October 12, 2020

Weiss, and Yang got out of the rescue rig at the fire station at 11:34. They had just returned from a carbon monoxide poisoning call. Blake was working overtime at the fire alarm office. By now, Ruby and Yang had begun to make up from what happened 2 days ago, but they were still cold to each other. To Weiss, the tension between the two was awkward and thick, and she had had enough of it.

As Yang put her gear away, Weiss walked up to Yang and said to her, "When you are done, meet me in my dad's office."

A short while later, Yang sat down in the captain's office with Weiss. Hermann was packing up some paperwork and said, "How long will you be?"

"Not long," Weiss replied. "I need to have a serious meeting with this probie over a personal spat she had that I am sick of."

"Okay then. Just tell me when you're done. I'll be in the truck bay checking the bottle compressor." Hermann then walked out.

Weiss then turned to Yang and Ruby. "Okay then, let me start off by saying this. I can tell that your personal issues are having an effect on your firefighting. You have been down and out at calls because of Ruby. Listen, I know that you feel bad. I would in the same situation. But you cannot let it affect your work, both here and at the hunting recruitment office. I will discuss this with Ruby as well on Wednesday night at the company meeting. Do you have anything to say to me?"

"Weiss," Yang started. "What happens between me and my sister is between us and only us, okay? There is no need to turn this into a fire department issue."

"And it shouldn't be a fire department issue, Yang. You're right about that. But it is, unfortunately, because since then, you've been terrible at listening and you've been spacing out at calls. That's why I have to speed up the healing. I want this to end completely by Wednesday night, or else we're gonna have some serious issues here, Yang. Remember, not only am I a higher rank than you as an interior firefighter-EMT in this company, but I am also a close friend, so I have every right to intervene in your life if I feel it's beginning to affect your performance negatively, plus it means that I care immensely about your well-being. Normally in most workplaces, it would be unethical to interfere in the personal lives of your employees or volunteers, but here, it's accepted to a somewhat greater degree because your performance here can literally mean the difference between someone living or someone dying. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Weiss. I understand." Yang sighed. "This whole Gwen thing really threw me and Ruby off."

Back at the apartment, Ruby, out on a disability for the rest of October, was bored. "I have not a fucking thing to do," she said as she flipped through the channels on the T.V. and listening to all the paging calls on her pager, which was in scan mode. She had also turned on 2 scanners she had gotten for her birthday back in July that scanned the fire frequencies of the city. As always, the city was extremely busy.

She had heard Blake on the dispatch frequency for District 5 several times. As she watched the news and drank a bottle of beer, she looked on her phone, trying to figure out who to text. She then picked someone who she thought was Jaune.

She texted, "hey there! what's new?"

She then began to get a reply. That's when she realised that she accidentally texted Delwyn IV instead of Jaune. "Not much, Ruby. How about you?"

"OHHHHHH SHIT I DID NOT MEAN TO TEXT YOU SORRY IF I INTERRUPTED ANYTHING"

"No no no, it's fine. I just got done with a meeting. So, what's new with you?"

"Gwen broke up with me and I broke my wrist. nothing major"

"What? No way!" Delwyn then decided to call Ruby.

Ruby answered, "Hello? Why did you call me?"

"I was just worried, that's all." Delwyn blushed. "I don't want a friend getting hurt."

"Say, are you free today?" Ruby had a devilish thought.

Delwyn checked his schedule. "Uh, yeah, until like 7 tonight. I can come over, I guess. I'll need to grab some stuff, though, so I won't get targeted or something."

"Okay then," Ruby replied, smirking. "I'll see ya soon." She then hung up.

As she waited for Delwyn for the next 20 minutes, Ruby drank another alcoholic drink, this time being a shot of whiskey and a glass of wine.

Then, at 12:07, she heard a knock at the door. Ruby opened it and saw Delwyn IV with a guard. "Hey there, my king."

The guard said, "I'll be outside if you need me, sir."

"Thank you," Delwyn replied. He then shut the door and turned around to talk to Ruby.

Ruby replied by grabbing him by his shirt with her unbroken arm, startling him. She said, "You're coming with me."

Delwyn said, "Ruby, what are you doing? Uhhhh..." He was completely caught off-guard by Ruby's advances.

Ruby then dragged him into her bedroom and shut and locked the door behind them. "Delwyn, I know you're my leader and sovereign and whatnot, so this all seems weird with you being here with a subject and all, but I know you've had a crush on me for a while. Since Gwen left me to follow her stupid dreams, I decided that maybe I could give someone who actually liked me a chance." Ruby put her lips onto Delwyn's, sticking her tongue into his mouth. "Now, Delwyn, you know what to do."

Delwyn replied, worried, "Ruby, I really don't know. I've never had sex before. I was always too busy and I had an image to keep up. Look, I think you're just trying to cope with losing Gwen."

"You caught me red-handed," Ruby replied. "But I know you've wanted to tap my ass for a while. Listen, you've never had sex before period, and I've never had sex with a guy, so we're kind of on the same page. Now, I would recommend saying yes, but it's up to you."

At 12:44, Yang, Weiss, and Jaune returned to the apartment building. After Yang waved Weiss and Jaune goodbye, she unlocked her apartment door and opened it. She called out, "Ruby, are you still here?"

In her bedroom, Ruby and Delwyn IV freaked out as Yang returned home. Delwyn quietly said, "Oh shit!" He quickly began to get dressed.

Ruby said, "Ugh, I can't believe I did that." She quickly got dressed as well, her face turning red from embarrassment. "Don't let this get out to the news, Delwyn!"

Yang then suddenly opened the doors, "Get what out to the-"

There, Ruby and Delwyn IV were half-naked, trying desperately to get dressed. Ruby stammered, "Uhhh... Hi, Yang..."

Yang stared at them for a few seconds before rubbing her eyes in disbelief and saying, "No... No way... My little sister just... You... You fucked..."

Delwyn quickly said, "Yang, don't overreact, okay? No one has to know."

"I know that!" Yang then rubbed her forehead. "It's just... Holy shit, this year has been... Wow... First me and Blake broke up, then I hooked up with a dude, then Weiss hooked up with Jaune, Blake with Sun, Oobleck died, Ruby came out and lost her virginity, we almost fucking DIED a few times, and now this! What the actual fuck?! Is 2020 like the year everything changes?!"

Ruby replied, "Yang, I think you're overthinking this." She then sighed. "I guess I got ahead of myself. I did indeed have sex with Delwyn IV, our sovereign and king. Why? Well, I guess I was just... I don't know..."

"You were craving affection, Ruby. I was too when me and George first hooked up." Yang then walked over to the couple. "Look, I'm telling both of you this right now. Do NOT let this leak to the news. They will rip both of you apart, and I fear that the rest of the government might try to use this against Delwyn. Okay?"

Ruby and Delwyn nodded. He said, "This will not leak."

"Other than that, I really can't stop you from fucking like rabbits or whatever. Have fun, but don't do anything in public until you both decide to get more serious than just hookups." Yang then smiled. "Say, who initiated it?"

"I did," Ruby replied. "Delly here has a crush on me."

Delwyn blushed, "Okay, fine, I'll admit it, I do. But seriously, who wouldn't? Ruby is so attractive, it isn't even funny. Speaking of that, she is funny, nice, caring, and cute as all hell."

"Cute? Why not hot or sexy or something?"

"You're those too. You're like all of those together. Regardless, what I'm trying to say is, I really like you, Ruby."

Ruby's eyes widened as she mouthed to herself, "Oh. My. God." She then said, "I can't believe it. Out of all other women and girls out there, a royal, and the God damn King at that, likes me. You passed up people potentially infinitely wealthier and more power than I will ever be for a relatively simple girl like me."

"Wealth and power don't matter," Delwyn replied. "Now, how will you respond?"

"Uhhhh..." Ruby scratched her head. "Listen, Delly, the sex was great, and you're passionate, but the thing is, I may need more time to sort my feelings out. I can tell you I'm beginning to see you as more than a friend, but I would like to think about it more before we jump in."

"I understand," Delwyn IV replied. "Well, I gotta go."

Yang said, "Guys, you 2 handled this very maturely. I'm honestly surprised. Good job." She then patted both of them on the back and led Delwyn out.

After the door to the apartment closed behind them, Delwyn said to Yang, "I feel bad for doing that now. It just made things awkward between me and Ruby, and I don't want to ruin our friendship if we decide being more than friends isn't the way to go." Delwyn then sniffled. "Listen, I had little, if any, friends inside that castle. Ruby is the first actual friend I've had for a long time. With her being a girl and me being a guy, it was only a matter of time before I crushed on her. I don't want to lose her, Yang." He then wrapped his hands around Yang and began to cry.

Yang returned the hug and said, "Don't worry. Ruby won't abandon you, even if you 2 don't make it as a couple. I can assure you of that. That isn't like her at all."

She then heard the siren of Vigilant roar up to signal a fire call. "Well then."

As the dispatcher announced the call over the air, Delwyn asked, "What is it?"

"A 2nd alarm!" Yang then ran down the hall. "Tell Ruby to listen to it!"

Weiss opened her apartment door and ran down the hall to the stairs. Jaune waved goodbye to her. He then looked at Delwyn IV and said, "Oh my God, are you-?"

"Yes, I am. Long story."

When Yang and Weiss got to the station at 1:00, about 2 minutes after the call came in, the ambulance was already gone. As they ran to their gear racks, another firefighter said, "The ambulance is out on a medical, so they won't be able to go."

Weiss said, "How many guys do we got?"

"9 right now!" The firefighter, Iomhair Egret, climbed aboard the truck as 3 more volunteers ran in.

Weiss and Yang tightened the straps on their helmets as they ran to the truck and climbed aboard. Weiss stood up and began to buckle her coat in and pull her hip boots up while Yang strapped into an SCBA and buckled herself up. As Weiss sat back down, the truck rolled out with a crew of 10, 7 interior, at 1:02.

Yang said, "What's the status of the fire?"

Weiss's uncle Alfred replied, "It's a 100-foot warehouse with 5 floors in District 1, Tuxedo Fire's first due. The fire's hard to find, but there's a shit ton of smoke!" Then, they heard a 3rd alarm being struck at 1:03. "3 alarms! They got a bunch of guys in the building looking for the seat of the fire!"

Yang said to Weiss, "If only Ruby wasn't in a cast."

"Too bad she had to miss this one. Same with Blake."

At 1:15, Truck 201 arrived. By this point, the ambulance had returned from the hospital and was responding to the scene, and the rescue was just a few minutes away with a crew of 9, 6 interior.

The crew jumped out of the truck and was directed by Captain Kirkridge to stage at the back of the truck. A non-interior firefighter was handed a hose line from another engine and dragged it to Truck 201's pump, where he connected the line to an intake.

The captain walked over and said, "Alright, I want all interior firefighters from the truck to go onto the roof and begin cutting holes in it. We got 5 paid guys up there already from the Port Complex."

The driver of the truck climbed to the turntable and began operating the controls for the ladder, slowly raising it up.

Weiss said to Yang, "Grab an axe from the compartment on the driver's side next to the pump."

"Got it." Yang ran to the compartment and opened it, quickly grabbing a heavily-used axe. Based on the scratches and burn marks, it was clear the axe had seen many fires.

Once the ladder's tip reached the roof, the 7 interior firefighters from the truck climbed up the ladder, sometimes getting enveloped in the billowing smoke rising from the building. Yang coughed as she tried to hold her breath when a cloud of smoke flew past her. Weiss said, "You get used to it. Don't worry."

"Should I put my mask on up on the roof?"

"No. Don't waste air when there's little smoke. Only put it on if the smoke gets so bad that you can't see on the roof. That's the way I was always taught." As a firefighter reached the tip of the ladder, they sounded the roof with their axe to make sure they were stepping on solid roof.

When they got on the roof, they were directed to go to the southeast corner by the paid firefighters, who were cutting holes on the northwest corner. Weiss grabbed a chainsaw from another firefighter, pulled the starting cord a few times, and began cutting a square hole in the roof.

Meanwhile, Yang and another firefighter began cutting up the roof next to Weiss with their axes. Yang said, "How thick is this roof?"

The other firefighter replied, "Given how long it's taking Weiss to cut that hole, I'd say it's pretty thick."

Weiss shouted, "I'm getting some smoke!"

Then, they heard on their portable radios, tuned in to District 1, Channel 1, "Mayday, mayday, mayday! Kroeger Interior mayday!"

Incident Command immediately replied, "All other units standby, unit calling the mayday, go ahead with your location."

"We're lost inside the building on the 4th floor. We believe we're somewhere on the Bravo side. Send an RIT team! We only have about 10 minutes of air left!"

"Alright, 10-4. Activate your PASS devices now. Incident Command to RIT 1, proceed to the 4th floor on Bravo side to look for Kroeger Interior."

"10-4, RIT 1 rolling out."

Weiss said, "Damn... I hope they get out."

Yang said to Weiss, "Should we switch to a different fireground channel?"

"Not unless IC tells us to." Weiss began cutting into the roof again.

"Incident Command to all non-mayday or RIT units, switch to District 1, Channel 2. Repeating, switch to District 1, Channel 2. We will also be striking a 4th Alarm. Incident Command to Kroeger Command."

"Kroeger Command on."

"How many guys you got in the building, and how are they divided?"

"We have 7 firefighters inside all in one group, chief."

"10-4. RIT 1, you copy? 7 guys in 1 group."

"10-4, chief. Put RIT 2 on standby."

"10-4, RIT 2, go on standby for RIT 1 in case they need help."

"RIT 2, copy."