7 - Little Scott

"You didn't come back to Tidmouth sheds last night," a small voice called out to him.

Gordon simply closed his eyes as he sat in the yard and gave a long and sad-sounding hiss of steam.

"Go away Thomas," Gordon said with no energy in his voice. He sounded like he hadn't slept and there was not even a hint of his usual grumpiness.

Thomas rolled up next to him and looked up at his old friend with great concern.

"But don't you remember Gordon, United we stand, divided we fall. You help me, I'll help you," Thomas reminded the big engine. "I didn't forget our alliance."

Gordon sighed and opened his eyes to gaze at the little engine. Thomas looked concerned and hurt, giving him big pitiful eyes.

Normally Gordon would have snorted and snapped at him but he just didn't have the energy.

"I appreciate your concern Thomas but there are some things that not even a clever little thing like you can fix," he said quietly.

Gordon was complimenting him. Now Thomas was getting worried.

"Okay you're being nice to me, now I know something is wrong," Thomas said. "Is it Henry's sister?"

"What I-" Gordon looked confused for a minute. "You know about that?"

"It's not hard to miss how passive-aggressive she's being," Thomas pointed out. "Henry told her off last night."

Gordon smiled slightly. He could always count on Henry to have his back. He looked back at Thomas who gazed up at him expectantly.

"It's not Henry's sister, it's other stuff," Gordon admitted, looking at the ground uncomfortably.

"Well, I can't help you if you don't tell me what it is," Thomas said and Gordon sighed.

"I appreciate your concern Thomas, but not here in the yard," he said quietly. He looked around and saw Phillip milling about and James sitting at the water tower humming to himself. "It's- It's a sensitive issue."

"Ah of course," Thomas realised and proceeded to watch Phillip bump the trucks around carelessly. The trucks screeched and snapped at him in anger at his carelessness.

"You're worse than Edward!" One of them shrieked.

Thomas chuckled to himself. Edward did like to take his anger out on the trucks sometimes. He could be quite brutal with them when he was truly pissed off. He'd even been known to damage a few if he was venting.

He looked back at Gordon who was waiting patiently.

"We should talk," Thomas said and Gordon hummed in agreement.

"How about tonight at Henry's forest?"

"Very well," Gordon said and Thomas beamed.

"Thank you, Gordon, I'm glad that you feel you can trust me," He said and Gordon smiled at him.

"That's what allies are for Thomas."

Green Arrow slowed as he saw the Stationmaster at Wellsworth flag him down, his red flag frantic.

"Hello, sir, what seems to be the problem?" He asked.

"I need a banker engine to push an engine up Gordon's Hill and Edward isn't here today," he said and Arrow rolled his eyes.

"Is it Gordon again the bloody fool?" Arrow said with an annoyed tone.

"It's not Gordon for once, it's Tornado," the man said to him and Arrow looked surprised.

"Oh, I see, I'll happily lend her a buffer sir," he smiled and the stationmaster nodded and he was uncoupled from his goods train.

He found Tornado sitting in the middle track looking very sorry for herself.

"Need a push Ms Tornado?" He greeted her and Tornado instantly perked up at his appearance.

"Oh! I wasn't expecting you, I'm sorry, Edward is usually my banker," she mumbled very flusteredly. Green Arrow simply chuckled.

"It's okay, Edward is busy elsewhere on the Island today, the Wellsworth Station Master asked me to assist you if that's alright?" He asked and Tornado blushed.

"I um, yes! I'd like that thank-you Arrow!"

Arrow smiled as he positioned switched tracks and positioned himself behind her.

"Ready?" He asked and Tornado seemed to perk up.

"Ready!" She called brightly. Arrow could hear the smile in her voice and smiled himself. A happy Tornado always brightened his day.

With a powerful shunt, Green Arrow began to push Tornado and her heavy coaches up the huge incline with surprising ease. He was a lot stronger than Edward, Tornado noticed almost immediately. Then again, Arrow was a smaller version of Gordon or Scotsman and he was a lot bigger than James, so it made sense.

It didn't escape the both of them that the last time they'd been in a similar position, Tornado had almost fallen down a collapsed mine and been lost. Green Arrow's boiler had almost exploded from the shear strain it had taken to save the Peppercorn, but thankfully it hadn't and one of his seams had ruptured only causing a burst.

The rebuild he had received from Sodor had made him feel as though he'd just awoken to the world and Sir Gresley was standing before him with a group of proud and cheering men. His designer had been so pleased, so impressed with him.

"We haven't talked to each other since you got your boiler fixed," Tornado said, trying to start up a conversation.

"No we haven't," Arrow acknowledged. "I do miss you Tornado, I hope we can speak more often in the future. If Ms Olivia says it's okay that is."

"Ms Olivia and I spoke," Tornado said. "She's lifted her ban on me seeing you. You can talk to me if you want."

"Ah grand, grand!" Arrow remarked joyfully. "You shouldn't feel bad about what happened Tornado, I've moved past it and I know that you're sorry. So please, feel free to approach me if you wish."

"I said I wanted to work on becoming your friend again and I will," Tornado said. "I'm sorry if I'm a little distant these days, there's a lot on my mind."

"That's okay, I know that you're dealing with a lot of stuff, especially Flying Scotsman's, erm, special condition shall we say."

Tornado raised her eyebrows in surprise. Arrow knew about Scotsman being turned into a human due to the Gold Dust?

"Since when did you know-"

"I saw him myself, it was an accident, he came into the sheds by accident a few nights ago," Green Arrow said hastily. She knew how nosy and intrusive he could be at times. "I wasn't trying to pry or be nosy, I saw him but Sir Robert swore me to secrecy. I haven't said a word to anyone except Gordon who already knew."

"Oh okay."

Green Arrow strained as he felt Tornado and her coaches get heavier as they moved up the incline but persisted. For a while, the two engines didn't talk as their wheels occasionally spun as they struggled up Gordon's Hill.

As they reached the crest of the incline, Green Arrow called to Tornado.

"You know, Truro's a stuffy old man and Gordon can be a difficult engine, if you ever need someone to talk to, you can talk to me if you're comfortable enough," Arrow offered and Tornado smiled.

"Thanks, Arrow, I appreciate that," she said as she began to slide away from him and down the other side of the hill with him in pursuit. "Maybe when we both have time?"

"Of course, I look forward to it!"

Tornado gave him a bright cheery whistle, something that Arrow hadn't heard in a very long time. He smiled brightly and felt a warm feeling he hadn't felt in a very long time. Things were looking up and Tornado seemed to be warming back up to him.

He watched her power away into the distance as he slowly followed her down the hill.

After years of his mind being up a dark cloud, he felt calm. He could feel another one coming, over the horizon but at this moment, he felt content and peaceful.

As Gabriel gradually rolled him to a halt he took in the crisp spring air. Spring was coming over the Island, and colours were beginning to shine through what was left of the snow.

Although the past year had been hell with his voice stolen from him, it had made him slow down and appreciate new things. Gabriel had helped him come to terms with that. Although losing his voice for a time had been extremely stressful, there were still things that he could learn from it.

He liked Gabriel, he'd helped him work through certain traumas like losing his siblings, his friends and his struggles. He suspected that the Fat Controller had given him a driver who knew how to work with damaged engines. Gabriel had worked with Henry and a few others, especially after they had had accidents.

Either way, he was happy with his new crew and his new place in the world. They'd given him a new mindset, a new lease on life.

He felt like he could take on anything.

Even Mallard.

Flying Scotsman awoke to the sun shining down on his face and a small bird perched on his window, pecking at it loudly.

He groaned as he felt this soft body ache and his head pounded with grogginess that he assumed was a human thing. Why were humans so sensitive to every little thing? It was overwhelming at times.

He grits his teeth and pulled himself up. The clock on his bedside read 11 am and he suddenly felt wide awake.

Oh, how he did despite waking up late. It made him feel useless. As an engine, he was often up well before the sun rose as his crew readied him for the day.

He pulled himself up with a grunt, ignoring the pain in his stomach and his aching muscles. If he was going to take residence in his director's house, the least he could do was be up at a proper time.

He looked around from the green suit he often wore, given to him by Stainer but found no sign of it, only a room with some shelves and bundles of clothes and blankets that he'd never seen before.

The Scotsman grumbled to himself. He liked his suit. It made him feel special and important. Maybe it had been lost when he'd been taken to Ulfstead Castle's emergency medical wing. No matter, he could simply ask Olivia for a new one. Maybe even an LNER styled one as she had, he thought excitedly.

Ignoring his aches he pulled himself out of bed and drew a blanket around his shoulders to keep the cold off his back. He was in an unfamiliar house and from what he could tell he was on the second floor.

He explored the house before hearing the sound of Olivia's voice with that of a baby's. He quickly turned his heel and followed the noise, almost falling down the stairs but finding himself in a large spacious kitchen with a bar counter.

He found Olivia perched on a stool, cooing to a baby in a carrier sitting on the counter and his fireman Oscar standing opposite her with a coffee in his hand staring down at a newspaper. It took a while for either of them to notice him.

"Scotsman!" Oscar called out as he suddenly noticed him. "You're up and about!"

Scotsman nodded and blushed awkwardly. He hadn't interacted with Oscar as a human yet, he wasn't sure how to interact.

"Hello," he said in a quiet voice. He felt shy and naked in this form. Oscar was so much bigger than him now.

Olivia turned and smiled at him. She looked him up and down. He was in the thin hospital pyjamas that he had been brought in with.

"I can't believe they didn't give you more clothes than just that one suit and a hospital gown," she said as she beckoned him forward. "That's okay, we can deal with that later today. Are you hungry?"

The Flying Scotsman nodded absently, his eyes staring at the baby in the carrier curiously. Olivia was talking to him but he didn't hear her, his focus entirely on the baby.

He was small but pudgy and had brilliant blue eyes. Dark hair had started to grow on his head and he was babbling to himself happily. He had seen babies before, as passengers or when parents he knew showed them to him but he never was able to see them in this way up close and personal. It was so strange and oddly heartwarming.

"Scotsman!" Olivia's voice pulled him from his concentration and he turned to look at her.

"I'm sorry I was just," he looked back at the baby. "I've never seen a baby so close before."

Olivia wasn't angry as he expected she would be, instead, she gave him a warm smile and pulled him closer to the carrier.

"Flying Scotsman, this is our son, Scott," she introduced him. "He only came to be because you and Vincent got myself and Oscar together."

Olivia gazed at Oscar who blushed.

"I'd never have asked Olivia out if you weren't such a meddling pest," Oscar said teasingly to Scotsman. "You and Vincent teased me nonstop until I acted on my attraction to this woman."

Oscar pointed the rolled-up newspaper at her and Olivia grinned.

The Scotsman smirked. "You were so shy when you started as my fireman. Now you have a son with the most stubborn woman I've ever met."

"Hey!" Olivia shouted and Oscar burst out laughing.

"If I ever needed proof that this is that bloody engine!" He hollered. "Oh, you're Flying Scotsman alright!"

Olivia crossed her arms and glared at both of them.

"I'm already regretting letting you into my house," she scolded the Scotsman.

"It's a Gresley thing, Ms Olivia," Scotsman smirked. "We all have it to some degree."

He peered into the cot and smiled at Baby Scott. "I'm sure Little Scott here will have some stubbornness too."

Olivia just glared at him, still fuming at the stubborn woman's comment.

"You know Vincent and I have been a relief crew for Gordon and Green Arrow these days," Oscar smirked with a smile on his face. "You're all stubborn mules when you can be."

Olivia rolled her eyes. The Scotsman just smirked.

"It's only morning and already with the teasing," she said annoyed.

"Gordon was complaining that we named my son after Flying Scotsman the other day," Oscar sighed. "I tried to explain but he wasn't having it."

"Yeah well, that's his problem, we name our sweet baby boy whatever we wish," Olivia said, turning her attention to Baby Scott who was trying to grab at Scotsman's hand. She grabbed the baby's attention with a rattle and Baby Scott laughed and grabbed at the toy. The Scotsman watched delighted and curious at the small baby.

"I did say that if we ever had another son we could name it Gordon," Oscar explained and Olivia raised an eyebrow at him.

"Settle down now I just had Scott," she said with a winch of pain. "Having this one was not fun."

"I know, but I did warn Gordon," Oscar said.

"Warn him of what?" Scotsman asked looking at his fireman

"That if we named our next son Gordon, then he really will be the 'Little Brother,'" Oscar said with a smirk. Olivia snorted laughter. The Scotsman just grinned widely at that.

"He went very quiet after I told him that."

"Oh, I bet that ridiculous brother of mine did."

Ryan was surprised to find Ulfstead Castle surprisingly devoid of life. There was a cold feeling about the castle even though it was a warm day.

"Hello?" Ryan called as he slowly trundled through the castle, looking around for anyone. "I've got a delivery of goods for the castle!"

There was no answer and he didn't know why but he just felt nervous and scared. Something was wrong here, something was off.

"Stephan? Millie? Arrow?!" He called out desperately. There was no answer.

It was the middle of the afternoon, the estate engines must be out on their jobs. City of Truro however was usually out on display in the castle walls for Tourists to come up and admire or talk to him if they wished. Today there was no one.

"Mr Truro sir?" Ryan called out nervously. He gazed around the castle, peeking into shadows, extremely anxious. Truro was a kind old engine who although didn't speak much, treated him with the utmost respect when he saw him. Duck was right about him, Truro truly was a classy act and he could see why Duck was so devoted to him.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw humans moving in the shadows and the soft hiss of a steam engine.

He couldn't see the engine very well as it was covered in shadow but from what he could see, the engine was big. Very big. Express Engine Big.

"Who's there?" Ryan squeaked, frightened. "I know there's someone there!"

"Ah, Ryan!" Sir Robert's voice called out to him right beside him and Ryan let out a shrill terrified scream.

"Oh my goodness!" Sir Robert jumped at Ryan's reaction. "Dear boy, don't frighten an old man like that!"

"I'm sorry sir! You just startled me, sir! I'm sorry!" Ryan hurriedly said.

"No harm done," the Earl smiled at him. "What's gotten you so jumpy today hmm?"

"I thought I saw," Ryan looked over and tried to see the engine again. It had seemingly vanished but Ryan swore he knew that it was still there in the shadows, watching him. "Never mind, it's just my overactive mind sir. Don't mind me."

Sir Robert didn't look convinced but disregarded it and smiled at him.

"I assume you're here to deliver the supplies for the museum opening, yes?" He asked and Ryan perked up, glad to be distracted.

"Yes sir! Sir Topham Hatt said to deliver them as quickly as possible and here I am!" Ryan smiled a goofy smile.

"So you are," Sir Robert laughed. "Well if that's all then you're free to go!"

"Thank you, sir! Good-bye, sir!"

Ryan gave one last look to where he could feel the eyes of an engine on him. An icy cold chill crept into his boiler as he felt a pair of calculating eyes on him. He quickly hurried away as fast as his wheels could take him.

"You can't keep me locked in here like a princess in a castle Mallard," Truro's voice echoed from the sheds as Mallard watched the small tank engine puff away, clearly frightened. "People will talk, I have friends on this Island, people will start snooping."

Mallard didn't answer the Great Western. He just kept his eyes on the front of the castle, watching Sir Robert.

"Sir Robert will get suspicious, he knows Bittern, you can't fool him for long," Truro argued. "You and Bittern have wildly different personalities."

Mallard said nothing, only reversed back into a berth beside Truro.

"I'm counting on it," Mallard said vaguely and Truro just stared at him confused.

"What do you mean?"

"Flying Scotsman treasures you dearly Great Western."

"My name is Truro."

Mallard snorted and rolled his eyes, "Irreverent."

City of Truro glared at him.

"What do you think Flying Scotsman would do if I threatened you, I wonder? Or had you turned into a soulless engine to be preserved?" Mallard asked, ignoring Truro's glare.

"You wouldn't dare, the museum-"

"Is under my control, dear Truro," Mallard said coldly. "The Board of Director's value profit over engine welfare. Humans are such a predictable lot."

"Olivia and Stainer-" Truro tried to reason but he was immediately shot down by Mallard.

"Did not tighten their grip on the Museum enough. They never considered that an engine could ever be behind such things."

"You're wrong," Truro sneered, catching Mallard's attention. "Lady Olivia suspected you for a long time. The little stunt you pulled with Arrow confirmed it for her. Is that why you convinced Cain to blacklist Olivia as an engineer for so long? Because you knew she would find you out?"

Mallard smiled.

"Regardless, human laws only apply to humans," Mallard said. "I am an engine. They cannot arrest an engine for murder or theft."

"That might be true but if Olivia got into contact with the Gresley Society you know what the consequences will be," Truro warned and Mallard's face shifted from his cold nasty sneer to one of anger for the first time.

"I'll have you thrown into the Golden Well," Mallard seethed. "I'll have your soul ripped from your engine and you can end up like the stories of that pathetic Mountain engine Godred! I'll have you watch as they scrap your engine!"

Truro glared right back at Mallard.

"Do it then," he challenged. "I'm not afraid of you!"

"No, you're not," Mallard said gazing at the Great Western. "But Scotsman is afraid of what I'll do to you. Knowing him he'll come if he knows I have you. He'll do anything I wish to save you. I wager he might even give his soul to save yours."

Truro went completely pale at Mallard's words.

He was right, Scotsman would give anything, even his own life to save him. He felt panic in him rise. He was essentially a hostage that Mallard could use to make Scotsman do anything he wished.

Mallard gave a sickening malicious grin as he saw the realisation of Truro's face.

"I see you understand now, Great Western."

Olivia stared pensively at her phone. She didn't want to contact her father but, Scotsman had said some very strange things about Great Northern.

Was it possible that he hadn't been scrapped? It was even more possible that Great Northern had been separated from his engine at the Gresley estate's request, to try and preserve him. Redeem him after Thompson had defiled one of their historic engines.

They'd had to get her permission to separate the Flying Scotsman from his engine. Ideally, they would have wanted the Gresley Society's permission but time had been too short.

Scotsman would have been dead within a week had they not acted quickly.

With a sigh, she grit her teeth and began to call her father.

"You separated Flying Scotsman without my permission," came the demanding voice of her father.

She instantly grew angry.

"Not even a 'hello daughter?'" She ground out angrily.

Her father snorted. "You don't carry our name anymore. You shouldn't have been able to give permission."

Olivia decided to ignore the harsh words and get to the point.

"Scotsman is asking about Great Northern," Olivia said. "I'd like to confirm if he was scrapped or not."

"He was scrapped in 1962 at Doncaster Works, nothing remains of him. You know this Olivia."

Olivia frowned at her father's dismissive and condescending tone.

"Don't talk down to me, I know that!" She snapped angrily.

"Then don't ask stupid questions you stupid girl," her father scowled and it took everything in her to not yell or hang up on him.

"What about his soul then? Was he separated from his engine before being broken up?"

There was a long pause of silence.

"Scotsman says that he saw Gresley's Ghost, that Gresley himself said that Great Northern's soul hadn't passed on."

There was another long pause.

"Well?" Olivia demanded.

"Perhaps you should come and visit."

Flying Scotsman almost jumped in fright as the door he was listening through suddenly opened and Olivia almost walked straight into him.

"Scotsman!" She snapped and Scotsman's face turned red and he backed away from her startled and flustered. "Were you eavesdropping on me?"

"No I-!" Scotsman stammered before staring at Olivia's unapproving face and lowering his gaze to the ground. "Yes, ma'am. I was eavesdropping on you." He finally said defeated.

"You are a pest and a menace!" She scolded. "Green Arrow is supposed to be the nosy one."

"Well I have been hanging out with him a lot more in the past year," Scotsman said. "I guess he did kinda rub off on me."

Olivia said nothing and just stood there glaring at him furiously. He'd intruded on something very personal. She was rarely so angry towards others.

The Scotsman gazed at her sadly. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry on your relations, Ms Olivia. I was just desperate for information on Great Northern."

Olivia sighed and seemed to calm before crossing her arms and wandering to the kitchen. The Scotsman followed her cautiously.

"I think that his soul was separated from his engine before he was scrapped," Olivia explained as she sat on one of the bar stools at the kitchen counter. Scotsman joined, sitting next to her.

"I would need to confirm it by seeing him in person," Olivia said. "But I think… he may have been an 'Uncle' that was on my mother's estate when I was little."

"What makes you think that?" Scotsman asked cautiously.

"When myself and my two younger brothers were growing up, our father tried to force my brothers to become Railway engineers," Olivia explained quietly. "Even though Griffin wanted to be a Pilot and Gordon wanted to be an Astronomer."

Olivia handed him a photo frame from the top of one of the kitchen shelves.

"You have a brother named Gordon?" Scotsman asked as he stared at the photo of three young children. It was a proper static photo. No flash, no personality, all three children clearly did not want to be there.

Olivia smiled. "Funny how that is, isn't it? He's my younger brother. I'm the oldest of the three of us."

"What about you? What did you want to be?" The Scotsman asked but he already knew the answer.

"I wanted to be the Flying Scotsman's engineer!" Olivia gave a soft laugh and Scotsman grinned.

"Of course you did," he teased with a smirk. "Who wouldn't want to be my engineer?"

Olivia just rolled her eyes at him.

"But Father didn't approve, he was old-fashioned," she looked away from the Scotsman. "He said the only thing I was good for was to marry into a rich family and make the family more powerful. Have the heir to a dynasty. All that garbage."

Scotsman's jovial tone instantly vanished and he gazed at her sadly. "I'm sorry."

Olivia looked at him.

"Father would punish me, every time my brothers shared their engineering studies with me, every time he found the books I smuggled into my room to learn on my own," Olivia said quietly. "In the end, I just left, I moved in with a friend once I was old enough. Started from nothing and made enough money to go and study engineering. I got my degree, I became a railway engineer to spite him."

"What about your brothers?" Scotsman asked.

"Well Griffin became a commercial 737 airline pilot and Gordon, well he dropped the whole Astronomy thing and worked as a Sous Chef for an Italian Family business who he married into. He adores it. His family-in-law was more of a family to us than our own ever was." Olivia smirked. "We're living our best life."

Scotsman gazed at her. He was happy that she'd conquered her appalling childhood but that didn't explain her theory of Great Northern.

"What about Great Northern?" He asked. "Where does he fit in?"

"Well, our mother always had a servant or a 'brother' with her. She was Gresley's daughter after all. She had the prestige our father adopted as his own," Olivia said. "Mother's servant kept to himself and he never interacted with the rest of the family. Unless my brothers were studying to become railway engineers."

"I see."

"He had a bizarre way of speaking about engines," Olivia recounted. "Sometimes he would slip into speaking about them in the first person."

"So you think that was him?"

"Perhaps. The engine was possibly an A3 due to how much he knew of them," Olivia mused. "But he was obsessed with you. He would take any opportunity to see you when you ran. He had stacks and stacks of newspaper articles and models upon models of the Flying Scotsman in his personal study. To be honest, it was extremely creepy. When I told father I wanted to be your engineer he began to share his collection with me. Told me everything about you. It was… really weird."

The Flying Scotsman stared blankly at the counter table.

"It couldn't be North," he mumbled. "North despised me. He did nothing but criticise and harass me. Maybe it was Donovan? Donovan began to idolise me after my record run. He spoke to me and followed me whenever he could. He became very annoying in the end. I asked the LNER directors to move him because he was such a hassle to deal with while I worked."

Olivia tapped her fingers over the countertop.

"I guess we'll find out soon enough who it is."

"We?" Scotsman asked.

"One of the conditions my father put forward was to find out about Great Northern was to bring you along."

The Scotsman gave a curious humm and looked at Olivia.

"Well then, I have a condition of my own," he said with a sly smile.

"Alright, what is it you meance?" Olivia said with an annoyed glance.

"I want Gordon to come with us."

For updates, extra lore or to ask questions or discuss the fic, you can find me on tumblr at tornadoyoungiron or on twitter as BakunawaArt.