A/N: So, I came up with this from a dream I had. I hope that it is something you all enjoy while I'm still working on my longer pieces (Cause they take more time to ensure I get the time-line right... etc).

So yup.

Would love to hear what you thought.

If you're a reader of any of my other fics: thank you all so much for your reviews. They mean so much to me. Really, and truly. You're all so wonderful.

All my love,

CBC

Andy watched closely as Miranda stepped from the elevator.

Something was wrong.

Something had happened.

Miranda's gait was still strong and swift, but Andy could keep up just a little easier.

Miranda's pace never became slower, it only became faster.

Her voice was just a touch hoarse.

Her voice never sounded anything but quiet, regal, and deadly.

Miranda's eyes were distant.

Miranda's eyes were never distant, but calculating and full of determination.

Her words were riddled with pauses. Pauses that lasted not even a second, but to Andy, who was quickly writing down demands, could tell by how she was not scrambling to get every detail written in her short scrawled penmanship.

Her words were never full of any pauses. Her words were precise, quick, and even with her quick writing and quick memory, it was always a tiny bit of a struggle for Andy to ensure that every detail was received and remembered.

Something was wrong… and Andy was going to figure it out, if Miranda didn't order her to do something about it on her own.

"That's all."

"Yes, Miranda," she replied with her usual smile, as Miranda tossed her coat and bag onto the second assistant's desk before heading into her office.

Setting down her notepad, Andy glanced at the clock before sitting down and cracking to work. She had two hours before the twins had their morning break from class.

She had to get her work done before then, so she could get her ass over to Dalton to personally ask the girls what had happened.

Miranda would never tell her. She didn't say anything that indicated anything about her off-kilter attitude in her morning list of instructions, which meant that she wasn't going to say anything.

So Andy set to work, her teeth clenched together with her own determination.

She was going to do something to fix Miranda's mood, even if just by a little bit.

Looking to the second assistant, as she stepped through the doors, Andy stood and grabbed the coffee, "You are to listen very carefully. You are not to engage with Miranda unless I tell you to, or she directly calls you on the phone. Do you understand me? If she calls you into the office, I will go in. I will be the shuttle for your information, and for your jobs. If anything goes wrong today, we will all be sent to hell. Go back and get more coffee. Thermos it, get it hotter than hotter than hot. Call it in beforehand, and tell them it's for Miranda Priestly and to put it onto Andrea Sachs' on hand card. Before you get the coffee, go ahead to Banana Republic for the clothes that Miranda needs for next week's shoot. That's the first thing she will want you to do. I will deal with Miranda until I'm sure she won't blow. Do you understand me? Keep your phone ready to go at all times. I will text you everything. You will text me everything. Today we are on recon code red until I say otherwise. Do not speak to anyone of Miranda's foul mood. I will be directly in charge, and will take brunt force as much as possible. Are we clear?"

The second assistant nodded firmly, and scattered back out the door as Miranda called out, "Emily."

Andy took a deep breath, squared her shoulders and stepped into the office with her head high, "She has gone down to Banana Republic for the sets you need for the shoot next week." She spoke calmly, "Extra coffee, to go with what I set out for you," she placed the holder onto the corner of the desk, "and she will be getting more before returning as well. Anything you would like me to text her to get while she is out?"

Miranda looked up sharply from the work she was looking at, "You sent her out?"

"Yes, Miranda." Andy replied evenly, as she pulled her second notepad from her waistband, and flicked her stash-away pen out from her sleeve, "Anything else?"

Miranda cleared her throat before quickly listing a few things for the second assistant to do before sending Andy back out with her usual wrist twist and two words.

Andy smiled, gave her two word reply, and scuttled from the room, grabbing her phone to send the list on its way, even as she filed through her own work at the same time while still standing.

She may truly be one of the very few people who could tell when Miranda was having an off-kilter day, but she'd be damned if anyone got wind of it. So, she cracked her knuckles as she sat back down, and dabbled out an email to be sent to all departments… if Miranda was having a bad day, Andy was going to make sure that it ran smoothly and as swiftly as possible… by making it seem as though Miranda was angry and ready for blood.

Recon code red. Run everything fifteen minutes early (on top of Miranda's fifteen minutes early), and be prepared for it to jump again. Everything will be run by me, through me, and around me, before shown to Miranda. Prepare for anything. Calm, cool, collected. Organize, arrange, and set to work. If we make it smooth, we will all keep our jobs. I will take brunt force when I can. Second assistant is out most of the day, in order to keep minimal detriment.

Make this work.

Sachs.

Firing off the email, she flipped through her notes, and dialed the first two numbers she needed, one on her cell, and one on the desk phone. Holding the cell to one ear, and the desk phone between her shoulder and ear, she buzzed off her information to the secretaries that picked up, and then placed her cell down.

The person she was calling with her cell would take longer to answer, giving her just enough time to set up the information with the other.

Setting her fingers to her keyboard keys, she tapped away with her work, and sent out three emails before she was answered.

Giving him his information, she hung up, dialed another number, and then picked up her cell phone just in time.

Andy continued to sail through her work with ease, and looked up from her last phone call just as the first meeting popped into the outer office.

Standing, she met Markus just out of Miranda's hearing range (when Andrea whispered just soft enough), and said, "Are you prepared."

"Yes."

"No stuttering. No excuses. Back up plans in play and ready to use?"

He nodded, though slightly hesitant, "Yes."

"No you don't. You have some extra time because you're early. Make them. Two of them. Have them ready to go. Do you understand me? I am determined not to have anyone fired today. Stand up straight, no fidgeting. If you need notes, use them. Don't fudge it if you can't pick it from your brain. Better make it smooth and ready. She can overlook a glance at a notepad if you don't waste her time."

Markus nodded and swallowed, "I don't have a notepad."

Andy put up a hand and moved to her desk, grabbing a fresh pad from her drawer, and a pen from her cup, before handing them to him, "You have ten minutes. We're going with eight, but be prepared and ready to go in two. I am going to keep things moving swiftly, and that means being ready for anything."

He nodded and began to scribble quick notes onto the pad she had given him as he muttered, "Don't get fired. Smooth, clean, no stuttering."

"Andrea," Miranda's voice floated out from the inner office, "have Markus get here in five minutes, and inform him if he can't make it, that he can go speak with Darlene at Human Resources."

Andy looked at Markus and nodded to the inner office, "You have thirty more seconds. Have your back ups ready, no stuttering, smooth and no fidgeting. Go."

Markus cleared his throat, shook his body swiftly, before moving quickly into the office, "Miranda, I was hoping we could speak before our meeting time," he started out, his voice actually sounded somewhat calm and confident to Andy's trained ears.

"Oh?" Andy picked up on the subtle surprise in Miranda's voice, and smirked to herself before she sat down at her desk, not without sneaking a peak into the inner office to see Markus standing starkly before the Editor, without a fidgeting finger.

Smiling brightly, she read the text she had received from the second assistant, and quickly sent a reply.

Good. Everything was going well so far. She had one more hour before the twins' class break. She would make it. She had to.

Fifteen minutes later, Markus stepped through the door with stunned, wide eyes.

Andy stepped to him silently, and quickly. She walked with him to the door, "How did it go?"

He smiled, "Good. Great. It's set. Back up number two was what she was looking for. The notepad was perfect."

Andy smiled, "Good. Go, and start passing around the helpful hints. Damn, I should have started doing all of this, months ago. Go, and hit beauty first. Natalie is her next appointment, and she should be here in no more than ten minutes. Then swing by the earrings section of jewelry. Speak with Bianca and Tory. Then speak with Jocelyn and Kara. If we can keep her at a low simmer, hopefully we can wade this out and she will blow at Irv. That will make her feel much better before her afternoon meetings. Tell Emily, the real Emily, that I need her to come and speak with me."

Markus nodded, "Thanks, Andy, and no problem."

"Go, quickly. Run if you have to, but we are going to keep today running without hiccups. Team up, set up, email."

The man nodded before doing as instructed, taking off down the hall in direction of the beauty department.

Forty-five minutes.

/DWP/

Andy smiled triumphantly as the second assistant came barreling back into the office just in time, "Good, thank you Hannah. Take a breath, set down the bags, and put down the coffee. I need to make a run out. I know it's not my lunch, but Miranda should not need me for another hour, so I should have enough time to get out and back in."

"You're going to be in charge. Everything is running early, and they have direct instructions from me. There are four more appointments before her meeting with Irv. They need to run smoothly. On my desk are notepads. As soon as someone comes in, hand one over. They'll know what to do. It's going through the whole office. Check your emails if you want full disclosure. I will be back, and you can have a ten extra minutes to your lunch."

Andy gave her a hard look, "Listen to me. The only way that you can mess this up, is if you panic. As soon as someone begins to panic, all my hard work to keep anyone from being fired will slip down the drain. Are we clear? Do no panic. No stuttering. Calm breathing. We are saving Miranda's ire for Ravitz. Give him no warnings about the shifts in the schedule, or anything of the sort. Not a word to him. Everyone will be much happier after she's loaded off on him. I should be back just as he's finishing or even sooner, and so long as no one panics, or stresses out, then Miranda will never know I've left. Notes and numbers are on your desk, ready for when she orders phone calls."

Hannah nodded, "Okay."

Andy grabbed her coat, "Good, I'll be back within the hour."

Rushing out, she took a deep breath and set out on her mission.

/DWP/

"Hi, Mary-Anne. Could you call the Priestly twins up to the front please? It's very important."

The Dalton school secretary nodded, "Sure."

Andy smiled brightly- thanking her lucky damn stars she had made all the proper connections so that the woman didn't even bother to ask why the girls were being called up.

Two minutes after the loudspeaker announcement finished, the twins rounded the corner and gasped out, "Andy!"

They darted to her and gave her a big hug, "Hey, girls. Okay, this needs to be quick because I need to get back to work, but I needed to ask-"

"You noticed?" Caroline cut in.

"Patricia died last night." Cassidy whispered, tears forming in both of their eyes.

"We woke up to Mom's crying, at around four this morning."

"We knew not to interrupt, but nothing else would make Mom cry like that."

"She told us in the morning, after breakfast, and held us as we cried, before she walked us out to the car for school."

"We knew you would notice," the girls each had a few tears slip down their cheeks.

Andy brushed away the tears, "Oh no. No wonder she's having a bad day. Girls, I'm so sorry." They each wrapped their arms around her, and she held them close for a brief moment, "Okay. I'm going to figure something out. Okay. I promise, when your mom gets home, she'll be just a little happier. I promise."

The twins smiled at her, "Thank you, Andy," they chorused, their smiles watery.

Pressing quick kisses to their foreheads, she smiled, "Okay, go on back to your break. I have thirty-five more minutes before your mom realizes I've left the office, and then all of my hard work to keep the day running on track will be all for naught."

The girls wiped at their cheeks before nodded and heading away, "Bye, Andy."

"Bye, girls," she replied before turning to the secretary, "thanks."

"Sure," Mary-Anne smiled as Andy turned and left, an idea already coming to mind.

It had to work.

She needed it to work.

She hoped it would work.

/DWP/

Taking a deep breath, Andy checked her watch as she stepped into the elevator.

Six minutes early.

She had figured out a plan, and gotten what she needed in twenty-one minutes, and it had taken her eight to get back to the office without any major difficulties. She had what she needed, and Miranda was just about to finish with Irv.

She was right on time.

The elevator came to a halt on her floor, and she stepped out, quickly making her way down the halls, careful not to jostle the purse she had gotten too much, and careful about not knocking around the second bag she had with her.

Coming to the outer office, she pulled open the door, and went directly to her desk, where she set the purse and bag down with a graceful gentleness, before she sat down in her chair. Three minutes.

She looked across the way to the second assistant, "You can have an early lunch, with ten extra minutes. Use them well, and wisely."

Hannah nodded, "Thanks. It went well. Irv's in there now. Good luck fielding the rest while I'm out."

"Won't be too hard, thanks," Andy smiled as Hannah stood and dashed out.

Andy looked at the clock. Two minutes.

She swallowed, and tilted her head. No, the meeting finished early.

Sure enough, the door to Miranda's inner office opened and Irv practically stormed out, not even paying any mind to Andy as he left.

Counting down in her head, Andy stood, grabbed the purse, and waited five more seconds before Miranda called her in with a cold tone, "Andrea."

Dashing in, without jostling the bag, she smiled, "Yes, Miranda?"

The Editor looked up and opened her mouth, only to stop when her gaze fell on the bag in Andy's hands, "Why are you holding my purse?"

Andy looked down, "Oh," she set it down, and poked the side that Miranda could not see, and removed her hands, "it-"

She didn't get to finish when the purse moved of its own accord, and Miranda cut her off, "It moved."

Andy nodded, "Yes."

"Tell me why."

"There's something in it."

"There's something in my purse? What is it?"

Andy smiled, "Look."

Miranda scowled, and glared at her, "And why would I do that?"

"Because today has been running smoothly, and you just finished your meeting with Irv."

Miranda stood, and scowled again, before she reached out and pulled the purse wide open. Her eyes widened minutely, and the scowl fell from her face, "What's this?" She demanded when she looked back up.

Andy smiled, "Go ahead." Miranda hesitated a moment before her hands slipped into the purse, and pulled out the ball of beautiful golden-yellow fur, "It's a puppy."

Miranda swallowed, looking up from the bundle of fur in her hands, "I can see that!" She snapped, "What the hell is it doing in my purse?"

Andy's smile never left her face, "It's actually not your purse. It's a duplicate. I had to make sure you'd actually ask me what I was doing holding a bag in my hands."

"Why did you have a puppy in a purse?"

"For you," Andy spoke softly. "Your girls told me what happened. Nothing can fix it, or take away the sadness, but perhaps a good day will make it just a little better. Perhaps, a new friend will be healing."

Andy watched with a calm attitude as Miranda clutched the puppy just a little closer, and it wiggled against her chest, tucking it's head against her breast, whining softly, "You got me a puppy?" Miranda asked, her voice breathy, and her eyes glistening with what Andy could tell was unshed tears.

Andy nodded, "Golden Retriever. He's four weeks old. He's the runt of four, and the mother stopped taking care of him. I've called to have a custom collar made, and once there's a name for him, it'll be added to the collar."

The puppy wriggled again and Miranda let out a small laugh. Looking down, she nuzzled the golden fur with her cheek, "I'll have to let the girls choose his name. They'll be upset if they don't have a say."

Andy smiled, "Of course, Miranda. Anything I can do?"

Miranda didn't look up from the puppy as she replied, "Make sure that Franko is aware of his deadline next week, and inform Leslie that I am done with Irv. I don't care any longer, I will not stand for his fraudulent stealing of Runway budget money. We are going to get him removed from his position."

Andy nodded, "Yes, Miranda." Turning, she began to make her way out when Miranda's voice stopped her.

"Andrea."

She turned back, and waited.

Miranda looked up, and she lifted the puppy, tucking him under her chin, as she held him close, smiling at his little noises and squiggling. An unabashed smile twitched at Miranda's lips as the older woman crinkled her eyes with a happy sorrow before she spoke with a sweet, whispered tone, "Thank you, Andrea."

Andy felt her whole face light up, and her heart skipped a beat with her elation at doing something right, "You're welcome, Miranda."

"You're the one who had everyone here early, and prepared," Miranda stated, her voice taking on a somewhat wondrous tone.

"I did."

The small smile didn't leave Miranda's face, "Thank you."

Andy nodded, "You're welcome."

The puppy whimpered and cried out, and Miranda nuzzled him gently, carefully holding him closer to her, as she asked, "Do you have anything for him? I can only imagine he's hungry, they need to eat quite often when they're little. He's also probably starting to get chilled, puppies can't regulate their body temperature properly, and it would be terrible if he caught some infection."

Andy nodded, "I have some freshly bottled milk, from the mother. I also have a small dog pillow, and there's a heated blanket in the bottom of the purse. It's probably rather cool now, but he was kept warm when I was on my way back. I've called to have canned puppy food delivered in a couple hours, because the lady I bought him from said that it's better than the dry food soaked in formula. I have two cans with me now, that she let me have. However, the transition to solid food is messy, so I suggest just the milk while in the office, unless you want me to blend up the milk with the canned food, and you can take him into the bathroom."

Miranda nodded, "That sounds just fine, thank you."

Andy nodded, her face splitting with pain from the wide, ecstatic smile plastered across her face as she scurried from the room and grabbed the supplies she needed before rushing to the small kitchen a few halls down and pulling out the blender… cursing to herself that they didn't have a blender in the outer office kitchen.

/DWP/

Miranda kept the puppy snuggled against her breast as she reached into the purse to remove the blanket.

Andrea had been correct, it wasn't overly warm anymore, but it would suffice to help keep the heat in until she could properly arrange where she would keep the puppy.

She scoffed to herself. The puppy wouldn't be leaving her lap. He was still much too young to be truly removed from his mother, and would need the contact for bonding, and for security.

Laying the blanket out on her desk, she moved the whimpering puppy onto it, and carefully wrapped him up before lifting him back up, smiling as he moved to burrow his head against her right breast.

Her heart swelled with a mix of emotions. Sadness for her lost friend, joy for the little bundle in her hands, wonder for the smooth day she'd had, and… a gratefulness for Andrea that was begging to be called something different.

Swallowing, she carefully moved around her desk and headed into the bathroom. She actually used it fairly often, and was truly grateful in her decision to install it, and the features with it.

Flipping on a switch, the marble tile began to heat. It would take a while for the marble to become comfortable, but it would be worth it for the puppy and herself when she would have to sit down onto the floor. Then she turned on the room heater before stepping back out, and closing the door behind her, to keep the heat from escaping.

She smiled and pressed a light kiss to the puppy's head, before nuzzling her nose and cheek against his soft, puppy fur. It was getting thicker, but it was still on the thinner side.

Humming softly to herself she sat back down, and arranged the puppy into her lap so that he wouldn't be able to roll or wiggle off her thighs. Keeping her left hand atop the puppy- her fingers running lightly against his head- she picked up her pen and began to read through some paperwork, her heart feeling lighter than it had in the morning.

The puppy whined a little, and Miranda smiled.

Andrea had gotten her a puppy.

Andrea had arranged to run her day in a methodically smooth manner… how she pulled it off… Miranda didn't know, but everything had gone by with an almost near perfect quality to it. Everyone was rather well prepared. She could still see they were worried, and anxious, but none of them had fidgeted or stuttered, and it had made her day just a little easier. She found herself almost relieved to not have to fire someone for incompetent work.

Andrea had done something for her, that was way beyond the duty of an employee.

Andrea had made a full-blown attempt to give her a little joy in a rather depressing day.

Her heart skipped beneath her chest, and Miranda breathed deeply, and freely, for the first time since she'd woken early that morning to find Patricia no longer living, lying peacefully at the foot of her bed.

Andrea cared about her.

You care about her too. Her deep, inner mind supplied for her, and for once in her life, neither realization scared her.

Perhaps, she mused, you can find it in yourself to create a friendship with her.

With that thought, she looked up to see Andrea returning with a glass full of the milk and canned food blend, and felt a smile spread across her face at the sight.

Andrea truly cared about her.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed it :)

Reviews are loved, cherished, and appreciated.

All my love,

CBC