Andrea had just settled down at the table in Miranda's office when her phone went off, and she frowned as the younger woman immediately went to answer it. They had limited time together, and she needed to make every moment count, since it was going to be difficult to find these times in the near future, as Fashion Week grew ever closer by the minute. "Sachs. One moment, let me put you on speaker."

Miranda's frown deepened as Andrea pulled the phone away from her ear, pressed the speaker button, and set the device in the middle of the table. "This is technical analyst Penelope Garcia, attached to the BAU here in Quantico, Virginia. And I have a few questions for you, Ms. Sachs, starting with why a small time journalist would be digging into my background and going so far as to try and break into my more private background files?"

Miranda raised an eyebrow, and Andrea shrugged a little as she clearly tried to think of an answer to give the angry woman. "This is Miranda Priestly, editor in chief of Runway, and I was the one that asked Andrea to look into your background, as I have the feeling that you might have the answers that I need to start solving a little mystery that I have on my hands. It has been a while since I've been able to pull off a coup the likes of which it appears that I might be able to do."

"And how does that circle around to me?"

"Are you not the same Penelope Garcia who wrote and directed a play by the name of Criminally Denied here in New York City last month?"

"Yes. How did you know that? I made certain to keep that news very quiet."

"My assistant attended the premiere of your play, and managed to meet you at an after party. It was through those pictures, from that party, that I discovered you would might be the missing piece in this puzzle that I'm teasing out, bit by bit." She was loathe to reveal more about why she was searching for the woman, because she didn't know that much about her just yet, but she hoped that would be enough to satiate her curiosity into why Miranda and Andrea were looking into her background.

"That tells me nothing," she replied, and Miranda rolled her eyes a little. "And don't think that I won't start looking into you, too. I have connections, I can make your life very interesting, if I so choose."

Andrea tried to hide her giggles behind her hand as Miranda drew herself up to her full seated height, glaring down at the phone that was in the middle of the table. "I would take care not to threaten someone that has the credentials and access to very powerful people to make your life a living nightmare, Ms. Garcia. I have dressed your Director's wife for galas held there in D.C., and his number is still saved in my rolodex. Or perhaps I misheard you?"

There was a long pause, and Miranda fixed her gaze on Andrea, just asking her to protest that she was treating the woman unkindly. To her shock, though, the young woman was giving her a look of unabashed admiration, and she allowed her lips to relax in a semblance of a smile as she waited for Penelope's reply. "I think that we may have gotten off on the wrong foot, yes. But it is so hard to tell people's intentions over the phone. Perhaps I could come up to the City on Thursday and speak with you face to face?"

Miranda's lips curved into a full on smirk as she pulled out her phone to look at her calendar. "Thursday would work perfectly for me, Ms. Garcia. I trust that with your skills, you'll be able to find my office with no problems. Tell my assistant Emily that you're there to meet with me when you reach my floor, and I'll have a visitor's badge waiting for you at reception when you arrive at the building. If you have any further questions before you arrive, don't go digging, call Emily. That's all."

Before Penelope had a chance to reply, Miranda had ended the call, and Andrea allowed herself to burst into the laughter that she had been holding in. "I cannot imagine someone not knowing who you are and having the unmitigated gall to not so subtly threaten you! What exactly does a technical analyst for this BAU do?"

"I intend to find out the answer to that question before our meeting on Thursday. Now, I would like you to clear it with your boss that you will be in attendance for said meeting. Or will I need to contact him and twist his arm?"

Andrea shook her head, and Miranda's smirk smoothed out into a pleased smile at the way her cheeks lit up in a bright blush. "I think that I can make something work, so long as I can promise him a good story at the end of this whole adventure? I mean, I'm certain that there's going to be something that comes out of this that won't fit in to the aesthetic that Runway readers have."

"I suppose that I could allow that, yes. So long as you are aware that you won't be able to publish anything until after the editorial is printed."

Andrea raised an eyebrow before nodding a little. "I will agree to that, but only if there isn't something time sensitive that would have to be printed in my newspaper first. Would that be acceptable?"

"I suppose so, yes."

Andrea nodded, an easy grin on her lips. "I have never known you to be this agreeable, Miranda. You must truly want to know who this mystery designer is."

"I do. She has a great eye for style, and I want to see what her other collections might look like. If I can get ahead of everyone else in the fashion world, I will exploit every option at my hands in order to secure that lead."

"It is so good to see that you haven't lost your cutthroat demeanor." Those words should have been cutting, but Miranda was surprised to hear true affection in Andrea's voice.

"You need that to stay on top in this profession. I think that you saw that from the short time that you worked for me. And I know that it's similar in your current profession, since journalism can be just as cutthroat."

"True, it can be. And I use the lessons I learned from you to help me get ahead. I just wish that it didn't have to always be like this, you know? And before you say it, I know that I've retained some of my corn fed, starry eyed, optimism, despite years here. That was the only way that I could stay sane amidst everything else that was going on in my life. Now, I still have a few minutes before I have to get back to my office. Would you like to discuss our plan of attack for the meeting on Thursday?"

"I think that sounds like a good idea. We're going to have to present a united front, after all, so that she can't get between us." Andrea nodded, and they fell into an easy conversation about how things were going to go down in a few days, and Miranda found herself actually looking forward to working with Andrea once more.