Andrea had gone to bed in another bedroom on the second floor of their townhome. She was not sure what she was feeling, or what she should do. She had forgotten the reactions the older woman could stir in her, the passion that could fuel both her love and her desire for her.

She had been with Miranda for so long now that she had forgotten just how cruel she could be. The things Miranda said not only upset her but they made her feel like there was a big secret hanging between them that she had just come to notice. Maybe she didn't know as much about Miranda as she had thought.

She woke an hour later to a body lying down behind her; the curves were soft and familiar, the smell of her wife's perfume flooded her senses. Miranda wrapped her arm around her and helf her tight. Andrea contemplated retreating from her embrace, but it had been so long since her wife had held her like this that she did not want to let go.

"I'm so sorry. I know you're worried about those people" Miranda said with her face buried in Andrea's back.

"What aren't you telling me, Miranda?" The brunette asked, her voice projecting the heaviness she felt in her heart.

"There are some things that you don't need to know, Darling. It's better if you just don't ask" The older woman responded evenly.

"What is it, Miranda?" Andrea asked anxiously, sitting up quickly.

After having spent nearly every moment together outside of work since they got married, Andrea thought that she knew everything there was to know about Miranda. In reality, the fashion editor had hidden a very significant part of her life from her, and from everyone. It took her five years to notice, but she could see that barrier in her eyes, she could see that there was something hiding behind them.

The girl had caught on in her first year at NYNC that her wife exercised some power over what happened in the White House. Andrea admired Miranda's influence in politics but she did not know how deeply her power reached.

Andrea also knew that she was part of a council of very rich and very powerful people from around the world that convened in private about world matters. They were called many things by outsiders, Bilderberg, Freemasons, and the Illuminati being the most infamous. Miranda simply referred to them as the council, and no one knew about her participation in the group but her first assistants, who were bound by law to never speak of it. Andrea had heard all the hype surrounding the group but she figured if Miranda was a part of it then they must be doing something right.

The older woman reached out to touch her young wife in the darkness. She truly hated when she was angry with her. Miranda felt a pang in her stomach; she was not sure what it was. She rested her palm on her abdomen, trying to calm the visceral feeling. Could this be the horrid pangs of guilt she feared she would be subjected to through this ordeal?

"I've arranged a car to pick us up in the morning to take us to the airport" Miranda said, careful to word her command, to not sound as such. She tugged the girl to lie back down beside her.

"Where are we going?" Andrea asked as she settled down into the bed.

"That's not important right now. I'll explain everything soon" The older woman said in a whisper. She brushed the hair from the brunettes face, caressing her, staring deep into her eyes.

"How long has it been since you've kissed me, Miranda?" Andrea said in a sullen voice.

"Like you did that night in Paris?"

Miranda's heart wrenched at the sound of her voice. She remembered vividly their passionate kiss in Paris; the memory brought a sad smile to her features. She knew things had been crazy lately and that they had not been able to spend much time alone, but she did not realize how badly her wife was missing her.

"Oh, Darling" The silver haired woman whispered into her young lovers' ear, pulling her close, and wrapping her arms around her.

"I love you" She quietly breathed before she pressed her lips to Andrea's. That beautiful voice and those soft gentle lips, made her head spin.

Moments like these were worth everything, no matter how upset, how scared or how disappointed Andrea felt about the decisions that her wife made. There was no one in the world that could make her feel like this. There is no one who could do the things that she does and get away with them, no one but Miranda.

They melted into each other, each brush of their lips felt like something precious and beautiful. They felt so alive that they could feel the blood pumping through their hearts. They were breathing heavily and moving against each other.

Miranda pulled away and pressed her forehead against hers and took deep calming breaths.

"Things are about to get very bad, Andrea. I'm going to need you to trust that I can take care of us. Do you understand?"

She laid a hand on the brunette's hip, her eyes pierced through the darkness.

"I don't imagine it could get much worse than this, Miranda" Andrea said dismissively, rolling over, facing away from the older woman.

"Don't be so sure of that" she said lying close behind the girl, pressing herself closer.

Andrea did not feel like fighting anymore, however short lived their moment of passion was, she knew that it was over now. Miranda kept telling her that something big was coming, but refusing to tell her just what. Exhausted by everything that had happened and what tomorrow would surely bring, they both fell asleep.

Andrea was shaken from her sleep at the sound of breaking glass on the floor beneath them. She sat up and turned to look at Miranda who was already up and standing near the door. The tired looking woman pressed a small button under the light switch and a piece of glass emerged from the wall with a hum. It lit up with a blue keypad.

She quickly punched in a code and small moving images sprang onto the screen. Miranda closed the door beside her, and pressed a tab that deployed all ten deadbolt locks inside of the door. If someone wanted in this room, they were going to have to bulldoze the entire wall down.

"There's some men at the front door" Miranda said staring intently at the screen, her voice surprisingly calm.

"There are four of them, two of them are armed." She said as she began pressing different buttons on the small screen.

Andrea heard more noise downstairs. She was unnerved. It was incredibly eerie to think there might be people inside of their home, tearing it apart, taking what they pleased. She leapt out of the bed and stood next to Miranda to see the security feed. The older woman pressed a bright red button in the corner of the screen.

"Consider this you're warning, you don't want to die on my door step" she said in an icy tone to the men outside.

"That man- that one right there, he's the officer that shot that young man last night' Andrea whispered sternly when she saw the video feed of the men.

Miranda opened the 'defenses' tab and read the list of options. 'Lethal 'or 'non-lethal'

"What is he doing here, Miranda?" Andrea asked accusingly.

"He's probably upset that he was fired last night" Miranda answered as a matter of fact.
"You had him fired?'
"Of course I did. No one points a gun at my wife"

They watched the men trying to pry the metal bars from the window to slip inside. One man reached in and shot several rounds off inside of the dining room.

"What do they think they're doing?" Miranda said irritably. She pressed the non-lethal tab and a small list of options illuminated before her.

'Lead foam'

'Taser projectile'

'Ocular impairment'

'Auditory impairment'

'Mace'

'Radio dispersant'

Miranda was angry that this meat head cop was intent on breaking into their home. She wanted him to feel sorry he ever had such an idea. She dragged the 'taser projectile' option and dropped it onto the security feed of the men on the front porch. Two spikes shoot from just below the camera and strike the former officer in the face. He falls to the ground shaking violently from the shock.

"If you want to stick around, I've been dying to try my flamethrower" Miranda said wickedly to the man as she watched him regain his composure and contemplate another assault on her home. Everyone seemed against it, agreeing that it just was not worth the trouble, they left.

She pressed the button to release the deadbolts on their bedroom floor and the door clicked open. She held onto Andrea as they descended the staircase together. Miranda surveyed the damage. There were several bullet casings on the floor, and bullet holes in the walls, in the china, and in the chairs. Under any other circumstances, Miranda would have that officer killed. But seeing as to how this would be her last night in the city and in this home, she tried to not let it upset her too much.

They spent the morning packing for their flight. They hardly exchanged words as they flew past each other, grabbing what they needed from different places throughout the house. Andrea tried to press Miranda as to exactly where they were going but she still wouldn't budge. She finally however, agreed to explain everything once they boarded the plane.

In the early afternoon they waited in the foyer, with their suitcases and bags in a pile next to them. They watched a sleek silver Mercedes pull up in front of the townhouse. Their husky driver, Roy surveyed the property to make sure the men from earlier had not come back and then greeted the two of them at the door with a small smile. He helped them with their luggage, stuffing the mountain of bags into the trunk of the sedan.

They drove silently through the Upper East Side. Miranda sat leaning against the door, and staring out the window, her large sunglasses covering her eyes. This was the richest part of the city, so it was fairly well kept compared to other neighborhoods in the surrounding area. The stink of the real world took much longer to reach them inside this fortress but it reached them none the less.

Once they left the area they saw mass piles of trash on the sidewalks. The government had cut nearly all public programs. There was no waste management; there was not even any public education. Most children roamed the streets during the day, their parents either working or off fighting in the war. It was a sad experience driving through certain parts of the city. Miranda hated it.

They pulled into a gated area off of the Hudson River. There were military and police boats out in the water, with a sprinkling of civilian sailboats in the far distance. The car rolled to a stop near a small private plane. The stairs were extended, and Roy began carrying the bags onboard. Miranda greeted the small flight crew and allowed Andrea to board first, following shortly behind her.

Once inside she took her seat on the other side of the isle next to Andrea. The girl had already taken her heels off and was sitting with her legs crossed in the seat. When the stairs were raised and the flight crew took their seats, Miranda reached out to grab her wifes hand across the isle.

Even being one of the most powerful women in Manhattan there was nothing that terrified her more than taking off in small planes. No matter how irrational the fear was, nothing helped but holding onto Andrea. She didn't let go until the plane leveled out and the flight attendant asked them if they wanted drinks.

"I'll have a pinot noir, and bring the bottle." Miranda said as she released her vice grip from the small hand beside her.

"Water, please" Andrea said with a smile. The older woman looked at her incredulity.

"You're going to need something stronger, Darling." Miranda suggested.

"Okay… I'll have a Gin Daisy then" she said as she looked up at the woman taking there order. "I still want that water, though" She added just before she walked away.

She turned to look at Miranda, who had pulled out her tablet and begun scanning through pages of documents on the bright screen.

"Why are you trying to get drunk in the afternoon?" the brunette asked the obviously tense woman beside her.

"Because I'm about to tell you something that I have never spoken about with anyone before" Miranda looked up from her device and into her young wife's eyes. She tried to convey just how difficult this was going to be for her. The flight attendant returned with their drinks, at sat the bottle of red wine on a tray in front of Miranda.

"Thank you. We would like our privacy for the remainder of the flight" she said to the attendant.

The older woman took a generous swig of wine before settling back into her seat. She looked up at Andrea, begging her not to make her do this, if it was one thing she hated, it was thinking about the past, and having to explain why she did the things she did.

"Where are we going?" Was Andreas first question, the one that had been eating at her all morning.

"Denver, Colorado." Miranda answered quickly, taking another swig of her wine.

"Why?"

The older woman had a pained look on her face, like it was literally hurting her to reveal this information.

"In the event that Washington D.C is compromised, Denver becomes the capitol of the United States"

"Compromised?"

"Destroyed" Miranda said finally, letting out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"What!?" Andrea said in a rough voice, her heart suddenly sprinting in her chest. She was thankful for the cocktail in front of her.

"There will be a series of nuclear attacks throughout the country in the next week. They're targeting several densely populated areas" She revealed in a low voice

"That's why we left the city… it's the biggest target next to DC" Andrea connected one dot to another, but was still unable to wrap her head around the idea of it.

"If the Russians are going to nuke us, they can stop them can't they?"

Miranda looked away from the girl, her innocence was overwhelming, it made her feel particularly disgusted with herself, this woman thought too much of her, she placed her in the heavens with the saints. She truly belonged in the coldest parts of underworld for her deeds, her face frozen in perpetual shame. She shook her head sadly.

"Do you remember those meetings I would attend that were in a secret location each year?" She asked looking back at the small woman next to her.

"The council, yes. But I thought it was all just business stuff"

"It is in a sense. Long before I became editor of runway I worked for the CIA as a French asset. I was a spy in southern France; I lived there for ten years. I was incredibly good at what I did. Too good."

"What did you do?

"It was my job to survey potential National Security threats to the U.S. I was sent in with another agent to monitor the activity of three French Businessmen who were suspected of funding a large terrorist cell that operated throughout Europe" She drained her glass of the deep red liquid and grabbed for the bottle to refill it quickly.

"Turns out that they were funneling millions of dollars to this terrorist group, but I also discovered that the cell was receiving funding from MI-6. The group received several hundreds of thousands of dollars annually from MI-6 alone. I was shocked by the discovery and I told my handler immediately." Her lips were relaxed, she felt like once she had started it was easy just to keep going. She let herself speak these truths she kept bottled up for so long.

"I was approached later the same evening that I turned the information over by a woman who said that she used to work for Great Britain's intelligence agency. She was a rich and powerful woman. She had the life I wanted. She took me under her wing and they asked me to join the council, and I accepted."

"What do these people do?"

"We are the puppet masters, if you will. The elected leaders of the world dangle from our strings. They are faces for our policies. Every major decision in the world is made by us. We engineered the super virus, we allowed the crash and it was our nuke that leveled the Israeli settlement. This next nuclear campaign is only the beginning of the end for this country"

"Why?" Andrea could barely breathe the word, her mouth hung open in a shocked expression.

"It is their belief that the population has grown too large and unruly. A revolution was beginning worldwide and it had to be stopped" Miranda turned away from Andrea and stared out of the window of the plane, down at the world, whose destiny she had decided, below.

"I've sold my soul to the devil. Malice is in my blood and I'm afraid that I will always be tainted by it." Her stomach wrenched with pangs of guilt, they were terrible, awful, and she reached for her glass of wine and held it close to her.

"I spent most of my life searching for someone who could make me feel the way you do, you are the only one I was ever willing to fully let in. The best day of my life was the day that I married you"

Andrea didn't want to believe it, it was all so crazy, it was all just too unbelievable. Yet she looked into her wife's eyes, red with welling tears and she knows that it's true. Every single word.

She held her hand over her heart, her eyes wide with silent tears streaking down her face. This was the end of the world as they knew it. The US would fall from power completely, a new oppressive age is nearly upon them and Miranda is a part of the council that would bring it about. Miranda had been right, things were going to get far worse than people rioting in the streets.

Everyone she saw last night was going to be obliterated, along with those in D.C and wherever else they were planning to strike. The death toll would be unfathomable. She felt herself beginning to hyperventilate. She couldn't stand to know this. She couldn't stand to think this was actually going to happen.