Colin MacGregor

Kate and Colin walked along the richly carpeted hallway leading to the conference rooms and the waiting mission brief.

"Och, I knew ye hated me, Kate, I dinnae think ye would actually pair me up wi' someone who hates ghosts so much."

"I have every confidence in you, Agent MacGregor. Agent Palin has great potential to be a valuable employee and a highly skilled haunter. Thing of this as a chance to demonstrate your diplomatic talents. Expand your own abilities." Kate smiled thinly at him.

Colin sighed. "Aye, as me Da' was fond o' saying, 'If something's nae very pleasant, tis probably after bein' good for ye.'"

The two strode down the rest of the hallway in silence and entered the conference room. Already present and seated was Gregory Palin, a tall, gaunt Englishman with graying temples and black hair. He was dressed in a conservative black suit, a drastic contrast to Colin's vivid purple pinstripes and reflective tie.

Kate nodded in greeting. "Good morning, Agent Palin. I believe you know Agent MacGregor?"

The haunter hesitated a moment, and couldn't hide the distaste in his eyes, but nodded a curt greeting.

Colin sighed slightly as both agents turned their attention to Kate and the briefing she'd put up on the screen, Colin with a look that clearly said 'See?' and Gregory with the expression of one trying to ignore an unpleasant smell.

Kate ignored them both and pointed at the blueprint of a large home being projected behind her.

"This mission should be fairly simple. You will both be going in as spooks, Colin obviously has no choice, while Gregory, you'll skim from the nursery here. The gist of the mission, as you should know from your memo, is that our client is concerned that his wife is being unfaithful. "

"Not particularly glamorous, I know, but the client is paying remarkably well, and it should be a fairly straightforward mission to get your feet wet."

Gregory narrowed his eyes, but said nothing, and Colin sighed quietly to himself. So much for tryin' tae bring him around wi' humor.

"Indeed, Agent MacGregor. You've done this sort of work before, so I'll expect you to take the lead and show Agent Palin the right way to do things."

Obviously biting his tongue, Gregory managed to nod as Kate turned to him. "I doubt you'll run into any complications, but I trust you won't have any trouble following orders?" She fixed the new agent with a narrow-eyed stare until he nodded curtly.

"Well, I'd best be about preparing myself then. Agent Dennison, MacGregor." Palin left without another word.

Meanwhile Colin looked at Kate with an expression of concern. "I tol' ye he'd be a problem."

"And I told you, he's your problem to solve." Kate smiled then, that of someone receiving a gift they'd long awaited. "I think you'll find him to be less trouble than you were as a trainee."

The two spooks stepped up onto the porch of the new money, imitation Victorian just down the street from the Governor's mansion. Colin pointed at the Dodge van parked unobtrusively around back. "Mott's Landscaping" was stenciled in bright green letters on the white side panel. "Looks like the help is in. This migh' be e'en easier than I expected." He smiled at his temporary student, hoping for a positive reaction.

He hoped in vain. Gregory just shrugged, and without a glance, stepped through the door leaving Colin staring at the thin tendrils of gauze trailing behind.

Sighing, the spirit followed, emerging into a tasteful, if misplaced, Asian themed sitting room. Bamboo mats covered the floor, and mirrors were placed with feng shui precision.

"In the future, ye may wan' tae remember tha' scoutin' ou' the area firs' is usually helpful." Colin had dropped the friendly tone, now adding a sternness that seemed to catch Gregory by surprise. The other agent turned to say something, but Colin cut him off. "Nay, I dinnae wish tae hear i'. Ye wan' tae get this o'er and done wi', fine. Bu' for now, a' leas', yuir under my direction, whether ye like i' or nay."

Colin stared at the older man, who looked away angrily. "Wha'e'er other problems ye go', ye'll ha'e tae deal wi' later. Now, we go' a job tae do. Check the res' o' this floor, I'm goin' upstairs."

Without waiting for a response, Colin made for the stairwell and began climbing. At the top of the stairs, he found a shirt hanging over the rail embroidered with the same logo as the van outside and a name patch that read Evan. A slow smile spread over his face. Well, this jus' migh' be a cakewalk af'er all.

Suddenly, a loud crash erupted downstairs and Colin spun about. Spitting a curse, he quickly made his way back down to find Gregory nearly panicking as a large tabby cat hissed and swatted at him. An overturned vase on the floor next to the cat's perch of a table answered the question of what had made the the noise.

"I was after talkin' tae the cat." Colin shot the haunter a scathing look. "Now jus' step back and stay quiet." The younger spook slowly edged towards the cat, making a clucking noise with his tongue. The animal began to calm down, but then perked up its ears. The two agents then heard what had caught its attention - footsteps coming down the stairs.

"Shit!" Gregory hissed, then dove behind the couch while Colin watched with a grin.

Sure enough, a blond head matching the nervous voice peeked around the edge of the corner. Colin ran a spectral hand over the cat, which preened at his phantom touch, miaowing and drawing the woman's attention.

"Oh, Pumpkin, you bad cat!" The lady's nervousness evaporated into a mixture of relief and anger. The blond came down to the bottom of the stairs, wearing only a flimsy blue nightgown, and peeked out the front window. Seeing nothing more to alarm her, she called up the stairs, "It's fine, just the cat!" She giggled and ran back up the stairs, slipping the tie off of her silky wrap.

Colin smirked and continued petting the cat. "Ye can come out now, lad, and ye missed the show."

Gregory emerged, looking a bit embarrassed. "Um, right. This takes some getting used to."

Nodding, Colin smiled with some genuine warmth for the first time. "Tha's why yuir here. Tae learn abou' things on a job when surprises won' kill ye. Did nay know they had a pet, ha'e tae watch tha'."

"Yeah, I see." Gregory struggled with the next words, but managed to get them out. "Thanks. How did you do that, with the cat?" He stared at the tabby, who was now twining between Colin's legs and purring.

"Practice, mostly. Par' o' skinrider trainin' is learnin' tae puppet animals. Ye ne'er know when it'll come in handy, especially since they seem tae be able tae sense us, even as a spook." He gestured at the cat who was confusedly batting at his shoelaces - which stubbornly refused to move.

"Remind me when we ge' back, and I'll introduce ye to Mrrshan." Colin grinned at the puzzled look on Gregory's face. "For now, come on. I thin' we can wrap this up fas'."

Colin gestured for his partner to lead the way and watched as Gregory edged nervously past the cat and made it up the stairs without further incident. The skinrider quickly followed and pointed down the carpeted hallway to the left. "She wen' back tha' way."

As the two made their way towards the closed door, they heard unmistakable sounds of passion coming from the other side. Stepping through the doorway, they were thus unsurprised to see two figures entwined on the bed, clearly enjoying themselves.

Lying on his back was a strapping young man who appeared to be just old enough to drink. He also appeared to be enjoying himself greatly as the blond who had peeked downstairs slowly swallowed him to the hilt.

The man ran one hand across his hair covered pecs and cupped the other behind the woman's head as he groaned.

"Her or him?" Colin grinned. "I suppose for him, i's nay really talent, per se, jus' a natural, em, endowment. Her skill is certainly impressive, though." He shook his head to try and clear his thoughts of distraction.

"Allrigh', Gregory. Ye take the phone, and I'll, ah, make sure they stay put." Gregory nodded agreement and held his hands over handset of the bedside phone, his gauzy form elongating and stretching before finally disappearing into the machine.

Colin watched the fever-pitch of activity on the bed with amused interest while Gregory surreptitiously flipped the speakerphone option on and activated the speed-dial set to dial Frank's cell-phone. Colin waited for the call to complete and watched as the haunter turned up the volume.

"Hello?" A man's voice came out over the speaker, but the two lovers were far too preoccupied to notice.

With a smirk, Colin reached over and brushed his hand across the back of the blond woman's neck, twitching a few of the silver threads only he could perceive. "Oh, Evan!" she cried at his command, and the voice on the speakerphone cut off midway through his third hello.

The spirit could almost see the satisified expression through the phone, and tried to think of something else to ensure the message was abundantly clear when the targets of their investigation obliged him on their own.

"Yes, that's it...say my name!" The dark haired man leered up at her as she shifted to a new position. She looked momentarily confused, but then smiled wickedly down at the young man she was straddling.

"Oh yeah, Linda, take it!" Evan spoke with a bit of a Russian accent, and snarled like the bear that was his home country's symbol.

Linda let out a yell of pleasure as the speakerphone clicked off. Gregory rematerialized on the opposite side of the bed from Colin and looked over the thrashing, sweaty bodies. "Kind of weird. Kind of like porn, only different."

Colin grinned and pointed his thumb at the door. "Well, tha' ought tae be the proof our clien' wanted. Come on, le's ge' ou' o' here."

"What, don't you want to stay and watch?" Gregory was leaning over, leering appreciatively at Linda's breasts.

Colin shrugged. "Nay much I can do abou' i', I prefer nay tae tease meself. Dinnae take too long, I imagine our clien' will be home soon." He pushed his way back through the door and started down the stairs.

"Ah, right." Gregory winced, then took one last look before hurrying to catch up.

The two left the house, and Colin turned to Agent Palin, again with a friendly smile. "So, what do ye think o' yuir first mission?"

The haunter just shrugged and kept walking towards their pickup point, his black loafers noiselessly making the way down the drive.

Och, we're back tae tha' ,are we? Colin sighed. Ah well, made a bi' o' progress. Nay my problem for much longer anyway.

Kate and Marcus both said I was due for a real crucible. With this mission closed up nice, maybe this time they will nay jus' be blowin' smoke up me arse.

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DON'T LOOK BACK

Last Updated: January 2, 2004 by Blake Sorensen

Chapter 3 - Moving On Up

October 12, 2003