The morning air was crisp as light began to stream through the tall, grey buildings of Brussels. Sharp hazel eyes scanned the surroundings watching the city come alive waiting for any signs of trouble. A gentle breeze teased the ends of her ponytail causing the strands to dance around the spy's face. Very few people would be able to tell that those same loose strands swayed after the recoil of each shot she took at unsuspecting, but not undeserving, criminals. The inhabitants of the city were finally beginning to stir, blissfully unaware of the misfortunes that had occurred last night. A small beep filled the air as the hour turned to seven, and a slender arm came up to switch on the earpiece that connected to headquarters.

"003," a bland voice stated, "you can come in now."

-xXx-

Alexandra Rider walked down the dark hallways deep inside the headquarters of MI6. The young agent had become quite well-known from her accelerated time in the training program. Alex had met a majority of the key figures in the British government, including a ceremony held by the Queen. After a covert international scandal resulted in the wrongdoings of Alan Blunt being revealed to the true operators of the British government, MI6 had been more than ready to compensate the young teen since her future had been ripped from her hands following the death of her uncle.

Only a handful of people had been granted the privilege of meeting with M in her private office, but Alex knew that this was the secret service's way of showing how serious they were taking her case. She had been offered a full scholarship to the school of her choosing. Regardless of the fact that the compensation for her missions guaranteed she would not have to work for a while. The head of MI6 had been nothing but cordial, but bluntly stated that if Alex did go back to civilian life, it would near impossible to be 'normal.' What M didn't know was that the teen spy had been contemplating her options for the better half of a year. She knew enough to pass her A-levels and although she felt connected to her house in Chelsea, there was nothing there for her. She had said goodbye to Tom years ago and Sabina was still in America. She needed somewhere she could be herself, where others could be safe. Despite her tepid history with the British government, Alex really did love her country and she knew that working for them was something her father and uncle would have preferred. So, Alexandra agreed to work for MI6 as a new agent, but M was under no illusion that the young girl in front of her could walk away at any time to become a powerful enemy.

In any other program, she would have been considered borderline prodigious, but Alex still had to go through basic training like everyone else. M said it would allow her to enter as a normal agent and meet other potential recruits, and Alex would take any extra training she could get. Her language abilities had been put to good use, and she was now fluent in Russian, Mandarin, and Italian. She learned how to work the various tech. that all agents were given, a luxury to which she was still adjusting. Her crash course in weaponry was more of a review for her, but she was happy to learn about agents' standard gear. Physical training was met with more enthusiasm than many trainers had seen and she had received compliments on her fluid hand-to-hand combat style. While they weren't given large amounts of time for conversing with each other, Alex did try to get to know some of the other recruits. She was friendly, but not overly so, and she gave nothing about herself away.

The most difficult part of training for Alex was urban camouflage and the mandatory psych evaluations. The last Rider could not pass for a scrawny prepubescent boy or a young girl anymore. Alex had a beautiful face and figure, even in baggy clothing, and with virtually no permanent female figure in her life, learning to fully accept her appearance and use it was difficult. Sure, there were a few missions in the past that had required the use of some particular traits unique to her gender, but Alex usually worked alone where not being seen was of the greatest importance. Alex also avoided being touched. She could handle large crowds, but she placed too much effort in keeping away from people. In a busy area like the business district of London, bumping shoulders was normal; yet, the young spy always spun around them in small, distinct steps. It was a weakness other agents would be able to spot in an instant. Her psych eval had revealed much of the same, an aversion to touch.

One of MI6's most valued female psychiatrists had been assigned to Rider, and the report on M's desk was lengthy.

Undervalues her wellbeing in favor of getting the job done, will likely lead to unintentional self-inflicted harm.

Limited emotional range from years of being used, but showing improvement.

Doesn't form connections with others, believes they will not last long.

Strong evidence that Person A was sexually assaulted more than once in the past, most plausible explanation for her aversion to touch.

Highly intelligent; can adapt under pressure.

Has an open mind and usually takes nontraditional approaches when solving difficult problems.

The report went on and on assessing Rider's strengths, weaknesses, and character. There were some obvious issues that would need to be dealt with, but her report was no worse than some of the other agents. Alex would just need a longer time adapting and growing, since she had never been given the opportunity before. What mattered most to M, was the line at the very end of the report.

…recommendation for enrollment in the Double-0 program.

-xXx-

After visiting the quartermaster to return her equipment, Alex continued towards the training center. While recounting her report from her latest mission, it crossed the young spy's mind how flawlessly her past few missions had gone compared to the missions she did alone before she truly started working for MI6- no more half-assed training or incomplete mission briefs. And any surprises were met with almost full support from MI6. Turning her full attention back to her surroundings, Alex noticed that her usual sparring partner was absent. There were some new recruits off to the side listening to some boring lecture, and some older agents lifting, almost none of them would spar with her after the incident on her first official day that resulted in a rather personal surgery for a young man. The infamous double-0 preferred a more intense mission tempo, especially since he had been "assigned" to work with the famous female detective on the Moriarty case. Alex scoffed in her head. Bond's love life was probably the worst kept secret in all of MI6 and everyone knew he had specifically asked to work with Mycroft's younger sister.

After jogging for an hour and a round at the punching bag, Agent Rider ran through some basic katas before heading to the showers. This past mission earned her at least a few months of downtime. Downtime for Alex usually meant doing some consulting work for other agencies, all in Britain's favor of course, but the more connections and favors a spy could get, the better off they would be in the future. Suddenly, a light beeping echoed throughout the changing room. Puzzled, Alex reached for one of her many mobile phones. It was risky to have a permanent number, but Q-branch had set her up with a unique and impermeable phone to have on hand for when not on missions. There were maybe five people that had this phone number outside of her supervisors. One of them was hunting down a crime syndicate in Siberia. Alex had just visited her favorite former Soviet spy in New York, and there was no way Tony Stark could have gotten this number, genius or not. Tamara was on a case, and Ben had been undercover for months in Thailand. That left…

"Ziva. It's good to hear from you," smiled Alex as she answered her phone.

Yes, working under M was turning out rather nicely, even if there were more people trying to kill her now.