Author's Notes: Ch. 10! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAnd I'm still surprised I'm still going. Oops. At this point, I'm glad to announce that I do have a rough idea of how I want the story to continue on and how I want it to go in the final few chapters. That's not saying it'll be ending in the next few chapters, as there's a few more things that need to happen before that point; I just have a basic outline going on. Now that I've got this chapter cranked out, it should be easier to work out the next few and go from there. So HOPEFULLY, between this and everything else on my writing plate, I won't fall back behind on it.

We've also got one reference going to the Mexican production of Starlight Express; dat Polanco theater hnnnng.

If you like what you read, leave a fave or a review! I like hearing from you guys, I want to know what you like or don't like! :D

Pearl bustled around her bedroom getting ready for the day's work that next morning, fixing her hair and gathering her things for the day. She fussed with her hair, usually either cascading down her back in loose curls or straight as an arrow, but today all it wanted to be was frizzy and uncooperative. She debated just leaving it as it was when she heard the doorbell to her unit go off. "Oh, coming!" She sped to the living room, figuring it was Greaseball and Dinah here to pick her up. Opening the door, she instead found Sofia at the door, her own bag in hand. "Sofia, I didn't know you got up this early!"

Sofia simply smiled and shifted her bag on her shoulders. "Oh, I usually don't... I actually came here because I wanted to chat with you a bit before work, if that was okay..?"

Pearl nodded her head, and moved to allow Sofia into the room. "No, I don't mind at all! Please, come right in." Sofia obliged and made her way over to a nearby loveseat, setting her stuff beside her on the cushion. Pearl took a seat on a big dark purple leather chair, and tossed a lock of her unobliging hair behind her shoulder. "So, how do you like it here at the AV? Pretty neat, huh?"

"Oh yeah, I've grown to love it here," Sofia agreed as she played with the hem of her skirt. "Everyone's so nice and they've been really helpful with teaching me how everything works here."

"That's great!" Pearl bounced in her seat. "I knew you'd love it here. I was just about the same as you when I first came here, just as shy but I wanted to make as many friends as I could. Then I met Rusty, Dinah, and the other coaches, and the rest is history." She leaned back in her chair and sighed. "It's nothing like my old trainyard, thought. Where'd you transfer from?"

"Oh, it's just a small trainyard from somewhere in Mexico... It was called the Polanco Trainyard."

"Was it nice down there?"

"Yeah, it was pretty nice, but it wasn't what I considered home, I guess..."

"What do you mean?" Sofia looked up towards Pearl, and the observation coach could see that there were tears forming in the sleeper's eyes. Pearl's heart stirred; she didn't mean to make her cry! "Oh Sofia, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say something that upset you!"

"It's alright," Sofia whispered, wiping tears away as they streamed down her face. "It's just... It's been hard to forget about what happened back then... With that horrible, horrible fire.."

"A fire?"

Sofia's head slowly rose as she wiped the remainder of her tears away. "Yes... my old trainyard was destroyed in a fire a few years ago... The main hall, the repair garages, even the units all burned down. So many trains didn't make it that night..."

"That's horrible, how could such a thing happen?!"

"Greaseball! Come on, we're gonna be late for clock-in, and we ain't even gone by Pearl's place yet!"

Dinah tapped her toe-stop impatiently against the door-jamb as she stood in the bedroom door. As per the usual in their relationship, she woke up early enough to make breakfast for the two of them, then got ready in the spare bathroom in Greaseball's unit. Today, however, Greaseball was having a hard time getting his hair to sit right, even with the large amount of hair grease that he used to style it.

"I AM TRYING, WOMAN. My hair just ain't cooperatin' with me right now!" The diesel tried to smooth one side into position while combing the other side into its place; normally it would work perfectly, but his thick abundance of hair was not having it today and refused to set in style. He threw the comb against the sink in anger, bouncing it from the drain back towards the shower behind him, and ran both hands over and against his dark mane, slicking it back into place. He looked pleased with it until one stubborn lock of hair popped back up and hung over his eyes. A jumble of expletive words erupted from his mouth until his girlfriend hollered his name in warning.

The two exited Greaseball's unit in a huff, a headband hastily fastened around the engine's cranium, and headed down the units as quickly as they could. Dinah held onto his couplers with one expert hand, an apple in her other with bags hanging from her shoulders. "Greasy, I told you ya should've gotten that other hair gel if you knew it worked better! Tank doesn't know quality hair products from the gunk that generates in between his wheels!" She bit off another piece of the apple, chewing and swallowing it quickly. "Though I bet you're overdue for another haircut already!"

"D, I am NOT in the mood for your fashion advice," Greaseball called back, trying hard not to grind his teeth. "I already feel stupid enough havin' to wear this damn thing on my head, it makes me look like Rustbucket trying to get ready for picture day back in training school!" A resounding smack from behind made Greaseball flinch and wave a hand back behind him. "And I don't appreciate bein' told my head look's like a duck's ass-end this early in the morning!"

"Oh come on, I bet if we just go back to the store and get you that old gel you used last time, it'll look like ya never had a bad hair day in your life," Dinah laughed as they made their way to Pearl's unit's porch. But the dining car's laughter ceased as they neared the door; from behind the wooden barrier, they could hear the sounds of crying from inside. "Pearly?" Dinah knocked on the door quickly, listening for any odd sounds. Something clicked from inside, and the door swung open to reveal a tear-stricken Pearl, her hair in a half-curled/half-frizzy mess and her makeup running down her face.

"I-I'm sorry, D-Dinah..," Pearl sobbed, holding a handful of tissues in her gloved hands. "I-I was ready and w-waiting..."

Just two hours into the workday, it had already proven itself to be a very slow one for some of the coaches. Dinah found herself at the trains' loading station with Ashley and Pearl, cleaning their cars while Turnov and Princey played assorted games to make the day go by. Having cleaned the inside of hers already, she was now focusing on the kitchen area, washing dishes and countertops with a well-practiced ease. As she bustled about, she heard bits of conversation through an open window by her sink, laughing to herself as she noted who exactly it came from.

"... You wretched git! .. "

"... I'll be damned! ..."

"... Electra-... burned it down! ..."

Dinah's head perked up as she heard Electra's name mentioned.

"Burned it- the whole thing?"

"Yes! The whole thing!"

As she listened closer, she could distinctly tell who was speaking; it was Pearl talking, lightly and quietly as if it was confidential information. She sat her sponge down as she quietly moved to dry her hands and put her gloves back on. Quickly, she moved to the door of her kitchen and slowly opened it, trying not to make any noise. Stepping outside, she silently moved to where she could hear the conversation better, just below one of the windows of Ashley's car.

"- But I don't get it, Pearl," Ashley countered, blowing smoke away from her friend's face, "who would gain anything from burning a whole trainyard down?"

Pearl sat in a chair, leaned back and playing with a lock of hair. "I don't know... I mean, I want to believe that no one is that crazy... But... We don't really know Electra all that well... Maybe he's been upset enough to do that?"

"Really? A whole trainyard, Pearl. A WHOLE TRAINYARD."

"SHHH! Not so loud! I don't want anyone else to know about this yet.."

"Pearl, I know this is shocking for you, but I doubt Electra's the type to torch a full-sized yard over some inane shit as possibly losing a race."

"Well he was the type to attack me during the final last year-"

"He was also the type to charm you away from Rusty..."

"Ashley, this is serious!" Pearl sat up, accidentally slamming a hand on the table beside her. "If he's that dangerous, shouldn't we warn Control about it?! He took care of Caboose, can't he take care of Electra too?"

Ashley sighed, putting out her half-finished cigarette as Pearl rubbed her now sore hand. "I think you're forgetting that if Electra was that type of engine, he would've already set this entire yard aflame by now and last year's final would've been gone in moments!"

Dinah strained to hear more of what they were saying, but didn't want to risk being caught by either of them. She was crouched below the window on her toe-stops when a hand came to rest on her shoulder, catching her by surprise. She yelled out in surprise and turned round quickly to face the person behind her, shooting out a balled-up fist and connecting it with their face as she fell to the ground. The sudden commotion caught the attention of Pearl and Ashley, who quickly headed to the window to see what happened. Dinah regained her thoughts quickly, fearing she had been caught, and looked up to find she had socked Caboose right in the nose. He was now on the ground with Volta right behind him, who now looked at Dinah with pure shock in her pale features. Looking towards the window, she also found Pearl and Ashley staring down at her with confused looks on their faces. Her face was growing hot, and she had to act quickly. "OH! Caboose, I'm so sorry!" Dinah quickly got up and rushed to Caboose's side, helping him up. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to smack ya right in the face! Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Caboose mumbled, making a few pained faces and wincing at the pain, "I didn't mean to sneak up on you like that... What were you doing here tho-"

"I- FOUND IT!" Dinah quickly bent down and acted as if she picked something up off the ground, then stood back up glancing at everyone. "I was looking for my ring! I knocked it out the window by accident while I was washin' dishes... Oh gosh, CB, your nose is bleedin'!"

The brake truck brought a hand up to his nose and looked at it. "Is it?"

"Well don't just stand there! Get in the car, I got a first-aid kit in there!" Dinah started pushing Caboose and Volta towards the diner car door. "I think I even have a tampon in my bag if it's serious!"

"Dinah, I don't think I-"

"GET IN THE CAR, CABOOSE." Volta's stern voice rang into Caboose's ear with sudden intensity.

"Y-yes, ma'am!"

After the three were inside, Dinah went to shut the window beside the sink. Finding that Pearl and Ashley had gone back to chatting, she closed it and shut the door on the opposite end.

"D, I don't think my nose is bleeding at all..." Caboose blew his nose into a tissue to make sure. "See, there's no- oh, well there is a little bit of blood..."

Volta leaned against the fridge with her arms crossed. "That was quite a show you put on out there... What's go you so high-strung all of a sudden?"

Dinah raised a finger to her lips as she went to a drink cooler and pulled out three sodas. Opening one and taking a drink of it, she motioned for them to go sit out in the seating portion of the car. As Volta and Caboose took a seat at the bar, Dinah unfolded a seat behind the bar and sat down, sighing heavily as she handed a drink to each of them. "Do you guys remember what Electra told us about that one trainyard..? The one that burned down?"

Caboose nodded his head, taking a sip of his soda. "Yeah... That's some pretty scary stuff. But what about it?"

Dinah scratched behind her ear. "I heard Pearl talking to Ashley... I don't know everything they were talking about, but she was saying Electra burned the trainyard down!"

"But Pearl wasn't there when we heard the story," Volta said. "And Electra had us all promise we wouldn't tell anyone what he told us. You haven't said anything, have you?"

"I haven't," Dinah shook her head. "Have you, CB?"

"Not a peep."

Volta tapped her finger on the top of the soda can. "Then that only leaves Greaseball-"

"-and he'd been with me the whole morning until we got to work." Dinah sipped on her soda. "He was with me when we stopped by Pearl's place to get her on the way here... She looked like she'd been bawling up a storm when we got there!"

"Did she say why?"

"She wouldn't say a thing! Usually she'd tell me if something was wrong, but today she just kinda said she'd been watching a sad movie waitin' for us, but..."

"... Well, that's not totally unreasonable," Caboose murmured.

"It's not, but it didn't sound right..." Dinah fiddled with the pop tab on her can. "It sounded more like she was fibbin', trying to hide somethin'..."

"You don't think she found out about the story from Sofia, do you?" Volta opened her can, grimacing at the fizzing of the carbonated drink. "Aside from Electra, she's the only one that would know about it, and we know that Electra won't just willingly tell people about something like that."

"I don't know," Dinah admitted. "She seems like a sweet gal- don't get me wrong -but I don't know her all that well. I only talked to her a few times since she's been here."

"Duvay says she was really surprised to find out that Rusty and Pearl were dating..." Caboose mused. "Don't know why, most people can spot that a mile away-"

"Well yeah, I forgot about that! ... Ohhh, but I doubt that has anything to do with it."

Volta took a long swig of her soda and sat the can on the bar. "It might not, but we need to remember she supposedly came back for that promise she made with Rusty. And we don't know if she intends to keep it by any means necessary."

"Surely she's not that reckless!" Dinah waved a hand in the air. "I know this yard's had its fair share of reckless trains, but I can't imagine why someone would want to wreck a perfectly good relationship just to do something like-" Dinah went silent as Volta and Caboose stared her down, their faces settled into a grim look that couldn't quite be placed. Finally she finished off her drink, throwing the empty can into a nearby trash can, and took a deep breath. "... Let's just agree that we can't tell anyone of what we know. Not of Electra's story, or of what I told you two... We need to wait and see what happens."