Meredith thought back to the moment she realized she had fallen for Gordon. It was a sudden shockwave of emotion that rocked her on her bearings. She could still recall the way he slept in front of her. How peaceful he looked in the near darkness of the berth. She was so thankful she decided not to trek back to her own shed, though she wondered how everything would have played out should she have not gone to Tidmouth that clear spring night. Would she have mustered the courage to face her feelings? Would Gordon have lashed out at Thomas? Would Meredith have lied with Flying Scotsman? Every possible scenario played out in her smokebox. She felt tense. She was happy with Gordon. Not only were they lovers, but he was her best friend. Then Flying Scotsman came in like a devastating storm just as the one that raged above her. Gordon made her feel loved, he made her feel seen, but Scotsman- he made her feel alive.

Another bolt of lightning crackled across the sky. Gordon and Flying Scotsman had moved their reunion to just outside the city. Meredith tried desperately to reason with Gordon, but he ignored her. The big engine was there to take his love back completely. To do so he had to remove the one component that threatened any peace left in his relationship with Meredith. Scotsman was joined by Mallard and Spencer, the latter looked like he might wet the track. Spencer wasn't a violent engine, but his younger brother grinned from buffer to buffer. Mallard was not one to run from a good, boiler-busting brawl.

"Seriously, guys." Meredith persisted. She put herself between Scotsman and Gordon. She knew they wouldn't charge if she was in the middle. "Let's be reasonable, please."

"I've been reasonable!" Gordon snarled over the pouring rain. "I've been reasonable for my entire fucking life! I'm sick of it. I'm sick of you!" Gordon shouted at Flying Scotsman who never once faltered under his brother's violent remarks. Gordon hissed forward and shoved Meredith out of the way. "I'm looking forward to watching you bleed you selfish bastard!"

Scotsman chuckled as he gave his boiler a good shake. He locked his smoke deflectors into a more forward position to assist in shielding his face. "Mallard, Spencer, take Meredith to my shed." Scotsman called as he slammed his buffers against Gordon's. He glared into his brother's eyes with a villainous fire as a vile grin creeped across his face. "I'll meet her when I'm done here."

"No, no, please!" Meredith cried as Mallard shoved her into Scotsman's buffers. "Please! You have to stop them!"

"Quit your whining!" Mallard growled with a firm bash into her fender. "Otherwise I'll be forced to utilize other ways of shutting you up."

Meredith wasn't scared of Mallard. She was scared for Gordon and Flying Scotsman. She just knew the brothers were going to rip each other apart and she had to stop them. "Spencer! Spencer please! Do you really want to see them kill each other?"

Spencer clenched his jaw. He truly didn't want to see harm befall either of his cousins regardless of how he felt about them and why they were fighting. The silver A4's eyes then darted between his brother and Meredith. She was scared, her face was drenched in rain and tears and he could hear her axles trembling. He didn't quite like the look Mallard was giving her. Spencer was all too familiar with his brother's less than legit ways of landing his partners. "No," Spencer said finally. "I don't. But this isn't my fight."

"Spencer…" Meredith begged. Her tone was a strained whisper. "Please…"

"Mallard, why don't you go wait outside. Keep watch in case any other engines are looking for us."

"Wanting her all to yourself." Mallard huffed, but he reversed from the shed and allowed Spencer to slide in. "Don't wear her out too much. I need a turn too."

"Sure." Spencer rolled his eyes while his driver shut the doors behind him. Meredith had shrunken back against the buffers. Her lip quivered and she refused to make eye contact. "Mer-"

"Might as well get it over with, huh?" The little engine snapped. "I have nowhere else to go."

Spencer frowned and drew closer. Meredith braced herself. She was furious, but she couldn't fight Spencer. He was much too big. She would just have to take whatever was coming.

"Have your driver call Sodor." Spencer whispered into Meredith's smoke box.

Meredith opened her eyes. The big engine was right on top of her. But he was stern. "What?"

"Your driver. He needs to call Sir Topham. Have him send another big engine up here immediately." Spencer paused as he ran through all the big engines he knew of on Sodor, the list was short and the answer was obvious.

"Emerson!" A rain-soaked engine driver swung the doors to a shed open where he found his maroon Pacific deeply intertwined with the little tank engine, Ryan. "Emerson! We have to leave!"

"Bryce, I'm busy!" The engine growled. Ryan watched his partner's athletic driver with wide, curious eyes. The storm continued to boom outside the shed, rain blew in from the open shed door and into Ryan's face.

"We have to go to the mainland!" Bryce hopped into his engine's cab with Emerson's fireman closely following. "It's Gordon, he and Flying Scotsman are at odds. He needs help."

The big A3 one-off perked up. He recalled what Scotsman had said to him about taking care of Gordon. Emerson looked back to Ryan who was clearly confused as he tried to catch his breath and blink away the rain. "I'm so sorry, I have to go."

"It's okay." Ryan tried to not sound disappointed but Emerson could tell he was. The big engine gave his lover a firm kiss on the lips before he reversed out of the shed and into the storm. It was one of the biggest storms to hit the island in a while. It's length stretched from Sodor all the way to the mainland.

"I'll find you later, okay?" Emerson smiled at the little tank engine before he disappeared down the track at full steam.

Gordon charged his limping brother from across the muddy spare shunting yard. The two bashed together, glaring fire into each other's eyes. Their noses nearly touched after their buffers had been completely caved in. The two engines could easily knock the other off the rails, but this wasn't a mere fight for dominance. There was no simple lesson in overstepping that needed to be taught. The goal was detrimental damage. The goal was for only one engine to leave those tracks alive. Flying Scotsman was surprisingly nimble despite his two tenders and he absorbed Gordon's violent blows with ease.

Scotsman switched to a new track and steamed towards Gordon's tender as it crossed his track. The green engine narrowly missed it as Gordon had managed to speed up just as Scotsman closed in on him. Scotsman braked hard, sparks lighting up the slippery wet tracks. "Ugh, poor Meredith. She's in for a treat later." Scotsman teased. Gordon screeched onto the track beside him and slammed his boiler against Scotsman's cab, knocking Gavin into Ian's arms. "I can't wait to fuck that sweet little mouth of hers." Scotsman continued to push and Gordon saw only red. His face burned bright and the two crashed together where their tracks merged.

"So… what should we do?" Spencer rocked awkwardly on his wheels as he stared down at Meredith. Her gaze was on Hayden and Alex. They sat together at a small table. The rain continued to pound the metal roof of the shed. The sound which made Alex's eyes heavy.

"Wait." Meredith said after another moment passed. "What else is there?"

Spencer shrugged then jumped at the sound of Mallard yelling from outside. "Are you done yet? It's freezing and I'm soaked."

"Uh- just a little longer!" Spencer replied quickly. He bit his lip nervously then looked back to Meredith. "Well… we could always- you know." He made a little rocking motion on his wheels and Meredith nearly blew a gasket.

"Are you serious?" The little tank engine scoffed. "That's the best you could come up with?"

"Well Mallard thinks I'm in here to do just that." Spencer avoided Meredith's sharp glare. "You don't wanna make me a liar… do you?" Meredith merely blinked at the big engine and he pressed his lips together. "Could always just snog."

"…snog?" Meredith's mouth dropped open. "What the hell is 'snog'?"

"You know-" Spencer puckered his mouth to mimic the movements of a kiss.

Meredith was completely flabbergasted. That silver idiot could not be serious. "Absolutely not." She returned tk looking at Hayden and Alex. Hayden leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. He was clearly annoyed at the drama his engine got herself mixed up in, but he too began to feel the weight of exhaustion from the weather.

Spencer pouted. He figured if her two precious engines killed each other he would be able to get away with another attempt at her, but he didn't consider the fact that Meredith straight-up didn't like him. He was jealous. She had such plump, kissable lips that he never got to feel. Their encounter years ago ended so abruptly he didn't have a chance to sneak even a peck on the cheek. He'd seen how she kissed Flying Scotsman. Full open-mouthed, messy French-kisses. Spencer's absolute favorite. If he could just manage a decent kiss he could leave that shed happy. Plus a good, sloppy makeout carried with it the chance at something more.

The silver A4 glanced back down to Meredith. The rain was making her sleepy like Alex who was passed out on the table at that point. The light in the shed was minimum. There was a slight yellow glow that emitted from a small lantern at the table next to Meredith's snoozing crew. It lit up Meredith's face in such an angelic manner Spencer couldn't stop himself. He leaned forward and pushed his lips to hers. Meredith's eyes shot open and she started to back away, but Spencer's tongue slid past her lips and found hers and the little tank engine relented if only to distract for a moment from the evolving chaos outside.

Emerson rushed through King's Cross. The storm persisted into the late evening and turned the mainland into a black hole. The engine had to find Gordon and Flying Scotsman fast if there was any chance at saving Gordon from being turned to a pile of lifeless metal. His face stung from the rain as he held his top speed looking for the two. He passed a few engines who hadn't caught sight of either of the A3's and who couldn't hide their surprise at the presence of Emerson. Then shortly after he saw them. Their lanterns were barely visible through the downpour but Emerson was able to makeout Scotsman closing in on Gordon as they both rushed down the line right at him. "Shit!" The maroon Pacific shouted and he quickly switched his track and moved a good distance away. He noticed where the new track crossed over the other and he watched the brothers draw nearer in a furious cloud of steam and heavy, black smoke. Emerson's boiler pressure bubbled and he launched forward. He had to end it.

Gordon noticed Emerson coming at them and he called out for him to stop, but the young engine didn't listen. He continued to build speed as they neared the points. Just as Gordon passed the merge, Flying Scotsman was right on top and that's when Emerson hammered straight into his boiler, knocking both engines off the tracks. Ian and Gavin ducked from Scotsman's cab and did their best to catch Bryce and Emerson's fireman as they all dove into the mud before they found themselves caught up in the wreckage. Gordon heard the boom behind him and knew it wasn't thunder. He threw on his brakes as Kenneth and Sean leaped out and sprinted towards the other crews. There was no light other than the engines' damaged lanterns but neither of them stirred. Kenneth approached Emerson. He was caked in mud and oil and was propped up on Scotsman's side. His eyes were shut, but as the driver climbed Scotsman's boiler to be closer to the engine's face he could feel warm breathing against his shivering wet body. He turned to Ian who had his hand on Scotsman's bruised cheek. The LNER engine winced and let out a weak sob and Ian took a deep breath of relief. Sean crossed his arms and walked over to Gavin, Bryce, and Emerson's fireman who were all taking shelter in Emerson's crooked cab. "I don't suppose any of you have a cigarette?"

I'm gonna preface this by going ahead and saying that Meredith and Spencer don't actually- do it. I just don't wanna go there even tho I kinda did- sort of.

Writing these intense scenes is a bit of a challenge for me. I want to build up suspense and tension while also building the scene while also avoiding being too wordy and I just- *inhales* oh lord help me. I just hope I managed to get the point across without it being blah.

Anyhow. I really hope y'all enjoyed! Your reviews are always welcomed and greatly loved and appreciated!

Much love;

Bumble

Racefangurl; yes my engines do cry, but the bigger ones tend to be more reserved. Littler engines seem more emotional to me because in a way they're more childish? But not on a level that's weird, ya know? Just more vulnerable. Ya know?

Before we turn to strangers tryna love in the dark; Tell it to my heart; 'Cause I can't keep guessing; If it's me you're missing