Just outside Suddery on an overgrown siding there were two engines lost in a cloud of steam and euphoria. Edward's tender was detached and set aside on another hidden track while the little blue engine was pinned up against a set of rickety buffer stops. His breaths were fast, accompanied by low whimpers and moans. The red tender engine, James, was behind Edward fender deep into his little lover. James' cheeks were flushed as red as his livery which twinkled with condensation under the pale light of the summer moon. Hearing Edward's small groans made his boiler bubble and his undercarriage radiate. He loved how the little engine managed to maintain a sense of innocence despite partaking in activities that are anything but. James did wish he could kiss Edward's sweet, soft lips during the act itself, but he wouldn't be able to make his entry from the front. Male engines aren't as easy to access as females, but that makes them all the more fun. The two engines had maintained a low-key relationship over the years, only allowing small bouts of PDA on certain occasion. The pair valued their privacy more than the other engines of the railway. They didn't wish for their escapades to become public gossip.

James was startled when Edward gave a loud, pleasure-filled gasp as his body shuddered. James let out a breathless laugh. "Four," He chuckled. He wasn't near done with the little engine and he had a bad habit of counting every release Edward had. It irritated the littler engine, but he hardly had any energy or desire to protest. Instead Edward clenched his teeth as James' pace quickened and the buffers cracked and creaked against their force.

Emerson awoke that same morning with a wide yawn. He peeked at Meredith's berth beside him and she was gone. The large engine narrowed his eyes. "That's odd." He whispered to himself as his driver and fireman opened his berth's doors allowing the cloudy morning's dim light to flood through.

Once out on the line Emerson picked up a quick pace, express coaches in tow. He had to run all the way to Vicarstown first thing to collect holiday makers coming in from the mainland before he completed the run all the way to Harwick. It was tedious having to travel all that way from Arlesburgh to Vicarstown on the complete opposite side of the island. Luckily the engine was fast enough the journey never took more than a couple hours on his own. With passengers he was forced to travel much slower. He had been scolded in the past for driving too fast by Sir Topham Hatt after passengers complained of falling ill on their journeys.

Emerson came to a red signal out on the mainline that he wasn't anticipating and applied his brakes as quickly as possible, sending bright sparks up into the air. He stopped just before the points with a frustrated huff of steam. He then saw Edward and James both roll up from the Wellsworth junction. They looked exhausted and James wore a daring grin. "Morning, Emerson!" He called cheerily.

"Morning." Emerson watched the two start back towards Knapford. He knew exactly what they had been doing just by the way Edward wobbled on his wheels. Emerson let out another angry breath as the signal clicked to green and he started back with a jolt. The engine used to not be bothered by his lack of physical attention from another engine, but it seemed that recently the fact he was alone was constantly being thrown in his face. It made the typically level-headed engine furious.

The maroon Pacific had at last made it to Vicarstown. His platform was full of vacationers from the mainland dressed in colorful summer wear. Many carried suitcases and shoulder bags for extended stays on the island. They all acknowledged the engine with excitement as he hissed to a stop at the platform. Emerson forced himself to smile. He didn't want to let his own personal qualms cause him to be cruel to his passengers.

As the travelers continued to fill his coaches, Emerson noticed another line of coaches at the platform just to the right of him. They were Flying Scotsman's coaches, but where was that engine? Emerson frowned. He normally saw him every morning at this time, but there was no sign of him. Little did Emerson know that Flying Scotsman was off in a long shed having another hot and heavy go at a certain sparkly white tank engine.

Meredith nearly tumbled out of the shed with Flying Scotsman. Her undercarriage throbbed and tingled with every pump of her pistons. She carried a goofy grin that reminded Scotsman of their very first meet. She had that exact expression painted across her gorgeous face. The big engine couldn't help but feel a wave of pride wash over him. He managed to make her feel as if it was their first time and this made the LNER express internally ecstatic.

Scotsman watched as she hobbled over to the water tower where her driver and fireman were already waiting for her. Her driver climbed up to fill her tanks and nearly jumped off her foot-plates as hot steam rose up from her tanks and into his face. Flying Scotsman laughed quietly. He couldn't help but think about how silly humans are, but he didn't mind them. They were a great source of entertainment. Easily shaken- his were at the very least. Scotsman started back towards the platform, passing a distant kiss to Meredith who blushed intensely before returning her gaze to Hayden who was giving her a stern lecture as he filled her water. She had damaged her buffers yet again.

Flying Scotsman backed into his coaches and could feel a set of eyes watching him. "Do you need something?"

Emerson flinched, but didn't look away. They were the exact same size, but Scotsman made Emerson feel intently small. "I was just wondering where you've been."

"Are you my mother?" Scotsman retorted.

"Engines- uh, engines don't have mothers." Emerson stammered.

Scotsman heaved a loud sigh. "I know, Emerson." He growled. "That's the point. Where I've been is none of your business."

Emerson scowled. "It was a question. No need to be so crass."

Flying Scotsman tufted in annoyance. For an engine who just got laid, his attitude was incredibly nasty. It was intentional. He had to keep up appearances. He knew Emerson was good friends with Meredith and Gordon. He didn't want to arouse suspicion. Truly he felt like he could have serenaded his fellow express engine.

Emerson thought he should say more to defend himself, but he refrained. He didn't want to find himself on the wrong side of Gordon's brother. He had heard of their devastating fight at Tidmouth sheds and didn't want to end up a victim of that level of violence. The guard on Emerson's platform waved his green flag along with a steady blow of his whistle. Emerson started up with a defeated sigh and rolled back down the mainline.

Knapford goods yard was as busy as ever. Thomas found himself becoming dizzy as he puffed circles back-and-forth around the yard. His wheels ached and his buffers felt as if they would fall off. Philip was also struggling to keep up with the mess and he nearly collided with Gordon as he pulled into the yard to fill up with coal. "Watch it, Philip!" Gordon snarled at the little engine while he shoved his way under the large coal hopper.

"Sorry, Gordon." Philip dipped his body apologetically before he dashed to gather another set of flatbeds.

Gordon shook his boiler with a cut of his eyes. "Little engines." He grumbled. Gordon had noticed Meredith's brother, Brian roll into the station with his coaches and not too long followed Meredith herself. She looked as bright-eyed as ever as she conversed excitedly with her older sibling. The Sodor express engine continued to quietly watch his lover as she bounced around while she talked. She could be such an animated engine. It was one of the many things that made Gordon fall for her in the first place. Meredith paused whatever she was saying when she caught glimpse of Gordon's staring. Her face ran bright and she gave a sheepish grin. That was one of those moments Gordon felt whole. Where the noise in his head had stopped. Where he wasn't constantly reliving that day. Just for a moment he was able to push aside all the anger and hate he felt towards the world and for the first time in a while, he smiled at her outside the privacy of his berth and everyone noticed.

"Gordon," Thomas gasped. He accidentally biffed his empty cars into a set of buffers, bumping himself in the process. "You're smiling?!"

"What, where?" Philip screeched to a stop and bounced off Diesel who was also staring at Gordon, mouth agape.

The big blue engine quickly noticed the noise and stares directed at him and his smile disappeared as quick as it came. "You've seen me smile before." He snapped.

"Well, yeah," Thomas said slowly while a yardsman uncoupled him from the cars. "But it's- well it's been a while."

"It has." Gordon said quietly. He wondered if all the other engines had heard about him running over the guard. No one seemed to question his absence and none of them seemed nervous around Gordon either. He imagined Sir Topham Hatt wanted to keep the incident as under wraps as possible.

"Alright, you lot," Kenneth called from Gordon's cab. "Stop staring now. You all have jobs to do."

All the shunters exchanged a quick glance before reluctantly returning to their work. Gordon peered over at the station and saw Meredith and Brian had left. He sighed. "Thank you."

"No problem, big guy." Kenneth gave the outer paneling of Gordon's cab a gentle pat. Gordon clenched his teeth, but he didn't snap like he normally would have. He wouldn't admit it, but the big engine appreciated Kenneth's discretion. Gordon had not been kind to him. He was never kind to his crew, but Kenneth was stubborn and stuck around longer than any other. Gordon still wasn't sure about his new fireman. He seemed squeamish, but it isn't every day a man as young as him witnesses what he had. Gordon couldn't exactly hold it against the boy should he decide to leave his service.

The express engine buffered back up to his coaches and Kenneth hopped off to couple him up while the platform attendant was busy finishing a quick bite of breakfast. Kenneth dusted his hands off and as he went to climb back into the cab, he stopped. He couldn't see Gordon's face but he could tell by how the engine seemed to be up higher on his wheels, something was bothering him. Normally he would pretend to not notice and leave the engine to his own devices, but Kenneth was overcome with concern and jumped back down and strolled up to look the engine in his face. "Hey," the driver said quietly. Passengers had begun to fill the coaches so they hadn't long to speak. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing is the matter." Gordon spat defensively. "Shouldn't you be in my cab? We're about to depart."

Kenneth crossed his arms over his chest, giving his engine a stern glare. "Something's bothering you. Better tell me what it is or I'll make this train late."

Gordon's gaze softened slightly as he studied the lanky human before him. He was serious. "Just bad memories. That's all."

"Of?" Kenneth leaned closer to his engine. That was the closest he had ever been to the large engine's face. He could actually feel Gordon's hot breath against his face. The driver did his best to not appear nervous, but Gordon could effortlessly detect the human's unease.

"Something that happened years ago, now can you please-" Gordon took a calming breath as he felt himself begin to raise his voice. "Can you please leave it alone? I'm really not comfortable discussing it with you, okay?"

Kenneth shrugged. He couldn't help but feel a little disappointed, but also a little victorious. He hadn't got the whole story from the headstrong engine, but he got enough to know he was finally making progress in his relationship with his engine. "Alright," Kenneth said as he threw his hands in his pockets and started back towards the cab. "But if you ever want to talk about it. I'm all ears."

"Right," Gordon scoffed as he listened to his driver's footsteps fade into the rest of the noise of the station. The engine felt a tightness in his throat at the fact his driver noticed something was bothering him. Meredith had been trying to get Gordon to address his feelings for quite some time, but he just never felt ready. The express engine couldn't help but feel envious of his partner's own strength. She managed to act as if nothing happened towards everyone else, but Gordon knew, like him, she was still shattered.

Wow, two in one day. I went from not having a clue what to write, to having all the ideas hit my noggin all at once. I can't help but feel bemused at myself for the sudden shift from the steamy scenes in the beginning to alluding to some serious shit that happened to Gordon and Meredith. But what happened? Only time will tell. Anyhow, I hope you all are enjoying. Don't forget to leave a review and favorite/follow!

Much love;

Bumble