Part Three

Marie tried to relax as the thick needle went into her arm. She was no big fan of needles but in this case it was too beneficial to pass up.

"Argyle, this is safe, right?" The tall well-groomed man looked at her over the edges of his round glasses.

"Of course it's safe. You've gone through the treatment several times now, you should know."

"I know, it still freaks me out though..." She looked at the machine hissing and whirring next to the metal framed bed she was laying on. Rubber tubing ran in and out between clear glass globes and ended up attached to the needle lodged in her arm. Fumes rose from a vent at the top and a smoky almost insubstantial fluid dropped into globes where the blood pulled from her arm churned before being returned the same way it came in. Marie leaned back and tried to relax as she felt the coldness spread through her body.

The whole process took about 45 minutes and when it was done she sat up and looked at her own hand. When she held it still it looked almost solid but when she moved it back and forth it seemed to leave images of itself behind. Ghost blood, made sneaking so much easier but put a cramp in your social life.

"Everything looks fine, you are good to go..."

"Thanks Argyle." Marie said absentmindedly. She always felt a bit detached from reality after a treatment.

"Please send my regards to Celia."

"I will. See you soon. Oh and Miss Sarah told me to tell you to come by for tea soon." Marie looked directly at her friend and didn't miss the faint blush on his cheeks at the mention. She smiled. Argyles crush on Miss Sarah was almost as well know as the fact that she would never see him as anything but a friend.

Marie buttoned her fitted dark leather coat and waved at Argyle as she left. The treatment was the last step and the familiar thrill were settling in her stomach. It was time to go to work.

Part Two

The door to the her little office said "Marie Nilsson" in neatly printed letters, underneath it were the words "Consultant and Problem Solver". It wasn't a lie outright, more a slight re-interpretation of the truth and it kept the questions away. No one really knew what a consultant did anyway so at the most it drew a few nods before people changed the subject to cover for their own ignorance, and that suited her fine.

Marie pushed the door open and was greeted by a shapely female bottom wriggling as it's owner tried to find something under the dark wooden desk facing the door.

"Come here you stinkin' little..." Miss Sarah's voice was muffled and it was apparent she wasn't aware that her boss had come through the door.

"Aha! Got ya!" Sarah sat back up and held up her find. It was one of Marie's special made bullets, the faint inscriptions gleamed in the light from the small windows.

"Oh, Hi boss, I was unpacking the new shipment and this one got away from me..."

"So I see... find anything else interesting down there."

"You mean besides some dust bunny babies and one of Celia's old marbles? No, not a thing."

"Oh, that reminds me, I have a letter for Celia, could you make sure it gets sent? I'll get it at once. Is there tea?"

"Whenever is there not?" Sarah got to her feet and dusted off her dark red striped skirt. "I'll bring a cup in for you in a sec." She adjusted her supple leather corset and straightened the blouse underneath it. All traces of her time on the floor removed she went to get the tea.

"Thank you, dear." Marie walked into her office and put her leather briefcase down next to her own desk before grabbing the letter she'd written the night before. It was half hidden under the paperwork she'd never gotten around to finishing.

She returned to the outer part of the office suit and exchanged the letter for her cup of tea.

"Have you had time to look at the assignment that arrived last night?" Marie leaned against the door frame and watched Miss Sarah get her own cup of tea from the samovar nestled in the corner.

"I have and it doesn't look to complicated. It's been long enough since you worked locally that we shouldn't have a problem with that. I sent off the confirmation off with the morning pigeon." Sarah sat down in her chair and breathed in the steam from her cup. "What kind of time-frame are you aiming for?"

Marie rolled her shoulder in a half shrug. "The usual, about a week for planning and setting up and then two weeks of laying low after." Sarah nodded.

"Going to visit Celia at school then?"

"Thinking about it. If she wants me to."

"I'm sure she does, she can't still be miffed can she?"

"You know how stubborn she can be." Marie smiled as she thought of her strong-willed daughter.

"Hmm.. yeah... I wonder where she got that..." Sarah's brown eyes twinkled as Marie made a face in reply. "Anyways, I'll start the planning... let me know if you have any special requests."

"Will do, I just have to finish this damned paperwork first."

"Good luck!" Marie made another face at her perpetually cheery assistant before returning to her desk. paperwork was always easier when you knew there was some actual work waiting around the corner.

Outside a great Zeppelin slowly made it's way across the sky and on the other side of the street a tall scrawny man lowered his looking glass with a nasty smile.

Part One

The faint tapping got louder and louder until Marie finally looked up from her paperwork. The pigeon on the window sill stopped tapping and gave her a look that told her to just freaking let him in already. Marie sighed and pressed the button that released the hatch holding the pigeon sized door in the window shut. The bird pushed it open with a butt of his head before flying over to land on her desk.

"You better not leave any 'presents' this time, buddy!" Marie fiddled with the birds leather harness and released a small vial from it's fastenings.

"Thank you, now - off you go!" She gestured towards the still open and the pigeon rustled his feathers dismissively before taking off into the night.

Marie twisted the brass cap on the vial and freed the tightly rolled piece of paper from the dark glass tube. She recognized the writing at once, it was one of her more frequent clients, and she read through the short message several times before taking down a few notes. Attaching the message to the notes she looked at the time keeper on her desk, 10 pm, the rest of the preparations would have to wait for tomorrow. Adding a final note telling her assistant, Miss Sarah, to send confirmation to the client that she would indeed take the assignment she gathered her things and headed for the door, dropping the sheet of paper on Miss Sarah's desk as she passed it.

On her desk the paperwork lay forgotten.