When Camilla finally found Elsie again and relayed the news, Elsie was thrilled. So thrilled, in fact, that she immediately dragged Camilla over to the director to share the plan. The director was more thrilled about the idea than either of them, and was tempted to even have Elsie do the stunt without the wire rig entirely.

While Elsie was surprisingly fine with it, Camilla shut the idea down right away; if another attack did end up happening, she wasn't fully confident that she could put up a reliable defense while also ensuring Elsie's safe return to the ground.

After ensuring that her energy field was capable of detecting imminent attacks, Camilla listened in to the director explaining the scene's blocking and what her role would be. Next, Camilla practiced moving the stunt double that Elsie was supposed to be chasing in the scene, earning a round of excited applause from the crew after every take. Finally, it was time for the real deal.

"Nervous?" Elsie asked as the crew hooked her up to the wire rig. She seemed surprisingly calm, or maybe Camilla was the one freaking out too much.

"That's a complete understatement," Camilla muttered. While she managed to keep herself from pacing, she ended up constantly shifting her weight from one foot to the other.

"You'll be fine," Elsie said much too easily. "I know I'll be."

Camilla narrowed her eyes at Elsie and her reiteration that Camilla was responsible for her wellbeing. "You're not helping."

Elsie grinned, but it was at least slightly apologetic. "You're right, sorry. But hey, no pressure. I have the wire rig, remember? Just think of it as you'll be controlling my movement while the rig will keep me from falling."

Then, in a voice only Camilla could hear, she added, "And Lee will be nearby too, right? I wouldn't mind if she caught me with that super strength of hers."

"Alright, alright," Camilla said as Elsie laughed. "Let's do this."

"Ready when you are, Officer Wyatt," Elsie replied, and she made her way to her starting mark.

Once Elsie signaled she was ready, Camilla moved the air around her and eased her off the ground. Camilla stopped once when a flash of worry passed over Elsie's face, but Elsie quickly sent her a determined look shortly after, and Camilla kept going. Once Elsie was at the right height, Camilla lifted the stunt double to the same elevation, then nodded to the director that she was ready.

"Action!"

The signal rang in Camilla's mind like an order, and she instinctively buried her worries in an instant. She reacted as if she was in a battle, and she and Elsie were fighting side-by-side.

Even if it had been rehearsed, the moves still felt natural, and Camilla somehow knew exactly how Elsie would shift her weight slightly before throwing a punch, and Elsie knew how to balance herself when Camilla sent her flying from one building to the next. Had she not known any better, Camilla would've thought Elsie was well-versed in collaborating with guardians considering how well she performed. After all, Camilla had been partnered with multiple non-air guardians over the years and not many of them could move as naturally as Elsie.

After the first take, Camilla rushed up to Elsie as soon as she set her on the ground, belatedly forgetting that the director hadn't yelled "cut" yet. Thankfully, the end of the scene was called soon after, and Camilla continued towards Elsie without getting in the way of filming.

"Are you alright?" Camilla asked, immediately worried that she somehow messed up.

But it didn't seem that she had, judging from the wide smile on Elsie's face.

"That. Was. Amazing!" Elsie exclaimed breathlessly. "Holy shit, that was amazing!"

"Really?" Camilla asked tentatively.

"Hell yeah!" Elsie couldn't stop smiling. "Holy shit, I mean yeah, I was losing my shit a little at first, but after that? Oh my god, that was fu—frickin' fantastic!"

Once Elsie calmed down from her initial excitement, she had adjustments and variations of the scene she wanted to try. After she discussed it with the directors, she filled Camilla in on what the new plans were, and they ran the scene again and again. At one point, Elsie was determined to try it without the wire rig, but her resolution faltered shortly after they discussed it a little more.

"It's not that I don't trust you," Elsie assured Camilla. "I'm just not ready for that yet."

"Don't worry, neither was I," Camilla replied. "I never would've agreed to that anyway."

After that day, Camilla was asked to assist with stunts at least every other scene, with Lee granting permission each time. For the first few days, Camilla was worried what the Org would say if they found out, but apparently they were more than fine with it, as the squad found out during their daily debrief one night in one of the hotel's meeting rooms.

"After working out a deal with the studio, the Org would like us to participate in their final battle scene," Lee announced. As usual, her poker face didn't give away how she actually felt about the decision. "This will be an optional assignment, of course, and the scene will take place in Hawaii, so we'll have the full support of the local Org guardians to fill our security roles as needed."

"I'm so in," Perez said, leaning back in his chair with his hands folded behind his head. From across the room, Camilla could tell he was using his abilities to make his muscles more prominent.

"You have time to decide," Lee continued, ignoring Perez. "The scene will be one of the last ones they film, so you can notify me anytime before then, and I'll let the director know."

"I'm a model, you know," Perez told Pala. "That's my secondary."

Pala nodded in acknowledgement, but they didn't look too comfortable about participating in a conversation when the captain was in the middle of a debrief.

"Have you picked a secondary yet?" Perez continued. "Or are you going to be like your sister and dedicate your life and soul to the Org? Which is fine, by the way, no hate on her or anything. She'll probably be more successful than others, at least. Imagine having to write 'social media influencer' on your taxes."

He directed that last part at Camilla and threw in a slimy sneer. "Hey Wyatt, you might want to rethink volunteering for this mission. I'm not sure the costumes department has anything in kids sizes."

If Camilla had to maintain her energetic persona, she would've been struggling to think of a comeback at the moment. But thankfully, she had strict orders to do exactly the opposite, so she just acted like how she wanted: by giving Perez nothing but a cold stare. At first, Perez tried to play along. But after a minute, Camilla felt him get too creeped out, and he turned his focus back to Lee while muttering curses at her under his breath.

After the meeting, Lee held Camilla back, much to Perez's amusement and Mack's concern. After Camilla insisted she would talk to Mack later, he nodded once, then left the room.

"The Org had a message for you," Lee said. "They said you're falling behind on your social media presence and would like you to post something promoting this movie at your earliest convenience."

"We're being threatened by a faceless terrorist group and they're concerned about movie promotions?" Camilla muttered bitterly without thinking. Immediately, she cleared her throat and offered an apologetic, "Sorry, Captain."

"It's understandable," Lee said, brushing off Camilla's unprofessionalism. "I'll let them know that you'll work on it, but security is your first priority. Is that alright?"

Camilla nodded, but she couldn't lift her gaze higher than Lee's chin. "Yes, ma'am."

"Good. Then aside from that... is there something you'd like to talk about?"

Camilla was confused enough by the question to look her captain in the eye. "Ma'am?"

Lee's normal poker face had disappeared at some point, and in its place was a look of concern.

"Sorry, I kind of just sprung that question on you," Lee said. "I should probably explain..."

She sat down on one of the seats in the room, and gestured for Camilla to do the same.

"So, I don't know if you know this, but I'm not actually as strict and cold-hearted as I seem." She laughed a little. "Actually, I hate being mean and so... not personable. But sometimes, it gets the job done in the most efficient way possible. And it's the best way to deal with some... difficult characters."

Lee lowered her voice a little. "Off the record, that's probably why they assigned Perez to my squad."

Camilla nodded, but didn't say anything. She had a feeling about where this conversation was going, but that didn't mean she wanted to encourage it.

"Anyway, I was thinking about what I said the other day, when I first allowed you to help with the stunts," Lee continued. "I made that deal with you because I thought you were putting up a peppy persona as a front, and I knew you were stronger without it.

"Like at the Games, whenever you were in the midst of battle, and the only thing you focused on was winning instead of public appearances, you were amazingly powerful. And after the finals, when Exodos first attacked, you reacted and fought like nothing I've ever seen a single guardian do. It was incredible.

"Anyways, at the time, I thought you only used that other personality to make people like you. But when we talked a few days ago... I don't know what it was, but something made me think we're not that different. I thought that maybe... maybe you were faking a personality because you had to. Maybe you didn't have a choice."

The look she gave made Camilla feel like she could read minds, and Camilla forced her face to not give anything away.

"Is that it, Camilla?" Lee asked. "That other personality of yours, did someone force you to do that?"

"No," was all Camilla could say. With all of her energy focused on maintaining a neutral expression, she couldn't even think of a viable excuse for her behavior.

She hoped her answer would be enough and Lee would leave it at that, but evidently it was not.

"I'm not asking as your captain," Lee tried again. "I'm asking... as a friend, if you'd let me. Can you trust me to be that?"

Camilla couldn't just trust Lee just because the woman wanted her to. Even if Camilla wanted to trust Lee she wouldn't be able to. To Camilla, it didn't matter if the trust was wanted; it had to be earned. There were no exceptions, not even with Hitomi or Elsie.

"I understand," Camilla said, knowing full well that she didn't exactly answer Lee's question. "Thanks for your concern, but I'm fine, really. Please don't worry about me."

In other words, she understood what Lee was getting at, and she appreciated her intentions, but they weren't necessary. Camilla was getting by, and there was no point in getting others involved with her issues.

Lee was probably sharp enough to see through Camilla's words, but thankfully she didn't press any further. She dismissed Camilla shortly after, and Camilla couldn't make a break for it any faster, frantically escaping Lee's questions and the accompanying problems that Camilla would rather avoid thinking about.

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