Contract, part 3 of ??

OH HAI

So, here's part 3 of Contract. I'm sorry I haven't had time to respond to everyone's comments - I really do appreciate all the feedback! I haven't had time to respond yet, though - my mom had outpatient surgery on Monday (arthroscopic hip surgery for the win), so I was at the hospital with her for most of the day, and then checking up on her constantly till she finally went to bed (but she's okay, so that's epic win). I'll be replying to everyone when I get home from the polls and whatnot on Tuesday.

...I'm posting this late at night, so I don't really have a good grasp of time right now >_>'

Disclaimers: I don't own Devil Wears Prada or anything related, nor do I possess any sort of real fashion sense. Woot!

Pairings: Eventual M/A (it may take a bit, though, seeing as how I'm still on "Day One")

Rating: T for Teen (online component is unrated!)

Previous chapters are here:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2



It took a bit longer than just getting on her robe, but finally Andrea came into the living room. She brushed her long mane once or twice before setting the hair brush on one of the bookshelves. "Sorry, I wanted to make myself presentable," she mumbled, looking down at the ground. "Ah, anyway... so, I suppose you want an explanation?"

As a matter of fact, Miranda DID want an explanation, but she was more concerned about getting out of - whatever this was. "Obviously you mucked about in something that you had no right working with," she said, lacing her voice with a hint of disdain. "I'm more concerned about getting this corrected."

She took in Andrea's face as the woman turned pale, then flushed in embarrassment and anger. "Yeah, well - well - you know what, fine. Be that way, but if I need to fix this, then I need an explanation from you -"

Miranda felt a slight tingle along her spine, which she tried to ignore as she stared down at Andrea. "I don't see why you need anything of the sort -"

"- I need to know what you are, and why you showed up when I tried to summon help," Andrea continued on, overriding Miranda. "I can't fix it, or break the contract, or whatever, without knowing why you were called."

The older woman closed her eyes, feeling the tingling sensation crawl up her neck. "Are you demanding that I tell you what I am, Andrea?"

Even with her eyes closed, she could sense the confusion from the girl. "I... uh, yeah, I guess I am," she muttered. "I know I screwed up something bad last night, but it shouldn't have dragged you from whatever gala or party you were at if you were, you know, erm..."

"Normal?" Miranda's mouth tingled a bit, and then she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Fine," she growled, gritting her teeth. "I'm a Devil Lord, Andrea." She opened her eyes again, which revealed glowing white irises. "When the industry claims that the Devil wears Prada, they have no clue how close to the truth they've come.

"And before you ask, no, I have not used any of my powers to gain my position in the fashion industry. As you may have noticed, I'm a fairly high profile person in the mortal realm, and gallivanting about in this form would cause quite a ruckus." She arched her back, and silver feathered wings appeared behind her, with glowing white and red lines scattered in between the feathers. "I'd like to keep a low profile in relation to the supernatural - I'm in the news often enough as it is."

"... I... that's not what... um..." Miranda gazed at Andrea, who was doing her best impersonation of a fish gasping for air. "A Devil Lord?" she finally squeaked. "There's no way I could have - you shouldn't have showed up, and, and -" Miranda reared her head back a bit as the young witch - warlock? - smacked both palms across her face. "Ohmygod, don't you guys do background checks or something? If you're a Devil Lord, and I'm a - and you hired me anyway?!"

"According to HR, we're not allowed to ask potential employees if they're a practitioner of the Dark Arts, Andrea. Honestly. Besides, I didn't notice that you were a practitioner of any sort till last night." Miranda glowered at her. "Are you done playing twenty questions? As I said, I'd like to get this resolved in a timely manner, and yet you seem content to move at a glacial pace."

"What? No, I'm NOT content to move at a glacial pace," Andrea bit out, and she finally looked Miranda straight in the eye. To the older woman's surprise, Andrea's eyes were still throwing off an azure glow. "This is costing me too, Miranda. So quit throwing accusations at me, and help me move this bookcase." She flushed again, and Miranda heard an audible gulp from from her. "Sorry, sorry, it's just - my back is still burning, and I'm too weak to move it myself."

The tingling shot through her again, this time ending at the tips of her well-manicured fingers. Almost against her will, Miranda started moving the bookcase with Andrea, coughing slightly as dust stirred and resettled on the top of it. In a few moments, they had moved it about three feet away from the wall, which revealed a small wall safe. "And what do you have hidden in here, Andrea? More Runway issues?"

"Har de har har," she heard Andrea mutter. "Actually, that's where most of my grimoires are. Hold on a sec."

At the mention of grimoires, Miranda shifted her eyesight again. Andrea was still throwing off a massive amount of light, but behind her glow, Miranda could see a slightly different aura coming from the wall safe. When the door finally swung open, Miranda noticed a pile of leather-bound books, all brightly glowing with various hues. She looked at the back of the bookcase, which seemed to be lined with some sort of metal, and then again at the door of the wall safe, which seemed to be lined as well. "Lead, I assume?"

"Yeah... I don't like keeping these up here, but you never know when you'll need them. I figured I'd try to keep them out of both types of sight as best I could." The young woman gathered them all up and dumped them on the coffee table. "Okay, well -"

"I really do have to get going, Andrea. My children are probably wondering why I didn't make it home yet," Miranda interrupted her, this time a bit gently.

"I, uh... yeah. That's a good idea. Besides, I'm the only one who can read these, unless I showed you... well, anyway." Andrea tightened the sash around her waist, and headed to the apartment door. "I'm sorry about this, Miranda. I'll fix this as soon as I can."

"See that you do, Andrea. And lest you think I'm about to place my fate and freedom solely in your hands," the older woman added, "I will be looking into it on my own as well." She paused, looking into Andrea's glowing eyes. "You should do something about that, Andrea," she said, gesturing to her own.

"I don't know why they're still like that, but if all else fails, I guess I'll just put on some Oakley sunglasses," Andrea said as Miranda walked through the door. Miranda was about a third down the hallway when she heard Andrea say, "Thanks for staying with me last night, Miranda."

The door shut with a resounding click before Miranda could respond.

---

"... for someone who wants to keep a low profile in the supernatural realm, she sure seemed confident enough to waltz out of here with her wings on display," Andy mumbled once she shut and locked the door behind her.

The shock of finding out that her former boss was a demon of some sort, while not surprising, still would have been more than enough to put Andy into a state of stupor. The fact that Miranda Priestly was a Devil Lord was enough to bring her brain to a screeching halt. The fact that Andy had summoned any sort of Devil Lord at all, let alone Miranda, nearly melted her brain to a smoldering pile of slag.

She had work to do, however, and it was going to be a LOT more difficult than getting her hands on a new Harry Potter manuscript.

Sighing, she started flipping through her books. Spells and rituals she had created greeted her on every page, along with notes about summoning stones, herbs and alchemical concoctions, what material components were needed for certain powers, and Doug's phone number from 2001 scribbled in one of the page margins. A few summoning rituals caught her eye, all of them looking familiar to what she had envisioned the night before, but not the same as what she had settled on. "Maybe I moved something out of alignment when that monster grabbed my head," she said to herself, taking down notes from her books onto sheets of copier paper she had grabbed from her printer.

There were a few chunks of the circle that were obviously not a part of what she had learned when she was younger, and as time wore on, she realized that there were chunks of the circle that she didn't remember at all. Andy took those facts, added in her eyes, and multiplied the whole situation by the continued heat emanating from her back, and she realized that she definitely needed outside help. She popped her neck and reached for her phone. She didn't want to call her parents - she wasn't sure if they'd freak out over what had happened with the vampires, or if they'd flip out even more about how her former employer was a Devil Lord in disguise.

Andy took a deep breath, and hit speed dial number four on her phone. Two rings later, a male voice answered.

"Hey, sis! What's a nerdy little girl like you calling a cool cat like me?"

"Hi Matt," she said, rolling her eyes. "Look, your nerdy little sister isn't as nerdy as you like to claim... I need help. Like, spell research-type help."

"Spell research-type help?" Her brother had gone from teasing to serious in no time flat. "You almost never touch that stuff - what's wrong, Andy?"

"Well, you know how you said I should have a contingency spell weaved whenever I go out at night? And you know how I never actually do that?" She winced a bit before continuing. "It kind of bit me in the ass last night, and not in a good way..."

Andy jerked a bit and held the phone away from her ear as her brother began to yell over the line. When his voice started to die down, she gingerly put the ear piece back to her head. "Yes, I know, it was stupid of me. I got mugged, and I panicked, and..." she explained the situation to him, excluding certain parts of the night (such as Miranda answering her summons). "So the contract is still in effect, my back could probably cook eggs right about now, and my eyes won't shut off."

"Okay. I have a photo shoot to finish up today, but I'll head over to New York tomorrow. I'll start doing some research when I get home tonight - can you send me a picture of your birthmark so I have something to work with?"

"Erm..." Andy looked for her cell phone, and promptly remembered that she lost it during the Halloween festivities. "Ah, I'll send one to you once I find my digital camera. I lost my cell last night." She paused for a moment. "I'm so glad my birthmark is on my back, instead of somewhere inappropriate."

"Me too," Matt agreed. "If it wasn't, I might be tempted to sell some of the pics on the internet as payment for research services rendered."

"... you're an ass sometimes," she laughed. "Let me get a picture for you, and then I'll try to get my Blue Light Special eyes under control so I can get ready for you crashing over here."

"Sounds like a plan. Don't forget to report your phone stolen, Andy."

"I won't... which reminds me, I also need to call Lily and Doug and let them know to call me at home till I can get a replacement."

They exchanged parting words, but before Andy hung up the phone, her brother stopped her. "Andy... this Devil Lord. She's not hurting you, is she?"

"What?! No, no, of course not!" Andy frowned. "You know as well as I do that she's not automatically evil just because she's a Devil Lord." She paused, and then added, "As a matter of fact, she's going to look into it too."

"Of course she is - it's in her own best interest to get the damn thing null and void," Matt said, and Andy could practically hear him rolling his eyes over the line.

"If you knew her, Matt, you'd know that her offering to help me with this - PERSONALLY - is a very huge deal. I'll catch you later."

After she hung up, Andy walked back into her bedroom and over to the vanity mirror. She took a deep breath, and undid the sash on her robe. She shivered a bit as it slid to the ground, exposing her naked skin to the cool air in the room. She was chilled for only a moment, though, as she turned to angle herself and concentrated until she could see the glowing summoning circle pattern on her burning brightly on her back.

"Time to find my digital camera and remember how to set the picture timer."



AN2: Might as well keep the tags consistent XD