Flying Scotsman awoke with a sudden jolt. His mind raced and repeated the moment Gordon charged him. The large engine's boiler pressure built up and he rocketed forward. The men at the Steamworks scrambled as he crashed through their equipment. An engineer dove into Scotsman's cab and manually took control of his brakes. The engine slid forward in a shower of sparks until he stopped just short of the shuttered bay doors. Scotsman's breathing was heavy, his eyes wide and vicious.

"Easy, big guy." The engineer from Doncaster slowly approached the riled engine. He made sure to keep his hands up to avoid startling Scotsman further. "You're safe. You're at the Steamworks on Sodor."

"He tried to kill me." Flying Scotsman whispered. He leveled out his breathing but his steam pumped angrily from his pistons. "That bastard tried to kill me."

"Woah, woah." The engineer drew closer then froze when Flying Scotsman's murderous gaze snapped to him. "Let's get you back to your shed. The men still have minor repairs to make and you need to be repainted."

Scotsman furrowed his brow. He couldn't see it, but his entire body and tenders were all bare. Not a touch of his elegant green livery remained. Just shiny black metal. "Where's my brother?"

"He's still unconscious, but he's here." The engineer gestured to the other side of the Steamworks that had been closed off with large tarps. "We've replaced his smoke box, but we still have his boiler and fire box left."

Scotsman managed to relax. He had mixed feelings about this news. He wanted to feel relieved that his brother was alright, but he also wished he was dead. The big engine cast another quick glance to the sweaty engineer then to Victor who had just rolled up with Kevin hot at his buffers. "I need to leave."

"I would advise against that, my friend." Victor said calmly. "You're not quite ready to go out yet. You need to give yourself time to rest and let the men finish their work."

Scotsman grit his teeth in frustration. "I need to leave." He repeated firmly.

"Victor," the engineer stepped in before the little narrow-gauge could protest. "Perhaps exactly what Flying Scotsman needs is fresh air and a chance to stretch his wheels. He's been out for weeks and we can't work on him if he's distressed. So long as he promises not to push himself I don't see why he can't have a day to unwind."

"Well, I'm not so sure," Victor was apprehensive, but he could see the engineer's point so he digressed. "Very well. No going at top speed and no working. Avoid the Mainline and be back before dark, understand?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever." Scotsman huffed while he impatiently waited for the bay doors to open. As soon as the opening was just wide enough for the big engine to fit, he steamed away without a goodbye or even a peep on his whistle.

The weather was beginning to cool down once more. The leaves were still green but the air was crisp with the essence of fall. Edward was chuffing down his branch line humming quietly to himself as he headed towards Brendam Docks with goods cars. Little did he know James was just coming back from the docks to pull his passenger coaches and when the red engine noticed the little blue engine coming towards him, he switched tracks without warning and headed straight for Edward.

"James!" Edward shouted as he slammed on his brakes. "What're you do-" Edward is cut off when James slides right into him. The red engine's lips found Edward's and the two engines hungrily intertwined in the middle of the line.

Their embrace was broken when James reluctantly pulled himself from Edward. He could feel himself getting too aroused and he didn't want to partake in extracurriculars in broad daylight for the risk of getting caught. "Hi."

"Hi." Said Edward dreamily, his eyes half shut with a goofy smile working it's way across his face. "What was that for?"

"Just a preview." James said seductively as he made his way back onto his proper track.

"A preview of what?" Edward perked up.

James gave Edward a mischievous grin and started forward again. "What you're in for after work tonight."

Edward stayed frozen on his track as James sped off. His face ran hot and he shuddered on his axles. "I guess I should get a wash down later." He murmured to himself as he collected himself and started back towards the docks. "Maybe I'll go to the Steamworks for a polish as well."

While Edward and James were able to look forward to what their night together would bring, Meredith was sitting impatiently at Arlesburgh Harbor while she waited for a passenger to be picked up by an ambulance after falling ill in her coach. She was tense on her bearings and her undercarriage ached. Not having Gordon to help release her was starting to get to the little white tank engine. She was becoming irritable, but she did her best to keep a positive attitude. Though much to the expense of her mental stability.

Oliver and Toad rolled by with water tankers for the Search and Rescue center, but Meredith ignored them. She was in no mood for socializing. All she could think of was, well, Gordon. Gordon and Flying Scotsman.

"Excuse me, miss?" A new voice snapped Meredith back to reality just as her mind began to take a rather libidinous turn. She looked up to find another tank engine she had never seen before watching her with curious eyes. The tank engine was the same Colombian class as Meredith with a similarly short funnel and steam dome as well as regulators that wrapped around his boiler. Though his livery was a pearly black with white and gold striping. He even looked like Meredith, but with a more round nose and thinner lips.

Meredith furrowed her brow. She was confused. "Who are you?"

"I'm Brian." The tank engine said. His voice was gentle and reminded Meredith of Ryan. "I just got here this morning."

"From where?"

"North America." Brian said, his tone matured as he gained confidence. "I'm trying to find an engine named Meredith, actually."

"Oh, uhh, that's me." Meredith said with a curious cock of her boiler.

"Really?" Brian perked up and smiled. Meredith nodded and the new engine bounced on his wheels. "Oh I can't believe it! The first engine I meet and it's you!"

"What's so exciting about me?" Meredith said as she began to start up again. The ill passenger had been removed and loaded into an ambulance at this point and Meredith's guard had given her the green flag, but she didn't move.

"Oh, well," the new engine glanced around shyly. "I hope I don't upset you for being so forthright but… I'm your brother."

Meredith gaped and then winced when her driver manually started her forward. "I'm so sorry, Brian. I'll have to find you later! I have a timetable to keep. It was nice to meet you!"

"Uh, goodbye!" Brian replied. He was a little disappointed, but he didn't want to get her into trouble so he too continued onward.

Meredith steamed down the line after she dropped her passengers and coaches at Knapford. She was on her way to the quarry with empty cars and all she could think about was her newest discovery. She had a brother, and by the looks of him, he was close to her age, if not slightly older. She wondered why she was only then hearing about him. It almost made her sad. She had a sibling and never even knew about it, but he knew of her. The whole situation was puzzling.

Little Meredith was so caught up in her confusion she failed to notice a black engine barreling towards her until they nearly collided on the track in a cloud of sparks and smoke.

The air settled around them and Meredith nearly jumped out of her boiler. "Scotsman?!"

Without saying a single word to the little tank engine, Scotsman yanked her into an angry kiss and shoved her with her cars down a nearby siding. Meredith initially tried to pull away, but was overcome by her own selfish needs and embraced the moment. All she wanted was Gordon, but Flying Scotsman was there, and the closest thing to Gordon she had.

Back at the Steamworks later that evening the men had finally finished reassembling Gordon's boiler and firebox. They were ready to wake him. The supervising engineer came to watch over as the men began to warm up Gordon's firebox. It didn't take too long before steam started flowing from his pistons, which was a very good sign. The supervisor stepped back out of the way. He crossed his arms over his chest, his entire body tense. After how Flying Scotsman woke that morning he was anxious to see how Gordon would handle. "Okay," he said calmly. "Wake him up."

A worker grabbed a glass tube, about the size of his palm, and held it up to Gordon's nose. He pushed his thumbs against the middle of the tube and it broke with a pop. Gordon lurched awake with a loud blare of his whistle. All the workers had to cover their ears. It was the loudest the engine's whistle had ever been, even Victor had to clench his jaw in an attempt to block out the sound.

Gordon eventually managed to calm down without storming through the Steamworks though his smoke box ached intensely. He looked around and was surprised that he didn't see his brother. "Where's Flying Scotsman?"

"He's gone out for the day, he should be ba-"

"You let him leave?" Gordon raised his voice in anger. "How could you let him leave?!"

"Easy, Gordon." Victor pulled up to the bristling big engine. "We figured the fresh air would be good for him."

Gordon huffed in frustration but said no more. He worried that his brother might try to find Meredith and Gordon couldn't bear the thought of his brother seeing her before him. Just then the bay doors opened with a heavy groan and in puffed Flying Scotsman, the setting sun glaring brightly behind him. "Well, well, I see you've somehow managed to pull through."

"You're on thin ice." Gordon glowered. He scanned his brother for any signs of having been with Meredith, but everything appeared copacetic. He felt a small bit of relief and relaxed, but only just.

Scotsman chuckled. "At least being rebuilt hasn't dampened your fire."

"It's fueled it." Gordon stated plainly. "Where have you been?"

"Just out and about. Giving my new pistons a good work in." Flying Scotsman studied his brother's stern expression and he smirked. "And, no, I didn't see Meredith."

"So you say." Gordon grumbled.

Scotsman ignored his brother's snark and settled in as his tenders were detached and he was lifted up for the workers to finish his repairs.

Meredith was sitting at Wellsworth to run her last train for the day when she heard another engine slow to a stop beside her. She glanced to her right and saw Brian pulling a goods train. "Oh, hello."

"Evenin', Meredith." Brian said with a wide grin. "I'm sorry if I kinda dumped on you that news this mornin'. I was just excited to meet you."

"That's okay," Meredith said. "To be honest, I didn't even know I had siblings. No one ever told me."

"Well I only found out after I arrived." Brian admitted. He was not as meek an engine as Meredith; he had a maturity about him that had not yet been achieved by his younger sister. "You look a little run-in. Are you feeling alright?"

"Oh, uhh," Meredith stuttered. She hadn't realized it, but her buffers were damaged once again, this time, however, only from the front. "Yeah, it's just been a long day."

"And your buffers?" Brian inquired with an arch of his brow.

It took everything in the little white tank engine to not blush when she looked down and saw her bent fender. "Oh I just shunted a little too hard in the yard earlier. That's all. I've not had time to get it repaired at the Steamworks."

"You're a headstrong little engine, aren't ya?" Brian chuckled as he pulled away from the station with his sister.

"Eh, you could say that." Meredith said with a sheepish smirk.

The two newly-discovered siblings drove together towards Vicarstown. Coincidentally, that's where Brian needed to deliver his goods train so the two kept pace with each other. Brian was much older than Meredith first suspected, but he was so well maintained one wouldn't have guessed his true age. He worked along the railways of the south in the United States and he had a subtle twang to his voice that Meredith found absolutely charming. Sir Topham Hatt had purchased Brian when the fat controller discovered he was Meredith's brother. The black tank engine had only ever worked in shunting yards despite the fact he was noticeably larger than Meredith,. He was excited to be pulling his very first goods train. Though he successfully maintained a calm countenance.

The two tank engines were stopped at Vicarstown station. Brian had delivered his goods and Meredith's passengers had disembarked, but they remained even as the moon sat high in the sky. The two were too caught up in talking and learning about each other to be worried about resting. Meredith felt comfortable with her brother and ended up laying everything out for Brian. She told him of Gordon and of her affairs with Flying Scotsman. She told him of the fight that resulted from said affairs. She felt great relief having finally told another engine of the mess she had made for herself.

"So you have a boyfriend?" Brian teased with a chuckle.

"Is that what it's called?" Meredith asked.

Brian nodded. "And it seems like his brother is as equally earnest, hm?"

"You could say that again." Meredith said with a sigh. "I feel guilty for indulging him. I should have never done it."

"No, you shouldn't have." Brian said matter-of-factly. "He sounds like bad news. You need to appreciate what you have with… Gordon, was it?" Meredith nodded slowly then Brian continued. "Right. He sounds like he genuinely loves you and it would be a shame to squander that for a fling, but if it was only the two times I see no reason why you two can't reconcile. Even after the events at Tidmouth." Meredith grimaced and Brian raised his brow. "It was only the two times, right?"

"Well…" Meredith trailed off. She felt stupid, which she was for falling for Scotsman's villainous seduction yet again.

Brian sighed. "Oh to be this young and naive again."

"I'm not naive." Meredith lashed.

Brian leaned towards his baby sister with an incredulous smirk. "Meredith, please… you're lying to me and yourself." He glanced to Meredith's wonky buffers and sighed. "I'm going to take a wild guess and say that's what caused the damage there."

Meredith blushed and looked away. She really did feel silly. Her physical desires got the better of her yet again.

"You know," Brian's tone was firm. "I can tell you really love this Gordon just by how you light up when you talk about him, but you need to seriously reevaluate how you treat this engine. If he's as standup as you say, he deserves an engine that isn't so wishy-washy. You wouldn't want him doin' the things you do to him, right?"

Meredith sighed. "Right."

"I can tell you're a very caring engine, Meredith." Brian said gently. "But you can't love someone and repeatedly hurt them. I understand you're new to being physical with other engines, but that doesn't mean you couple with other engines just because you can."

"I know." Meredith said quietly.

Brian laughed. "You'll figure it out soon, I hope, but in the meantime perhaps you should go get those buffers fixed, hm? And don't worry, I won't say a word of what you've told me."

"Okay," Meredith gave her departing whistles and started towards the Steamworks. Her boiler was rumbly with nerves as she tried to figure out a proper story. She knew both Gordon and Flying Scotsman would be there and she was afraid of Gordon seeing through the ruse. But Meredith needed to be repaired, so she steamed on, albeit a little slower than normal.

Tadaaa- Little Meredith has an older brother! I had been toying with the idea of introducing a sibling for a minute and felt like now was as good a time as ever to do so. She needed someone to give her a firm kick to the fender and help her see through her own bs. Lol. I do love a good sibling relationship, they're usually so horribly written, not gonna lie, so I take any chance I can to provide my own interpretation.

To address your points, Pretty Katydid: Edward and James do have an easier time because of their similar size, but what they can do is a little different from if it were a male and female engine. My whole idea of their anatomy in general is one of necessity and the pleasure side of it was more or less discovered by accident by some engines a long while ago. It caused problems for railways everywhere which lead to many controllers banning the practice all-together. For the most part the engines are good about following the rules, but as you can see, some have a harder time abiding than others. Essentially, in my world, they have the *parts* but they were intended for hormone regulation (considering they feel proper emotions it implies they produce hormones) and nothing more. They can't breed or anything like that, but, as I said, a few "lucky" engines had a happy accident and here we are. *gestures to this cluster fuck of a fic*

In regards to the wonderfully horrid Flying Scotsman: when he was introduced in TGR I could just tell he was a low-key asshole after he made that underhanded insult to Thomas about being unaware of famous engines on Sodor. He was leering at Gordon the whole time, the bastard. I immediately fell in love with him after that. I dig his subtly. Scotsman has the type of charisma that he could tell someone to go to hell and they'd ask him for directions. Gordon is very forward with his crudeness which I think shows more insecurity than hatefulness on his part. Scotsman is the exact opposite. He's completely indirect and shameless at that. Of the two I'd peg Scotsman as the truly bad one, not Gordon. Gordon is more in your face nasty, but in the end he's actually very kind. Scotsman is two-faced, which I'd say is far worse. Of course, I don't think Scotsman is entirely awful. Just more or less entitled and a tad bit selfish.

I feel like I'm missing some points, but I can address those in a later post-script. Until next time thank you for reviewing!

Much love;

Bumble