Hehehehe... who's ready for some angst? :D

Rachelle and Thomas never exactly liked visiting the cemetery.

Even so, Mr. Awdry's flowers needed to be replaced yearly - and they made sure of it. This time, they went with azaleas, per Henry's suggestion at the florist's. It symbolized softness and love, which was all that Rachelle's short marriage was.

"I'm once again so sorry you have to buy these for such a sad reason," said Henry, handing them the bouquet. "If there's anything at all I can do to help-"

"Oh, sweetie, you've already done so much for us," smiled Rachelle, patting Henry's shoulder. "Thank you so much, dear."

"Anytime, ma'am," he smiled, accepting the hug from the Awdry momma. His attention then turned to Thomas, "You take care too, little brother."

"You know I will, man," smiled Thomas, also hugging Henry.

The two then thanked Henry once more, and then got back into the car to head to the cemetery. When they got there, they replaced the flowers, and Rachelle and Thomas stood silently and respectfully together in front of Mr. Awdry's gravesite.

"You know," smiled Rachelle, "I think your father would have counted on you graduating at sixteen."

"You really think so?" asked Thomas, smiling faintly.

"Oh, I do," Rachelle nodded. "He commented on how large your head was when you were born - believe me, he had a feeling you'd be something!"

Thomas laughed softly, and smiled. "I just wish I could've talked to him… gotten to know him better."

"Well, you will one day," smiled Rachelle, her eyes dampening. "You will, my sweet boy…"

They then heard two sets of footsteps behind them, and it was Gordon and Edward. "Sorry we're late, we got the errands done though," smiled Edward softly.

"Oh, thank you boys so much," smiled Rachelle, wiping her eyes with her sleeve.

Gordon peered over her shoulder, and smiled softly. "Azaleas… I think you mentioned dad loved those."

Rachelle nodded, wiping her eyes once again… to hear her adoptive children who had never even met their father call him dad was something that never failed to pull on her heartstrings in the absolute softest way possible. "I love you boys so much…"

"And we love you too, mom," smiled Edward.

The four Awdry's then shared a group hug, and began to walk together to the car so they could all head home for dinner, after sharing one last goodbye to Mr. Awdry.

-0-

Rachelle yawned, picking up Thomas from his cradle… it was seriously too early for this.

"Oh… honey, I don't know what's wrong," she muttered as her baby boy cried, bouncing and trying to calm him down. "I've fed you, you don't need to be changed… what do you want, huh?"

She then heard footsteps coming down the stairway, and looked up - her husband had come down.

"Honey, I thought we agreed it was my turn," Rachelle smiled.

"Oh, I know we did," smiled her husband, "but I couldn't stand to let you face this mountain alone."

Rachelle sighed, giggling softly. "He's such a handful, Chris… I don't know what we'd do without him, though."

"Neither do I," Chris smiled, booping his son's nose, and by now he had stopped crying, and was laughing happily. Chris and Rachelle smiled down at their son, and Rachelle planted a soft kiss on his head.

"You gonna go back to bed now, bubby?" she asked softly.

The little yawn that baby Thomas gave her was enough of an answer for her. She kissed him goodnight one more time, and as did Chris. They tucked him back under his blanket, and little baby Thomas clutched onto his choo-choo toy as he began to snore.

"I swear, he's like a light switch," Rachelle muttered, as the two parents headed back to their bed. "One minute he's down for the count, the next… like a flash, bam, he's up and at em!"

"He gets his feistiness from you," Chris laughed.

"Oh, yeah right," Rachelle laughed, putting her arm around her husband.

That was seven months before Chris would head to a better place.

-0-

Duke of Boxford's Summer Home. 7:00 PM.

Tanner sat quietly in the rocking chair of the Duke of Boxford's summer home.

He wasn't moving… it didn't even look like he was breathing, honestly. He was just… still. Completely. Sammy and Davie walked into the living room, McDonald's in their hands, and stared uncomfortably at the boss for a few seconds.

"How… how badly did that Muffle Mountain mess you up, boss?" asked Sammy carefully.

Tanner shifted slightly, looking up at Sammy. "I… I can't say for sure, boys. But a part of me died on that mountain."

"Did… did it have something to do with a ghoul?" Davie asked, as carefully as his brother.

"I… I can't say for sure," Tanner sighed. "Again, I hate to keep repeating myself, but… you boys didn't see what I saw. The horror… I almost died on that mountain. You all didn't even hear the lightning."

"Lightning? No, it was calm," Sammy said, shaking his head.

"Want some McNuggets?" offered Davie.

Tanner looked at the olive sweater-clad Shunter brother, and for the first time since the Muffle Mountain incident, he smirked. "That would be quite nice, Davie."

Tanner was tossed a McNugget box and given a soda thanks to Davie, and with that, the two Shunter brothers sat on the couch perpendicular to Tanner and turned on the TV. Sammy began to flip through the channels, looking for something good to watch.

"In other news, this just now breaking, criminal brothers Alfred and Crovan Beetwell have escaped-"

"Everyone's breaking out of maximum security on the mainland now," Tanner smirked. "Now that I proved it could be done."

"You sure did, boss," Sammy smirked.

Tanner chuckled, taking another bite of his food.

"Boys… I've got a bit of an odd question for you," he said. Sammy and Davie both directed their attention to Tanner, and he began to speak. "How unethical, on a scale of one to ten, is… grave robbing?"

"Oh gosh, that's at least an eight," said Davie. "Maybe even a nine."

"It all depends on who it is though, and what the purpose is," pointed out Sammy. "Like, for instance - what if you just want a 1600's skeleton? That's like, a three, maybe, I'd say."

"Well… you best pack your shovels then, boys," Tanner smirked. "The days ahead should be quite interesting…"

Sammy and Davie just shared a look with one another.

Were they…

Were they seriously about to go grave robbing?

-0-

1:00 AM.

They were going grave robbing.

Not only was this highly morally unethical, but Sammy had a thing where he couldn't stand the sight of bones. And no doubt, thanks to the mission they were currently on, they were probably gonna see some bones.

"What exactly are we doing here anyway, boss?" asked Sammy. "Like… why is this necessary?"

"My mission is to break Thomas Awdry mentally for what he did to me," Tanner said coolly. "Step one was getting the Gold Dust from his girlfriend's father's office. Getting King Godred's Memento from Muffle Mountain was step two of that plan… this is step three."

Sammy and Davie looked at one another, and stepped out of the car.

They were thankful that this was such a big graveyard - they didn't want to get arrested for grave robbing. That wouldn't be a fun crime to be tried over.

Sammy had the shovels, Tanner had the wit and wisdom, and Davie had the flashlight - a pretty perfect team for grave robbing, if you were to ask someone well versed in the subject.

"Wait… whose grave exactly are we robbing?" asked Davie.

Tanner kept walking, and gestured for Davie to point the flashlight at a particular grave. "This one."

"Oh no… oh, man, that's fricked up," muttered Sammy, covering his mouth.

"Boss, we have to draw the line at some point," said Davie, "and that… that's just wrong. I know we're criminals, but like, we gotta have standards, man."

"Are you suggesting… I am wrong to have planned this?" Tanner asked.

"No - we're saying that this is a new moral low," said Sammy. "And as much as I hate to say that… I-I don't think we can go through with this, boss."

Tanner paused. Sammy and Davie were both waiting for him to either snap and tackle them both at the same time, or just pull out his revolver and shoot the both of them on the spot and leave them for dead.

"...You're right," Tanner said.

"Huh?" Davie asked. "T-That doesn't happen often."

Tanner chuckled. "Well, admittedly… maybe it doesn't. But, after thinking for a moment… Yeah, this is pretty messed up. We should be above this - we are above this."

"Nice, boss!" Sammy smirked. "Good on you!"

"This doesn't mean we're not grave robbing, though," Tanner cut in.

"Ah, go figure," shrugged Davie. "I mean, I'm still holding the flashlight, right?"

"Right," Tanner nodded, chuckling. "Hey… hey, look at who you're pointing to there, Davie."

Davie pointed his flashlight center at the headstone he had accidentally landed on, and Tanner smirked. "Now that… that's not too morally blackening, right?"

"Hmm… it's certainly nowhere near as bad as what you were suggesting," Sammy nodded.

"If you're gonna do this whole 'break him mentally' thing... that's probably the one to go for," said Davie.

"Excellent," Tanner smirked. "Let's get to it, boys."

Tanner, Sammy, and Davie then began to desecrate the dead's peace - their shovels clashed with the dirt, heaving scoops of it back and forth from where they rested undisturbed until they showed up. The piles began to come up on all three corners in front of the headstone, and eventually - about an hour later, that is - they hit the casket.

"Whoo! Who would've known that would've been such hard work?" Sammy asked.

"Not me, for certain," Davie sighed, "but then again, I've never been grave robbing."

"Well, you sure did a good job for your first time," Tanner smirked.

"Wait… we don't have a hearse," said Sammy, looking around. "How the heck are we gonna get this dude out of here?"

Tanner paused, smirking.

"Boss, it's never good when you don't explain your plan," Davie observed. "I like where this is going."

Tanner nodded, his evil smirk never leaving his lips.

Suddenly, however, red and blue lights began to flash at the head of the graveyard - Sammy and Davie instinctively bolted for the car, but Tanner barked at them to hold their ground. They did so without question.

The cop car pulled up, and two officers stepped out. "Sodor Island PD, what in the world are you all doing here?" the cop asked, her hand on her holster.

"Trust me, madam," smiled Tanner, raising his hands, "we mean no trouble…"

"Yeah, and we mean that!" Sammy said.

"Emphatically!" Davie added.

"Hey… hey, what's that word mean?" asked Sammy.

"I dunno," shrugged Davie.

"Huh, it's a good word," Sammy said.

"If you all mean no trouble, then why are you standing on a casket in a marked grave in a hole that you all dug?" the cop's partner asked. "Forgive me gentlemen, but that's usually not a good sign."

"I understand the confusion," Tanner said, "and believe me, all will make sense momentarily."

"Hang on… hang-hang on, you're Tanner Vintex!" shouted the head cop, drawing her pistol - her partner did the same, his gun drawn equally as fast. "Put your hands where we can see them, bastard!"

Tanner deadpanned. "They… they were already up, though. I-I don't think we've done anything to warrant arrest, my fair lady."

"Oh yeah? Who says?" asked the cop.

Tanner then heard the crunching of leaves coming from somewhere not too far behind himself and his boys, and smirked. "I believe my colleague has somewhat to say to you."

Both of the cops then dropped their guns, and their hands moved to their throats. They were choking. Trying to get oxygen, but to no avail… and they dropped unconscious right before the three men's eyes.

Tanner smirked, launching himself out of the grave hole. He looked behind the headstone, and there stood a woman, clothed in dark orange and black robes and black boots.

"Hello there, my dear," he smirked.

The woman's ginger hair was like fire in the moonlight, and her ruby red lips sparkled in the moonlight. "Took you long enough to get back in touch, Tanner."

Tanner smiled genuinely. "Well, forgive me… I had a few prior complications, as you know."

"Yes, I'm well aware," the woman smiled.

"Uhmm… boss, who is this lady?" asked Davie.

"Ah, I forgot to introduce you boys to my magical contact," smiled Tanner. "Fellas, please meet my good friend Marion - the Witch of Drosek Forest."

"Lovely to meet you boys," smiled Marion, waving at the Shunter brothers.

They waved back happily. "Lovely to meet you too, ma'am!" smiled Sammy.

Marion giggled. "You didn't tell me you had recruited such gentlemen, Tanner."

"As much as I hate to sound like a gigolo," said Davie, "we still have a problem - how are we gonna get the coffin back to base, and then how are we gonna get the dirt back in the hole?"

"You boys worry about the dirt," smiled Marion. "I'll take care of everything else."

She then said some magical language, and in the blink of an eye, she was gone - and so were Tanner, and the coffin. Sammy and Davie stood dumbstruck for about fifteen seconds, before the latter twin's phone pinged.

We're back at base with the body. Return immediately after refilling the grave.

"...Sneaky bastard," nodded Sammy.

"Sneaky bastard," Davie agreed.

Everyone, say hello to Marion! A new character for this saga, but one who's importance cannot be understated. ;) You will be seeing a lot more of her from now on!

Thank you all so so much for your supportive comments - they seriously mean the entire world to me. Please keep leaving them, and I promise to only bring my best for this story! Until May 24th, y'all - have a great five day span! :D