"Good lord," Bobby said, entering Gwen's office just after Loki disappeared from the end of a blazing (although essentially quite light-hearted, as they usually were) row, "sex with that man must be insane."
"Two dominants each trying to prove they're more indifferent than the other," Gwen replied, not looking away from her computer screen as she struggled to navigate the internet. "And neither of them succeeding. Lots of hair pulling."
"I didn't actually want to know," Bobby replied, flinging herself into a chair.
"Well, now you do. How do I get the list of all the places I've visited up?"
Bobby raised an eyebrow. "What, maps?"
"No!" Gwen clicked her fingers irritably and jabbed one at the screen. "On here."
"Oh, your history. Press the settings button."
"Right, thanks."
"We can always enrol you on a silver surfers course, y'know," the deputy said cheerfully.
"Still the same age as you, Bob."
"Only in body. Don't you have a meeting to go to?"
"Shit!" she switched off the computer, grabbed Algernon and her coat and flew out of the room. There was a sleek black car waiting for her outside the Burrow; she dived in through the open window onto the back seat and tried to brush her hair with her fingers as they drove towards the old warehouse. "Are we gonna be late?"
"No, ma'am."
"Oh, thank the Allfather." Did I really just say that? She thought with a frown. Maybe I spend too much time around Loki.
They pulled up and Gwen grabbed Algernon out of the cupholder before striding confidently into the warehouse, followed by her security man who had been sat in the front passenger seat. The meeting hadn't yet started; she sat down next to Ben, who looked worried.
"What's up with you?" she asked, as Algernon curled up in her breast pocket.
"Huh?" he said, and grimaced. "Oh, nothing."
"It's because I told the big man to suck my dick, isn't it?" she asked, resigned to her fate.
"Well, yeah. Kinda," Ben sighed, and stared off into the middle distance with a gloomy expression and his chin in his hand.
"Oh," Gwen huffed, "thanks for your concern. No, really, it's touching to know I matter to you after years of us knowing each other, and what's more, that you spare me no details. You're the best, Ben. Really."
His eyes flicked towards her. "Huh?"
She flung her hands up in the air. "I give up!" she exclaimed.
"What with?"
"Men!"
"Okay people," Martoni's vice Svechota announced as his superior took his seat at the head of the table. "Let's get to business."
The only really big news was the ever-growing threat of some information broker-slash-hacker woman called Athena, but since all of the Rats' business was offline Gwen wasn't that bothered about that- it seemed there were advantages to having the technological prowess of an eighty-year-old. Apart from that, everything passed by without serious issue and for once she kept her mouth shut, and it appeared Martoni had forgiven her previous indiscretion. Indiscretions. She tended to mouth off a lot.
As it drew to a close she stood up with everyone else, made it two steps to the exit, and heard someone calling her name.
"Mouse!"
"Bollocks," she muttered, and turned around. "Mr Svechota, sir? Is there a problem?"
"I think you know there is, babe. Boss wants to talk to you."
"Call me babe again and I'll make you a eunuch," she said under her breath. "Lead the way, then."
Martoni was waiting in a small side room, smoking two cigarettes at once. "Mouse," he smiled like an intimidating grandpa, "please, sit down."
She dropped into a rickety plastic chair and drummed her heel repeatedly into the floor, then stopped as she realised she was displaying a nervous tic. "Is there a problem, boss?"
His smile didn't drop. "Did you bring your little friend?"
"Wha- oh, yeah." She removed Algernon out of her pocket and reluctantly deposited him into Martoni's outstretched hand. Don't hurt him don't hurt him for the love of god don't hurt him-
"It's a sweet little thing, isn't it? Has it got a name?" he asked, stroking the top of his head with his thumb.
"Algernon, sir."
"How fitting. After the book, I presume?"
She nodded, not trusting her voice to keep steady.
There was a half-eaten meal on Martoni's desk, from which he picked up a grain of cheese and held it out on the pad of his finger. Algernon sniffed at it cautiously, before devouring the crumb in one. "Sweet," Martoni said again, and set him down carefully. Gwen exhaled. "You know why you're here, of course."
She nodded. "My big mouth."
"I know you grew up on the streets, girl, and I know you think hierarchy is beneath you." His smile dropped as he leaned forward. "But that does not mean you get to cheek me, kid, or I will take everyone you love and kill them slowly, painfully, and make you watch. I will start with the innocent ones and work my way through everything you have left until you are alone, and broken, and then I will leave you alive without a hand left to help you. Do I make myself clear?"
She gulped. "Yes, boss. Sorry, boss." And now I sound like James. Wonderful.
"Good. Now get out of my sight."
She grabbed Algernon and ran, through the now-empty warehouse and back to the car that was waiting. "He'll start with James," she said under her breath, "I need to get him out of the city. Why didn't it occur to me that I might get other people in trouble instead of myself?"
For as long as it was worth remembering, Gwen had been completely self-sufficient; she could rely only on herself, and nobody else relied on her. But it was different now, she had responsibilities, a family, which meant she should really start thinking before talking.
"I'm up to my neck in it this time, Algernon," she said weakly, "it was so much easier when it was just you and me." But something felt wrong, in addition to the obvious problem. Why was the furry little ball in her hand so still?
She thought back to the food Martoni had given her pet, the warning that had followed it. How the boss wasn't a fan of empty threats.
"Algernon!"