After a very awful, very panic filled, and-thank the lord himself-short trip to the Steamworks to get his safety valve repaired, Duncan sat staring out at the bleary blurry sky as cold rain drizzled down. As he watched the cold, covered night sky he pondered what on earth to do. He absolutely didn't want to stay here at the Steamworks for even a second longer but at the same time he really, really didn't want to go back to the sheds with the other engines who'd almost certainly not forgiven him for screaming at them earlier that evening. As he sat troubled with thoughts as to what he should do, Rheneas made him violently flinch by setting off his whistle shrilly, the noise slicing through the cold air like a blade.

"Come on, Duncan, it's getting very late and you and I both need rest for tomorrow," Rheneas said, steam gently hissing from his steam cylinders.

Duncan winced. "Are we going back to the sheds?"

"I don't know where else we'd go—"

"Can't I just sleep out on a siding-please—" Duncan groaned, genuinely not wanting to show up around the other engines ever again.

"In this weather?" Rheneas cried; astonished. "It's pouring bucketloads of freezing rain-you'll catch ill—"

"But I'm from Scotland! It's always icy rain there I'll be fine—"

"We've got a spare shed for you and that's where you get to sleep, we're not going to force an engine to sleep out in the freezing rain,"

Duncan groaned, "But I'm not being forced to sleep in the rain I just don't want to sleep in the sheds-!" He cut himself off before he could say anymore, but Rheneas seemed to understand regardless.

"I know you're probably worried about how everyone feels about your outburst but their probably all asleep by now and besides the best thing to do is to just leave it alone until everyone is calm enough-and well rested enough-to talk about it." Rheneas said. "And I'm not going to let you sleep in the rain so stop asking." He said teasingly. Duncan gave a half-hearted chuckle.

"Alright, fine, if you say so—" He mumbled and wearily trailed behind Rheneas.

The journey back was silent as Rheneas was too tired to say anything and Duncan felt too uncomfortable trying to speak friendly to an engine he'd screamed at only a while ago and himself was starting to get too tired to care about anything but falling asleep. The sheds were quiet when they arrived back and Duncan squinted into the darkness, but no eyes reflected back in the dim light of his rain-muffled lamp and he sighed with relief. All the engines seemed to be asleep which meant he wouldn't have to speak to any of them or feel their glaring eyes until morning. Rheneas crawled into his own shed with a yawn and as he hit the back buffers his lamp flicked off and he seemed to fall asleep almost instantly. Duncan still sat wearily outside the sheds. Sleeping in them seemed like a bad idea considering he'd wake up with nothing but a thin wooden wall and perhaps a door between him and the rest of the engines who were very but also rightfully angry with him. Duncan sighed and winced as every pain of the day seemed to flow through him at once and every part of him resounded with a dull ache.

He was too tired to think worried thoughts of what the others would do or say by the time morning came around and as his eyes went bleary and his brain clouded he slid into his own shed, the door partially open, allowing in the sounds and smells of the cold rain outside as Duncan huddled at the back of his shed. Duncan was pleasantly surprised. His sheds at the factory had been victim to wood rot and termites and always let water in when it rained and were bitterly cold in the winter. This shed was watertight, warm, and comfortable. Duncan could scarcely marvel at how cozy it was as his eyes began to slowly shut the minute he was snuggled up inside of it.

Everyone's going to hate me when I wake up- Duncan thought he yawned and slowly let his eyes shut fully. But this shed is so warm and nice-maybe things won't be so bad after all…

And before Duncan could even realize, he'd fallen into a deeper sleep than he'd ever had on his old railway, the last of his worried thoughts melting away as he did.