"Ms Tornado! Ms Tornado!"
One of the little shunters rushing towards her at high speed applied his brakes too late and slammed into the back of her tender with an enormous jolt.
She yelped in pain and shot a glare at the clumsy little engine.
"Will you slow down Ernest?!" She snapped at him as he changed tracks to come up beside her. "You're going to hurt yourself or someone else!"
Ernest ignored her, desperate to deliver his message.
"They found him Ms Tornado! They found the Flying Scotsman!"
Tornado froze shocked.
"Are you sure?" She asked.
"Yes! Yes!" Ernest said excitedly. "The new Director Museum lady told me to tell you as fast as I could!"
"Ms Olivia sent you?"
"Yes! Yes! She's planning to go and see him right away! She wants to take you with her!"
Tornado grinned the widest grin she had in almost a year. She could barely contain her joy.
"She said that she'll organise someone to take the Flyer and that she'll see you soon at the Museum," Ernest smiled at her.
Tornado could hardly contain her delight as she raced towards the Railways yards at the museum. She was shocked to find them empty except for a large blue streamlined A4.
She frowned grumpily. She really didn't want to deal with Mallard and his abrasive and demanding attitude. She didn't care for his thoughts on her and her position on the railway.
"Whatever you have to say to me Mallard, I don't care, today is a happy day for me and I won't let you ruin it!" She declared to him as she pulled into the yard with a huff.
The Blue A4 seemed taken aback by her words but otherwise smiled warmly at her.
"I do think you have me confused with my brother my dear," the A4 said with a gentle warm voice.
Tornado immediately felt her face go red with embarrassment. She looked back and glanced at the engine's nameplate.
It read: 'Sir Nigel Gresley'.
This was not Mallard, this was his brother, the rarely seen but highly esteemed engine that even Flying Scotsman or Mallard wouldn't dare insult or tease.
He was considered a King on the Railways. No other engine held as much respect as he did except for the Duchess of Loughbourgh.
"I-I'msorryIdidn'tmeantoberudeIthoughtyouwereMallard!" Tornado blurted out completely and utterly flustered. "I'msorrypleaseforgiveme!"
She hadn't been this embarrassed or flustered since she had first met the Flying Scotsman in person for the very first time. She'd accidentally insulted him and sometimes he still brought it up.
"Easy there young lady," the engine smiled at her. "I am not offended at all. It was an honest mistake you made."
Tornado said nothing. She just looked anywhere except Gresley.
"I keep hearing different things about you, from my brother and the other engines," Gresley said gazing at her. "They say quite rude things that I doubt are true."
"I'm used to being made fun of sir," Tornado said quietly. "I've gotten used to it over the years."
Gresley frowned.
"That won't do at all," he said and gazed at her quietly. "Flying Scotsman always speaks highly of you. And from what I've seen, his faith is not misplaced. He really did pick a worthy engine to teach."
"I disagree sir, I'm just another engine," Tornado said still avoiding his gaze. "Nothing special. Just an old design built in a new era."
"I would say that makes you the most important engine currently on rails today then," Gresley said and Tornado finally looked at him very confused. "And you're a humble sweet young lady too. Something that is lacking in engines these days."
Tornado didn't know what to say.
Someone even Flying Scotsman looked up to and respected was complimenting her and saying she was important.
She didn't know what to say. She just stared at him dumbfounded.
"The only thing you lack is confidence in yourself," Gresley noted and Tornado looked to the ground sadly.
"I know sir but… it's not like I can fix that right away," Tornado grumbled. "I can't help that and the other engines don't make it easy for me."
"Then allow me to vouch your skill and your standing," Gresley offered. "I doubt anyone would dare mock you after I did so. Not if they valued my favour."
"But- but why would you do that?"
"Because Steam Engines have a future and you are that future. A beacon of light against the dark days that have fallen since the purge," Gresley said. "And my brother has insidious plans to try and manipulate you to gain power Castle and Truro have told me."
"Oh I know," Tornado said bitterly. "I've been trying to ignore him but he's persistent sir."
"That he is," Gresley said with a slight frown. "In any case, it is finally nice to meet the engine that Flying Scotsman regards so highly."
Tornado blushed again and smiled at him.
"Thank-you sir," she mumbled quietly.
"I do believe the Lady Olivia wanted me to cover your express," Gresley said and Tornado was shocked.
The A4 Gresley did not cover anyone's lines, not even on Rail tours. He had always refused and the few times he had it had been to pull a royal train or a lord and lady.
"I need to let the others know that I have vouched for you," he said as he looked at Tornado's shocked expression with bemusement. "And I do miss the Peppercorns. One of them was my closest friend. They were all such lovely and endearing engines, call this me being selfish and indulging myself once in a while, Young Iron."
The A4 began to move off with a gentle hiss of steam and Tornado watched him leave, completely numb and in shock of what had just happened.
She didn't even notice Ms Olivia approach her and jump into her cab.
"Are you ready to go little miss peppercorn?" Ms Olivia asked startling the young engine.
"Ah! Ms Olivia!" Tornado started giving a yelp of surprise. "No wait I mean sir- no ma'am."
Ms Olivia laughed at her.
"We're old friends, you don't have to call me those silly titles," Ms Olivia said with a wide smile. "Right now I am your engineer and we are going to Sodor!"
Tornado burst into a huge grin.
She's missed Olivia as her engineer. She would always talk to her engines, joke with them and laugh with them as they worked.
She missed her dearly after she had left years ago to work with the streamliners but was very glad that she was the New Museum Director.
"Shall we go see how your cousin is doing?" Olivia asked and Tornado pouted.
"He's my brother," she objected.
Ms Olivia was right, technically speaking she was Scotsman's cousin, not his sister but she didn't care.
"Of course, shall we go see your brother?"
"Yes ma'am!"
Flying Scotsman was aware of a warm pleasant feeling in his boiler.
It was fuzzy and felt whimsical.
He opened his eyes and he saw himself at the station awaiting his inaugural non-stop run to Edinburgh.
He was extremely confused.
This wasn't right, was it?
This had been almost a century ago, was this a memory?
What-?
Something caught his attention and he saw an 8 year old and his father standing on the platform beside him among the dozens of others.
A pang of familiarity rushed through him as he recognised the boy.
"Mr Pegler?"
The boy smiled and nodded to him.
"I owe you so much you know, I would never have become who I was without seeing you this day. I'll always protect you, you know that right?" The boy said and the Flying Scotsman smiled at him.
"I've always know," the Scotsman said with a faint smile. "It was just hard after you… left."
"Well, I'll always be here apart of you," the boy smiled bright and laughed. "You can count on that old boy."
The Flying Scotsman gave a deep sigh.
He felt something dark and heavy lift off of his consciousness. Something that had clouded his mind for the past decade or so.
"Your friends and family miss you," the boy said. "They care about you as much as I do. Even if you are completely ridiculous sometimes."
The Flying Scotsman felt his cheeks burn red hot.
He'd been an idiot.
He knew that.
But his fear and paranoia had been so great. It clouded and deluded his mind. He had done things that he would not normally do. That he would never think of doing.
Tornado and Gordon would have been sick beyond worry for him.
"Was I selfish?" Flying Scotsman asked. "For doing all this?"
"Only for not telling those who loved you," the boy said and Scotsman looked at the ground guiltily. "For trying to deal with things without their help."
"I doubt Gordon will forgive me," the Scotsman said with deep regret.
"Time will tell."
Flying Scotsman looked to the child.
"Thank-you," he said most sincerely to him. "For everything you did for me. You've saved me in so many ways. I can't even begin to show my gratitude towards you."
"Same here old friend," the boy had shifted into the image of his older self. He smiled at him as everything began to brighten into a blinding white light and he felt his consciousness return to his frame with a gentle jolt.
"Flying Scotsman?" A voice suddenly sounded right beside him.
"He shifted slightly," another voice said, sounding disturbed and frightened. "Is he going to go on another weird rampage?"
The Scotsman opened his eyes, but immediately groaned in pain as the bright light hurt his eyes and caused pain to lance into his smokebox.
It was then that he realised just how ill and weak he felt. Even after his rebuilds nor his accident had he ever felt as awful as he did now.
His boiler felt like it was full of sludge, his firebox felt like it was filled with soggy leaves and rocks and filled with a thick nasty smoke, some of his tubes felt blocked and he could feel rust on parts of him.
Just how long had he been unconscious in that mine?
"He's awake!" A shrill voice cried, making him wince painfully.
"Millie please!" The voice of Sir Robert suddenly called out. "We need not expose him to too much at once especially not after his coma."
"Sorry sir," the female voice apologised again.
"Flying Scotsman? Are you awake? Can you hear us?" Sir Robert asked kindly, placing a hand on his buffer comfortingly.
He felt like he couldn't speak. He struggled but all that came out was a weak barely audible grunt that pained him.
"Good this is very good!" Sir Robert said cheerfully. "He may require a long time to recover but it is wonderful that Scotsman is not afflicted by the cold sleep."
"He can barely speak sir," Millie pointed out but another voice that was not Sir Robert interrupted him.
"It's a start Millie, don't be rude," it scolded.
The Scotsman let out a moan of pain as he felt how sore and sick he felt. Clearly sitting around doing nothing had built up into his systems being stagnant and out of order.
"It's alright old boy," Sir Robert gently reassured him. "You need a lot of work to restore you to full health again but you'll get there."
He tried to open his eyes again. This time he succeeded though the bright lights made him feel woozy and unsteady.
"There you are, hello," the small blurry figure of Sir Robert waved at him. "Welcome back Flying Scotsman."
The Flying Scotsman didn't answer, he only looked around wearily.
He saw a small blue engine gazing at him curiously and a strange yellow one which the Scotsman recognised as the Stephenson's rocket.
"Hello there!" The Rocket said brightly. "It's good to see you awake great green! I'm Stephen!"
"And I'm Millie!" the little blue engine said with a French accent. "You've been here for a few days now."
"Yes," Sir Robert said patting Scotsman's buffer. "We dug you out of that cave in, in the mine and had you stored up here at the private workshop in the castle till you woke up to avoid any unwanted attention. Victor and Jeremy are anxious to start work on you to restore the damage you have."
"Cave… in?" Flying Scotsman croaked weakly.
He remembered the director cutting off parts of him, but hadn't remembered a cave in. He'd been in such a deep sleep that he hadn't even woken up during a cave collapsing on him.
"I don't… I don't remember anything," he rasped out weakly.
"You were moving without steam," Sir Robert said and the Scotsman looked at him confused. "You were chasing Green Arrow but managed to save that Arrow and Spencer from the cave in. It only trapped your tenders and parts of your cab."
"Arrow? Spencer? I- what?" Now the Scotsman was really confused.
How could he have moved without steam? What had happened to him while he'd been unconscious?
And what on Earth was Spencer and Green Arrow doing here?
"You're confusing him Sir," Stephen pointed out. "At least let him recover a bit before explaining everything to him."
"Alright," Sir Robert gave Flying Scotsman a small smile. "But you'll be happy to know that Cain was injured by the cave in and is under police guard in hospital. He's not going anywhere for a long time, we'll make sure of that."
The Scotsman gave a faint smile.
"Thank-you sir," he said sleepily. He felt himself drifting off to sleep again, this time a small one he hoped. He heard the Earl and the two little engines talking but he didn't care for it and slipped into a peaceful sleep.
Spencer was surprised to find the Flying Scotsman at the Ulfstead castle, sleeping on a siding outside near the private station. He was still wet from being cleaned but there were still scratches and dents from the cave in.
The Flying Scotsman awoke to the sound of Spencer's whistle as he steamed in, opening his eyes and staring at Spencer with a tired look as the Silver Engine approached him.
"You're awake," Spencer said, surprised. With how deep and long his coma had been it was surprising that the A3 Pacific had even woken up.
"So I am," The Flying Scotsman said sleepily.
"Are you-?" Spencer started feeling awkward at the small talk.
For the last decade or so, the two had been at each other's throats. It was so strange to see the Scotsman so calm and content and not glaring or scowling at him for once.
He suspected however a lot of it had to do with the engine looking very ill rather than anything else.
"How do you feel?" Spencer asked awkwardly and Scotsman raised an eyebrow, surprised that Spencer was being civil with him.
"Terrible," the Scotsman offered, clearly annoyed.
"You look it," Spencer remarked and the Scotsman gave a small snort.
"I've had worse," he said dismissively.
"I want to let you know that I was never sent to find you to send you to the scrap yard," Spencer told him. "That was all Green Arrow. The little coward was under Cain's orders and you know he can't stand up against anything."
"I know," The Scotsman said with a faint smile. "Green Arrow was practically begging for forgiveness from me yesterday. He explained himself. He seemed afraid of me for some reason. I don't know why, I don't remember anything."
"You moved on your own without steam," Spencer clarified. "You were unconscious and you were moving without a driver or fireman. It was… disturbing."
The Flying Scotsman simply stared at him blankly.
"I- I honestly don't remember or know what happened to me," was all he could say.
In the back of his mind he remembered hearing the voice of his dear old friend. Had his ghost moved his body and protected him when Cain and Green Arrow had threatened him?
He pushed the thought away, calling it ridiculous.
There was no such thing as ghosts.
Then again, the dreams he had had seemed very real.
"Either way, you've certainly scared Green Arrow back to the mainland. He's behaving himself for once," Spencer said with a smirk. "About time the little upstart got some sense scared into him."
The Flying Scotsman yawned wearily before gazing at Spencer.
"Your passengers are waiting," Scotsman pointed out and Spencer glanced at them.
"Yes, I suppose they are," he said. "I'll tell Duchess and Sir Gresley that you've been found and are recovering."
"As you were, see you later Link of the Lagoon," the Scotsman teased and Spencer immediately felt angry at the teasing Green engine..
He gave a indignant huff and glared at the A3 who only gave him a small mischievous grin as Spencer moved off.
Despite this, Spencer could help but feel something had mended between the two of them.
They weren't at all friends but Spencer had shown his worry and concern for the Scotsman.
It had to count for something.
The Scotsman watched him leave silently.
Gordon still hadn't come to see him. He didn't blame him, not after all the stress and anxiety his actions may have put him through.
He knew Tornado was racing to Sodor to see him, he imagined he'd be having stern words from her.
Especially now that Sir Gresley had vouched for her.
Gresley hadn't even vouched for the Scotsman, he hadn't seen the point as his namesake had already done so.
But word from the two mainline steamers was that Tornado had come out on top of this farce of the 'most respected engine' on the mainland and she hadn't even tried.
He was beyond proud of her.
He just wished Gordon would come to see him and talk but word from Edward was that Gordon was extremely furious with him and needed time to gather himself.
Flying Scotsman only hoped that he didn't take another decade.
A/N: There's a cute video of Tornado and Sir Nigel Gresley having a whistle battle on Youtube which inspired the idea to have Sir Gresley as Tornado's cool Grand Uncle.
