Thursday, August 6, 2009 – 7:14am – Hotel 71; Gotham City, New Jersey

"Hey, are you sure you want me to drop you off 'ere?" the cab driver asked from the front seat, drawing Ana from her phone in the back.

"Huh-?" she blurted, but her eyes quickly found the source of the cabbie's confusion. In front of several cars in front of them was a barricade of police cars blocking the street. A few vans also clogged up the street, parked carelessly as their drivers either hovered around outside or remained impatiently in their vehicles.

"This street's a mess. Are you sure you want out 'ere?" he repeated impatiently.

Ana opened her mouth to reply, but hesitated—until she spotted a familiar face. "Yes, here's fine. How much?"

"$12.70."

She quickly handed him a twenty and slipped out of the cab. The cool fall air hit her harder than when she left her warm hotel, making her tighten her coat around her as she skipped onto the sidewalk and made a bee-line towards Edward, who was hovering around the barricade looking irate.

"Ana—" Edward blurted when he irately glanced sideways to suddenly find her approaching. He quickly tried to remedy his tone as he grabbed her arm and pulled her a couple of paces away from the director and the two men he was speaking—yelling at. "You should probably wait—"

"Look, Mr. Nolan," the largest, scruffiest man of the group bellowed—his natural speaking level could be classified as a natural 'outside voice.' "It ain't possible! Do you want a bunch of loonies—"

"Detective Bullock," the smallest man of the group interrupted with a voice that seemed too large for him, "that's enough." Returning his attention to the director, the older man continued in a quieter tone, his eyes hidden behind thick, square-rimmed glasses looking more tired than frustrated, "We're sorry, Mr. Nolan, but we can't take the risk. You need to understand the danger here—"

"Then leave a few squad cars here or something," Edward suddenly interrupted, seeming to appear at Chris's side without Ana noticing his departure from hers. As surprised as she was at his sudden disappearance, she was even more surprised at the lack of reaction from the director towards a minor staff member speaking on his behalf. In fact, it didn't even seem to faze him, as if they were old friends.

"Mr. Enygma—"

"Look, how long is all of this going to take?"

"It could be days or months—"

"Our shooting deadline is the first of the year," Edward interrupted for the third time, clearly irritating the larger man of the quadruplet. "And assuming all is well in a month or so, we still have the allotted days for snowfall."

"So?" the larger cop finally spoke up, his Jersey sneer not belonging in the conversation.

"We will postpone production for now, but if all of this isn't cleared up in a month, we have to resume shooting. Unless Gotham City would like to pay for the cost of the production, in which case it would be up to the city what to do with it," Eddie skillfully suggested.

The cop in charge sighed as he adjusted his glasses, his thick moustache twitching in contempt. "We'll keep you both posted. Mr. Nolan, Mr. Enygma."

And then they both were off, retreating to their separate unmarked Fords.

"Ana," Eddie suddenly called once he finished watching the officers get into their vehicles. "Walk with me."

Out of curiosity for what was going on, she didn't even bother to pester him for the tone of his command. Instead she fell right into step with him as he headed for the various groups of crew members scattered about the area.

"The local asylum had a breakout last night. The police are trying to shut the entire city down until they catch the most dangerous of the bunch. Including this entire production," Edward filled in as they powerwalked.

"Can they do that?"

"Technically, no. But they can hinder us all they want."

"Why are they trying to shut it down?"

Edward signed, "They believe we are a major target of the 'loonies' because of our subject matter."

"Because we're making a movie about Batman."

Eddie glanced sideways at her, a small smirk present. "Precisely."

"Why do I get the feeling that production isn't going to be postponed?" Ana questioned when they approached the nearest van—the camera crew.

Again, a smile returned to his face, lighting up his green hues. "I think you're a little too sharp to be an actress. The money bags behind this production won't accept delays."

"So what about filming?"

"We'll remain indoors—and under the radar."

Thursday, August 6, 2009 – 3:04pm – Warner Brothers Studios-Gotham; Gotham City, New Jersey

Dozens of people milled around, giving Ana prime opportunity to people watch while she lounged in one of the few directors chairs scattered about. With her hair tied back in a loose bun again, the sparkling navy dress flowing over her crossed legs, she rested her chin on her hand, eyeing the crowd. All dressed just as fancily, they were clustered into groups. Mostly girls with girls, guys with guys—friends with friends. Then there were the rare, awkward extras who had just jumped into a pack, the ones who were flying solo.

She hadn't done much extra work, diving straight into the photography scene before luckily landing her first role on Buddies. But she'd seen and met plenty of them. Some were there for fun, others for the chance to be in a movie, and others still for the free food, credit, and occasional pay—the starving actors and actresses.

Aaron and Christian's stunt doubles caught her eye, both of them laughin off to the side as they practiced fake sleeper hold techniques with the stunt director. She smiled as she watched, remembering when she and Travis would do the same thing—only with real sleeper holds.

"Alright everyone," Chris's assistant suddenly shouted above the talkative crowd, silencing everyone instantly. "We're finishing up for today. Tomorrow we'll be back here. Keep to your timelines." The general noise rose again when he signaled he was done by flipping the notebook that was in his hand shut.

Ana didn't move when everyone else scattered. They grabbed their things, changed, chatted, milled around and left, all in different orders.

Edward approached her while she waited for the rush to leave. "So, what are the plans for tonight?"

"I am Gotham-ed out. I think I'm just going to go pass out tonight," she laughed, slinking out of her chair finally.

As she headed back towards the dressing rooms to change and get her bag, he followed her like a lost puppy. "What about just dinner tonight?"

She hesitated, slinging the bag over her shoulder. "I suppose I could do early dinner. As in, four o'clock dinner."

He chuckled, "Of course, of course. You're the starlet, I cater to your needs."

Thursday, August 6, 2009 – 6:27pm – The Ritz-Carlton Hotel; Gotham City, New Jersey

The cab pulled up to the front of the hotel and the valets opened the vehicle doors for both Edward and herself.

"If you've got it, you want to share it. If you share it, you haven't got it. What is it?" Edward asked over the car as he circled around it to rejoin her at her side.

They had actually had a wonderful dinner, talking a little about work, a lot about life, and a few jokes thrown in between. Eddie could really make her laugh, that was for sure. On the cab ride home, he started trying out riddles to entertain them.

She thought about the newest riddle for a hot second, taking his arm as he offered it, before offering a smug grin, "Secrets don't make friends."

He laughed, his emerald eyes sparking, "Indeed they don't." They strolled into the lobby, heading towards the elevators. "You know, Ana, you can tell me anything."

This time she laughed, "I feel like I already have. I'm an open book, for the most part."

Once they got into the elevator, Ana moved to unhook her arm from his to press the correct floor. Her right fingers hit the button while her left hand got caught—Edward had grabbed it as the elevator doors slid shut. "That's what I like about you," he muttered, his voice suddenly husky, his eyes lustful, his overall demeanor completely different from anything she'd ever seen from him before. He yanked her close to pin her against the wall of the elevator, his breath hot on her neck.

Even though she was confused as all hell, her adrenaline spiked, and her senses became abruptly focused at the sudden threat. Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "Edward," she warned.

"I know you want me," he uttered in reply, his grip on her tight and painful. "You make it so obvious."

She was still confused as hell about where he was getting all of this, and why the hell he was even acting like this. This was completely out of character for the man she thought she had come to know over the past few days. The man who worked for her.

She brought up her knee sharply and snapped her elbow out when he kneeled over, just missing his nose but hitting him hard enough in the face to leave an impression. "What the hell, Eddie…" she muttered breathlessly while he withered in pain. The elevator doors slid open, and she slipped out, easily leaving her "friend" behind to head back to her room.