Chapter 2: Table #1- On Time, More or Less

"Something small, huh?" Thomas considered it, "Like what?"

"Well…" Toby's eyes brightened, "I heard she scolded you for taking the time to talk to some children once, said you would be late."

"Yeah," Thomas answered, his face grim as he remembered, "and I told her I was never late."

"Use that same situation on her, but take it one step further: She scolded you for taking the RISK of being late, but when the time is right," Toby grinned, "scold for actually BEING late."

"How am I going to do that?" Thomas raised an eyebrow, "Emily's never late on a normal day, and as far as I know, there's nothing coming up for any of us that would disrupt her schedule."

"Thomas, you're supposed to be acting like a bossy boiler too." Toby deadpanned, "Leave your compassion and understanding in the shed-"

…...

"-ESPECIALLY your understanding of 'give or take a few seconds...'" Thomas murmured, reciting Toby's words as he puffed along his branch line.

All around him, it was a similar story to yesterday: the sky was blue with puffy and white clouds dotted through it, the sun was shining brightly overhead, and though Toby was not travelling next to him, the tank engine could clearly hear the laughter and friendly chatter of his passengers behind him in the coaches. Annie and Clarabel were mostly silent, trying to enjoy the day themselves, but Thomas knew that it wouldn't be long before the peace and quiet would come to an end for the three of them.

Either Emily comes by or we reach the next station. He thought, closing his eyes in thought, I wonder which will come first. Eh, probably Emily.

Sure enough, a melodic whistle sounded from up ahead and Thomas opened his eyes to see Emily coming around the bend with her own coaches in tow. He answered her whistle, but said nothing as they came closer to passing by one another.

Emily smiled, apparently pleased, "Now THAT'S more like it."

"More like what?" Thomas asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You're going slower, is what, and from the sounds of things," She paused, listening, "your passengers seem thankful for it too."

Knowing that it wouldn't help to correct her and say that his passengers were that cheerful EVERY DAY, Thomas merely shrugged, "I suppose you're right."

"Finally admitting it, I see?" She laughed as she finally passed him by, "I told you so!"

"Did you?" Thomas asked, uninterested.

"I'm very particular with my words, Thomas." She beamed with pride, "That's why you really should listen to me more."

Not able to wait for a response, not that she would even if she had the time, Emily disappeared around the bend behind Thomas. Once she was gone, Annie let out a sigh of her own from behind Thomas, "So...you let her walk over you again."

"I know."

"When are you going to put Toby's idea into action?" Clarabel asked, impatiently, "Actually, ARE you going to put it into action?"

"Of course I am! Ladies, please," Thomas scolded, "it's all about the timing, remember? We're still both in the middle of our midday passenger runs."

"Oh. Right." The coaches responded, apologetically.

"Besides, while you two are experts with telling James and then myself off for being late or going to fast, I'VE never done this before." Thomas grimaced, "I'm cheeky, not flat-out bossy."

"What's the difference?" Clarabel asked, unamused.

"Cheeky is playing tricks and showing off just for fun. Being bossy...well…" Thomas glanced back at his cab and looked at his crew, both men having been respectfully silent, "How would you guys describe it?"

"I'd say being bossy is more malign. When you call Gordon a lazybones, everyone knows you do it just to get him angry." His fireman suggested.

"If Emily did it, though," His driver added, "it would be more deliberate, as if she's purposefully making herself look better than him. She would do it in a way that is meant to put someone down, make them look foolish." He grimaced, "Shame them."

"Oooohhh…." The coaches realized. After a pause, Annie cautiously asked, "Are...WE like that, Thomas?"

"Not really." Thomas glanced back at her, his face grim, "Especially not to an EMILY magnitude."

…..

Because she had come to really enjoy the route during the summer, Emily tended to take her afternoon and early-evening tourist trains through Black Loch. Every engine on Sodor knew how much she loved it, especially whenever she got to briefly stop so her passengers could take picture and marvel at her seal friends. Then, afterwards, she would take her passengers onto the latter half of the branch line before returning to Knapford.

It was scenic.

It was a long journey.

It was perfect for Thomas's first table to turn.

Once his morning run with Emily was over with, Thomas had to go to the docks to help Salty and Porter with shunting outgoing shipments. Before he put Annie and Clarabel away, though, his driver and fireman quickly sought out Sir Topham Hatt who was overlooking the activity on the station platform.

"Yes, Thomas?" The controller said, coming over to him, "Your crew said that you wanted to speak with me?"

"If I may, sir, I would like to have some time away from the sheds this evening." The tank engine asked, "Could I possibly have an evening run scheduled along the branch line?"

"I'm actually not sure…" The controller scratched his chin, thinking, "These days, after Emily's last run is over, most of the tourists return to town-"

"What if you, say, advertised seeing Sodor's countryside during the nighttime?" Thomas suggested, hopefully, "You and I both know how beautiful it can be after sunset, and therapeutic as well. Remember that one time, when a mother with three children once came up to you, and commended how it helped calm them enough to sleep that night?"

"I DO remember that, yes…" Sir Topham Hatt agreed, smiling at the memory, "Alright then, I'll announce it the passengers after Emily returns from her second run and before your second. What time would you like to be off?"

Thomas took a deep breath, praying as he answered, "Seven o'clock, sharp."

"Seven?" Sir Topham Hatt blinked, "Thomas, if you're hoping for a full night run, shouldn't you wait for Emily to return at seven-thirty with the majority of the tourists?"

"She seems to be the expert on being right on time." Thomas said, cheekily, "Surely she can adapt, can't she?"

Behind him, Annie and Clarabel snickered.

Sir Topham Hatt, unaware of what Thomas was REALLY up to, could only sigh, "I'll take it up with her, but either way, be ready to go at six-fifty-five. Rosie will have Annie and Clarabel shunted into place for you by then. Is that fair?"

"Very fair, sir. Thank you."

With that, Thomas had left Knapford and gone about the rest of his day. He worked with Salty and Porter at Brendam for a few hours, but at one point during shunting, they were all told to stop when the harbormaster discovered a mistake in his manifest. Edward's driver had been called at Wellsworth, and he apologized for the mistake in shunting, requesting another engine to come and pick up the correct train. Having other places to later be unlike his dockside-centered companions, Thomas had volunteered and left Brendam with the goods train in tow.

On his way along the main line, he suddenly found himself neck-and-neck with Mavis who was coming from the quarry with a load of slate.

"Oh." Mavis blinked, "Well...this is unexpected. It's been awhile, Thomas."

"I'll say." Thomas laughed, "How're things, Mavis?"

"Let's see...Toby was working with me today-"

"Perfect ten." Thomas chuckled.

"-and Bill decided to be a show-off, nearly breaking his funnel underneath the hopper-"

"How-?" Thomas rolled his eyes, decided not to question how a quarry engine with a very short funnel could possibly risk breaking it, "Okay then, that's MINUS two points."

"-AND Ben wasn't looking where he was going, so Fergus had to come and help me pull him out of a gravel pit."

"Fergus was involved, and he hates being involved with those two, so minus four." Thomas sighed, "So... on a scale of one to ten-"

"-it's been a nice, even FOUR." Mavis finished in a deadpan.

"Well, you know what they say," Thomas quoted, "'not every oasis has fresh water.'"

Mavis raised an eyebrow, "Okay, you DEFINITELY made that one up."

"Either way, at least your day was a four." Thomas told her, "So far, mine's been a three, mainly with Emily and...what I'm about to do this evening."

"Speaking of which," Mavis looked him over, "Toby told me about...what you're planning."

"He did?" Thomas was surprised. He hadn't expected-

Actually, check that, she probably would've found out anyway...somehow… It was honestly why Toby's story from the previous day had been somewhat unbelievable: In Thomas and Percy's experience, Mavis could read most engines like a well-thumbed book.

"Yes, he did last night, but...Look, Thomas, we've been friends for awhile." She looked concerned, "Are you sure you can see yourself doing it? Because I can't. I mean, when Toby did it with me, HE had difficulties because...well…" She looked away, "you know how he feels about me. It had to have been torture…"

"It's uncharted territory for me, too. But, well," Thomas smiled, sheepishly, "curiosity hasn't ALWAYS killed the cat, has it?"

Mavis hummed in agreement, "Look, just...promise me something, alright?"

"What's that?"

Mavis looked him in the eye, "You and Emily are still a lot alike, and I don't want to deal with TWO bossy boilers, not after what happened at the castle with Toby and Percy. Just please, whatever you do, DON'T lose yourself."

"I won't, Mavis," Thomas vowed, "you have my word. Besides, tonight I'm going to start with something small."

"Is everything ready?"

"Mhm."

Mavis looked ahead, and saw the junction coming up where they would part ways, and then looked at him again one last time, "I'll be rooting for you, then."

…..

When it came to most of the people of Sodor, things were very people-centered. Even if a doctor or a businessman had somewhere they needed to be, they would not hesitate to stop and talk for a minute on the street with someone they knew, regardless of whether they ended up running late. It wasn't very practical, but that was just the island's culture. Unfortunately, the engines did not have that same luxury too often, especially if they ran passenger trains, but that didn't mean there weren't exceptions to be made. Even Gordon could admit that, despite losing a chance of beating his record, he would wait at the platform if told there were more passengers coming rather than cause people to miss an easy ride to their destination.

Normally, Thomas was no different, especially in the summer when the tourists had no particular place they needed to be during the day. It allowed for just a bit of cheeky slacking off, chatting with Percy or James for a bit before Sir Topham Hatt finally put his foot down.

That afternoon, however, Thomas was unusually time-centered and eager to get his night run started: He delivered the correct train from Wellsworth to Brendam Docks at two, and then went for a quick, five-minute washdown at a nearby water tower before immediately puffing to Knapford for his second standard run of the day. At the station, around four-thirty, he arrived just in time to hear Sir Topham Hatt's announcement of the night run, and then the resulting crowd of tourists looking to buy extra tickets to ride Thomas's train when promised a lovely view of nighttime Sodor.

Emily had, of course, looked surprised with no small amount of worry on her face. Thomas knew she was doing the math in her smokebox, and he saw her worry increase as Sir Topham Hatt came up to her, sharing a whispered conversation with the Stirling.

I need a way to verbally trap her… Thomas held his breath, praying for a miracle, and got it when Emily finally looked over at him, looking a bit annoyed with his chosen start time, "Why seven, Thomas? My third run will be at least three hours."

"Seven is not too early so that it isn't night, but not too late that no one will want to ride." Thomas informed her, matter-of-factly. Be nice, use logic- for now.

"Surely you can adjust yourself a bit this time, Emily." Sir Topham Hatt reasoned, "Thomas said that you have a certain ability to cope with this sort of change in schedule."

For the first time in a long while, Thomas watched as a look of strong worry cross Emily's face. However, after a second, she gulped and said, "Yes, sir, I'll...I can do it."

Not an 'I'll try' or 'I'll do my best', either. Just one-hundred-percent absolute: a signed death-warrant. As the whistle blew and Thomas headed off, he knew with that thought in mind that all the pieces were now in place. Of course, it wasn't a thought he was particularly happy to be having, but he knew it was necessary, It's too late to back out, anyway.

Two runs later- much shorter than Emily's at only an hour each- He steamed into the yards just as the clock was striking six.

Heading to the coach shed, he found a surprised Rosie just backing up to Annie and Clarabel, "Thomas?"

"That's me!" He whistled, cheerfully.

Rosie looked him up and down, "You're...a bit early, aren't you?"

"Better early than late." He shrugged.

"'Better early than-?'" Rosie blinked, "Are you okay?"

"Um, yeah, I'm fine." Thomas answered, "Why?"

"...Actually," Rosie said, carefully, "nevermind. Do you still want me to get these two into place for you, or…?"

"Go ahead. You're the station pilot." Thomas said, reversing away, "Be careful with them, though."

"Um, excuse me?" Rosie scowled, "I'm ALWAYS careful with your coaches."

"Really?" Thomas grinned, "Okay, just making sure." He started off, then stop, "Make sure not to bump them too hard. They don't like that."

"I know." Rosie grumbled. As much as she liked him, especially trying to be like him, Thomas had long ago found out that Rosie was also surprisingly easy to irritate on her end, just like he was. As a result, Thomas sometimes liked to pull no punches with teasing her, trying to make her mad.

Thomas slowly backed up a few more feet, "Are you-?"

"Yes, I'm sure!"

"Really s-?"

"Thomas, I'm tired and I want to go to my shed after I'm done here, so I swear, if you don't leave right now and let me do my job..." Rosie glared at him,

"Okay, okay, sorry!" Thomas sighed, dramatically,"I'm going."

"Thank you."

A few more feet, and then he grinned widely, "Actually, what if I stayed? What would yo-?"

"JUST GO WAIT AT THE PLATFORM, YOU NUMBER ONE BOILERACHE!" The snapping sound of her last nerve breaking practically audible, the female tank engine screeched with anger and Thomas puffed quickly away from her, laughing loudly. He knew that he was probably going to get it from her later for that one, but he figured it was worth it.

Best to have just a bit of fun, before… Thomas sighed, doing as

Luckily, Rosie was quick to forgive and get back to work, and at six-twenty carefully shunted Annie and Clarabel so that they were perfectly alongside the far platform, on the opposite side where Emily's passengers would disembark her coaches. She then whistled, signalling to Thomas. He backed himself up to Annie, coupled to them, and them let out a whoosh of steam as he settled in to wait for Emily.

And wait a little more. As time passed, several passengers arrived and boarded the coaches, but Thomas knew that the main mass of them were still with Emily. However, as expected, twenty minutes later there was still no sign of the Stirling, but that didn't mean Emily wasn't trying to get there.

For a moment, Thomas fearfully wondered if Emily would actually make it, If she does, this was all a waste of time...

The stationmaster suddenly walked up, holding his pocket watch, "The signalman at Black Loch just called. Emily was delayed by a broken signal. She's coming, but she might be here a bit late."

I don't know why You're helping me with this, Thomas prayed, looking up, but thank you!

"Seven o'clock." Thomas said, gruffly (and grimacing at how unlike him it sounded), "That's when I'm leaving."

"Are you sure?" The stationmaster looked surprised, "You didn't really give her much of a window to squeeze through."

"She's supposed to get here at six-fifty-five, and I leave at seven." Thomas answered, matter-of-factly, "Ten minutes, and based on where she is, that sounds like plenty of time for her to get here to me."

"She's not going to make it." The stationmaster insisted.

"If she doesn't," Thomas paused, taking a deep breath before speaking, "then it's her own fault."

The stationmaster stared at him, a bit shocked at this sudden change of attitude from the tank engine, but after a long moment he looked at his watch, "Two more minutes before her arrival deadline." He looked out at the tracks behind Thomas, "There's still no sign of her."

The two minutes passed.

Then five more.

Three more went by. In the distance, Thomas heard the telltale whistle as the Stirling came closer, but he still couldn't see her.

Another minutes passed. Far behind him, Thomas heard the sound of Emily's cranking coupling rod turning as she approached the station.

Thirty seconds, Thomas counted down, and...twenty seconds…

"Th...Thomas!" He heard Emily pant, tiredly, "I'm here!"

Too late. Just as Emily was steaming into the station, the clock struck seven and the guard blew the whistle at Thomas's silent urging, and he immediately began to move forward to leave the station.

"Thomas, wait!" Emily cried out, "Come back!"

"Sorry, Emily, but you're late." Thomas called back, not stopping, "I said seven, sharp."

"It was only by a few seconds!"

"Still late."

"But Thomas-!"

"No 'buts', Emily. Goodbye!"

"Think of the passengers, though!" To Thomas's surprise, Emily's tone sounded desperate, "I heard them talking, and they were really looking forward to this run! Please, come back!"

With a outward show of reluctance, Thomas stopped, "Fine."

He reversed back into the station. On the platform, the shocked passengers smiled with relief and many thanked Thomas for changing his mind as they boarded Annie and Clarabel, ready to see the nighttime scenery. Thomas acknowledged them, but otherwise kept his eyes straight ahead and sat with an impatient expression. On the opposite side of the platform, Emily was panting slightly and Thomas could see a bit of sweat roll down the side of her smokebox, signs that she had indeed tried as hard as she could to get the passengers there.

Leave compassion and understanding in the shed… Though he actually felt sorry for putting her through that, he knew he couldn't show it, not if he wanted the plan to work.

"Th...thank you, Thomas." She breathed, smiling thankfully at him.

Thomas huffed, looking at her, irritated, "It's about time you got here."

Emily's smile fell, "I was delayed, Thomas, I'm sorry-"

"No excuses, Emily. You said it yourself: One complaint, and the whole railway gets shut down." Thomas glared at her, "One would think you'd follow your own advice."

"Accidents can happen, though!" Emily protested, "Besides, they would've easily complained about you leaving them behind!"

"Maybe, maybe not, but they DEFINITELY would've complained if you arrived late and caused them to miss out on this run." Thomas scolded, "If you couldn't get here in time, why didn't you say so?"

"Wha-? Bu-?" Emily sputtered, her eyes widening in shock, "B-but I did say so, before! You heard me talking to Sir Topham Hatt!"

"I heard you say you could do it," Thomas retorted, "not 'sorry, Thomas, but I simply cannot get here by seven' or even an 'I'll try, but no promises.'"

"That's what I meant!"

"Really?" Then came the final blow: He raised an eyebrow, "I thought you were very particular with your words?"

Stunned by her own sentences being used against her, Emily's mouth opened and closed several times, the Stirling unable to find a response to that. If he was honest, Thomas figured that if the first time he had ever seen the female engine so utterly speechless.

The guard blew his whistle again, and Thomas set off once more, this time with all of his passengers for the evening. He didn't look back, but as he left, he could feel Emily's eyes on him, following him until he was around the bend.

As soon as he was away, however, Thomas's expression fell into one of worry, Was...was that really me? It must not have been...No, it COULDN'T have been…

Annie and Clarabel, however, finally couldn't take it anymore and burst out laughing.

"Oh my goodness," Clarabel wheezed, "she looked like a fish out of water! Her face…!"

"So that's what getting a taste of your own medicine looks like..." Annie cleared her throat, "A fine job, indeed, Thomas."

"I didn't like it." Thomas admitted, glumly.

"But you did it, and quite effectively, if I do say so myself." Clarabel assured him, "And using her own words against her, too, her 'particular words-'"

"-was GENIUS!" Annie finished.

"I hope it was worth it." Thomas said, warily, "In fact, I'm hoping it was enough." He shivered, "I...that was NOT me talking back there…"

"Thomas," Annie said, firmly, "I want you to listen carefully: Just so long as you remember who you are, and keep that at the forefront of your mind even during moments like that, you'll be fine. After all, our mission is to get Emily to confess why she had become the engine she is, and possibly bring the old her back. Being nice isn't working, so being mean and bossy is our only option left to try. Keep that in mind, and you won't lose yourself."

"Besides," Clarabel added, "it's not like you're being mean to her all the time, just on and off and at the exact right moments."

"Is any of it worth much if I do things like this to her, though?" Thomas asked, spotting a junction that would lead to his branch line, "This was starting SMALL, too, and even that was more than I thought I could bear being mean to another engine. What will happen as we gradually move up the ladder?"

The coaches were silent for a long moment, but Annie finally spoke, "We won't know until we try, and you're right: Hopefully, it will only take this once for Emily to get the message. But if it isn't...just know you're not alone in this. We're with you-"

"-and so are Toby and Mavis." Clarabel finished.

Toby and Mavis… At the thought of his friends, Thomas made a decision, "Will you two be fine in the shed tomorrow?"

"You're cancelling your runs?" Annie blinked.

"I need to talk to Toby and Mavis, so I'm going to ask Sir Topham Hatt if I can work at the quarry tomorrow." Thomas explained, "If this WASN'T enough, though I pray it was, then I need an idea from them for round two."

"That's a good idea, actually." Clarabel said, thoughtfully, "In that case, yes, we'll be fine."

"For now, though, our objective is complete and we are on a lovely night run." Annie said, "Let's celebrate this victory by enjoying it to the fullest."

"Agreed." Her sister seconded.

Thomas smiled, looking for the first time up at the clear, moonlit sky and around them at the darkened woods, alive with nocturnal creatures, "Well...it IS a good night for it…"

But please, Emily, He thought, PLEASE get the message. I really don't want to do that again...

...

And it is finally complete, though a bit of a heads-up for y'all:

With finals coming up, I might not be able to write the third chapter right away, so bear with me. But on a positive note, I tried to make this a small, yet effective, blow

blow to Emily- as much as I possibly could think of. A big thanks to the guest reader who suggested the idea. To be fair, though, if you guys have any

feedback, it is much appreciated as I still think I made Thomas a bit too heated here for just phase

one of the plan. That's for you guys to decide, though. Anyway,

chapter three will be a prepping chapter of sorts that starts off with Mavis, Toby, and Thomas forming phase two of the plan. But the question is:

What IS phase two? Also, and this is just my opinion, I honestly might not have Thomas setting everything up alone on this next one...