Page 30 of Gates of Tartarus

“Oh, you were thinking.” Walker raises a sardonic brow at him, then looks down. “Just with the wrong brain.”

I close my eyes and cover my ears, making la-la-la noises. “Jesus, guys. Too early for dick jokes.”

All four guys exchange pitying looks. Clearly, I’m in the minority here. Evidently, it’snevertoo early for dick jokes in certain company. Mock frowning, I look at each with a level gaze and say seriously, “I don’t want to hear any penis discussions before... maybe 10:00am? Is that fair?”

They cringe as a unit, all four making faces. “I think I speak for all of us when I say please avoid saying ‘penis’,” Maddox replies. “It’s not... it just…”

“Not sexy?” I say, laughter lacing my voice. “You don’t like hearing PENIS?” I bellow the last word, and they hold out their hands to shush me. “PENIS, PENIS, PENIS!” I yell, then quiet down at their frantic expressions.

“You can... You can’t just go around yelling… that... Kailani,” Walker says. “Not at work anyway.”

“Soyouguys get to make dick jokes, but not me?”

“We’re not yelling ‘Penis’!” Walker says defensively, half whispering the word.

Grinning at their discomfort, I say, “Okay. What about The Ambassador then? Bald Pated Friar? Candystick? Jumble-Giblets? Doodle Dasher?”

“What the hell?” Jonah asks, confused. “Thosecannotbe real.”

Tanaka groans. “I assure you: they are. And please don’t get her started. She had aminordisagreement with a professor in college about women’s sexuality, and somehow or another it escalated into her writing a fairly scathing thesis regarding the, uh, masculine... uh…”

“Love Dart? Kicky-Wicky? Matrimonial Peacemaker?” I ask helpfully.

“Oh Christ,” Maddox groans under his breath. “Tanaka?” he says, almost pleadingly, but Deo shrugs.

“You guys did this. I never heard her yelling about penises before this task force.” He looks at the other three accusingly.

I sit back in my chair and turn to Maddox. “I’ll give it a break for now. Tether your Tallywackers. We have more important stuff to discuss anyway. Like what the fuck is Tennireef even doing here?”

Maddox sits heavily in his chair, running his hand over his head in frustration. “I don't know. Gomez called this morning saying he’d be part of the meeting. Told, not asked. Shotridge was with me when she called in. I had no heads up on any of it. Already contacted Babylon but haven’t heard back on what direction to go. It’s a precarious position, really. Babylon needs to play nice with CDS and Gomez here, but she’s pushing her luck.”

I frown at him. “Come to think of it, Madds, whoisour contact at Babylon? Like, I’ve met you and Walker, obviously, but… And how is she pushing her luck? I mean, what’s Babylon’s power level that they would have a hold over her of any sort? She effectively runs an entire black ops division in the US government. God knows how she manages.”

He tilts his head consideringly. “Conversation for another day, Reed. For now, let’s focus on why we have the head of the CDS in for questioning and she’s pulling in a US senator to the meeting. I have a feeling things are about to go sideways.”

Before he can continue, Tennireef enters the room, chatting cordially with someone right behind him. He smiles at me and places a coffee in front of me, then nudges Jonah away from his seat and settles in next to me. Moments later Gomez sashays in, looking far too smug and comfortable for my liking.

“Hello all,” she says, taking control of the situation immediately. “I do hope you’ll forgive me for hijacking this little meeting this morning.”

Maddox frowns, icy eyes cooling almost to white as he surveys her. “It’s not a meeting, Director Gomez, as you’ll remember,” he says, tone barely polite. “You’re here to answer some questions about your whereabouts on–”

“Oh Agent Smith,” she says smiling, and I grit my teeth. I know that tone, know that face. Smith’s about to get fucked six ways to Sunday and clearly doesn’t know it yet. I’m beginning to wonder how much of theactualGomez he saw during his time with her, because she’s clearly throwing him for a freaking loop right now. Frustration is rolling off him in waves, while Gomez is just standing there smiling her little grandmother smile at him. “Would you mind?” she asks gently, pushing him aside as she moves into place at the head of the table. “Senator?” she asks, looking at James with slight confusion on her face. “Would you care to join me?”

There’s a strange interplay going on here, and I watch it through fascinated eyes. Gomez isn’tsureof whatever relationship she has with him, and I can see it in her movements and hear it in her deferential tone, very unusual for her. Sitting back slightly, I glance at James out of the corner of my eye. His face is cold, an odd expression on the normally charismatic asshole. Credit where credit is due, around other people he rarely breaks from his careful public image, so to see it wiped away and replaced by this… ice... where others can see it, is almost unsettling.

“Fine where I am, Elena,” he says shortly. “I don’t have all day for this. Can we move it along without your normal games, please? I find them... tedious.”

Oh shit!I think.Tennireef with the smackdown!

Gomez flushes. Actually flushes. I’ve never seen her look more than mildly discomforted, but she’s biting her tongue hard enough to draw blood, so clearly there are bigger things at play at the moment.

“Ah. Yes, well.” Her lips purse in a way I know well, and while Tennireef seems to hold some unknown cards, her brain is clearly stacking and re-stacking options and future plans for him. Having the upper-hand over Gomez never exists for long. She’s remarkably agile, has more people in her pockets than I can count, and has an incredible talent of making things go her way no matter what the situation. It’s fascinating to watch two people whodo not losego against each other. “Well,” she says again, then widens her gaze to take in the entire team. “How lovely to see you all again.”

“Again, Director Gomez, as we mentioned the other day, we have some questions for you.”

She nods, almost regretfully, at Smith. “Oh, I know. I know. And I’m tremendously sorry, but I have to decline to answer them at this time.”

“I’m afraid you don’t have that option, Elena,” Smith says firmly. “Per the existing agreement between…”

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