It was a cloudy summer night. The moon was full and the island was still. Not a breath of wind could be found. Meredith slept peacefully with her boiler rested against Gordon's. The two were out at Knapford goods yard in a spare truck shed where the tracks were closer together. It was the pair's go-to spot for harmless cuddling and close-contact naps. Of course circumstances required they kept their meet-ups shrouded by darkness. While Sir Topham Hatt generally had no issues with his engines having intimate relationships, the drama and disaster that stirred from Gordon and Meredith's relationship meant the two were demanded to stay apart. They didn't. After Gordon's panel was sneakily removed the two's fire reignited and it blazed bright. During the days the engines were professional and followed the rules. They kept their interactions to a bare minimum and went about their work with no complaints. Once the sun went down, however, there was no keeping them apart. Gordon's plan to keep Meredith too exhausted to fiddle with Flying Scotsman worked. The little white tank engine managed to turn down the LNER engine every time he snuck onto the island looking for a link-up. He persisted regardless. The egotistical bastard figured it would only be a matter of time before she folded like a lawn chair. Gordon quickly became aware of his brother's relentless harassment of his lady by Spencer. Normally the haughty A4 wouldn't gossip on his mainland cousin, but a severe and persuasive beating cracked him like an egg and he spilled not only on Scotsman, but on himself and his own experiences with little Meredith. Gordon afterwards confronted Meredith on his new findings and after much theatrics and hem-hawing she confessed. She also admitted to lying with Emerson. Naturally these revelations lead to a rather nasty fight between them. Gordon had never once raised his voice at Meredith until that very moment. He came completely unhinged. He called her childish, a whore, and selfish. Meredith merely stood in place with tears in her eyes as Gordon relentlessly ripped into her. Even getting in her face at one point. She held her ground, but remained quiet until he had calmed. Then after a few more cutting remarks the two agreed to start anew. They then consummated the beginnings of their renewed relationship with angry, loud, messy lovemaking that continued until the sun peeked above the horizon.

Gordon shifted a little in his sleep. He smacked his lips and quickly became conscious of his cottonmouth. The big engine took a lazy look at his sleeping partner and smiled. He didn't trust her as far as he could throw her, but seeing Meredith once again at his side made his boiler bubble happily regardless.

A quick glance up at the sky and Gordon knew it was time for the both of them to return to their respective sheds. Gordon being out was of no concern, but Meredith was supposed to be on lockdown. Hayden was gracious enough to let her out at night, but they had to be careful. The driver could lose his job should they be found out. "Mer," Gordon kept his tone hushed just in case there were any late-night workers still hanging about. "Mer… my love."

The little tank engine groaned. "Five more minutes."

"It's time to take you home."

"I am home." Meredith sighed. She nuzzled even deeper against Gordon's boiler and the big engine's throat tightened.

"Oh, please, my light. I don't want to get you into trouble."

"If you're dragging me back to my shed I expect a proper goodnight." Gordon raised his brow and Meredith sighed as she puffed forward from the covering. Her partner followed closely behind her, his eyes resting hungrily on her wheels' slender spokes as they picked up speed through Tidmouth. He knew what she meant by a 'proper' goodnight and his undercarriage throbbed in anticipation. There would be nothing proper about the goodnight he planned to give his little engine. Nothing at all.

The two arrived at the shed and found Emerson was actually asleep in his berth. This surprised the two and Meredith carefully backed into her side of the shed with a cheeky smile. "You coming?" She whispered.

Gordon was surprised. He didn't think Meredith would want to get physical with her friend being only a few meters away. "But what about-"

"Don't worry, he's a heavy sleeper." Meredith giggled. "Now are you gonna come get me off or am I gonna have to do it myself?"

Gordon had started to roll forward then stopped suddenly at Meredith's statement. Gordon wasn't unfamiliar with the concept of self-pleasuring. He was hardly the first male engine on the island to get creative when the urge struck and there was no one to assist in release. But he hadn't thought that maybe the female engines partook as well. Especially Meredith. She seemed no stranger to simply putting in extra effort to find a proper rod to slide onto. Regardless of who was attached to it. Gordon shuddered. The mental image of her by herself grinding and gasping on a wayward pipe made the big engine's own piece drop from his undercarriage. Meredith licked her lips. "I guess that's my answer."

That following morning, Meredith woke to find Emerson was still there. He was watching her. "Em? You're still here."

"I am." He said plainly. He didn't smile which made the little tank engine nervous.

"Is something wrong?" Meredith pried. Hayden and Alex were already in her cab working to get her prepped and ready for the work day. It was destined to be a hot one as the little engine was already working up a good sweat.

"I thought Gordon was paneled."

"Oh, well, he was." Meredith suddenly felt very shy. Her friend must've been more awake than she realized last night. "I'm sorry if we kept you up."

A small laugh broke through Emerson's stoic mask and Meredith beamed. She didn't like the maroon pacific being so stern. He typically wasn't. It's why she liked him. Just a pleasantly friendly and genuine engine. "Em?"

"Yeah?"

"I've missed you."

Emerson's smile slipped. He had been spending so much time with Ryan, yes, along with that, however -though he would never say it- he had been avoiding Meredith. His attraction to her was much more intense than he had originally thought and after what happened between Gordon and Flying Scotsman, Emerson thought it best to distance himself from her. He wasn't about to be caught up in their deadly love-triangle. But seeing the hurt in her eyes made him realize that ignoring her wasn't the best way to go about the issue. He didn't even consider the fact she was basically forced into isolation when he made his decision to give her the cold shoulder. "Mer…" The big engine bit his lip and followed Meredith out of their shed. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have been avoiding you."

"You were avoiding me? Why?"

"Well… I just didn't want to get caught up in whatever is going on between you and the other two." Emerson's face burned bright. He felt so silly and selfish.

The two engines came to a stop at a signal as Oliver passed by with Toad and a train of empty cars. The three engines exchanged greeting whistles then Emerson and Meredith set off again. "I suppose that's my fault." Meredith said. "This whole mess is my fault. I just- I don't know. I'm not the best decision maker I guess. I should have never dragged you in with me. You deserve better."

"But Gordon doesn't?"

Meredith swallowed. The junction where the two engines would part ways was coming up. She didn't want to leave her friend. The conversation was heavy, but she didn't care. He was actually talking to her. "He doesn't deserve any of this. And I really don't deserve him."

"No, you don't." Emerson said firmly as he watched Meredith take the line towards Wellsworth. "There's nothing wrong with you sleeping around, the problem is you dragging Gordon along when he clearly expects exclusivity." Meredith had stopped to listen. "I know I'm not free of any blame here, but unless you decide to cut things off with Gordon, you gotta learn to say no to everyone else, and unless you do decide to leave Gordon, I'm saying no."

"Saying no?" Meredith raised her brow.

"Yep." Emerson said confidently. "To you and your alluring ways."

Meredith watched the big engine race off towards Vicarstown and she sighed. He was right. If she wanted to continue her life of promiscuity she would have to let Gordon go.

Gordon had just begun to pull away from Kellsthorpe station when he heard a pop followed by a horrible hiss of air and steam. His wheels locked up and he slid to a bumpy stop just shy of the platform he was meant to depart. "Oh the indignity…" he groaned.

Bernie quickly climbed from his cab to inspect the source of the breakdown. She didn't hesitate to climb under his drivers and scanned over his pistons and gears with a flashlight. She quickly located the source of the noise."Gordon, you've snapped your valve gear."

"Yes, I know." The big engine growled. "And my axles have locked."

"Yep," Bernie said as she shoved herself out from under the engine. "Looks like it's a trip to the Steamworks for ya. I'll go call Sir Topham to get another big engine started this way."

"Sure, sure." Gordon murmured. He glared at the ground and tried to ignore the frustrated mumbles of his delayed express passengers. The blazing sun was uncomfortable against his body. His face began to heat up and sweat. If he was moving he would be relatively cool, but alas, he was stuck in place and he was hot. Then a cold chill rattled his rivets as the express engine was hit with a disturbing revelation. He had to go to the Steamworks. He had to go to the goddamned Steamworks. Victor was going to see his panel had been removed. That simply would not do. He had to get out of going somehow.

"Alright, everything's setup!"

Gordon's wide-eyed stare darted to Bernie as she approached him from the side. She had just got off the phone with Sir Topham. Gordon had to think quickly. "I can't go to the Steamworks!" He blurted.

"What? How do you mean?" Bernie stopped just short of the engine's dripping face.

"You have to fix me here." Gordon pressed. "I- I- uhh, I just have a major fear of the Steamworks. I'm claustrophobic, you see and I also don't care much for being up on the hoist."

The driver was not convinced. She raised her brow and shifted her weight on her feet, giving her hips a sassy angle. "You're claustrophobic you say?" Gordon nodded. "I'm sorry, big man, but I just can't. I don't have the tools and it's much too hot for me to do such work out in the open. Edward is on his way here to shunt you to the Steamworks and that's that."

"No!" Gordon whimpered, but Bernie had already started back to the platform to escape the blistering sun. He missed Kenneth and his lack of sense. He liked Bernadette, but she was much too level-headed and by the book for the big engine's taste.

Just as Bernadette said, Edward rolled up to Kellsthorpe, but he had Rocky and a heavy flatbed with him. Gordon's steam billowed up around him. "I am not going on a flatbed."

"Sorry, Gordon." Edward said with a meek half-smile. "I can't shunt you if your axles are locked. I'm not trying to grind your wheels down."

Gordon began to spit curse after curse as Rocky and the rescue crew prepped him to be lifted onto the flatbed. It took no time at all to lock-in the hoist and with a creak and a groan, Rocky lifted Gordon up onto the flatbed's mounts. The big engine was still swearing the crew up and down as they tied him and his tender down. The workers did their best to ignore Gordon's colorful language and told themselves it was the heat making the engine so irritable. One worker was tasked with securing chains around Gordon's front buffers, unfortunately this young man had never worked with Gordon before and was unaware of the engine's dislike towards being touched. The worker climbed up onto Gordon's front fender to double-check the chain was secure and when he was confident it was he took a moment to sit down. His mistake was when he stood up and, in spite of the engines murderous glare, gave Gordon's cheek a friendly pat. Gordon instantly lashed out and with one powerful jolt of his body snapped his chains, the big engine then toppled into the express coaches still waiting on the track beside him.

Welp. I've done it. I've touched on the topic of *ahem* self pleasure. Getting in a little too deep ladies and gents. I'm sorry this update may have taken longer than normal, I've been socializing for the first time in a long time. Lmao. I didn't get home last night until almost 2 in the morning. Anyway. That's enough about that.

Pretty Katydid; I'm all too familiar with the monster known as shift work. Lol. But a nice outdoor, unplugged life sounds so lovely. I'm kinda jealous. Lol.

I'll admit I'm actually thinking of pumping out a little one-off about Meredith's fling with Duck. I wanna write about it but I feel like it wouldn't fit right now. Originally when I started this AU and this story I wanted to pair Mer with Duck, but the drama potential as well as my own personal love for Gordon and Flying Scotsman was too great to pass up.

Concerning Mallard I feel this AU just needs a genuinely horrid and nasty engine and he seemed to fit the bill for me. Scotsman is pretty bad but he's not all-around horrid. He at least wouldn't force himself on another. But Spencer is still Spencer so obviously he had to get a little something-something out of it. Hah

Also let's just address the elephant in the room: Stephen. I'm having a battle of morals right now regarding him. He's such a funny and handsome engine, but he's so fragile and old idk if I can do anything with him. But I'd be lying if I didn't say he gives me the vibe that he would love to be overpowered by a big modern girl and I'm kinda fighting myself about whether or not to make that idea a reality. Idk. I'm sure I'll find some way to work it out and make it unnecessarily sexy cuz that just seems to be an obscure talent of mine. *shrugs* We'll see.

Anyhow, that's enough from me! I'll be off writing about Meredith and Duck because I can! Thank you for your love and for the reviews! They're greatly appreciated!

Much love;

Bumble

P.S. Eyedozer; welcome to the club! Thank you for lurking around and thank you for your kind review! I hope you continue to enjoy as I power through more and more.