Emma woke up to the sound of traffic outside. The sudden burst of honks made her jump out of bed with a small squeal. She clutched her chest, heart beating rapidly, a cold sweat on her forehead. She still wasn't used to city life yet. The country had been nice and quiet in the mornings. She would wake to the sounds of birds, not cars. Emma pushed her hair out of her face and exhaled, walking over to the small kitchen.

The apartment that she had bought was rather crammed, with only one tiny bathroom which also held her drier and washer. The bed was in the living room, and a small TV was in the corner. Her front door was only a few feet always from her bed, and a tiny window was located to the right of it. It was tiny, which Emma didn't like, but it was better than nothing.

She walked over to the calendar and crossed off another day. Only five more days until the Metroman Museum opened. She had wanted to go ever since she had discovered that Metro City had a superhero. She had yet to hear about the city's supervillain. She tossed the pen on her bed and opened the window, poking her head outside. The city air blew her curls around her face. Her apartment was on the twentieth floor, so she was very high up. At least, if she turned her head, she had a great view of the Museum, which was nearly finished.

The phone from inside the kitchen suddenly let out a high pitch ring, causing Emma to jump, hitting her head on the window. She was jumpy around all the loud noises here. She rubbed her head and shut the window, running into the kitchen and grabbing the phone.

"Emma Ember here, may I ask who is calling?" she asked.

"Good morning Miss Ember, this is Herman Keller." Emma paused. She didn't know any 'Herman', but he apparently knew her. This made her a little uneasy. Herman must have read her mind because he added, "I'm the one that you sent the Metroman audition to." He explained. Emma blushed.

"Oh!" she said, fumbling with the phone. "Right!" She was still at a loss of why she had sent the video and why this man was calling her.

"I am calling you to tell you that Metroman has taken a liking to you had has picked you to replace Roxanne." Emma blinked, mouth open. When she had sent the footage it was like entering a sweepstakes, it was just something to do, something to try and win. But that was what came to a shock to her. She had actually won this.

"Really?" she said, sitting down on one of the chairs.

"Really Miss Ember." Herman said. Emma placed a hand to her forehead and tried to think clearly.

"So," she said, trying to get her bearings. "What does that mean?" She heard Herman sigh on the other side of the phone.

"It means that you make appearances with him and uh, do whatever comes along with being a superhero's girlfriend." Herman said, coughing as he did so. He wasn't telling her something, but Emma was not in the position to pester Herman. "However," Herman said sternly, "We would prefer that you didn't mention your relationship with Metroman. We plan to 'unveil' that particular fact at the Metroman Museum opening."

Emma nodded her head, and then realized that Herman could not see her. Instead she said, "Is there some kind of…training I go through?" She asked, feeling stupid in doing so." She heard Herman laugh on the other side of the conversation.

"Miss Ember you are already everything Metroman needs. And you don't need training on looking beautiful. I saw your audition tape." Emma paused at this compliment which had come out of nowhere. Herman was silent as well, realizing what he had said. He cleared his throat. "Pardon me, that was, uh," he stopped. Emma blushed, not sure how to break the awkward pause. But Herman gratefully did that for her. "But you will need to go through a briefing about some rules and such," he said, clearing his throat. "Can you meet me at the Metro News station?" he asked.

"Sure," Emma said.

"I would say about noon, you should have a lunch break by then." He said.

"Mmm-hmm." Emma said, rubbing her arms.

"Until then Miss Ember." Herman said.

"Good-bye." Emma said. She hung up and let out a lot of air she had been holding in. That was one way to start the morning. She shook herself. She was going to be late if she didn't hurry. She quickly got changed into a pair of jeans and a white pea coat over a blue tank top. She then tied a blue ribbon in her blonde curls. Grabbing a piece of toast Emma smiled at her reflection, blue eyes bright and she headed out the door.

Emma worked at the police station which was a few blocks away. It was a large building with tall, bullet proof windows, filled with offices. She worked near the front in the 'Criminal Recognition Center'. This was where victims would come in with a description of a robber or some other criminal. It was Emma's job to draw these descriptions.

"Morning Mary!" she said, pushing the door to her office open. Mary looked up and smiled.

"Five more days!" she squealed. Emma smiled, sitting down at her desk. Mary was 'Metroman's number one fan'. That was how Emma had heard about the footage contest. Mary had forced her to enter with her. Emma felt guilty about winning, Mary had been so passionate about it.

"We have to go together." Mary said, spinning over to Emma, who was opening her drawers, looking for a new file. Emma bit her lip.

"Well, I'm actually kind of going with someone Mary." She said. Mary, however, did not look discouraged at all.

"Oh my gosh! You have a date!" she shrieked. Emma winced, still smiling.

"Kind of." She said, distracting herself by flipping through her sketch book. Mary jumped up and down, clapping her hands.

"You've only been here and week and you've got a date!" she said. "Please tell me Emma!" she begged, tugging on Emma's coat. "It's someone from the office isn't it!" she said. Emma laughed, pushing Mary off her shoulder.

"No! And I'm not telling you." She said. Mary pouted and was about to open her mouth to protest when Detective Cole walked into the office. Detective Cole was a tall, broad man who always wore his police uniform. He was in charge of Emma and Mary and few others in their section of the office. Mary quickly ran back to her desk under the strict gaze of Detective Cole. He shook his head and turned to Emma.

"Ah, Miss Ember." He said, turning to Emma. "I have a field assignment for you today." Mary gasped.

"You're so lucky!" she whispered. Criminal Artists usually didn't have field jobs at all. Detective Cole shot a glance at Mary that quickly shut her up.

"Anyway," he said. "We have a witness that has a face for you." Emma straightened up.

"Great, what time can he come in?" she asked, opening her schedule.

"Actually, you'll need to go to him." He said. Emma gave him a quizzical look.

"What? Is he an untouchable rich boy?" Mary asked. Detective Cole raised his eyebrows.

"Well, he is untouchable at the moment." He said.

"How?" Emma asked, growing interested.

"He's in jail." He said. Emma's face went pale. Detective Cole smiled. "Did I scare the new girl?" he said. Emma pressed her lips together. She didn't like the idea of going to jail and talking to a criminal, but Cole bullying her seemed worse. Emma stood up and tucked her sketch pad under her arm.

"When can we leave?" She asked. She wasn't going to be scared away.