True to form, Bill and Ben were sitting inside a pub while preparing to celebrate a day of work well done. Thomas saw them sitting inside and motioned for Percy to come over. Percy saw them and went into the pub, pushing right past Thomas. Surprised by his friend's haste, Thomas kept close behind. Bill and Ben looked up at the same time.

"Thomas! Percy! If we had known you were visiting-"

"-we would have ordered you something to drink!"

"Did one of you replace my tea with peppercorns?" Percy asked, cutting right to the question. "Because if you did, Gordon didn't find it funny."

"Well Gordon has no sense of humor," Ben said.

"I guess I have no sense of humor, either, because I didn't appreciate Gordon getting mad at me for something you did."

"Blaming us for it already? What happened to asking us if we did it?" Bill asked, feigning innocence by batting his eyelashes together. He couldn't keep a straight face and broke into laughter. "But peppercorns were such a good idea! Did you like how we put Thomas's face on his favorite locomotive?"

"You didn't even put it on the right engine! You put it on engine four, which is Gordon's favorite engine. Do you know anything about us?" Percy was getting flustered.

"How should we know which one it is? It's a blue engine, and that was the first engine we saw," Ben protested. "And it's not our fault if Gordon didn't find it funny. I don't think he'd know funny if it kicked him in the boot!"

"And Gordon got mad at me for something he thinks I did."

"Then what do you want us to do?" the twins asked.

"Apologize!"

Ben raised an eyebrow while Bill emitted a soft cough.

"Why should we apologize? It's not our fault that Gordon got mad."

"You should be apologizing to us, because you think we're to blame."

"Yeah, shouldn't you be saying sorry?"

"I thought Percy was better than just blaming the innocent."

"I sure thought so, too."

Bill and Ben continued to speak rapid-fire, making it hard for Thomas to keep up with who was saying what. However, Thomas stepped back when Percy slammed his hands down onto the bar. That made both twins clam up and they recoiled, surprised at the sudden outburst. People in the pub had turned to look at the four. Percy was oblivious to the gathering attention and he grappled at Bill.

"What're you doing?" Thomas asked, but he didn't get an answer. Instead, he watched as Percy gave Bill a hard shove, causing the younger man to fall backwards.

"Percy!" Ben caught his brother and backed away. "What's going on?"

"What happens when you don't apologize!" Percy replied. "I want to hear that you're sorry for what happened."

"And what if you don't hear a peep from us?" Ben snapped, but he shrank away when Percy approached. "Thomas! I think your friend is a bit nutty."

"Percy, what on earth are you doing?" Thomas grabbed Percy by the shoulder.

By that time Percy had stopped and he was still shaking with anger. He pointed an accusing finger at Bill and Ben.

"I want to hear an apology. That's all I want. Say that you're sorry for replacing my tea with peppercorns!"

"It's only a silly joke," Bill whispered. He was hiding behind his twin.

"A silly joke that cost me working on the Express!"

Thomas stepped in, his skinny frame blocking the twins from Percy. "Is that what it's all about, Percy? Working on the Express? Is that what you're mad about? It's not worth bullocks to work on that train. And not a reason to get mad at our friends!"

Percy paused and took a deep breath and sighed. His shoulders dropped and he turned to face the side. "I… I overreacted. I'm really sorry, Bill and Ben. Gordon just got so cross and it was wrong for me to take my anger out on you."

Bill and Ben were still cowering but one of them raised a hand. "And we're sorry that we replaced your tea with peppercorns!"

"Do you have the tea bags?" Thomas asked, and he frowned when Bill grimaced.

"We gave it to Donald and Douglas."

Percy looked as though he were about to get angry again but he stopped. "I guess I'll have to buy a new box. I'm leaving. I'm heading to my apartment." He fished through his pockets and placed some money down near the twins.

"We don't need money," Bill said.

"I'm sorry for how I reacted. Please, at least take it and allow me to pay for your drinks."

"He's offering us money," Ben said.

"Thanks, Percy. Uh. We won't use peppercorns anymore."

The twins remained at the bar as Thomas and Percy left, too scared to say anything else in case they upset Percy again. Both made a mental note to never confront Percy alone. Once the two were out of sight, Bill emitted a loud sigh of relief.

"I didn't think he was capable of being mad," Bill said.

"You say mad, but I think he was acting nutty," Ben replied.

"He's a solid one. He gave me a pretty big push. I nearly fell."

"If Thomas wasn't here, we'd probably be thrown this way and that."

"Or this that and way!"

Thomas walked with Percy to his car. He didn't have a car of his own as he usually carpooled. Still tense from the encounter in the pub, Thomas got into the passenger seat and got his seat belt across. After a moment of silence he looked at his friend. Percy was sitting still in the driver's seat, leaning over just a bit.

"What was that all about, Percy?" Thomas was concerned, and he reached a hand to his friend but Percy remained still.

"I don't know, Thomas. I'll drop you off at your apartment."

Thomas knit his eyebrows together and frowned. "I don't want to see you be so angry. At least let me stay with you until you calm down."

"I'm just going to blast through some workouts, but I guess if you want to watch you're completely welcome to."

They drove in silence except for Thomas occasionally adjusting the car's radio to change stations. Neither talked until Percy opened the door to his apartment and invited Thomas to come on in. It was a small apartment, probably four rooms big or so. It was a newer style apartment inside a refurbished building. Thomas lived in a smaller apartment maybe a kilometer or so away. Thomas took a seat at the couch as Percy excused himself.

"You can watch something on the telly," Percy said.

"That's okay," Thomas replied. He got out his phone and checked notifications. Apparently James had sent a selfie decorated with pink hearts.

After a few minutes Percy came back to the room and was dressed in loose fitting clothes. He grabbed a medicine ball, the type you see on infomercials, and looked over at Thomas.

"You really want to just sit there as I work out?"

"You want me to join?"

"There's another medicine ball. It's a bit lighter. I'll take that one and you can have the one I'm holding."

Thomas politely declined the offer and got the smaller medicine ball. He did regret choosing to exercise and had problems keeping up with Percy. Halfway through Thomas was sweating and shaking, due to being skinny in frame. Percy, on the other hand, seemed focused and almost like he was putting anger and frustration into the workout. Once they were finished he slammed the medicine ball onto the floor but winced as it made a loud thud.

"I doubt your neighbors would mind," Thomas said. "Are you feeling better?"

"A bit less flustered," Percy replied. "I don't know what came over me back at the pub. I'm just so frustrated with what happened. Gordon's blaming me for something I didn't do."

"But that's just what Gordon does."

"I don't really like what Gordon does." Percy checked his phone and his frown turned into a grin. "Look at this picture of James. All the hearts he can put on the photo won't hide his crow's feet."

They both were laughing at the picture of James. Thomas was laughing more than Percy, though.

"I don't know why but I really want to work on the Express. Even as a guard," Percy said. "I know I usually work with the tank engines but I want to work with engine four."

"If you want a tender engine, engine two will be running tomorrow. You could take my shift as fireman. I'm sure Edward won't mind."

"Thank you, but I'm assigned to work with Sidney and Paxton. I'm showing Sidney how to be a driver, even though I mainly work with steam engines. But the others are too busy." Percy shrugged. "Sidney is forgetful but he usually remembers what I say. And I don't think you want to teach how to drive a diesel locomotive."

Thomas laughed at that. "Yeah, I don't like working with diesels."

Both of them were sitting on the couch and Thomas was eyeing Percy. Percy was too busy focusing on his phone to notice or care as Thomas slid a bit closer. Thomas felt awkward without any warning and slid back to where he had been sitting. Again, Percy didn't take any notice. He set down his phone and emitted an exasperated sigh.

"Getting mad that I can't work on the Express. That is a rather silly thing. Maybe I'll convince Henry or James to trade shifts with me someday."

"What's so important about the Express?" Thomas asked.

"I want to work on a big engine, and besides, the others don't think I'm strong or brave enough to work on a tender engine. Or that I'm a safety issue." He looked at his left hand, at the spot where he was missing two fingers. "What's it like working on the Express, Thomas?"

"Nothing special," Thomas replied. Percy merely gave a nod in return but his mood had seemed to have dropped a bit. Try as he might Thomas wasn't able to get Percy to say anything more about the Express, instead finding that the other switched topics until finally it was time for Thomas to head home.

"You want a ride?"

"I'll walk. It's not too far," Thomas replied.