Meredith was waiting anxiously at Harwick beach for her passengers to disembark. Tourism had peaked on the island and her coaches were at capacity as the holiday-makers all flocked to the island's beaches. Meredith's mind was racing; she had barely heard the guard's whistle before she set off back towards Knapford. The little white tank engine was determined. She was going to ask Gordon for a second chance. She felt she had given him enough time and space and had more than proven that she was capable of making rational decisions.

"Afternoon, Mer!" Duck tooted happily to her as she passed him pulling cars of stone.

"Hi, Duck." Meredith whistled quickly then continued on towards Knapford. Her coaches rocked and rattled behind her. She hadn't noticed that the couplings were damaged after she gave them too hard of a bump earlier in the day.

Meredith raced down the line. Her coaches were hanging on by a thread and she had just made it to Knapford junction when the couplings finally snapped and an uneven rail caused one of the coaches to flip onto the other line. "Shit!" Meredith laid on her brakes. She then quickly reversed to try and switch to the line and knock off the coach, but it was too late. She heard Gordon's whistle behind her so she blew her's as loud as she could. "Gordon! Slow down!"

The express engine heard Meredith's calls as he rounded the bend and saw the derailed coach smack in the middle of his line. Gordon threw on his emergency brakes and grit his teeth as he braced himself to hit it, but luckily he stopped a mere inch from the coach. "Meredith!" Gordon growled. "What are you playing at?"

Meredith's face ran hot and she looked away. "I'm sorry. My couplings snapped."

"What on earth happened here?" Sir Topham Hatt heard the commotion and ran over to inspect the accident. He whipped to glare at Meredith. "Explain yourself right now."

"I'm so sorry, sir." Meredith whimpered. "I was in a hurry this morning and may have damaged the couplings when I shunted into the coaches."

"Oh, Meredith," Sir Topham Hatt ran a frustrated hand over his face. "I understand you're an eager little engine, but we've discussed this before; you need to go slowly. These coaches are a privilege and you need to be more careful otherwise I'll have no choice but to take them away, understand?"

"Yes sir." Meredith glanced over to Gordon who was staring ahead at the mangled coach blocking his line.

"Good, I'll have Edward fetch Rocky and get this coach lifted out of the way." The fat controller said and he started towards the shunting yard where he would find the little blue engine.

Meredith stood on her track for a moment. She wondered if she should go ahead and try to talk to Gordon, but he was clearly miffed at the delay she caused. Nevertheless, she needed to talk to him, and there he was so she took a deep breath. "Gordon…?"

"Hmm." The big engine grunted as he gave the little engine a side eye.

Meredith bit her lip and closed her eyes. "Would you please give me a second chance?" She spoke quickly and opened only one eye to watch Gordon's reaction. His attention was fully on her, but he was quiet. The little engine went on. "I still miss you… I still love you, more than anything. I can and will do better. I just need another chance… please."

Gordon let out a deep breath. Outwardly he was as stoic as ever, but inwardly his bubbler felt it would burst. He wanted to hop the track and kiss Meredith right there, but he kept calm. He didn't want her getting too comfortable too quickly. So he allowed a few moments of tense silence to pass before responding. "Earning my trust back is not going to be easy, Meredith. I hope you understand that."

"Is that a yes?"

"Don't expect things to go back to as they were immediately either." Gordon was stern, but Meredith was hardly listening. Her firebox fumed and blistered as she beamed from buffer-to-buffer. Gordon held his ground. "Meredith, I'm serious. We're going at a snail's pace this time around."

Meredith shook her boiler in an attempt to ease her excitement. "Take things slow, right, of course."

Later that afternoon, Gordon was seen backing slowly out of a lone shed outside Tidmouth. His face was flushed and his pistons blew off substantial amounts of steam. He drove shakily to a nearby water tower and watched in amusement as Meredith wobbled out of the same shed. She looked a delightful mess. Her face and boiler were dripping with condensation and her wheels quivered. She noticed Gordon's gawking and grinned. "I think you and I have totally different understandings of 'taking things slow'."

"Are you complaining?" Gordon teased with a seductive smirk.

Meredith feigned annoyance and slouched playfully on her wheels. "Yeah. I am." She puffed over to the big engine and buffered up to him with a pout. "It's just not slow enough for me." She teased while rubbing her nose against Gordon's. "I need you to go just a little slower."

Gordon let out a low chuckle, he could feel Meredith's lips just barely brushing his. "Let me finish filling my water and I'll show you just how slow I can go." The two had barely intertwined when a certain maroon Pacific rolled up on them.

"Well, well, well," Emerson's bemused tone caused Meredith to rocket backwards away from Gordon and into a set of buffer-stops. The new engine let out a hearty laugh. "You know, I think I'm beginning to understand what you were talking about the other day, Mer. You two were definitely 'bridging the gap' as you so eloquently put it."

"What are you doing here?" Meredith was out of breath. That was the fastest she had ever moved and her rivets were rattled.

Emerson glanced at Gordon who remained as deadpan as possible. "I was just passing through. I'm supposed to pick up a train from the docks. I saw the steam clouds and was feeling a little nosy."

"Ah," Meredith said. She gave her boiler a good shake and she moved back towards the two large engines. "Maybe be a tad less nosy next time, perhaps?"

"Yeah, I have a feeling I caught the more tame end of that little… exchange." Emerson couldn't help but blush. "I'm sorry."

Gordon groaned and Meredith gave him a firm bump to the buffer. "It's okay." She said. "Just be sure to not mention this to Sir Topham Hatt, will you? It's kinda against the rules."

"Oh, yes, of course." Emerson started back towards the docks. "I'll see you two later."

"Bye," Meredith called back then returned her attention to Gordon. "I guess we should probably get back too, huh?"

Gordon nodded in agreement and the two departed for Knapford. "I didn't know you could move that fast. You could probably pull the express with that sort of speed."

"Oh, hardy-har."

On the opposite side of the island at Vicarstown station, Flying Scotsman was resting at the platform. His driver and fireman had stepped off for a moment to grab refreshments to help combat the summer heat, though his nap was cut short by a certain eager express engine who arrived on the platform beside him. "Hello there, Flying Scotsman!"

Scotsman grumbled but forced a smile. "Hello, Rebecca. How are you?"

"I'm great! I've fallen a little behind, however. First there was an incident this morning with Meredith and her coaches and then I had some issues with my brakes that needed to be sorted-"

"What happened with Meredith?" Scotsman interrupted.

"Oh, uh, something about the couplings on her coaches. They snapped." Rebecca was a little confused by Scotsman's concern. "It wasn't a major accident. Gordon's line was blocked, but not for long. No one was hurt."

Scotsman nodded. "Right, right. Good." The big engine glared at the track ahead. He hadn't seen the little white tank engine in some time. He enjoyed his little affairs with her brother, but part of him missed that sassy little engine. She was a lot of fun.

"Are you okay?" Rebecca noticed Scotsman had begun to stare off which was unusual for him.

Scotsman sighed. "Yeah, I'm fine. What were you saying about your brakes?"

Emerson waited to be coupled up to his train at Brendam Docks. He saw Salty and Porter shunting another train into place on the tracks beside him. It was even longer than his. "Ugh, I feel bad for the sorry sod who has to pull that."

Salty chuckled. "You're actually supposed to pull it once you've delivered that one."

"I'm not strong enough to pull that by myself." Emerson frowned. He was a fast and strong engine, but Emerson knew his limits.

"You won't be pulling it by yourself." Porter said with a chuckle. "Sir Topham Hatt is sending another engine to help you pull it."

"Oh," Emerson paused. "Would you happen to know who?"

Both Salty and Porter shook their boilers. "Sorry, matey. This is a last-minute delivery so all the details were not forwarded to the dock-manager."

"Okay," Emerson started forward with his train in tow. "Thanks anyway. I guess I'll see you two later."

Salty and Porter bid Emerson goodbye then continued on with their shunting

A few hours later, as the sun was setting, Emerson returned to the docks and found another engine already there waiting for him. "Oh, hello, Spencer."

"Hello… Emerson, was it?" The silver streamlined engine said snootily.

Emerson nodded then glanced to the heavy train. "Are you pulling this with me?"

"I am." Spencer said flatly. "It's for the Duke and Duchess' summer house. They're making some renovations to the home as well as my private shed."

"I see." Emerson wasn't all that impressed, but he kept polite. "Do you wish to be the front engine or shall I?"

"I think you should be at the back, personally." Spencer jeered.

"Shocker." Cranky snorted to himself as he worked to unload a ship.

"I heard that." Spencer sneered.

Emerson puffed towards the back of the train. "Look, I don't care if I'm in the front or the back so long as the delivery is made."

"Good man." Spencer smirked and he took his place at the front of the train.

The two had not traveled far when Emerson's curiosity got the better of him. "Spencer?"

"Yes?"

"Do you have feelings for Meredith?"

The front engine braked suddenly and caused several of the cars to buckle on the tracks. Emerson was yanked forward and nearly derailed, but he managed to wiggle his boiler enough to keep himself on the rails. "Easy there. I'm attached."

"Right," Spencer cleared his throat and started back up again. "Sorry." He was thankful Emerson couldn't see his red cheeks. "There was something on the line is all."

"Of course." Emerson played along. He didn't want to embarrass the private engine too bad. "But you didn't answer my question."

"Why would you think I have feelings for her?" Spencer asked nervously.

"You seemed a little tense when I mentioned her the other day."

"Ah, well, it's nothing. I just know she doesn't view me favorably is all." Spencer kept his eyes on the dark treeline, hoping his back engine would change the subject.

Emerson could tell the silver engine was uncomfortable so he decided to drop the conversation. He didn't mind a quiet night drive anyway, though his thoughts kept drifting back to when he caught Meredith and Gordon earlier that day. Emerson wasn't a lustful engine by any means, but he wondered what it was like to be that engrossed in another. It was a tantalizing thought to say the least. Maybe he would one day allow himself to act on that curiosity, maybe.

Back at Vicarstown, Meredith had just pulled in with a couple old express coaches and she groaned when she saw Flying Scotsman on the platform right next to her. She had done so good to avoid seeing and speaking to the slimy bastard, but she was forced to take a late train from Harwick which put her timetable right in an overlap with Scotsman's.

Meredith's passengers had begun to flood the platform when she could feel his gaze burning through her smoke box. "I'm not talking to you." She hissed.

"But you're talking to me by telling me you're not talking to me." Scotsman jabbed with a cocky grin. He looked the tank engine up and down with hungry eyes. "I must say, you look as delectable as ever. Why not let me take a little bite for old time's sake, hm?"

"I will most certainly not be doing that." Meredith snapped, she turned to look the big engine in the eye and seeing that smirk made her boiler bristle. "I've finally, finally made up with Gordon and if you think I'm going to risk throwing that all away so you can have another notch in your buffer, think again."

"Funny, you didn't seem all that worried when you had your little fling with Spencer." Scotsman's smirk intensified when he saw how Meredith locked up.

"How the hell do you know about that?"

Scotsman chuckled. "Oh, you really expected Spencer to keep quiet on that? Plus, I saw you two. Your little meetup spot was just outside my shed."

Meredith grumbled and she felt hot. "That was a while ago, and you better keep your damn mouth shut about it."

"That level of confidentiality doesn't come free." Scotsman whispered darkly.

The little engine's mouth ran dry and she glanced back at Flying Scotsman. "Are you blackmailing me?"

"I call it leaning the odds in my favor." Scotsman winked.

Meredith kept quiet. She certainly didn't want Gordon to find out about her and Spencer, but if he discovered she gave in to Flying Scotsman again there would be no more chances. Gordon would be done. At least with Spencer there was a better chance at forgiveness considering her and Gordon were apart at the time. Meredith took a deep breath and glared at Scotsman. "Fine. Tell Gordon if you want, but I'm not letting you manipulate me anymore. If you're so needy why don't you just ask Brian." Meredith hissed forward out of the station leaving behind a very bewildered Flying Scotsman.

Hello all! I've got a lot to address but I just don't have the time to type presently so I'll have to wait till next installment. Thank you for your continued love and support! I hate to rush off, but I have a very needy toddler hovering over me at the moment. lol

Much love;

Bumble