Filming finished by the early afternoon, but the dismantling and packing of the set took longer than anticipated, and they needed to return to the mainland by dark. What made things even more complicated was that their equipment needed to get dropped off on Alcatraz Island, a smaller island in the same bay, in preparation for the next day's shoot.

Slightly annoyed at yet another change in their security plans, Lee authorized Camilla and Pala to offer assistance again to speed up the ferries, then ordered the entire squad to help offload the equipment. She also allowed for Mack to escort Elsie back to the hotel, but Elsie insisted on staying with the group.

"I heard this place is haunted," Elsie explained to Camilla as they unloaded the cargo from the first ferry. "Someone has to protect you from the ghosts."

"And out of the two of us, who is the one with meta-abilities?" Camilla asked.

Elsie could only grunt as she picked up a heavy box, and Camilla followed her with two of the same boxes levitating above each of her hands.

"Don't you get it?" Elsie panted as soon as she set down her box in the building the crew was using for temporary storage. "How are you going to control a ghost if it's not made of solids, liquids, or gases?"

"I'd give you that—if ghosts were actually real." Camilla set her boxes down gently next to Elsie's. "Besides, what would you be able to do? If we encountered these hypothetical ghosts."

"Isn't it obvious? I'd talk to them."

Camilla looked at her incredulously. "Seriously? Of course you would. Why am I not surprised?"

"It's the perfect strategy!" Elsie insisted as they made their way back to the ferry to grab more things, taking care to keep out of the way of the people carrying things to the building they just came from. "Talk to them, get to know them, and befriend them. Then they won't kill you, and you probably get to hear some cool stories in the process."

"I get the feeling you came here hoping to talk to ghosts, and not actually to protect me as you claim to be doing," Camilla said.

Elsie thought about it for a moment, then shrugged. "Yeah, pretty much."

Fortunately, there was no paranormal activity for the rest of the time they were there, nor was there any the next day when they returned to film.

The scenes utilized several sections of the old prison and it was supposed to serve as the jail where Elsie's enemies were being held. These scenes took place before Elsie and Mack's characters got reunited, so Mack was able to support his guardian duties, much to the squad's relief. Unlike their other locations, they weren't allowed to completely stop the public's access, and more than one curious tour group ended up passing too close for comfort.

Their last day of filming in San Francisco was to take place in various parts of the financial district. With the towering buildings and infinite blind spots, this set troubled the guardians the most out of all the filming locations in the city, especially since each of Exodos's recent attacks had occurred in similar urban environments. Fortunately, they had Mack's assistance again, along with a local guardian squad that was on-loan to them.

Like the previous sets, Camilla was placed close to the crew members, but the high foot traffic of the urban center drew more attention to her than she had received in the other locations. For the most part Camilla didn't mind it since it didn't actively interfere with her job, even when an influx of reporters suddenly appeared.

"Are you sure it's alright?" Elsie asked when she stopped by Camilla during a brief break for a minor set change.

"As long as they don't get too physical, they have a right to be here," Camilla replied, though she knew that didn't really answer Elsie's question.

Elsie noticed it too, judging by the scowl she sent Camilla. "You know that's not an answer. Do I need to cover for you or something?"

It took Camilla a moment to remember about Elsie's offer to hide the unauthorized changes to Camilla's personality.

"I don't think it's necessary, but thanks," Camilla assured. "There's no reason they would be here for me."

But Elsie's hesitation in responding made Camilla suspicious.

"Is something wrong?" Camilla asked, growing slightly worried.

"Maybe not," Elsie assured hurriedly. "It's just... there's no reason for this many photographers to be on this side of the set."

"Really?"

Elsie nodded. "Film sets attract some paparazzi, usually. Or maybe photographers from fansites. But in this area?" She nodded in the direction of the crowd of cameras that kept growing. "There's nothing to see from here but the crew. There's a reason for this. There has to be."

Then, right on cue, a voice rang shrilly through the air with the accompaniment of clicking camera shutters.

"Camilla, my dear!" her voice rang out over the crowd, and Camilla felt herself tense immediately at the sound.

"Oh shit," Elsie murmured, looking over Camilla's shoulder.

Camilla straightened her posture and schooled her face to show not even a shred of emotion, before carefully turning around.

"Blaire," she stated simply, her tone as plain as her facial expression.

Blaire looked at her pointedly. "Oh, dear, how many times do I have to tell you? Don't call me by my first name. Other people might think that I didn't teach you any manners. Oh, and smile a little more, would you? You look much cuter when you do. Besides, I didn't invite all these photographers to take passport photos of you."

She laughed at her own joke before she turned to Elsie, and her expression immediately switched to a friendly persona. "And hello, dear! You probably recognize me, but I bet you didn't know I'm Camilla's mother, did you? Not many people can tell we're related, so I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't realize; she didn't get a lot of my looks, unfortunately."

Camilla felt a wave of anger rolling off Elsie, but it didn't show at all with her award-winning smile shining on her face.

"Elsie Bates," Elsie said, politely shaking Blaire's offered hand. "I can't believe I'm finally meeting you."

"Well, I heard my lovely daughter would be in town so I thought I'd stop by to say hi." She turned to Camilla. "And can you believe that? I had to find out you were in town from the director? What, you didn't want to see your own mother? After everything I've done for you?"

"I'm working," Camilla said seriously, knowing it wouldn't make a difference.

"Well, if I was still in the business, I would be able to make time for my family. And this is why I keep saying you need to move up, dear, so you can just do whatever you want. And you can make more money, of course. And you could finally get yourself assigned here, instead of LA and all of the trashy wannabes that live there."

Blaire turned back to Elsie. "Back in the day, I used to be in your position, sweetheart, out in the limelight in front of all those cameras. Even won a few awards too." She sighed forlornly. "Unfortunately, I had to give it all up to settle down, but sometimes you have to make sacrifices for family." Blaire glanced at Camilla. "Right, sweetie?"

Camilla said nothing and simply let her eyes pass over the crowd of photographers without actually seeing anything. Hopefully, they wouldn't get attacked just then because Camilla's focus was nowhere to be found.

"Sometimes, I wish my daughter would've followed in my footsteps," Blaire continued. "But I suppose I have to settle with her being a guardian. She could still do it though—get into acting. It's not too late. I would support her, of course; I still have all my connections too. Although, it would help if she was a little taller..." Blaire laughed lightly. "She takes after her father, you see."

"Dad was taller than you," Camilla sternly interjected, not letting Blaire get away with criticizing her dad.

But Blaire waved her off. "Oh, of course I know that, dear. I meant his parents, you know that."

Then, to Elsie, "I was hoping she would pull more from my family, but I guess sometimes, you just can't escape genetics, you know? Unfortunately, most of his family is on the shorter side. I didn't know that when I first met him, or else I would've found someone else right away."

She laughed again, then leaned closer to Elsie as if she was going to tell her a big secret, and Camilla wanted nothing more than to shove her away. "One of Camilla's cousins is actually on the taller side, but that's only because her mother slept around like some—"

"Mom," Camilla forced herself to say, since it was the only way she knew to get Blaire's attention. "Really, we both have to get back to work." She tilted her head towards the crowd of photographers. "We can't have the public think we're slacking off on our jobs."

Using the public's opinion of them as an excuse worked like a charm, and Blaire backed off immediately.

"Right, well, I have to run anyway," Blaire said, checking her phone. "I have appointments for my hair and nails in a bit. Camilla dear, I'll text you when I'm done, and you can let me know where you are, okay?"

There was no way Camilla could agree to that. "We'll see," she said instead.

After Camilla let Blaire give her a quick hug, then glaring at her back when she forced a hug onto Elsie as well, she managed to let out a shaky breath as the woman finally hurried off through the set, waving at the cameras as she left.

"That's probably the longest conversation I've been in where I only said like five words," Elsie said with her eyes following Blaire's retreating figure.

"That tends to happen," Camilla replied bitterly. She hoped her words would come off as nonchalant, but her discomfort was audible in her voice. "Sorry."

"For what?" Elsie held a hand above Camilla's upper arm, giving her a chance to move away. When Camilla didn't, she put her hand on Camilla's arm and squeezed gently. "Are you going to be alright?"

Camilla breathed in shakily, but managed a short nod. She had no idea how that woman always managed to make her feel like a child again, but she hated it.

"I'll finish this up quickly, okay?" Elsie grinned slyly, then added dramatically, "I'll give them an award-winning performance of me going about my life in the city, waiting for my one true love to return to my awaiting heart."

Her joke was ridiculous, but it did manage to get a weak half-smile from Camilla. With her mission accomplished, Elsie smiled triumphantly and went back to work.

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