"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, Geoff." Richard growled. "Sorry chaps, but it looks like we're stuck here for the night." He patted his engine's side comfortingly.
"But I promised the others we'll be back before dark," Said Luke, quietly. "They'll be worried about us."
He and his crew were 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!
"There are no coal hoppers here," Observed Richard, zig-zagging a torch around trying to find some means of fuel- wood, coal, anything- but there was nothing to be seen.
"Would it have been so bad for you to get some help from another engine, Luke?" he asked.
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."
Both Geoffrey and Richard looked up at the skies above and cursed under their breaths at the sight of the dark blue- black clouds bearing her cold, wet arrows; conquering Sodor in a soggy onslaught. Rain lashed down onto poor Luke's face, and he emitted a pixie-like sneeze in response- which amused his crew- but their hopes of getting home for the night were looking more dire 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. "It looks like we're stuck out here."
"You mean, all night?" The little engine gulped.
"Oh yeah,"
Then, he realised that he couldn't even hear them anymore, and he felt his smokebox seize up inside him. "Mr. Heron, Mr. Wilson? Where are you? I can't see you, nor can I hear you- please answer me!"
But no answer came…. Luke felt very scared. Had his crew left him? Why weren't they answering?
Where were all his friends?
Luke was all alone in the dark. He opened his mouth to scream, and…
...
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. His crew were still absent- but the young engine remembered they would have gone home for the night and thus would not be here.
"Hmm, Luke- is something wrong?" A sleepy voice asked him.
"Rheneas- what are you doing here?" Luke asked, baffled. He honestly couldn't remember why Rheneas was here- as nice as it was to hear his voice amid the darkness.
"I was helping guard you against the controllers, remember?" Rheneas questioned, emitting a yawn.
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.
"Do you not want to talk about it?" Asked Rheneas softly.
"It was just a nightmare." Luke groused, wishing to go back to sleep and that Rheneas would follow suit.
Alas, Rheneas was not a fool, and he implored Luke to talk to him "After all, Luke, nightmares are windows into a person's state of mind- and your present 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 the unknown to help you than hear that you've taken your own life."
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 in the dark where he couldn't see anyone…
"Can we...we talk about it tomorrow? Please?"
"Yes, of course, we can talk in the morning, Luke," His companion acquiesced. "I don't want to push you."
"Very well. Just promise me one thing, Rheneas-please, as a friend."
"What is it, my friend?" Rheneas asked softly, feeling concerned about Luke's request.
"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, anyway.
"You're welcome, Luke. Now get some sleep." Rheneas chided good-naturedly. "You need to sleep- as do I."
"Okay. Good night, Rheneas."
"Good night, Luke."
And with that, the two engines slipped into the realm of Morpheus...
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 you all for your great reviews! You are all wonderful people! :D
