Elli swirled in her seat to see Samuel, also clad in all black with a long sleeve light jacket leaning casually against the door jam. She couldn't help but notice he still had the black leather gloves on, too.

"Good." He nodded towards Elli. "Let's go, String Bean. Wolf will meet us in the Rec room."

"O-Okay." Elli fumbled to collect the printouts Domina had assigned her to study. She tossed a final glance to the older woman. "Thanks, Domina."

"Good luck." She gave Elli an encouraging smile. "He'll go easy on you, so don't worry."

Elli tried to return the smile through her bouncing nerves and then ran up to the exit to catch up to Samuel, who had already started stalking away.

"Wait up!" she huffed.

He slowed his pace minutely, and Elli struggled to catch up to him as they passed into a green hallway. He paused in front of a door that was more glass than anything.

"You're slow." He commented as she reached it.

"Cardio, not my thing." She excused lamely. "What are you, a power walk champion or something?"

Samuel snorted, waving his gloved hand to unlock the door. He offered not answer as they entered a cavernous room with padded walls and gray foam flooring. Wolf stood near the far corner, running through a cycle of arm stretches. He acknowledged them with a grunt as they joined him.

"Would it be safe to assume you don't exercise much?" Samuel selected a small black bracelet from an equipment shelf next to them.

"How could you tell?" She exhaled.

His upper lip twitched. "Well, we'll focus on building stamina and necessary defense, then."

He waved his fingers. "Give me your hand."

Elli obediently offered her left hand, and he secured the black band on her wrist.

"Keep this on while you're here at the base; we'll track your improvement."

Elli studied the rubber cuff. It was just a seamless circle with no way to tell how to get it off. "A Ferris device?" she guessed.

"You got it." Samuel took a few steps away, rolling his neck. "Let's start with some basic stretches and a few laps to get started."

Elli balked. This really was boot camp.

"Problem?" Samuel pierced her with those cold eyes of his, and she reflexively gulped down her nerves.

"Sir, no sir!"

"Good." He pointed to a spot. "Stand there and let's start."

She took the position and followed his direct instructions. The stretching wasn't terrible. He ran her through cycles of flexing her arms and legs out. It reminded her of the one time Nancy had convinced her to attempt yoga. When stretching was over, and Samuel directed her to start running; however, the good vibes ended.

He set a grueling pace which she could only take for about half a lap. After that first half, there was nothing but prodding and pushing from the dark-haired devil through 3 more laps that constituted a blend of jogging and fast walking until her lungs and legs protested any more movement and threatened to collapse on her. She grabbed her knees, spent.

"Can't... do... anymore." She gasped out.

He stopped, and she could feel that glare on the crown of her head, but there wasn't enough oxygen in the room for her to care.

"Here." Something cold rolled against the back of her neck, and Elli jumped, grabbing the water bottle he was holding.

He grinned at her, an almost childish expression accentuated by the sheen of sweat highlighting his cheeks and brow. "Not too shabby, String Bean."

She blinked, trying to catch her breath as she processed that. Samuel was complimenting her after she barely hobbled through three laps?

"You beat the last recruit by one lap. You're either stubborn or stupid to push so hard when you can't even run a lap." He barked out a laugh, taking a swig of water.

She groaned inwardly, taking a tentative sip of her water, which hit her stomach like a block of ice. That was more like it. Samuel was making fun of her.

"Come on," he nodded to the set of equipment where Wolf had done reps while they looped around. "We'll take five before the next part."

Elli felt like she would hit the floor. "Next part?"

He casually checked his watch. "Yup. We're doing great on time. We can do a demo before your evaluation."

This time, she couldn't hold back a groan as they reached Wolf.

The big man smiled gently, patting her on the head.

"No, I'm sweaty." She shyly pushed his hand away. "But thanks."

She sat down on the vinyl seat of one of the workout machines as Samuel slapped the big man on the back.

"Wolf here will train you on defense. He can take anything you throw at him, and has some of the best control out of any of our fighters."

Elli almost choked on her swig of water. "What?!" she squeaked.

She'd imagined going toe to toe with Samuel in a boxing ring or something and praying for mercy, but facing the giant was suicide!

Samuel and Wolf rolled with laughter.

"Don't look so scared." Wolf barked out, his voice as thick and heavy as one would expect. "You are the only one that will be hitting today."

Samuel caught his breath from laughing and Elli felt a blush creeping over her already heated cheeks.

"Today we're just going to gauge your strength. Think of Wolf as your punching bag."

"Don't hold back." The big man's smile stayed gentle, and Elli found she was inclined to like him.

"Now, let's stretch out before you cramp up." Samuel offered her his hand.

She swatted it away, determined to stand on her own. Her legs, however, didn't cooperate with that thought and wobbled as soon as she jumped up. She lurched forward, and Samuel deftly caught her with the arm she'd denied.

"Easy." He admonished. She could feel his body heat and rapid heartbeat through the thin material of his jacket.

"You don't have to push yourself too hard." His voice was back to that gruffness she recognized, and his face had lost some of the openness it had just moments before.

"Sorry." She steadied herself with his help as the feeling came back to her feet.

"Let's go through the stretches and then you can take out your stubbornness on Wolf." He suggested, the amusement leaking back into the gravel of his voice.

Elli nodded, not trusting herself to answer or meet his eyes. Samuel was dark, dangerous, and frustrating; but it was hard to ignore the thought, in his arms, that she found him attractive. The realization threatened to make the strength in her legs give way again.

Flustered, she pushed off of him, refocusing on the task at hand. "Stretches! Let's get to it."