"I'm not going to lie, I was starting to like my cell."

Elaina found solace in the quiet solitude of her imprisonment. It lacked the greenery and fresh mountain air, but she was safe. Perhaps she was locked inside, but people were also locked outside. The harm she had brought upon Cat, upon Melissa, wouldn't happen again, so long as she just stayed away from everyone.

"Well, Ms. Hart," replied Walt as they strode down a painfully white hallway, "I can assure you that you will continue to enjoy those accommodations until Mr. Cramer deems you trustworthy of such freedom."

"How many brownie points do I have to earn, considering I've already escaped and attempted to have your boss skewer himself?"

Despite being allowed to walk the corridors of the expansive house, her entourage consisted of more than the overly considerate Walt. They were also flanked by guards with stony faces and intense expressions. She decided to name the guards, Thing 1 and Thing 2, before turning her attention to the windows that lined one wall. Outside, the moon still lingered in a purple sky while the dawn light painted the distant tops of San Francisco's skyscrapers. It wasn't as beautiful as watching the morning sun crest over the mountains, but it would do for now.

"I don't believe he's using a point system to monitor your progress."

Elaina turned back to her chaperone, her eyes squinting and one brow raising as she appraised Walt's response.

"Well," she said with a sigh, "I feel like I should at least get an entire tray of brownie points to offset some of it since he's the one that considered fucking me before stabbing me in the chest."

"My statement about your level of trustworthiness was not meant to be held in comparison to Mr. Cramer's trustworthiness. It is valid to feel uncertain about him after what occurred between the two of you."

Once again, Elaina considered Walt's unique responses. He's an odd duck, but maybe that's why I like him.

"There you two are," called out a familiar voice. "I was wondering what was taking you so long. Was our guest unwilling to get out of bed this morning?" Elaina turned her tired eyes to find Cat stepping out into the hallway with a light stride and a wide smile.

"Hmm," answered Walt, though he didn't elaborate further.

"I was just talking to your sidekick," replied Elaina as she directed her thumb towards her quiet escort, "about brownies and how much I like my room. In fact, I was quite cozy in my bed and wouldn't mind another hour or so of sleep." She then stretched her arms above her head as a dramatic yawn widened her lips.

"Well," replied her captor, "I wouldn't want you starting your first day of training when you aren't fully awake." He then looked at Walt before continuing. "Take her back to her cell and we will begin after lunch."

The silent aide looked over his employer while the guards shifted their weight, though their steady gaze forward did not alter. After a second of thought, Elaina's guide turned his golden-brown eyes on to her.

"I'm not sure why you think this will improve your situation, or earn you brownies."

"Gah, Walt! It's like, what, five in the morning? Aren't you all torturing me enough by keeping me in a box? I get you want to punish me, but he's no saint either. I think it's fair to let me sleep in." As the tired Gifted stamped her foot, the cheerful illusion of the wealthy warden dissipated.

"I would have thought waking up with the sun would be a part of your routine, considering you maintained a small farm at your home."

"You'd be mistaken. I got up whenever I damn well pleased."

"Well, it's actually 6:30am, so you had an hour and a half more sleep than you suspected."

Elaina grumbled in reply, but didn't vocalize any actual words in her retort.

Considering the matter settled, Walt continued. "Also, I would ask a personal favor of you to not pull anything like that again. I have no desire to carry my own tracking bracelet around, nor do we want our staff burdened with them as well. So please see to it that we don't need to keep track of who is real and who isn't. If you can promise me this, I can see what I can do about allowing you more sleep in the morning."

"Done," answered Elaina with a small, victorious smile. "So if you don't mind me asking, how could you tell it wasn't him? You all want me educated on my Gift, so you might as well critique my work."

"I would argue that our goal is to help your regulate your emotions so you can refrain from using your Gift, but I also don't mind answering your question."

"And?"

Walt took a breath and then looked to where the fake Cat had stood. "He doesn't like that he is getting up this early either. Your version was far too cheerful for this hour of the day."

"Hmm," she replied as she tapped her chin, "noted."

After that, they continued on down the hallway with no further conversation passing between them. After a few minutes, Elaina felt the rising humidity in the air, which was partnered with a sharp scent that called back memories from her childhood.

"Walt," she said as her guide ushered her through a door, "I didn't bring a swimsuit."

Stretched out before her was an Olympic sized lap pool housed in an expansive room with a towering ceiling, a high dive platform, and a luxurious hot tub tucked in the corner. Despite the surprise of her destination, what really caught her eye was the woman standing before her, wearing a pair of skin-tight jeans, a leather bustier, and a wicked snarl upon her burgundy lips.

"Then, you probably shouldn't get wet," replied the woman, who crossed her arms as she sized Elaina up.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," said the trainee as she returned the woman's glare. "If you're my trainer, I hope you have more enlightening platitudes to offer me, otherwise we're going to be at this for a while."

"Ms. Sokolov has been contracted for two months," added Walt, who maintained an unassuming air of calm at his position by the pool's entrance, "if she fails to deliver a desired outcome, then we will move on to someone else."

"Seriously," groaned Elaina, "I have to wake up this early every day for two months."

"If you're that eager to finish my class," replied Sokolov in a sweet but poisonous tone, "then why don't you dive into the deep end."

"I think I'll..." Before she could finish her retort, an invisible force grabbed hold of her and pulled her as if she were attached to a string. The sudden jolt sent her flying across the room, her body tumbling through the air before colliding against the water with a painful smack of her t-shirt clad back.

"The fuck?!" she shouted as she swiped her soaking strands of hair from her forehead.

"Watch your temper," replied her tutor, who sauntered down to her side of the pool with a devious sway of her hips. "Those granted cerebral powers are the strongest amongst the Gifted, but are also hampered by the ever-constant threat of our id. You must learn to rein it in or else you are a grenade without a pin."

"You're the one that just tossed me into the water because you couldn't take some back talk!"

"You wanted to learn fast, and this is how you will."

"It appears you have things under control, Ms. Sokolov," said Walt from his corner of the room. "I will leave you to it. We will monitor you at all times. Should anything go wrong..."

"Nothing will go wrong," answered the domineering woman as she gazed down at Elaina with a pleased smirk. "However, that's not to say I don't take comfort in knowing I'll be watched. I hope he enjoys the show." She looked back over at Walt, who only answered her with a slight bow of his head, before heading out the door.

"Now," began Sokolov as she returned her attention to the pool, "let's... excuse me, where do you think you're going?"

"You've made your point," growled the student as she swam over to a nearby ladder. "You better hope there's a towel around here somewhere or I'll..." Again, the words were knocked out of her, this time by a current in the water that pulled her back to the center of the pool.

"This shit's getting old!"

"Then you're in for a rough day," answered the tutor with a smile.

"What the fuck does being soaking wet in a shirt and a pair of sweats teach me?"

"Are you uncomfortable?"

"Of course I am!"

"You're also scared."

"Excuse me?" Elaina snarled.

"I can feel it," she replied, breathing in deep and shutting her eyes. "They debriefed me on your powers. I know you can alter the perceptions of those around you. That you can make them feel and sense what you want them to. Based on the first-hand experiences that Dom and his staff provided for me, it also seems that your talents are tied to your emotions, which can cause your feelings to seep into your targets. I can already taste that fear that is radiating from you."

"Bull shit, I'm calm as fuck!"

"Beg to differ," she replied with a patronizing raise of her brow.

"I just got tossed across the damn room by whatever the hell you do."

"Telekinesis," she added nonchalantly as she inspected her nails.

"Fine, you threw me into the water with your mind, which is a new experience for me, so it is a safe guess that I might feel fear, but I'm under control. I am a master of my emotions. I've been training on my own and I know my body better than you do."

"I'm not talking about your body," snapped Sokolov. "I'm talking about your head. And I don't care if you meditate every damn day. No one knows the full extent of what their mind is capable of, especially around creatures as antagonistic as human beings. Three months of messing around in the woods all by yourself and learning how to conjure up some B-Movie monster is not mastering your emotions."

"Don't you fucking bad mouth Purr-seus!"

"You're not taking this seriously."

"I don't even know you. Why the hell should I care what you have to say?"

"Fine," she answered with a shrug, "let's do introductions. My name is Karina Sokolov and I'm about to show you why you will beg me to tell you all my secrets."

Before Elaina had a chance to do more than roll her eyes, she noticed the world shifting around her. Though Karina had towered above her before, from her dry vantage point at the side of the pool, she had suddenly taken on a significantly loftier height. Or really, Elaina was slipping lower and lower.

The befuddled tutee looked around her, finding the water beneath her diminishing with a current that tugged her over towards one side of the pool. As she struggled to keep herself afloat, she noticed a shadow climbing over her at a rapid rate. Turning to face the source of the shadow, she found the expanse of the pool was now pulled into a vicious tidal wave that leered over her with imminent doom circulating in the waters. In a matter of seconds, the wall came crashing down.

The scream manifested in bubbles that mixed with the surge of foam created by the crushing wave. Her body tumbled, her head uncertain whether she faced up or down. Her arms paddled and her legs kicked, but no matter how she clawed her way through the current, she remained anchored in place by the tumultuous flow of the surrounding water. Her lungs begged for air and her eyes widened with fear. Just as she considered inhaling the liquid, a force pulled her straight into the air and left her dangling near the top of the two-story ceiling. She gasped, her legs bicycling and her heart pounding. Then, without warning, she was dropped.

Her body flailed, her panic rising as she desperately sought to remember the best way to collide with the water without breaking her neck. In the end, her impact echoed through the cavernous room with a sickening slap.

"Oh, I felt that," said Karina with a twisted smile. "I felt that fear, that panic, that desperation. I felt it infecting me, but did I let it take hold? No. Still, I remain. However, I will grant that you kept yourself from manifesting an illusion of your terror. No hell beast to swallow me up. I'm a little disappointed honestly, but..."

She paused, her words trailing when she saw Elaina's body still and silent, with her back towards the ceiling and her face down inside the water.

"Best you roll yourself back around now," she said, as she drew closer to the edge of the pool. "I slowed your fall before you hit the water, so let's not pretend you are that badly injured."

She squatted down, turning her head to get a better view of the lifeless face drifting in the pool.

"Shit," she hissed, rising back up to her feet. "Fuck, why'd you have to go and do this? He needs to see how impressive I am, how much control I have. I need to show him what he's missing." Her chest rose and fell in rapid succession as her hands reached out into the air, her powers pulling Elaina's limp body from the water. Karina then tugged her student over the side of the pool, her eyes wide with fear as she gazed upon the consequences of her actions.

"You're not dead, right?" she whispered as she stepped closer to her student's levitating body.

"Boo, bitch!" howled the once pale form of Elaina.

"What?" Karina shrieked, only for the body to dissipate before another presence reached out and pushed her straight into the water.

"Looks like you gave in to me," said the perfectly alive student, who stood dripping wet in the spot Karina had once occupied. "And now you can enjoy how fucking awful it is to be wet in something other than a swimsuit."

"You just proved my point!" she snarled in retaliation, her makeup smearing and her golden locks limp in the water.

"Maybe," Elaina replied with a yawn before heading for the door, "but I'm going to find a towel and get myself a swimsuit, if this is the shit you plan on handing me today. Would you like one too?"

Karina didn't answer, she instead got a towel on her own.