Colin MacGregor

Kate Dennison paced down the hallway towards her office, absently thumbing through the stack of recruitment folders.

"No", she murmured to herself. "No, no, maybe, ah, here we are." She slid one unassuming brown file to the top of the stack with one hand as she took a sip from her steaming mug of coffee. The nutty aroma swirled about her face and she smiled briefly, savoring the memory of her small victory over purchasing.

Yes, she thought to herself, the gourmet coffee was significantly more expensive than the Sam's club brand, but it was worth it. Especially when the company was paying for it, albeit grudgingly.

Kate unlocked the office door, but was unsurprised to see that Marcus Kines was already inside, flipping through a similar stack of files of his own while he waited.

The training supervisor narrowed her eyes and glared at him, but the spirit seemed not to notice.

"How many times have I asked you to stay out of here while I'm gone?", Kate asked somewhat irritably.

"Twenty-seven," Marcus replied without looking up. "Not sure why you keep asking, I've never listened." The slim, goateed skinrider tapped one of the brown folders in his stack.

"I like this kid, I think we should bring him on. He's got a good grasp of his abilities, and after you helped him out, I think he'd sign up in short order."

The dark-haired man tossed the casefile onto Kate's desk as she settled herself down into her comfortable Aeron chair. She glanced at the file number - #17523 - and nodded slowly. Though she hated to admit it, Marcus's instincts for spotting talent were pretty good. Not as good as her own, perhaps, but it was the same file that had made its way to the top of her stack.

"You may have a point, but I have several reservations." Kate opened up her copy and glanced down at the picture clipped into the front section. A young man - a boy, really, no more than a scrawny 16 - with wavy brown hair looked back up at her. "He's young, and hot-tempered. He had devolved into petty, spiteful acts of revenge against former classmates who had been unkind to him in life. Not exactly the mature sort of attitude we look for in prospective agents."

"That's not to say I'm totally opposed to making him an offer, but we're going to have to watch him closely. He's going to need a strong mentor to show him the ropes, one who won't let him step out of line. Especially if your assessment - which syncs with my own, by the way - about his prowess proves correct."

Marcus grinned, then. "You know I'll take him on, I'm always glad to have another puppetmaster around, especially another spirit. Someone I can plot against you meat-based spooks with while you're off sleeping."

Kate's green eyes flashed dangerously. "I think not. I want someone who can instruct him in his abilities while instilling some sense of discipline."

Clasping his hands to his chest in a wounded gesture, Marcus gasped. "And you think I would be a bad influence!"

"That's exactly what I think." Kate glared at him. "And that little stunt with the window washers last week should change my mind, hmmm?"

Marcus had the good sense to look abashed. "That was a perfectly valid exercise in incognito investigations. How was I supposed to know that the V.P of People Services would be in flagrante delecto when we swung by her window?"

"You should have cleared the exercise through the proper channels, first, regardless. Fortunately, Mr. MacGregor is one of my cases, giving me the authority to assign his training."

Marcus suddenly groaned. "Oh, no, if you want him to learn discipline, you're going to put him with Mason, aren't you?"

A small smile crossed the red-head's full lips. "Indeed I am. I think the 'old man' could use something to liven up his day, and heaven knows this kid could use the guidance."

Marcus sighed. "Well, I suppose, as long as we bring him on, I'll have a chance to try and undo the worst of the damage."

Kate frowned at him, but Marcus just chuckled. "Seriously though, what do we dangle in front of him? According to the file, his only surviving relatives are fairly well off, no close friends. I suppose there's always the 'help you find your killer' angle, but like it or not, we do a bit of business with the Families, and I don't think they'd appreciate us turning one of their agents over to one of ours. Though, we could build this Ako into the fee of one of their jobs, if the right circumstances came along."

Kate pursed her lips in thought. "We could do that, and I think he'd appreciate the help we could offer him in that area. That should be secondary, though. The impression I got is that he's looking for a purpose, anyway, and offering to train him to use his abilites for the 'greater good' might be enough on its own to get him to sign on. The chance for revenge, which is probably one of things tethering him anyway, should keep him here."

Marcus nodded. "Sounds good. He still poking around in Ireland, keeping an eye on his grandfather?"

Kate smiled. "Indeed he is. Another trip to the Emerald Isle for me. I suppose we should have made this decision before I flew back two weeks ago, but I won't turn down the extra Skymiles."

Marcus let out a laugh. "Well, as long as you're getting something out of it. I want to come, though."

"Oh, I'm sure you'd bring him around eventually. You convinced me, after all. I just thought our potential recruit might appreciate having a fellow ghost, particularly another skinrider, to talk to who can give him some better ideas of exactly what to expect, given his position. It's not like it costs the company anything for me to go, anyway. Plus, I've never seen Ireland, and I may not get another chance."

Kate frowned, but could find no reasonable flaw with Marcus's analysis. "Allright. It's against my better judgement, but allright. I'll have to clear out a few appointments, but we should be able to leave on Friday. I assume that will be allright with you?"

Smirking, Marcus rose to his feet. "A field trip, and an excuse to dump all my paperwork on my secretary for a week! Does this job get any better?"

Kate just sighed. "Why do I get the feeling I just agreed to bring on another of him?"

DON'T LOOK BACK

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Last Updated: January 2, 2004 by Blake Sorensen

January 13, 2003