The plane carrying Ronda and Clementine to Pittsburgh for their visit to one of the city's biggest fire stations had just taken off. They were settled into their seats next to each other for the two hour flight. The WWE Network film crew who would be documenting their ceremonial presentation of the half a million dollars that was being donated to a firefighter charity would be meeting them at the fire station. After the presentation, Ronda and Clem would be moving on to start their fire training as a part of their documentary.
"I expected to be feeling kind of nervous by now," Clementine said. "But actually, I'm looking forward to it. Between you and Lexi, you've convinced me that I'm going to do fine with this fire training. At least I'm going with someone who's confident about it. That's a big help."
"Like I've said before, we'll be fine," Ronda promised. "And you're right, I am confident. I figure that now I've been face to face with a shark for a TV show, there's not much reason to get nervous about anything else that gets thrown at me."
"I don't know how you were able to do that," Clementine said with a little shake of her head. "I watched the show and I was blown away by the size of the sharks, and the courage you showed to be in the water with them. You have no fear, girl. It must have been breath-taking to see them up close, though."
Ronda nodded. "It was. I couldn't even put it into words. You should give it a go, Clem. Hey, we could pitch it to Hunter as an idea for a follow up show to this firefighter thing, if it all goes to plan."
"Wait a minute," Clem said with a surprised smile. "You're suggesting I get in the water with sharks? Dude, I can't even dive. I've never tried anything like that."
"Neither had I before I went on the Shark Week show," Ronda said, making it sound like it wasn't a problem at all. "They spent time teaching me to dive first. We started in a pool at my hotel. Honestly, it was great fun." Ronda's eyes lit up as she finished her thought. "If we did this, I could come with you. We could have a whole series of Ronda and Clem shows where we do thrilling shit like this."
"I have to admit, that does sound awesome," Clem said, smiling broadly. "Ronda and Clementine: Bungee jumping off the Empire State Building, or something like that. Let's see how long it takes us to get ourselves killed."
Ronda laughed. "I don't know about jumping off buildings, but I'm serious about the shark diving. It's one of the best and most rewarding experiences I've had in my life. I'm not trying to pressure you into it, but please consider it. Maybe talk it over with Lexi?"
"It would be a big challenge," Clem said thoughtfully, to herself as much as to Ronda. "But the way things are going, I'm going to have to get used to challenges."
"Oh, intrigue!" Ronda said, raising her eyebrows. "What do you mean by that?"
Clementine seemed surprised for a second at what she had let slip out, then sighed. She spent a moment looking out of the window before answering the question. "There goes that secret," she muttered. "I've never been good at keeping my mouth shut."
"Probably a good thing for a commentator," Ronda chuckled.
Turning back to face her, Clem managed a smile. "Good point. But I wasn't supposed to let on about this yet, so keep it to yourself. Hunter talked me into starting training so that I can wrestle at some point in the future."
"Oh my God!" Ronda exclaimed in delight. "Clem! You're going to wrestle? That's beyond awesome! But I thought you were against the idea of getting in the ring? I remember how quick you were to dismiss it as an idea when Hunter spoke to us about this firefighter stuff."
"He's been trying to sell me on it for a while," Clem revealed. "He kept telling me that while there's no doubt I'm a fantastic commentator, he can see a bigger future for me in WWE than that. He thinks my mic work would be the best in the business, that I have a unique look that would be perfect for a character, and that with some training I have a genuine shot at becoming a wrestler."
"I can't argue with any of that," Ronda smiled. "You said Hunter has talked you into it. Have you started training yet?"
"No. I'm down in Florida the week after next. Understandably, he wanted us to finish up the filming we're about to start first. When I say Hunter talked me into it, that's not actually true. It was Lexi who persuaded me to accept. I think you and I talked once before about wrestling and I said I didn't have the drive to train hard enough to be a wrestler."
"I remember," Ronda nodded.
"Well, Lexi convinced me that once I got into the regime of training it would become easier than I imagine, and she promised we'll always do our workouts together and she'll help me if I start struggling as well."
"I love the way you guys are with each other," Ronda said. "Blissentine for life."
Clementine laughed at that. "Thanks, Ronda. That means so much to me. We're very happy together, that's all I can say."
A mischievous grin appeared on Ronda's face. "Imagine if they created tag title belts? I can see Blissentine as champions."
"Now that really is something to think about," Clem said, eyes widened slightly. "I'm sure it'll never happen, but there's nothing wrong with dreaming, right?"
"Absolutely right," Ronda said.
As the plane cruised above the clouds on its way to Pennsylvania, the conversation turned to events in the more immediate future.
For the purposes of the WWE Network, Ronda and Clementine's arrival at the fire station in Pittsburgh had been delayed for a few minutes. The film crew had been in contact with their driver and asked him to wait until they were set up and ready to start shooting.
Now, the black saloon car was pulling up in front of the station, with several different cameras focused on it. In addition to the film crew, two men were waiting for the ladies. One was an absolute unit of a man, who had to be six and half feet tall. He was wearing the shirt, pants and boots of a firefighter's uniform. Ronda quickly figured out that he had to be the Battalion Chief they had been told they would be meeting. The other man was wearing a T-shirt with the logo of the Firefighters Foundation – the charity that was receiving the half a million dollar donation. He was there to accept the large presentation cheque that WWE had produced for the occasion. The film crew had brought that with them.
Clementine was first out of the car, as ever wearing a cap. She respectfully removed it for the introductions. "Hi, I'm Clementine," she said with a pleasant smile, offering her hand to the chief.
"Nice to meet you, Clementine," he said, giving her a firm handshake. "I'm Chief Piekarski. You'll be filming and training with my department."
"Can't wait to get started," Clem said. With that, she moved on to meet the representative from the charity, whose name was Neil. Meanwhile, Ronda introduced herself to Piekarski.
Once the introductions had been completed, one of the film crew brought the presentation cheque over. All four people were to be filmed and photographed holding it – Ronda and Clementine at one end and the two men at the other.
"Thank you again for this," Neil said to Ronda. "We're eternally grateful to WWE and to everyone on Team Raw who won this donation for us. You guys got it over the line. You played incredibly."
"That was all this one," Ronda said, putting an arm around Clem's shoulders. "Those last three holes, I don't think anyone could have lived with the shots she was pulling out."
"I'm just glad we won as a team," Clem said humbly. "And I'm really pleased that the money will go to help injured firefighters and their families. I had never thought about it until I heard which charity had been selected, but it's such a good cause."
"Amen to that," Ronda said.
The presentation was made, with the moment captured on photograph and video. It would be well received by WWE's fans, who had been asking to see more of the Ronda and Clementine team. That was the reason Hunter had come up with the idea of the documentary involving the fire training and the trips on a fire truck during real emergency call outs.
With the presentation complete, it was time for everyone to say goodbye to Neil.
"Okay then, who's ready to start training?" Chief Piekarski asked, clapping his hands together to signify getting down to business.
"Both of us," Ronda said excitedly, with Clem simultaneously confirming that she was up for it.
"Then follow me," Piekarski said, turning to lead them into the station, with the cameramen in turn following the ladies, even though more cameras were set up inside. "The timing of your visit is perfect. We've got a new recruit who only joined us yesterday. She's still a week or so away from being assigned to active duty, but she'll be helping me take you through this first stage of your training."
"Oh, awesome," Ronda said. "I was hoping there would at least be one woman on the crew."
As she was speaking, they rounded the back of one of the four fire engines that were parked in the station. In front of them was a large row of lockers beside a staircase that led to the upstairs areas of the station. In front of the lockers, a couple of tables had been pushed together to form a longer table. On it were two complete sets of firefighter kit.
"All set, Purrazzo?" the chief asked the young, attractive, dark haired trainee firefighter who was standing beside the table.
"Yes, sir. Two complete sets of turnout gear, as requested."
"Excellent," Piekarski said. He gestured to the two women beside him to introduce them. "This is Ronda, and this is Clementine."
"Hi, I'm Deonna. Pleased to meet you," the trainee said with a warm smile.
Ronda and Clem returned greetings.
The chief had moved over to the table. He picked up a shirt and a pair of pants identical to those worn by himself and Deonna, and handed them to Clem. Another set went to Ronda. "First things first," he said. "Deonna's going to take you upstairs, where you can change into those. Then you're going to come back down and we'll get you started on your first little test: putting on a full set of gear."
"Can't wait," Clementine said, showing no sign of nerves at all so far.
"This way," Deonna said pleasantly on her way to the stairs.
A few minutes later, all three women were back downstairs, now in matching outfits. The shirts had surnames on the right side of the chest, apart from Clem's, which said Clementine because of the fact that her surname was not used in WWE. Ronda and Clem both had their hair down, and for once Clem wasn't wearing a cap.
"You're starting to look like firefighters already," the chief pronounced with satisfaction. He was standing by Clementine's side of the table, with Deonna on Ronda's side. "We're now going to help you get into your full turnout gear for the first time. Then, this afternoon we'll have you handling some of the basic equipment."
"Will we get to put out a fire at any point?" Ronda was dying to know.
To her delight, Piekarski nodded. "That's what we're working up to. This time next week, you'll be in a smoke-filled building putting out a fire."
Ronda and Clementine looking at each other with smiles containing both excitement and a hint of trepidation.
"But first things first," the chief said. "Let's start with your boots." He picked up Ronda's pair and plonked them on the edge of the table in front of her. Deonna did the same for Clementine.
"How much does all of this weigh when you've got it all on?" Clem asked as she set about putting her boots on.
"Between forty five and seventy five pounds, depending on the exact equipment you're carrying."
Ronda found herself thinking that was a serious amount of weight to have on you when you were working in the appalling conditions that firefighters sometimes had to contend with.
Over the next few minutes, they were issued with a fireproof jacket, hood, helmet, flashlight, radio and gloves. They were shown how to attach the lights and radios to their jackets.
"How do I look?" Clem asked Ronda with a little smile.
"Badass," came the reply. "How about me?"
"Like a real firefighter," Clem said.
"But we're not done yet," Piekarski pointed out. An air tank and breathing apparatus was still standing on each table. "Now, we need to show you how to put on the breathing apparatus, and how it works."
The explanation began with how to correctly and safely get the air tanks onto their backs. It was pretty familiar to Ronda, who had used similar equipment for diving on her Shark Week show.
"Everything clear?" the chief asked when he had finished his little walk through, and showed then how to check how much air was remaining in their tank.
"Yes," Clem said seriously, now looking a little nervous for the first time.
Ronda wanted to reach out and give her hand a reassuring squeeze, but she feared embarrassing her friend. Instead, she nodded her own confirmation to Piekarski.
"Alright, helmets off for a moment, ladies. It's now time to get your masks on. First, we make sure the air is flowing to them correctly." He and Deonna showed them how to open a valve on the side of the mask to check that. They were both rewarded with a loud hiss.
"You're good," Purrazzo smiled.
"Do you want to talk them through putting the masks on?" the chief offered her.
"I would love to, sir." She picked up a spare mask to put on herself, to demonstrate how to do it correctly. Before beginning, she had a question. "Are either of you claustrophobic? Because if you are, you might find this a little uncomfortable to begin with."
"I've worn something similar for diving," Ronda explained.
"I'll be okay," Clementine said, sounding not entirely convinced.
With a satisfied nod, Purrazzo showed them how to put their masks on and secure them with an airtight seal using several straps.
"Helmets back on, and you're done," the chief pronounced.
Ronda put her helmet on and turned to face Clementine, who had just done the same. She could tell by Clem's eyes that there was a smile behind her mask. "Okay, Clem?" she asked, her voice sounding muffled and odd.
"Yeah!" came the ecstatic reply.
The two women walked towards each other and shared an awkward hug. The first test had been a fairly simple one, but they had passed it.
A/N: Thank you to those who left a review last time.
Next time, we'll be seeing our girls working together to put out a fire, and they'll be going on a real emergency call out. How do you think that will go?
We learned that Clem has been talked into starting wrestling training in Orlando. Who is interested in a future story following on from this one with Clem as the star, where we follow her in-ring career? Let me know your thoughts!