Penny and Weiss had arrived on Truck 201 just minutes after Ambulance 201 arrived. They immediately stepped off the truck with their masks on as they attached their low-pressure tubes to their belt regulators to go on air. The 2 then dragged an 1 3/4-inch crosslay hand line from Truck 201 and stretched it into the building, their mission to back up the first line that was already into the building with Goodwill firefighters and Ruby.

As they both squatted as they walked, Penny said to Weiss, "There seems to be an awfully large amount of smoke, Weiss."

"Yeah," Weiss said as she pencilled the ceiling before advancing the hand line in further past a burning reception desk before turning the hose on it as well. "I began to notice that myself." She could see the hand line dragged in by Ruby and the two Goodwill firefighters on the floor, but just barely due to the smoke.

Suddenly, the smoke became even more intense, resulting in Weiss not even being able to see Penny ahead of her. Penny yelled, "This is getting bad! This is getting real bad!"

Weiss immediately radioed, "Truck 201 interior to Vigilant Command."

"Car 5, go ahead, Weiss."

"The smoke just got darker! I can't even see Firefighter Polendina ahead of me!" Then, Weiss began to slowly realize something. "You might wanna tell Incident Command about this!"

"10-4, Car 5 to Incident Command."

"District 2 Chief, go ahead, Car 5."

"The smoke inside is getting too thick! Our guys can't even see their own partners right in front of them."

Then, Ruby frantically radioed, "Everyone, get the hell out! It's gonna flash soon!"

Weiss then yelled to Penny, "It's gonna fucking flash over! Penny, we need to go, now!"

"I was just about to say that myself," Penny replied as she turned around.

Incident Command then urgently radioed, "All engineers, blast your vehicles' air horns. All volunteer officers outside the building, blast your bugles. I want everyone out of that God damn building!"

Weiss and Penny immediately dropped the line and began rapidly crawling out of the building the same way they came as they heard the vehicles outside blast their air horns as well as 3 bugles outside began playing the Retreat call.

At the same time, Ruby and the two Goodwill firefighters, much deeper into the building than Weiss and Penny, had actually begun to stand up and run towards the exit, occasionally bumping into objects along the way and doing so despite the oppressive heat. Ruby yelled, "Stay together! Don't get lost! Follow the hand line!"

A Goodwill firefighter yelled at the other, "Just leave the fucking hand line in the building! We can replace it!"

Eventually, Weiss and Penny stumbled out first as 6 fire patrolmen came down a ground ladder that went to the 3rd floor, where they had been laying canvas tarps to protect expensive computers and office supplies from smoke and water damage.

Ruby and the two Goodwill firefighters stumbled out themselves about a minute later, having ran out of the building. Then, just as Ruby ran from the building, her SCBA still on and sweating profusely, the building flashed, with her just 10 feet from the entrance.

Every ounce of smoke pouring from the building turned into intense flames, blinding some of the firefighters watching, as the force of the flashover forced Ruby onto the ground as searing heat overcame her. Immediately, 2 hand lines opened up and began spraying down the front as Penny, Weiss, George, and Winter all ran over to help Ruby up.

Penny rolled Ruby over onto her side and dragged her further away from the building as Winter ripped her helmet off and threw it to the side, not caring if it broke. George ripped Ruby's mask off as Weiss turned her SCBA off and began undoing the straps. Ruby weakly said, "I'm fine..."

Weiss replied, "We're just making sure, Rubes. Do you feel any burns or discomfort on your back?"

"I do," Ruby replied as Penny and George took her SCBA off completely and laid it down next to her as a paid firefighter-paramedic that had rode with Ruby ran over with a stretcher and a medical bag.

Winter told the paid firemedic, "I think she has minor burns on her back."

"She sure does," Penny replied as she pulled up Ruby's coat and the shirt underneath it, revealing minor burns to her back from the intense outdoor heat. "Nothing some minor treatment won't fix, though. Probably'll have to replace the coat and maybe the boots, though."

March 24, 2021

"So," Winter asked as Ruby put on a new coat and a new pair of hip boots at around 5 P.M. "How does the new gear feel?" It looked just like her old gear, except slightly more clean.

"Not much different," Ruby replied. "I can't believe I lasted just 9 months with my old set. I'm not even off probation yet." She then laughed.

"Same. I don't think I've ever seen a probie burn out their old gear in the almost 17 years I've been here." Winter then grabbed a clipboard with paper on it to write down the serial numbers of the new gear Ruby had. "Alright, you said you wanted to receive driver training, right?"

"Correct," Ruby replied as she took her new gear off to put it away. "I assume your dad's coming tonight to start training?"

"I'm here," Hermann said as he entered the firehouse. "Firefighter Rose, are you ready to start driving?"

Ruby replied as she walked over to him, "I am. I just gotta grab my helmet, my gloves, and my mask bag, and I'll be all set."

"Alrighty," Hermann replied as he walked over to his gear locker to grab his own gear. He then turned to Winter, saying, "Winter, dear, can you tell Weiss I'll be out driving with Ruby?"

"I will, father." Winter then headed for the stairs to prepare for the company meeting and training drill at 6.

Then, Hermann got a phone call. He answered it immediately, recognizing it as an SDC number. He answered, "Hello?"

The male voice on the other end said, "This is Hermann Schnee, correct?"

Hermann immediately paused, recognizing the voice. "Wait... Don't tell me you're her kid... What's up?"

"I'm in Vale now," the voice replied. "I want to join the VFC. My mom died about 2 years ago, as you may know, and I'm gonna start a new life in Vale, and the first stop I want to make is your firehouse."

Hermann replied, "I highly recommend you don't do that. Weiss and Winter know of the affair, but not of your existence. They'll both be pissed if they do."

"I understand," replied the voice. "But you know of the promise you made to my mom after the affair ended and you and your wife became un-separated, right? You said that you would look after her family, did you not?"

The now visibly worried Hermann paused before saying, "Fine. I'll have to break it to the girls tonight after the company meeting then. I have to go, Whitley." He then hung up.

Ruby lied and told him, "I wasn't listening."

"Bullshit you weren't," Hermann replied. "I'll talk about it later. Let's just get to engineer training, Ruby."

"What the hell do you mean your affair produced a kid?!" Weiss was visibly angry at her father after the company meeting and training drill as Winter looked on in discomfort. "Me and Winter knew all about you and mom having affairs while you two were separated, but why didn't you tell us you actually had a son with Maria?!"

"I didn't tell anyone because I knew it would tear our family apart just as we were getting back together," Hermann replied in a stern voice. "The separation of me and your mom put me on thin ice with not just the rest of our family, but the entire corporation at large. Can you imagine how everyone would react if it came out that I had a biracial son with a faunus servant?!"

Weiss paused and considered her father's argument. "I understand that. Our apparent half-brother's race shouldn't be an issue, but it was, and it still kind of is. Grandpa really screwed us over, huh?"

"Admittedly so," Hermann replied. "He's the biggest reason why our company has had such difficulties with race. He was a great father and grandfather, but good God, were his views on race antiquated at best."

"This still irks me," Winter said to the two of them. "I don't know why. I understand why you hid it, and to be honest, I would too if I were in your shoes, but this still bothers me, father."

"To be honest, I'd be irked too in your shoes." Hermann then signed. "I really don't have any objections to Whitley joining the fire company, though, despite all this, so I guess we'll have to let him in."

March 28, 2021

"So," Ghost Pyrrha said to Weiss in her apartment at around 9 at night. "You're asking me to prove to you how I'm not just a figment of your mind trying to cope with the trauma you've suffered, with my death in that car accident 2 years ago being just the tip of the iceberg?"

"Yep," Weiss smugly replied as she drank from a vodka bottle. "I'm outta service until the morning with the alcohol I'm gonna be drinking, so lay at it."

Pyrrha then moved a vase on the kitchen table towards Weiss. "There, I moved something. Why are you doing this?"

"Do you remember that secret you told me about your abortion at Beacon?"

Pyrrha's facial expression became tense as she replied, "Don't you fucking dare ask Jaune about it! Why do you want to prove it so badly?!"

"I want to prove what I heard from you true in my mind," Weiss replied before taking another sip of vodka. "Listen, I just learned I have a fucking half-brother, so I'm on a roll." She then laughed. "I might as well add more drama."

Pyrrha angrily told her, "You don't care about Jaune, do you? Why do you want to hurt him by asking that?"

Weiss's attitude completely changed. She immediately stood up and pointed at Pyrrha, telling her, "Don't EVER fucking say I don't care about Jaune, Pyrrha! He's the sweetest and nicest man I've ever met in my life! He was the first boy to actually like me for me rather than my family and wealth!" She then paused. "Every day, EVERY GOD DAMN DAY, I kick myself for not knowing that sooner. I kick myself for thinking he was shallow enough to only admire me for my money. Look, I keep no secrets from him, none, and I know he doesn't either. Besides, I'm not going to angrily confront him about your pregnancy scare, Pyrrha. So, I'm going to tell you one last time, don't tell me I don't care about Jaune."

Pyrrha, speechless, paused for a while. Then, she said, "You're right. I let my emotions get the best of me, even in death. I still remember when I accidentally threw Jaune onto a wall before the Battle of Beacon. Not my proudest moment, obviously." She then signed. "You know, we really are more in common than we think. The boy, or as I should say, man, we both love saw past our facades. For you, it was your wealth, and for me, it was my fighting abilities. He saw past all of that, and he fell in love with us for who we actually were as people. I know Jaune always saw me as his hero, as the one who gave him wings to fly, but really, he was mine. Before I met him, I had no true friends. As you may know, it is really fucking lonely when you're at the top, whether you were born there or worked your way there, or some combo of both in our cases."

Weiss nodded her head in agreement and said, "I'll admit, I kinda got out of hand too. Anyways, you're right, Pyrrha. I never noticed that. Should I really bring it up to him?" Then, her cellphone rang. Weiss saw that it was Jaune's number. She answered it, saying, "Hello?"

"Weiss, I have something I need to confess to you before we go any further." Jaune was audibly upset. "It's about me and Pyrrha.'

Pyrrha immediately said, "That's a surprise."

"Go ahead," said Weiss, knowing already what he was going to say. "I won't judge you at all. Jaune, whatever it is, know that I still love you. It's in the past anyways. It shouldn't affect us now or in the future."

"Weiss, thank you. You see, back in Beacon, me and Pyrrha obviously had sex, lots of sex. The thing is, at first, we were a little careless, and one thing led to another, and..." Jaune paused as he began to cry on the phone. "Pyrrha became pregnant."

"I see," Weiss replied, trying to fake surprise.

"We couldn't have her parents find out, and we weren't ready to have kids..." Jaune paused to collect himself. "We made the decision to abort the pregnancy." Jaune then broke down over the phone. "Pyrrha would have made a wonderful mother, but it wasn't our time."

By now, Ghost Pyrrha herself was crying in the corner of the room, huddled in a ball as several of her arm and leg bones stuck out from her body further. Weiss said as she tried to comfort Jaune, "Jaune, please stop crying. Pyrrha would have been a wonderful mother indeed, but you said it, you two were nowhere near ready to have kids. I would have made the same choice myself in her shoes. Look, I'll head over to your place so we can talk this out further, okay?"

Jaune, sniffling, replied, "Okay. That'll be good. I'll see you soon."

"And remember, Jaune, I love you."

"I love you too." Jaune then hung up.

Weiss then got up to help Pyrrha up. After she did, she hugged her, saying, "There, there, it's all right."

Pyrrha whispered to her, "Thank you." She then smiled and said, "And don't drive over to his place. You were drinking after all."

"Oh yeah," Weiss replied as they split. "I'll call a cab." The 2 then laughed before Pyrrha disappeared. Weiss then said, "Well, that happened."