AN: This is NOT my story! I was lucky enough to get the green light to translate this story, which happens to be one of my favorites here on , from the original Belgian author supersophieuh. I'm extremely honored to host it on my page, and remember, my translation might not fit the French exactly right, but I tried to make it sound more natural in English than the literal French. As such remember that I didn't come up with the concept or anything. So you can blame me for my faults, but just a tad. :D

AN #2: THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to Supersophieuh for allowing me to do this! T'as aucune idée si heureux que je me trouve maintenant en écrivant ces mots-ci! Et si tu trouves quelque chose que tu veux que je refasse dis-moi... j'aurais dû poser si tu voulais voir le chapitre avant qu'il ait devenu public. .

TARGET(1)

English translation of

CIBLE

by ~Supersophieuh~

Tranlsated by ~Mardigny~

CHAPTER ONE

New Mission

It was a somber room. You could only see the walls that seemed engulfed by the darkness with some difficulty, giving the strange impression that the room was floating in the middle of

nothingness. The curtains were pulled and the only source of light was a small office lamp barely able to project misshapen shadows within its six-foot radius. But he wasn't scared; he

was used to it now.

The armchair he was sitting in was quite comfortable but he didn't care. He didn't like being here. All he wanted was the other man to arrive so he could get all of this over with.

His wish was quickly fulfilled. The door opened and a man took his place behind his desk, facing the armchair.

"Hello, Joey. I see you've certainly received my message."

Joey didn't bother to respond verbally or by lifting his head.

"I hope you didn't wait too long for me."

"I don't care. Is this a new mission?"

"Of course!"

"When and where?"

"Thursday the 18th, in three days. It'll take place at the Domino airport. The target will arrive on the 10:50 PM flight from New York. You'll easily find a place where you can keep an eye on

him. But pay attention to security. All the details are in here."

The man handed him an envelope which he accepted and placed on his lap without looking at it.

"Joey, I know it's how you do things, but are you sure about this? This is big game this time. You should prepare for your job in a more complete manner, taking everything into account. It's

not really my business, but yourapproach doesn't satisfy everyone's tastes. Some people find that you take things too lightly and that you'll end up causing yourself trouble... and that could cause us some trouble…."

Joey looked at him contemptibly for a moment. They didn't understand anything, did they?

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. I've never let you down and I'm not gonna start now. If you're through, I'll be going now."

Without waiting for a response, he got up, took the envelope and moved for the door. He had placed his hand on the handle when the other man spoke again.

"I hope you're telling the truth. I don't need to tell you the consequences if you should fail…"

"You give me a mission. I do the mission. You leave me the fuck alone, and THAT'S ALL!"

With these words, he left, slamming the door brutally behind him.

~ X X X ~

Once he got back to his apartment, Joey immediately went into his room and placed the envelope on his nightstand before stretching himself out on the bed.

No, he wouldn't open the letter before Thursday. He wouldn't even touch it. But it wasn't because he was too arrogant; it was because he couldn't.

But they didn't understand that. They didn't understand that and they never could.

Quite simply, he couldn't bear to see the photo. To see the face of the person you would have to kill... it made him nauseous. If he did so he wouldn't be able to sleep; their visage would

haunt every second of every night. So he didn't want to know.

They wouldn't be a man or a woman, neither young nor old, neither rich or very rich (because, of course, it's always rich people who want to get rid of other rich people), neither a blond or

a brunet, neither single nor in love...

That person wasn't a human being, just a mission.

However, he couldn't prevent himself from asking who exactly the mission would be.

(1) This is the literal French translation. I like the title "On Your Mark" though for an English version, but hey, just stickin' to what was prescribed to meh. :D