After I'd wandered around the small room they gave me and explored every nook and cranny, I slouched on my desk chair and waited for Damian. I didn't know how much time had passed, and I was worried he'd forgotten about me.  I was also getting hungry, which didn't help. 

I figured out that the desk chair spun, and I kept spinning it until I was dizzy.  Then I went through the whole apartment again.  Boredom is the best way to go crazy, I decided.   I was too weak to try and do my daily work out, and the space was too cramped for me to jog in place. 

I was just about ready to scream when a knock came from the door. 

"Hey, Eristina, are you ready?"  Damian shouted through the door.  I jumped up and threw it open.

"Yes! What took you so long?" I demanded. 

"We had some trouble finding volunteers to be on your team."  Damian turned and jogged away, leaving me no choice but to follow. 

"So you just let people choose what they want to do? You don't force them to go on missions or anything?" I asked, struggling to keep pace.  Damian shook his head. 

"No way.  They do that at the Institute?"

"Yeah, we're forced to go on missions.  Well, I guess we can protest, but then they'll just bribe or threaten us until we do what we're told."

We ran the rest of the way in silence.  There were so many twists and turns, I was sure we'd doubled back on ourselves four times.  Damian seemed confident though, so I guessed he knew where we were going.  We made it after about ten minutes. 

"Here we are," Damian announced and pushed open a door.  Inside was a regular gym, like they'd have at a school.  Half a dozen kids stood in a group together, and they turned to us as we stepped through. 

I groaned inwardly as I glanced around at my "team."  The three boys were skinny and obviously shy from the way they glanced at me, then at their shoes.  Two girls were slender and dressed in pastel colors, like they were on their way to an Easter parade. 

The last girl, though, was who caught my eye the most.  She was taller than I was with broad shoulders and a fit body.  She might actually be some help, I thought. 

"Alright!" Damian called, clapping his hands unnecessarily because he already had everyone's complete attention.  "This is Eristina.  She's going to train you and hopefully get you into shape.  Artesia!"

One of the prissy girls stepped forward, flashing a smile at Damian.  She flipped her blonde hair over a shoulder and dropped a hand to her hip in what I guessed she thought made her look cute. 

"Yeah, Dan?" she asked sweetly.  I rolled my eyes. 

"You're going to help Eristina as her second in command.  When you're done here escort her to the head quarters, will you?" Damian ordered.  Artesia nodded.  Damian gazed once more around the room before leaving. 

There was silence after the door clicked closed behind him.  Artesia dropped the cutesie  looked and just seemed bored. 

"Ok!  Everyone, come here.  I want each of your names and your age," I explained. 

"Come on guys!" Artesia called and waved the others over.  I gritted my teeth slightly. 

"I'm Drew and I'm thirteen," the first boy said.  I nodded slightly, connecting the name with thick glasses and dark curly hair. 

"Jacob, fourtten," the next muttered.  He had blonde hair, almost identical to Artesia, and I decided the two had to be siblings, especially since Artesia rolled her eyes at Jacob. 

"Peter.  Sixteen."  He had chocolate skin and beautiful dark eyes that I had to tear my gaze away from. 

"Amanda, I'm fourteen," the other silly girl announced. 

"And as you know, I'm Artesia and I'm fifteen.  That's all of us!" She said brightly.  The last girl, the one I'd noticed right away, took a half step back. 

"Wait! What's your name?" I nodded to the girl. 

"Melanie...I'm fifteen," she murmured cautiously, glancing at Artesia.  Aha.  From that little glance, I realized what was going on.  Artesia was obviously the leader down here, and she didn't like Melanie.  I smiled inwardly as I contemplated a few plans to change that. 

"Nice to meet you all.  As you heard, I'm Eristina, but everyone just calls me Eris.  I'm fifteen and I'm here to whup you all into shape.  Twenty push ups! Now!" I ordered.  The others stared at me a moment, the slowly dropped to the floor, except Artesia.  "Well? Go!"

She shot me a disgusted glance, then lowered herself and began like the others.  Melanie was done in seconds and she jumped to her feet and stood straight, waiting for the next orders.  

I eyed her thoughtfully, then announced, "Artesia, I'm replacing you as second in command. Melanie can do it."

A startled gasp came from at least three of the kids, and Artesia scrambled to her feet. 

"B-but you can't!" she sputtered.  I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Why not?"

"She's...she's a lower level!" Artesia protested. 

"A what?" I snapped.  Arteisa opened her mouth to answer but I made a negative gesture and nodded instead at Melanie.  "I want you to explain. What levels do you have here?"

"The levels are how much training you've had," Melanie began.  "I've only been here three years so I'm still considered a lower level.  Artesia's been here seven years," she finished. 

"Do you know your way around?" I asked.  Melanie nodded.  "And you've trained here?" Another nod.  "Well, seeing as you're more cooperative then Artesia, I'm replacing her with you as my helper," I decided.  There was at least two sighs of relief. 

Artesia's face turned a crimson that matched nicely with her shirt and she stormed out if the room.  I gazed calmly after her until the door swung closed again.  The others continued watching the door, as if waiting for her to barge back in. 

"Well!" I called, clapping my hands to regain their attention.  "Looks like we're down to five.  Jacob, Peter, and Melanie, do seven laps around the gym, and keep up a good pace.  I don't want to see you walking.  Amanda and Drew, you're going to start on sit ups and more push ups.  You need to get in better shape."

Everyone waited a moment, staring at me.  I glanced sharply at Melanie and she cleared her throat.

"Get to it!" She ordered, and began jogging around the gym.  Everyone else fell in place, doing exactly as I instructed them.  I chewed my lip as I watched them.  I had less then two weeks to turn these bunch of misfits into a working team, and to be honest, I wasn't sure if I could. 

Hey there!  Another update! YAY! Don't forget to comment and vote and let me know if you see any mistakes.  Thank you! :)