"DAMN!"
A hiss of pistons and a soft, sad sizzle emitted from the little engine as he ground to a halt. Young eyes darted from side to side nervously, unable to distinguish landmarks from dark, twisted shadows alongside the line.
"Cool it, Richard." Geoffrey Heron growled. "Sorry chaps, but it looks like we're stuck here for the night." He patted his engine's footplate comfortingly.
"But I promised the others we'll be back," Said Luke, quietly. "They'll be worried about us."
Now, however, he was completely lost- he had offered to take some empty trucks to the Transfer Yards and he couldn't remember the way back to the quarry. Now, he had run out of coal too!
"There are no coal hoppers here," Observed Richard, zig-zagging the torch around like mad trying to find a way home. "Would it have been so bad for you to get some help from another engine, Luke?"
The little engine just sighed. "I'm sorry, sir. I didn't mean for this to happen- I just wanted to prove to Mr Percival I could be Really Useful." His face flushed red with shame, and he suddenly felt something manifest in his eyes- he was grateful it was very dark, save for his lamp.
"Well, there's more to work than that." Geoffrey admitted. "You do need to learn to work with others, you know."
"I know Mr Heron- it's just been a while since I did do some work that didn't involve me hiding whenever an outsider came."
"Sorry for not filling up your coal supply by the way, Luke." Richard added mournfully. "I suppose it would have been a more sensible option than hoping for the best."
"That's okay," Luke smiled bravely- just as he felt moisture on his face. And he was absolutely certain it wasn't from his eyes.
Geoffrey and Richard cursed under their breaths at the sight of the dark blue- black clouds bearing her cold, wet arrows, aiming to conquer Sodor in a soggy onslaught.
The rain lashed down on his face, and he let out a small, delicate pixie-like sneeze, which gave his crew some mild amusement- but their hopes of getting home for the night were looking more and more doomed by the minute.
Then, as if things couldn't get worse, there was a sudden 'POP!' and the three jumped as they were plunged into total darkness.
"Mr Heron...what do we do now?" Luke whispered fearfully.
"I don't know- Richard and I can't get signals on our phones, so we can't call for help." Geoffrey admitted, ashamed. "It looks like we're stuck out here."
"You mean, all night?" The little engine gulped.
"Oh yeah,"
Then, he couldn't even see them, and he something seized up inside him. "Mr Heron, Mr Wilson? Where are you? I can't see you, please answer me!"
But no answer came, and no answer ever did come...
...
Luke awoke with a start. "Oh thank goodness it was only a dream!" He gasped in shaky relief, on realising he was still in the tunnels of the Blue Mountain Quarry.
"Hmm, Luke- is something wrong?" A sleepy voice asked him.
"Rheneas- what are you doing here?" Luke asked, baffled.
"I was helping guard you against the controllers, remember?" Rheneas questioned.
Memories of the previous night flooded back to Luke, and he made a whimper of acknowledgment. Unbeknownst to him, however, this sound, despite its quietness, caught Rheneas' attention, and his expression dipped into one of concern.
"Luke?"
"Sorry I woke you, Rheneas- we should get some sleep." The small green engine said shakily. He wasn't sure what he would have done if Rheneas hadn't been here- but he was feeling so lonely and in despair that it was affecting his sleep worse than ever.
"Luke, please. I know there's more to it than that."
"It was just a nightmare." Luke groused, unwilling to talk to Rheneas, and hoping that the old engine would just think it a trivial matter and let it be.
Alas, his friend was not a fool, and he implored Luke to talk to him about it, if he could.
"After all, Luke, nightmares are windows into a person's state of mind." He reminded the younger engine sternly. "Your state of mind is of one that no one should ever face. We can help you, Luke- it can't be denied that we're not used to dealing with this kind of situation- but we'd rather face an unknown scenario to help you out of your mind set than suddenly hear that you've taken your own life without having a second chance to fight back."
Luke, although still upset and a bit cross, was touched by this raw confession, and he gulped nervously.
"Well..." But his nerves seized up on him, and he knew he didn't want to hear of his nightmare again. Not tonight, at least. "Can we...we talk about it tomorrow? Please?" He asked instead, feeling ashamed for being so weak.
"Of course we can, Luke," His companion acquiesced.
"Just promise me one thing, Rheneas-please, as a friend."
It wasn't a question, leaving Rheneas thinking Luke needed it desperately.
"What is it, my friend?" He asked softly.
"Please...none of you leave me in the unknown..." The reply was even softer, and Rheneas barely caught the breath the words were carried on, let alone the words themselves.
How could he say no to that? He knew that he and his friends were in a dangerous and bottomless swamp- but a swamp they were more than willing to get out of with Luke- together.
"Luke, to put it plainly and bluntly- none of us are leaving. We are in this battle together, my friend- even if this is your battle to fight, you'll need comrades to fight with you and support you. We are more than happy to be your comrades in the battle, your lights in the darkness, and your anchors in the storm. If things ever get too much, we're still here, Luke. Don't feel you're ever alone."
At this, some of the tension melted from Luke's tiny frames- he was surprised that Rheneas had managed to deduce what his nightmare had been about, and he swallowed nervously, in awe of this older engine he had come to regard as a brother of sorts.
"...thank you, Rheneas- that...means a lot." He smiled. And indeed, he did feel better already now that Rheneas had single buffer-dly purged his worst fears for the time being.
"You're welcome, Luke. Now get some sleep."
"Okay."
"Good night, Luke."
"Good night, Rheneas."
The two engines were quick to descend into Morpheus' realm after that, each knowing what would come into the morning, and the same time, wandering blindly into it-as they had done every day thus far, and will continue to do for the unforeseen time.
...
Well, just a bit of Luke/Rheneas brotherly fluff! This is a filler chapter, but I hope you enjoyed, more or less!
I'd also like to dedicate this chapter to my dear and good friend, johnny cdaman, who is going through a 'black dog' and whom I hope feels better soon.
And finally, I would like to thank every reviewer who posted me a review- particularly you individuals who sent me reviews in the past few days! You are all wonderful people! :D
