Hi! I have finally ended what I started long ago. This one is a little ethic chapter, but I hope I will not overwhelm you with an amount of translation;-)
And before I forgot, this chapter is once again dedicated to @FreeThoughts272. I hope you remember why and probably this chapter wouldn't exist if it wasn't for you;-) So I hope you'll enjoy it
They put the fire out without any bigger problems. However Penny felt bored standing with her back against the truck and looking at the oxygen board through the whole call. She missed action and excitment that came with anticipation for something to happen. She felt like she was counted out every time at the missions, due to captain Antoine's way of thinking, but the order was an order. However deep inside of her everything boiled, because she felt accepted by the team and neither of them could say what was wrong with their team leader, even if it was clearly seen that no one had enough boldness to say what one thought.
Although Penny felt bad for herself, she felt more sorry for Émilie. Penny knew her job and had enough time to exercise the skills. But her younger friend ended her training last autumn and without bigger success was trained in this firestation. Penny was perfectly aware it would have been a hopeless case for Émilie if her colleagues hadn't been training her themselves.
"Fais attencion, Penny(Be careful, Penny)" Jean warned when she almost came across him and the cups of tea he just put on the table.
"Désolée, Jean(Sorry, Jean)" Penny apologised briefly, smiling weakly as she took a seat as well.
"Quelque chose vous dérange. Qu'est-ce que c'est?(Something is bothering you. What is it?)" Émilie asked worriedly, turning her head to meet Penny's gaze.
"Rien, j'ai juste besoin de me vider un peu la tête(Nothing, I just need to vent my head a little)" she sighed as she stood up and walked out of the common room.
In Pontypandy Fire Station she would probably go out on the balcony. But she wouldn't have the same reason there to be alone for sure. In Newtown when she was learning she had to stay back, but it was to watch and gain experience. Then she learned how to opperate in the middle of the action. But still as a woman she was always signed up to lighter jobs.
But when she came to Pontypandy, nothing like that happened. At the beginning she was the one keeping safe distance, hoping that one day she could spread up her wings. However neither Station Officer Steele nor Sam kept her away from the action, she always had a right to decide. Thanks to them she learned how to speak up her mind and, when she gained solid ground under her feet, she showed what she was capeable of.
But here, in Nantes, she was again at the beginning of a journey. She wanted to know why it must be like that, however something inside her refused to know.
So, giving up, she came back to the common room. But to her surprise there was only three of them left. Mattieu and François were chatting about something, but so quickly that Penny couldn't understand them.
"Où sont Émilie et Jean?(Where are Émilie and Jean?)" She asked them, using an opprotunity when they went silenced for a moment.
"Anotine voulait parler avec eux(Antoine wanted to talk with them)" Mattieu muttered briefly.
"Puis-je vous demander quelque chose?(Can I ask you something?)" Penny started anxiously. François measured her with his eyes, but he nodded with permission. "Pourquoi Antoine nous éloigne-t-il, moi et Émilie, de l'action?(Why is it that Antoine keeps me and Émilie away from the action?)"
"Je vous ai dit que c'était facile à voir, n'est-ce pas?(I told you it is easily seen, didn't I?)" Mattieu whispered to François behind his hand, but this time Penny understood what he had said.
"Qu'est-ce qui est si facile à voir?(What is so easily seen?)"
"La façon dont Antoine vous traite, vous et Émilie(The way Antoine treats you and Émilie)" Mattieu explained annoyed. "C'est allé trop loin(It went too far)".
"Ce qui est allé trop loin?(What went too far?)" Penny replied confused.
"Alors, on va lui dire?(So are we going to tell her?)" Mattieu asked François, winking meaningfully.
"Dis moi quoi?(Tell me what?)" Penny objected annoyedly.
"Il reste encore beaucoup de temps avant la fin de son échange, alors...(It is still a long time before her exchange ends, so...)" François hesitated. "L'année dernière, lorsque Jean et Émilie n'étaient pas encore dans l'équipe, nous étions cinq. Un vieil ami George, anglais d'ailleurs, moi, Mattieu, Antoine qui était capitaine pendant six mois à cette époque et Marie(Last year when Jean and Émilie weren't in the team yet, it was five of us. Old friend of mine George, English by the way, me, Mattieu, Antoine who was a captain for half a year that time and Marie)" François began. "Marie et Antoine ont travaillé ensemble tout au long de leur carrière de pompier et ils ne pouvaient nier qu'ils partageaient un lien profond. Même trop profond(Marie and Antoine were working together for their whole firefighting career and they couldn't deny that they shared a deep bond. Even too deep)" he sighed as he ran his hands through his hair.
"Peux-tu arrêter de m'embrouiller?(Can you stop confusing me?)" Penny asked politely. Something in this story seemed familiar to her.
"Un jour, nous avons reçu un appel pour assurer le renfort de quelques autres équipes lors de l'incendie de l'hôtel.(One day, we got a call to provided back-up to few other teams at the fire of the hotel)" François continued. "Nous avions été inscrits à une perquisition au deuxième étage. Nous sommes allés en deux équipes à gauche et à droite. Mattieu et moi avons fouillé les pièces du côté droit, tandis que George et Marie ont fouillé le côté gauche. Antoine était nécessaire en bas avec d'autres capitaines(We had been signed up to a search on the second floor. We went in twoteams on left and right. I and Mattieu searched rooms on the right, while George and Marie searched on the left side. Antoine was needed downstairs with other captains)" François stopped for a moment to take a deep breath. "Le feu s'est propagé trop rapidement. Mattieu et moi avons réussi à faire sortir deux personnes, mais alors que nous étions sur le point de rentrer à l'intérieur, nous avons entendu des craquements dans les radios et nous avons reculé lorsque tout le bâtiment a commencé à trembler. La plupart des pompiers ont réussi à sortir, mais quelques instants avant la catastrophe, nous avons entendu les cris de Marie. Lorsque le bruit suivant nous a surpris, nous avons vu comment elle a poussé George par la fenêtre pour lui sauver la vie, mais Marie n'y est pas parvenue. Antoine était en deuil et il est devenu strict et réservé(The fire spread too quickly. I and Mattieu managed to get two people out, but when we were about to go back inside, we heard craking through the radios and we backed away when the whole building began to shake. Most firefighters managed to come out, but a moment before catastrofy, we heard how Marie shouted. When the next noise startled us, we saw how she pushed George out of the window to save his life, but Marie didn't make it. Antoine was in grief and he became strict and reserved)" François ended. "Depuis qu'Émilie est arrivée ici, Antoine la pousse dans ses derniers retranchements pour qu'une telle chose ne se reproduise plus. Mais nous lui avons dit que ça ne marcherait pas s'il ne la laissait pas faire tapis.(Since Émilie came here, Antoine has been pushing her to her limits to make sure something like that wouldn't happen again. But we told him it won't work if he won't let her go all in)".
"Mais tu ne peux pas prévoir ce qui va se passer dans notre travail(But you can't foresee what will happen in our job)" Penny objected, being more aware of it than she would like.
"C'est pourquoi Antoine pense que les femmes ne devraient pas être pompiers(That's why Antoine thinks that women shouldn't be firefighters)" François concluded sadly. "Il n'a pas un tel pouvoir, mais il peut au moins vous garder, vous et Émilie, à distance de sécurité.(He don't have such power, but he can keep at least you and Émilie in the safe distance)" he sighed. "Je ne suis pas d'accord avec lui. Les femmes jouent également un rôle important dans les pompiers. Il ne l'a pas encore vu lui-même(I don't agree with him. Woman are also important part in fire department. He didn't yet see it himself)".
François ended and asked if he could stay a little on his own, so Mattieu and Penny left the common room.
YOU ARE READING
Separated ways
FanfictionIn Pontypandy changes came unexpectedly, changes that could ruin anything, by giving better light to live. In this mess Sam nad Penny found themselves on a broken path that seperated their feelings. Can their friends help them or it was already too...
