To Die For (Prologue/?)
to die for.
the job a million girls would kill for just got a little more dangerous.
Coco ♥i_heart_cuddy
pairing miranda/andy, miranda/ofc sort of
rating r for violence
disclaimers i don't own the devil wears prada, i don't own meryl streep, anne hathaway or helen mirren. pity really... anyway, i make no money off of any of this, it's all just for my own amusement and hopefully i take a few of y'all along for the ride, eh? ;)
summary Miranda's model-assassins are being slaughtered abroad and Miranda is starting to get desperate to stop the culling of her herd. But Miranda's desperation is leading her to mix business with pleasure, drawing Andy into the risky business, putting everyone's lives in danger.
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Epilogue
One thing that you should know about the world of criminal enterprise is that even though it exists outside of law, it has its own efficient governing body. Problems are usually taken care of... in house so to speak.
There are also classes of criminals. Rapists and child molesters are universally considered by law abiding citizens and criminals alike to be utterly classless, unworthy of redemption and totally expendable. Pick pockets are like entry-level criminals, they're often children, they often come from broken homes or no home at all. Loan sharks and bookies are considered very low because they victimize and exploit people who have addictions and who are running out of options. The individual jobs within the mafia have their own rankings, usually decided amongst themselves, the boss, of course, sits at the top. The highest on the criminal spectrum is the hired gun.
Done right, the hired gun is the best paid criminal of all. Because the client is in need of the hired gun's services, the hired gun is free to set the price however high as desired. And the person who controls the hired guns holds all the cards.
**
England 1973
"Just jump!" Helena insisted, "it's not that far!"
"Oh god..." Miriam squeezed her eyes shut and jumped out of the window. She landed in the grass next to Helena. She stood up and brushed herself off.
"You okay?"
"Yeah." Miriam nodded, "none the worse for wear. What now?"
"We just escaped from the foster home from hell, we have to celebrate." Helena grinned.
Miriam shrugged, "let's not count our chickens before they hatch. We made it to the outside, let's get out of the neighborhood before we count it as a victory."
"Fair enough, that's why you're the brains." Helena said before stealing a quick kiss and grabbing Miriam by the hand and the two of them took off toward the city.
By the time they reached London it was nearly morning. They walked between businesspeople shuffling toward and away from metro stations and cars.
"We need money." Helena announced.
Miriam bumped against a man who sneered at her and kept walking. She opened the wallet she'd just lifted, "well, Charles Townsend, let's see how much you carry. Twenty quid and fifty pee."
"We can eat breakfast, let's go." Helena announced.
Miriam pocketed the money and dumped the wallet into a trashcan. "We need a long term plan for making money is what we need."
"With your pickpocketing skills? And me practicing? Not to mention we're orphans and have no papers, it's not like we could just get a job."
"But we could move up in the criminal enterprise."
Helena nodded, "definitely. Make more money quicker, right?"
"Right."
"So what's the long term plan?"
**
Miriam covered her ears as Helena emptied her clip. "Stop! What are you doing? The dude is dead, no need to empty your clip into him! We have a limited amount of ammo!"
"I'm making an investment in our reputation." Helena holstered her gun, "we're crazy and we get the job done."
Miriam let out an aggrieved sigh.
"Hey, you're the accounting, I'm the marketing, right?"
"I just... I think that the best way to solidify our reputation is by doing the job efficiently and letting the work speak for itself." Miriam bit her lip.
"I'll foot the bill for the extra ammo." Helena insisted.
"You think you have the pickpocketing skills to raise that much money?" Miriam teased.
"You don't think I can do it? How did I get your gun without you noticing, then?"
Miriam gasped and reached to her belt only to find that her gun was still there.
"Made you look..." Helena laughed before pulling Miriam in for a kiss.
**
Emily strode down the hallway slowly. She held the newspaper to her chest and felt her heart pounding against it. She didn't look forward to giving it to Miranda.
Miranda looked up from her work as Emily walked up to the modern concept glass desk. Emily fidgeted, holding tightly to the paper.
"Give me the paper Emily." Miranda demanded in a menacing whisper, holding out her hand and staring down the Brit. Emily reluctantly handed her the London Times. The headline announced: Another Model Slain. Miranda snarled and threw the paper down on the desk.
Emily sneezed, earning a glare of epic proportions from Miranda. Emily tried to play it off. "I'm ready to take this on during fashion week, Miranda."
"Emily, while I am aware that you have little to no self-respect, I couldn't possibly send you on something as important as this with you sniffling like that. You'd be a sitting duck and I'd lose one of my best marksmen." Miranda sat back in her chair. "I need someone else."
"There is no one else." Emily protested.
"Not true." A grin slowly spread across Miranda's face and her eyes flashed mischievously.
"No, no, no. You can't mean-"
"I can and I do." Miranda snapped. "Are you questioning me?"
"Of course not!" Emily's eyes were wide.
"Then get out of my sight." Miranda snapped. Emily turned on her heel and made haste out of the office. Miranda sighed and sat back. She rubbed her temples and bit her lip, this was bad and she knew it.
"Andrea," Miranda called softly.
Andy jumped up from her desk and sauntered up to her boss-- and lover--'s desk. "What can I do for you?"
Miranda pursed her lips against a smile. "You can go to Chanel and pick up the sunglasses and then you can pick up the twins' new school uniforms and then you can go wait for me in my bed."
"Yes, ma'am." Andy turned on her heel and Miranda watched her ass and sashaying skirt as she retreated.
Nigel passed Andy in the hallway and gave Miranda's lecherous gaze a playful eyeroll. "You dog."
"What do you want, Nigel?"
"I want to talk about what you're thinking about doing." He said as he closed the door and drew the curtain behind him.
"And what, pray, am I thinking about doing?"
"Miranda, there's no reason to play dumb with me. You know I hold you in the highest esteem and I am forever grateful to you for my job and the fact that I have a career. But I feel, that as your friend, I should tell you that I am adamantly against bringing Andy into Runaway."
Miranda remained silent. Nigel took a deep breath for courage and continued, "she has no criminal record, she was accepted to Harvard Law, she's always preaching morals and standards and I don't think that just because you're involved means she'll be okay with what we do."
Miranda drummed her fingers on the desk. "Andrea is a joiner just like the rest of us. You saw how quickly she shed her uppity Connecticut ideals and clothing to fit in here. She was a member of the archery club through high school and most of college."
"And what? We're going to send her out with a bow and arrow?" Nigel laughed, "I think your judgment is clouded, Miranda."
Miranda stood menacingly. "Nigel, I appreciate your candor. I do, however, respectfully disagree that my judgment is anything but sound."
"But I'm the recruiter." Nigel protested.
In one fluid movement Miranda pulled a gun and pressed it to his temple. Nigel moved for his gun only to realize that somehow Miranda had pulled his own gun on him. "And I'm the boss." She hissed.
the job a million girls would kill for just got a little more dangerous.
Coco ♥i_heart_cuddy
pairing miranda/andy, miranda/ofc sort of
rating r for violence
disclaimers i don't own the devil wears prada, i don't own meryl streep, anne hathaway or helen mirren. pity really... anyway, i make no money off of any of this, it's all just for my own amusement and hopefully i take a few of y'all along for the ride, eh? ;)
summary Miranda's model-assassins are being slaughtered abroad and Miranda is starting to get desperate to stop the culling of her herd. But Miranda's desperation is leading her to mix business with pleasure, drawing Andy into the risky business, putting everyone's lives in danger.
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Epilogue
One thing that you should know about the world of criminal enterprise is that even though it exists outside of law, it has its own efficient governing body. Problems are usually taken care of... in house so to speak.
There are also classes of criminals. Rapists and child molesters are universally considered by law abiding citizens and criminals alike to be utterly classless, unworthy of redemption and totally expendable. Pick pockets are like entry-level criminals, they're often children, they often come from broken homes or no home at all. Loan sharks and bookies are considered very low because they victimize and exploit people who have addictions and who are running out of options. The individual jobs within the mafia have their own rankings, usually decided amongst themselves, the boss, of course, sits at the top. The highest on the criminal spectrum is the hired gun.
Done right, the hired gun is the best paid criminal of all. Because the client is in need of the hired gun's services, the hired gun is free to set the price however high as desired. And the person who controls the hired guns holds all the cards.
**
England 1973
"Just jump!" Helena insisted, "it's not that far!"
"Oh god..." Miriam squeezed her eyes shut and jumped out of the window. She landed in the grass next to Helena. She stood up and brushed herself off.
"You okay?"
"Yeah." Miriam nodded, "none the worse for wear. What now?"
"We just escaped from the foster home from hell, we have to celebrate." Helena grinned.
Miriam shrugged, "let's not count our chickens before they hatch. We made it to the outside, let's get out of the neighborhood before we count it as a victory."
"Fair enough, that's why you're the brains." Helena said before stealing a quick kiss and grabbing Miriam by the hand and the two of them took off toward the city.
By the time they reached London it was nearly morning. They walked between businesspeople shuffling toward and away from metro stations and cars.
"We need money." Helena announced.
Miriam bumped against a man who sneered at her and kept walking. She opened the wallet she'd just lifted, "well, Charles Townsend, let's see how much you carry. Twenty quid and fifty pee."
"We can eat breakfast, let's go." Helena announced.
Miriam pocketed the money and dumped the wallet into a trashcan. "We need a long term plan for making money is what we need."
"With your pickpocketing skills? And me practicing? Not to mention we're orphans and have no papers, it's not like we could just get a job."
"But we could move up in the criminal enterprise."
Helena nodded, "definitely. Make more money quicker, right?"
"Right."
"So what's the long term plan?"
**
Miriam covered her ears as Helena emptied her clip. "Stop! What are you doing? The dude is dead, no need to empty your clip into him! We have a limited amount of ammo!"
"I'm making an investment in our reputation." Helena holstered her gun, "we're crazy and we get the job done."
Miriam let out an aggrieved sigh.
"Hey, you're the accounting, I'm the marketing, right?"
"I just... I think that the best way to solidify our reputation is by doing the job efficiently and letting the work speak for itself." Miriam bit her lip.
"I'll foot the bill for the extra ammo." Helena insisted.
"You think you have the pickpocketing skills to raise that much money?" Miriam teased.
"You don't think I can do it? How did I get your gun without you noticing, then?"
Miriam gasped and reached to her belt only to find that her gun was still there.
"Made you look..." Helena laughed before pulling Miriam in for a kiss.
**
Emily strode down the hallway slowly. She held the newspaper to her chest and felt her heart pounding against it. She didn't look forward to giving it to Miranda.
Miranda looked up from her work as Emily walked up to the modern concept glass desk. Emily fidgeted, holding tightly to the paper.
"Give me the paper Emily." Miranda demanded in a menacing whisper, holding out her hand and staring down the Brit. Emily reluctantly handed her the London Times. The headline announced: Another Model Slain. Miranda snarled and threw the paper down on the desk.
Emily sneezed, earning a glare of epic proportions from Miranda. Emily tried to play it off. "I'm ready to take this on during fashion week, Miranda."
"Emily, while I am aware that you have little to no self-respect, I couldn't possibly send you on something as important as this with you sniffling like that. You'd be a sitting duck and I'd lose one of my best marksmen." Miranda sat back in her chair. "I need someone else."
"There is no one else." Emily protested.
"Not true." A grin slowly spread across Miranda's face and her eyes flashed mischievously.
"No, no, no. You can't mean-"
"I can and I do." Miranda snapped. "Are you questioning me?"
"Of course not!" Emily's eyes were wide.
"Then get out of my sight." Miranda snapped. Emily turned on her heel and made haste out of the office. Miranda sighed and sat back. She rubbed her temples and bit her lip, this was bad and she knew it.
"Andrea," Miranda called softly.
Andy jumped up from her desk and sauntered up to her boss-- and lover--'s desk. "What can I do for you?"
Miranda pursed her lips against a smile. "You can go to Chanel and pick up the sunglasses and then you can pick up the twins' new school uniforms and then you can go wait for me in my bed."
"Yes, ma'am." Andy turned on her heel and Miranda watched her ass and sashaying skirt as she retreated.
Nigel passed Andy in the hallway and gave Miranda's lecherous gaze a playful eyeroll. "You dog."
"What do you want, Nigel?"
"I want to talk about what you're thinking about doing." He said as he closed the door and drew the curtain behind him.
"And what, pray, am I thinking about doing?"
"Miranda, there's no reason to play dumb with me. You know I hold you in the highest esteem and I am forever grateful to you for my job and the fact that I have a career. But I feel, that as your friend, I should tell you that I am adamantly against bringing Andy into Runaway."
Miranda remained silent. Nigel took a deep breath for courage and continued, "she has no criminal record, she was accepted to Harvard Law, she's always preaching morals and standards and I don't think that just because you're involved means she'll be okay with what we do."
Miranda drummed her fingers on the desk. "Andrea is a joiner just like the rest of us. You saw how quickly she shed her uppity Connecticut ideals and clothing to fit in here. She was a member of the archery club through high school and most of college."
"And what? We're going to send her out with a bow and arrow?" Nigel laughed, "I think your judgment is clouded, Miranda."
Miranda stood menacingly. "Nigel, I appreciate your candor. I do, however, respectfully disagree that my judgment is anything but sound."
"But I'm the recruiter." Nigel protested.
In one fluid movement Miranda pulled a gun and pressed it to his temple. Nigel moved for his gun only to realize that somehow Miranda had pulled his own gun on him. "And I'm the boss." She hissed.