February 8, 2021

As Truck 201, Ambulance 201, and Rescue 201 backed into the station after a minor structure fire in the middle of the day around 12:52, Weiss took her gear off and put it in her locker. She was the only one out of Team RWBY that went. Yang and Blake were working, and Ruby was attending a seminar for new Hunting Corps officers at Beacon Academy.

After that, she redid her ponytail and grabbed some towels from a utility closet in the rescue/ambulance bay as several firefighters began to wet down the trucks. Her father walked up and said to her, "May I grab one?"

Weiss laughed and replied, "Of course. Have at it. By the way, I won't be available for calls or any SDC business after about 6 onwards today. Me and Jaune are going out to dinner and a movie afterwards."

"Don't worry," Hermann replied. "There's nothing too big going on on the corporation front. I just gotta attend a regular meeting with the Board of Directors over teleconference."

Then, another firefighter said, "Hey Weiss, come over here and help change out the SCBA bottles on the rescue rig!"

"Got it," Weiss replied as he laid her towels down on the rear step of the rescue and walked over to the cab.

Meanwhile, Alfred, Weiss' uncle and the 2nd Lieutenant, was filing paperwork in the Captain's office for 2 new applicants that would be sworn in on the weekly Wednesday meeting on the 10th. He then heard the phone in the office ring. He answered it as he put his pen down, saying, "Hello?"

"Yes, is this Arthur Kirkridge of the Vigilant Fire Company?" The straightforward and somewhat youthful female voice on the other end seemed slightly familiar to him.

"No this is not," Alfred replied. "I can get you Captain Kirkridge since we just got back from a fire."

"No, it's fine." The voice then sighed. "I need to ask a few questions, that's all." The caller then suddenly switched languages to Atlesian. "Ich denke dass ich deine Stimme erkennen. Wie heissen Sie?"

Flabbergasted, Alfred replied, "Wo- Wohe- Woher weisst du ich war Atlesisch? Ich heisse Alfred Schnee. Ich bin der 2. Leutnant der Freiwillige Feuerwehr Vigilant und der Finanzvorstand der Schnee Staub Aktiengesellschaft. Wer sind Sie?"

The voice replied, "Ich heisse Penny Polendina, Alfred." She then switched back to Valeanian. "I apologize for switching up languages. Anyways, I'm looking for Ruby Rose."

"Penny?! My God, I haven't heard from you in years!" Alfred then became less tense, having been at first worried. "Ruby's currently at a Hunting Corps seminar for new officers like herself. I gotta tell her about this when she gets back."

"I miss her soooo much," Penny replied. "I haven't left Atlas since I was repaired and sent back home after the Battle of Beacon. The thing is, I put in transfer papers from the Atlesian Army to the Royal Valeanian Hunting Corps about a month ago, and I was just cleared to move to Vale. I heard Team RWBY all became firefighters or something, is that correct?"

"Yes they did. Weiss got Ruby, Yang, and Blake to join in June 2020. They're volunteers, unlike the military firefighters all of Atlas has."

"That's so cool! How's Team JNPR?"

Alfred then got somber. "Well... Uhh... Pyrrha died in 2019 from a car accident. But... On the bright side, Ren and Nora are married and have a kid, and my niece Weiss and Jaune are going out now."

Penny became sad for a second, saying, "Oh yeah... I read about that..." She then sighed. "I told her I forgave her back in 2015, but to be honest, I don't think she ever fully believed me. If only I hadn't been trapped in Atlas doing almost 6 years of grueling training, combat, and reworking, me and her could have been good friends." She then remembered the rest of what Alfred had said. "Well, at least the rest of Team JNPR is still around. I can't believe Weiss is actually dating Jaune now."

Alfred laughed and said, "Me neither. I heard from my brother, Weiss's father Hermann, that she was very annoyed by him at first because she used to date another boy named Neptune or something from Mistral. They broke up in 2016 I think."

"Oh yeah, I remember Neptune! How's his friend Sun, by the way?"

"Sun? Sun..." Alfred tried to remember him. "Oh yeah! That's Blake's boyfriend! His team is in Vale for a year doing training, but I have a feeling he's gonna stay here once it's over in July."

"Oh my, I really gotta catch up! Well, I'll be down at the firehouse by at least 5. I wanna surprise Ruby. I'm actually at the airport right now."

"Alright, sounds like a plan. Ruby gets out at 3. I'll tell her to come down soon."

Later at 5, Ruby was talking with the rest of her team, as well as Team JNR plus Ren and Nora's daughter, at the firehouse in the rec room. Weiss had told them that Alfred and Hermann needed to see them at that time. Only Weiss knew that Penny was back.

"I'm kinda afraid," Ruby said. "I have no idea if this meeting is good or bad."

"Stop being so nervous," Yang replied. "We haven't done anything bad. I mean, I did punch out that woman a while back, but she attacked me first, and I was already talked to and cleared by the officers for that."

Weiss resisted the urge to tell them, saying nervously, "I really don't think anyone's in trouble here, girls. I just have a feeling, that's all."

Jaune said to Weiss, "So what movie are we gonna go see later?"

"I was thinking Riders of the Skies. How about you?"

"I agree," Jaune replied. "Anyways, why did your dad and uncle tell us to come down here too?"

Then, the door of the rec room opened, and Penny stepped out. She turned and faced the group before saying, "Salutations." She then laughed and said, "I haven't said that in like half a year."

Ruby's eyes opened wide as she jumped up out of her seat and ran to Penny, saying to herself, "Oh my God!" She then wrapped her arms around the robot girl and squeezed tight as tears began falling out of her eyes. "I never thought you'd come back, Penny. Never..."

Penny returned the hug, saying, "I put in transfer files to the VHC. I won't be going anywhere anytime soon."

Ruby then quietly said to herself, "No way... This has to be a dream..."

The rest of the group looked on in amazement. Weiss said, "I was the only one who knew in the group. I couldn't resist holding the secret in for much longer."

After a long conversation about what Penny had missed, the gang split up. Ruby, Yang, and Penny agreed to have Penny stay overnight at their place and then help Penny move into her apartment the next day, which coincidentally happened to be in a building just a block away.

George was talking to her, amazed at her being a robot and a top-level hunter-soldiers in the Atlesian Army. "To be honest, I'm amazed to be sitting here with you now. It's just... Wow..."

Penny laughed, replying with, "Nah, I'm not anything special anymore, nor was I ever. They made 79 other robots after me, male and female, so I'm kinda outdated, I guess. Besides, I always thought of myself as a normal girl and soldier who just happened to be built rather than "born" in the sense most mean it as."

Yang said to George, "So, is she blowing your mind, hun?"

"Sure is," the eager young man replied. "It amazes me how far we've, like, come in this field."

"Ahh, it's no big deal." Penny then laughed. "So, all I need to do is go to Beacon tomorrow, and I'll find out what units I'll be assigned to."

"I hope it's my unit," Ruby replied. I'll go with you to request you be put in my platoon of huntsmen and huntresses. Jaune will make sure you get put in his company."

"You're both officers now?" Penny was startled.

"Yes. I'm a recently-promoted Lieutenant, and Jaune is a Captain. We both took the necessary classes at Beacon to become commissioned officers, though I was an NCO until towards the end of last year. I was moved up to the CO ranks because Jaune was promoted from Lieutenant to Captain. As for the rest of the gang as of January this year, Yang is currently my platoon sergeant, ranking at E-7 Sergeant First Class, Weiss is an E-6 Staff Sergeant, and Blake is an E-5 Sergeant."

"Oh my," Penny said, amazed at Team RWBY's progress. "I was a Feldwebel, or Field Usher, in the Atlesian Army when I transferred, so I will most likely become a Staff Sergeant."

Then, a knock on the door was heard, and a voice said, "Ruby, I'm here."

Ruby excitedly jumped up and replied, "I got it!" Penny could tell she seemed very happy all of a sudden for whoever had come to the door.

When Ruby opened the door, Delwyn was there. She gave him a kiss and led him in. He said, "You told me you had an important visitor. Who is it?"

Penny instantly recognized Delwyn's face. She stood up from her chair and rendered a military salute to the King of Vale. Delwyn, perplexed, replied, "Well... At ease, I guess?"

Penny lowered her right arm and stood at ease. She said, "Permission to speak, your majesty?

Delwyn replied, "Well, this is awkward... Yes, I grant you permission to speak. You may also relax and drop the formalities."

Penny then bowed and said, "Yes, your majesty."

Ruby said to her boyfriend, "Delwyn, this is Penny Polendina. To explain her formalities, let's just say she's... Well... A robot. She is most likely pre-programmed to render heads of state such salutes and to speak to them in a very formal tone of voice."

"She's right," Penny said, now relaxed. "I apologize for acting like that if it offended you, your maj- I mean, Delwyn."

"I'm not offended," Delwyn said before laughing. "I'm impressed. Hey, weren't you that girl at the Vytal Festival back in 2015 that got, you know, destroyed?"

"Yes I was. Don't worry, I'm not too traumatized or anything by that. So, how do you know my friend Ruby?"

"Funny you should ask that, Penny." Delwyn and Ruby then smiled at each other and kissed.

After they split, they both said together, "We're dating."

Penny got an excited look on her face. "No way! For real? Ruby's dating the King of Vale?! This is amazing!"

"Ehhh, it ain't nothing special," Ruby replied. "Strip away all the titles and government on his end, and we're just a normal young couple."

Delwyn said, "You got that right." He then turned to Penny. "So, I have heard a lot about you from Ruby about how all-around nice you are, as well as your kindness. I also found your military records from Atlas, and I must say, if you do intend on staying here permanently, our Hunting Corps would greatly benefit from your presence and expertise."

"Why thank you," Penny replied. "I am honored to have such kind words come from you. Also, I did indeed put in transfer papers. Once I re-register tomorrow, I'll be a Valeanian citizen and a RVHC member."

Then, the ringing of Ruby and Yang's pagers was heard, followed by the siren tones for Vigilant, and then the ringing of George's pager as well the siren tones for Goodwill. Ruby said to Penny, "Me, Yang, and George gotta go to a fire call. We'll be back." The 3 of them then bolted out of the apartment, but not before Ruby kissed Delwyn goodbye.

Penny said to Delwyn, "We never had any volunteer emergency services like that in Atlas, even in the smallest towns. All firefighting was done by the military, and firefighters never did anything with the military ambulances, medics, or accident rescues."

"We're unique in that way," Delwyn replied. "And I wouldn't want it to be much different."

"I wonder, can I do that? I mean, I have Atlesian military certification for firefighting, accident rescue, and field medicine."

"All you have to do is go to the nearest volunteer fire company, in this case the Vigilant Fire Company, get an application, fill it out, turn it in, and in about 3 weeks, you will most likely be sworn in as a firefighter. Since you have Atlesian certifications, they will all probably carry over, if I recall correctly from what Ruby told me about training, so you won't have to do a bunch of training when you start."

"Alright, it sounds like a deal." Penny then got up. "Well, I'm off to Ruby's firehouse to apply."

An hour and 10 minutes later, after Truck 201 and Rescue 201 returned from the call, which was a Bravo-response traffic accident with leaking fluids and minor entrapment, Ruby took her gear off, put it in her locker, and found Penny conversing with the captain of the company as she held her application in her hands.

Penny saw her and waved her over. She said, "Come here."

Ruby walked over and said, "Penny, what's going on?"

"I'm gonna try applying to your fire company," she eagerly replied.

Captain Kirkridge said, "She seems like a good candidate for membership. What do you say, Rose?"

Ruby then pulled Penny aside and said to her captain, "Excuse me for one moment." She then turned to Penny, dead serious. "Are you honest to God 100% sure you want to do this?"

"Well, I want to spend time with you and the rest of Team RWBY. Plus, I want to use the military skills I learned in Atlas about emergency work to help others. All of my Atlesian Army certifications will carry over here, and I actually possess enough certifications to be an interior-qualified Firefighter-Paramedic here."

Ruby sighed. "Penny, this is very serious work. You are going to see some of the worst that this world and people have to offer. You will see shit that will leave you awake at night. You will be given the opportunity to help others, but you will also be given the opportunity to have all of your hard work at a call lead to failure. To top it off, you will do all of that for absolutely NO monetary compensation except for a meager pension you get at the age of 60, if you make it to 60."

"Don't be so dramatic," Penny replied. "I will be fine." She then became serious as well. "Look, Ruby, I understand this is dangerous, and I understand I won't get paid a penny, no pun intended, to do this. But I know what it's like to stay awake at night because your memories haunt your dreams and turn them into nightmares." She then turned Ruby around and began to whisper in her ear. "I did some seedy shit in Atlas. I shot people because they were alleged to have been conspiring against Atlas' government, even without a conviction or even a criminal background. Tell NOBODY about what I've done for my fatherland, because if you do, we BOTH could be in deep, deep shit, and not just from the legal system in Vale and Atlas." She then stopped whispering and turned Ruby back around.

Ruby replied, "No way..."

"Also, don't you think I have nightmares about what happened with me and Pyrrha, as well as the thought of losing my friends?" She then paused. "Exactly." She then patted Ruby on the back. "I'm ready to do this. I want to use my skills to help people, not hunt them down."

The young redhead nodded and replied, "I see. Penny, you'll make a great addition to the company." She then turned to Captain Kirkridge. "I fully recommend this girl for membership, Captain."

"And by the way," Penny said in a joking manner. "Even though I don't need to breathe because of the whole robot thing, I'll still wear an air pack." The 3 of them then laughed. "I mean, I do breathe, but only to keep my systems cooled down, so I may actually need to wear one, lest I overheat and just shut down. I do have strong heat resistance, though, and I am waterproof."

"Good," the captain replied. "We wouldn't want ya shortin' out on us at a fire. I'll see ya tomorrow at the company meeting and training session. Be there by 5 P.M."