Alex was half interested in Sam's previous students. They all went through the same training, Sam was expecting the same results with him, maybe even better. It was a pressure he really didn't want, but he didn't have much choice. He wondered though, "What happens if I don't turn out like them?" What if he's just not that good? What if his path veers away from what Sam wants.

"Alright, if you insist, and I can't say I won't go below the belt on accident. Backed into a corner and all, it's my usual go to. You know that."he said with a smirk of his own. Sam had been the receiver of that gut reaction the first night Sam decided to sneak into his room and scare the shit out of him. He supposed part of his training out be trying to break those instinctual habits and react in a more calculated manner. It'd be hard though, Alex had spent years honing instincts that weren't exactly all the best. Nut punching was one, another was reaching for his powers as his second go to. He wasn't fit or intimidating, so his powers were, for him, the best way to get people to back off.

”You don’t need to be like them.” Sam said as he moved on to the next set. Through grunting again Sam spoke, ”I want you to be yourself but I need you to be a productive member of society.” Sam gritted his teeth and continued, ”I made a promise you’d be that. We are going to work together to see it happen.” he let the words sit for a second then he added, ”Or you will find out how dangerous I can be.” he too let the threat sit.

”Just think about what you do before you do it then.” Sam said as he pushed himself up and charged Alex and swung at his head. If the kid wasn’t fast he was gonna get hit in the side of the head. It was a controlled punch though so all it will do is knock him off his feet or cause some pain. Nothing long lasting.

"You don’t need to be like them. I want you to be yourself but I need you to be a productive member of society. I made a promise you’d be that. We are going to work together to see it happen. Or you will find out how dangerous I can be...Just think about what you do before you do it then."

He nodded in understanding, continuing the squats until Sam suddenly attacked him and he had to roll out of the way. His first instinct was to reach for his powers but there was no material here to work with. None that wouldn't be too dangerous any way. So he kept dodging, ducking and rolling out of the blows, trying desperately to remember the training Hades had given him. But it had been too long and he had been so focused on relaxing it was like his muscles had become muted a week after the trial.

After a while of doing nothing but be on the defense he tried to attack back. But Sam was bigger, faster, had experience and training on his side that it was not a good idea. Attacking left him open and Sam, while he didn't hit as hard as he could have, still hit like a goddamn truck. The man was way of his weight class and the sparring match was short, leaving Alex sprawled on the ground, huffing for air, and looking pretty haggard, if not beat up. It wasn't too bad, certainly not the worse he's had. But it wasn't fun either.

"Did you...did you really have to come at me like that?"he breathed finally, not moving from his position on the ground.

Sam stood un-winded and staring at Alex who was sprawled out on the ground gasping for air. ”I told you. You should have finished your sets sooner." Otherwise you’d have not been taken by surprise. Sam said looking around for a clock. It couldn’t have been longer than twenty minutes but Alex did do more than he thought he would have.

Sam smirked, ”You got some class to go to don’t you?” he asked with his eyebrow raised and then added, ”Same time tomorrow in the morning. I wake you, you’ll be behind. Again, and I won’t go as easy as I did today. We have a lot of work ahead of us and if you are gonna be my ‘son’ you better plan on working hard.” Sam said smirking at calling the kid his son. It was a taunt and hopped it frustrated Alex a bit, ”By the end of the year you’ll be able to take on three muggers without presently maiming anyone.” Sam said throwing out a goal for the kid.

”Now you have any questions?” Sam asked before adding, ”Ask them quick otherwise you’ll be late for class.” knowing it would be at least another two to three hours before there was any class for him.

He glared at the man who was, by law, his father. He had hoped that Sam would be on the more loving side, the kind he's see in tv shows and with the other kids, before he had run away. Childish maybe but not uncalled for. Wasn't like he had, had many adults up until the last few years that cared about him enough to fully take him in. Sam had shown so much faith in him as to make it legally binding.

But he supposed Sam was only mortal, he wouldn't live up to the dreams he used to have about what family was or was supposed to be. Nobody could, it was imaginary, and Sam being an X-Man probably made him more of a hard-ass than other parents usually would. All in the name of making him someone productive to society, proving to everyone that he wasn't a monster. A new ache bloomed in his chest and he wasn't entirely sure what to do with it. Felt like fear and doubt but held something else he couldn't recognize.

"Now you have any questions?Ask them quick otherwise you’ll be late for class."

He sat up slowly, grunting as the motion stung the real bruises on his body. He probably looked like he had gone a round or two with a bull. "One, do you plan on beating me up every morning or is this a special occasion? Cause people are going to have questions. Two, can I hang out with my friends like I usually do or do I have to let you know every time? Cause Jiri and Leo usually want to go out and do stuff after class and I'd really like to go with them. And three, if you're going to be teaching me how to drive, does that mean I get my own car?"he smirked at that last one, pretty certain it was going to be a no.

Sam raised an eyebrow, ”Yeah, you can have my car.” Sam said answering the questions out of order and feeling a little weird that Alex was asking permission to do things he normally did. ”As long as you guys stay out of trouble you can hang out with whoever you want. However, if I decide to have a training session with you, I don’t want to hear any complaining. If you don’t complain and do what I ask, the training sessions may take an hour.” Sam said with a smirk.

”I noticed you’re a little out of shape though so I’ll do one a days for training. Early morning.” Sam explained. ”and one, I’m the teacher of self-defense.” Sam said with confidence. ”I think it says I’m a bad teacher if my own son doesn’t learn how to avoid punches.” he smirked, ”You’ll heal, if I wanted people to ask questions I would have broken some bones. However, you haven’t earned anything like that and I don’t see you doing anything to warrant that…”

Sam then decided, ”See you tomorrow. Rest up, drink fluids and stretch before bed otherwise you’ll be hurting tomorrow.” Sam said as he started to do some more pushups.