Alex and Piper are hardly on good terms for the majority of the first season, but things turn around dramatically by season six. Alex tries her best to avoid Madison and Carol, but with little success. Trying to save Piper from Madison's negative attention, she offers herself to Carol as a lackey and a tool in the task of smuggling drugs.
In an uncharacteristically romantic move, Alex arranges for her and Piper to be "prison married" before Piper is released. The intimate ceremony, witnessed by only a handful of other inmates, isn't the only bout of good news for Alex. Carol and her mortal enemy (and sister!), Barb, kill each other, presumably releasing Alex from Carol's death grip.