other than stand here you stupid motherfucker! You don't need more men, you just need to resign! We have our rights to protest!" Aaliyah stated, all the inmates agreeing. Piscatella looks at Red, her being the only one who had yet to protest. Red walked over to the table where Maria was. Frieda and Maria helped her on top. All of them officially protesting against CO Piscatella.

The rest of the CO's ran in, stopping behind Piscatella. "Start clearing." He orders. "Yes, sir."

Humphrey's presence triggered Suzanne. "No, I did a bad thing! I did a bag thing! I did a bad thing! I did a bad thing! I did a bad thing!" Suzanne hopped off the table, hitting the gate and the trash can, repeating her words. "Bayley! Get that fucking animal out of here, now. Get her to Pysch!" Piscatella orders. CO Bayley tried to grab Suzanne, causing Poussey to jump down to try and help calm Suzanne down.

"Hey, no, don't! Just let me talk to her!" CO Bayley let go of Suzanne to push Poussey against the floor, holding his knee on her back and hand on her neck, making it hard for the smaller girl to breath. "Hey! Stay down, inmate!" He ordered, clearly overwhelmed with everything. "No, come on, man, I'm trying to help. She don't know what she's doing."

Humps tried to grab Taylor, causing Aaliyah to jump off and push him away from her. "Don't you fucking touch her!" Humps instead grabbed Aaliyah, pushing her against the table. Janae jumped off the table, running over and pulling Humps away from the two girls. Aaliyah grabbed the taser in his belt and used it to tase him. "Get the fuck away! Don't you fucking go near me!" Aaliyah held up the taser at the other CO's.

There was so much going on it became hard to process. Aaliyah could hear Taystee's shouts for Poussey as Dixon tried to drag her away. Piscatella wrapped his arms around Suzanne, pulling her away. Aaliyah ran over towards the scene as CO Coates pulled CO Bayley off of Poussey. Aaliyah's heart dropped seeing Poussey's lifeless body. She let out a scream, mixed with a sob, falling into Janae's arms.

The CO's ran over to the scene, hearing Aaliyah's scream, holding their arms out to prevent any of the inmates from getting closer. "Someone call a medic!" Taystee ran over, pushing past the CO's. She dropped to her knees, letting out a sob at the sight of her deceased best friend. She dropped to the floor, crying next to her best friend.

There lied...two best friends. One of them with a future. One of them with a past.

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a/n: this was so hard to write, i cried too many times :( taystees sobbing broke my heart

i don't have much else to say here 😔

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