A/N: Thanks a lot for reviewing and giving suggestions=) Hope i'll be able to continue writing on=)

- deets1: thanks for telling me about the disabled anonymous reviews, I didn't realize they were disabled. I've enabled them already=)

- snowflake13300: I'm trying hard not to make it a one-shot!

- Sapphire2309: ok thanks for your suggestion. I shall change it to K+:)

"... Rely on your instincts completely. No matter what you see or feel, a target is a target. He or she is just another living organism, another job that is necessary for your survival. He is your enemy, because if he lives, you cannot and vice versa if you live, he must not..."

Weapons instructor Gordon Ross repeated the words as the students took turns to fire shots at the numerous red and black targets that popped up along the underground shooting range. The shooting range was narrow but long, with gleaming handguns of all shapes and sizes adorning the walls from top to bottom. The handguns ranged from 14th century traditional hand cannons to the newest, off the shelf models. Simply put, it was an assassinator's sweetest dream—if they even did dream, which Alex rather much doubted (how else would they be able to sleep at night?).

Alex found shooting to be a rather relaxing activity for him. While MI6 had refused to give him firearm training much less provide him with a gun on missions, they were practically an assassinator's best friend. Scorpia ensured they were point blank accurate with every shot and knew the mechanisms of every weapon. He found pleasure imagining each target as a lie that MI6 had fed him, an unpleasant memory that he had been forced to live with—blackmail into working for them, Bang, his parents' death, Bang, Mrs Jones as she gave the command to shoot, BANG.

Ross walked over to him and observed silently from the side. He was in his early thirties, and extremely well-toned with a mop of sandy brown hair and piercing grey eyes.

"Not bad at all, Rider. You're advancing thrice as fast as the average student here, and that's saying something. I expect great things from you in time to come, just like your father." Alex felt warmth tingle through his body at the unexpected compliment. MI6 would never have said anything like that. They were just too arrogant to admit that a mere boy could do just as well, perhaps even better than them.

Well, it was time to prove each and every one of them wrong, Alex silently vowed revenge.

"Since you're almost proficient at shooting targets, I think it's time for you to move on to targets a little more... challenging." Ross grinned as though Christmas had come early, handing Alex a SIG-Sauer P220. "Let's see if you're up to it." He pressed a well concealed lever by the side of the wall.

Alex concentrated hard on the seemingly blank wall before him. Anytime now, the targets would appear, presumably twice as fast as usual.

A blur of movement from the corner of his eye.

Alex whirled around and aimed at the target, but found that he was unable to shoot. It was no longer a bull's eye target. Instead, an image of a young girl with blonde curls had its place. Just a target.

It disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared. Alex had completely missed the target. Another one shot up. This time, it was a middle aged woman in a business suit.

"...your enemy..." Ross' words resounded in his head. Anger ignited in Alex. Grown-up, mature adults had destroyed his life, MI6 at the very top of his list. There was no way he was going to let them off.

He let his instincts overtake him and fired.

...

Mrs Rothman sat calmly before the webcam. Or at least, appeared to. It had been a trying day for her. MI6 had intercepted an important payment transaction and confiscated several million dollars. True, it was a small sum compared to what they would earn from invisible sword but that did not mean she didn't treasure her gold. However if her instincts were right, Alex Rider might be worth much, much more.

"Well, how's progress?" She demanded crisply, straight to the point. Olivia d'Arc, principle of the training centre contemplated her question from the computer screen. "He's doing well." He said at last. "A brilliant boy, excelling in all the subjects and well liked by both instructors and students. If we had a dozen more of him and Gregorovich, we'd have an unstoppable army." "The tests?"

d'Arc sighed, lines creasing on his forehead. "That's where the main problem comes in. I cannot tell if he will turn out as a... fully functional Scorpia operative. Let's talk about the Rorschach test. Dr Steiner informed me that there are 2 cards that all the students in this training centre have identified as one—a person lying in a pool of blood and a gun pointed at a person's head. However, Mr Rider is a slight exception. His first response to the card was not as such, but when he glanced at them a second time he was vividly reminded of the people he had disposed because of MI6."

Mrs Rothman frowned. "And your point is...?"

"I cannot confirm that he can be a cold blooded killer like all our other students. He does have a killer instinct, but it seems only to manifest under certain circumstances. For instance, Ross informed me that at the shooting range this morning, Alex, as usual, performed extraordinarily well in regular target practice. However, when they switched the bulls ring targets to human targets, things got interesting. Alex faltered at the very beginning and missed the first target- an image of a young girl but performed exceptionally on the next target, a middle aged woman—scored an eighty percent in fact. This queer pattern followed on – he either missed or performed badly when the targets were children, but had no qualms shooting the adults."

A pause. "Did Dr Steiner do it?" "Not yet. He wanted to seek your advice on this peculiar case. I must say though, if we are able to provide the boy with a suitable environment and give him a nudge in the right direction, he would be very, very useful. Economically as well, of course."

Mrs Rothman tapped her fingers on the table, lost in thought.

"Julia?" Another long pause. Then she smiled, having come to a decision.

"Don't do it...yet. Let's give Alex a chance to prove himself. Send him on a mission after 3 more months of training. Have him assassinate Blunt." She spat the name out. The MI6 head had been a thorn in her side far too long.

d'Arc nodded sharply. His face fizzled and disappeared and the computer screen went blank.

Julia Rothman leaned back in satisfaction and smiled, revealing perfect pearly whites. The boy would turn out just the way she wanted him to.