NO "I" IN TEAM

Based upon "Who's the Boss?" by Will Ing

Adapted by Zack Wanzer and Rachel Ravens

The summer heat was bearing down hard across Sodor, and it wasn't just the engines and people who were feeling it.

"Roasting radiators," panted Jack. "It's hot!"

"You're telling me," agreed Alfie. "It feels like my paint is about to peel off!"

"Tell me about it," Jack groaned. "My driver's kids are lucky. They have a swimming lesson after school."

"You're not thinking about a dip yourself, are you, Jack?" asked another voice. Both diggers glanced over to see an orange crane with caterpillar tracks and the number nine on his sides.

"No, I wasn't planning on that, Murphy," said Jack. "Our engines would be ruined. I'd much prefer rain falling down on my bonnet, though."

"Must be held up somewhere else," suggested Alfie.

"Indeed," sighed Murphy. "Do you remember when I was hired to help with the bridge near Hackenbeck after the dam burst?"

"You did what now?" asked Jack. "What washout?" Alfie and Murphy told him everything. "Poor Toby! What is it with him and bridges?"

"Goodness knows why," said Murphy. "But that's three times thus far he's had a near miss with a bridge."

"Thank goodness he's okay," said Alfie. "And thank goodness you permanently joined us after that crossing gate incident. We need all the help we can get."

"Speaking of which," said Murphy, "what is that thing that we're building close to the Peel Godred branch line?"

"I think Miss Jenny said it was going to be a warehouse," replied another voice. Jack, Alfie and Murphy looked over to see a sixteen year old intern walk over. The trio were certain he looked familiar, but they couldn't put their respective wheels (or hook, in Murphy's case) on it.

"Oh, hello," said Jack. "What brings you to our construction site?"

"Miss Jenny offered me some work experience," the young intern explained. "I'll be coming here once a week for a while."

"Welcome to the Pack," said Jack. "I'm Jack, that's Alfie and this is Murphy."

"Ah, yes," he nodded thoughtfully. "Miss Jenny told me all your names, so perhaps I can guess the rest of–"

Before anymore could be said, the quartet heard the tooting of a horn as Patrick rolled up in front of them.

"Out o' the way, young'uns!" he called. "Someone important comin' through!"

"What makes you so important?" asked Jack.

"Concrete!" boasted Patrick. "Without it, the floor would be nothin' but grass."

"We're important too," said Alfie. "It's not as though concrete is the only thing that matters."

"That's as may be, young 'un," said Patrick, "but if it weren't fer me beautiful groundwork, how else would buildings come to fruition?"

The intern blinked in surprise, glancing at the other construction vehicles. Jack, Alfie and Murphy looked over at the freshly laid concrete in its foundation. All they saw was just a large gray slab in the ground.

"I assume that is Patrick?" the intern asked.

"Yes, but he's never usually like this," said Murphy as he saw Patrick roll proudly away. "Surely he can't be the most important member of the Pack?"

"We should probably ask around to see what the others think," suggested Jack.

"They can't all be more important than anyone else either," agreed Alfie. But unknown to the others, Patrick had a grim look of determination.

"I have ta show 'im what I can do," he said. "I can't believe they don't know who he is…"

The first vehicle that Jack came to see was Byron, who was smoothing out the foundations.

"Sorry about this, flowers," Byron was saying as his operator got out to pick them. "You look pretty, but a construction site's no place for you to grow."

"It looks great, Byron," called Jack. "This warehouse will be off the ground in no time."

"Thanks," the bulldozer chuckled. "So, are you and Alfie ready to dig away the excess rubble?"

"I just have a question to ask," Jack said. "Er… Patrick seems to think he's the most important. It seems strange. Aren't we all important?"

"Of course we all are!" boomed Byron. "If I didn't make sure that the foundations were smooth, how could Patrick pour his concrete?"

"Good point," Jack said quietly. "I'll start here. Alfie should join me soon."

Speaking of whom, Alfie made a beeline for Oliver.

"Slow down, Alfie!" the bigger excavator called. "What's got ye racin' 'round in this heat?"

"Patrick is acting rather off today," Alfie explained. "He says he's the most important."

"O' course he's not," Oliver reassured. "We all have our roles to play. I mean, we an' Jack dig the foundations an' move rubble, don't we?"

"Oh, dust and gravel!" cried Alfie. "That reminds me, I've got to help Jack. Thanks, Oliver!"

Meanwhile, Murphy had brought up the topic to Ned and Nelson.

"Our banksmen are important too," the steam shovel was saying. "If it wasn't for my own, I'd be getting into more accidents!"

"You do have a point," said Murphy. "And if not for Nelson and Nigel, some of us would be delayed getting here."

"Speaking of moving," said Nelson, "don't you think you should hurry over to Miss Jenny? I heard her say she needs yours and Kelly's help lifting some of the building materials."

"Already on it," said Murphy, rolling away to where he was needed. And without Kelly and I, nothing would be lifted into position, he thought to himself.

Having asked everyone around for their respective opinions on the matter, Jack, Alfie and Murphy were left feeling satisfied that no one was more important than anyone else. They had, however, reckoned without a certain pair of dump trucks…

"I'm the most important out of us!" Max boasted as he and Monty tipped over some gravel.

"No, I am!" retorted Monty. "I can haul more in less time than anyone."

"Oh, you're on!" grinned Max. Once they were empty of their respective loads, the boorish dump trucks raced away.

Ned and Oliver were digging when the dump trucks raced in.

"More racing in the heat," sighed Oliver. "If you were humans, you'd probably have a heatstroke or dehydration."

"Oliver's right, you two," said Kelly. "You'd better slow down or else–"

"Load us up!" interrupted Max. "We've got an important load of dirt to dispose of!"

"…you'll get into an accident," Kelly finished lamely.

"It's no use talking to these two," Oliver pointed out as he began to load up Monty.

"Come on, old man!" shouted Monty. "We haven't got all day!"

"Oh no, do take your time," chuckled Max. "I'll probably get there first anyway!"

"This is getting ridiculous," sighed Kelly. "I swear, what's gotten into Patrick?"

"Search me," said Murphy. "He was never like this before today."

It wasn't long before Max and Monty's respective dumpers were getting full, but neither was satisfied.

"Come on! I need more to carry with me!" snapped Max to Ned.

"Yeah! So do I!" added Monty.

"Don't you think you're carrying enough already?" asked Oliver.

"More, and hurry!" was all the big excavator got in response. Oliver sighed and reluctantly added some more dirt into Monty… just before he and Max raced off.

"What in the world…?" Miss Jenny and her intern strolled over in surprise. "What is goin' on o'er here?" Murphy quickly filled her in.

"Oh dear," she sighed, shaking her head. "I knew Patrick would be keen ta make an impression, but I didn't think he'd go this far."

"Make an impression?" asked Ned. "On who?"

"Must've been because of me," said the intern. "All because we shared the same name." It didn't take the vehicles long to figure out who this was…

"Patrick Percival?!" gasped Murphy. "My goodness. First your friend Stephen gets married, then Annabelle is a guard for the North Western Railway, your brother Paul is working as a porter for the North Western, and now you're here?"

The youngest Percival son nodded. "Yep. My sisters, Peter and Bridget are getting their lives going too."

"You can tell us more during break," said Kelly. "We need to get back to work."

"An' I have ta find out where Max an' Monty went," sighed Miss Jenny. "Wendy will be in charge until I get back."

Meanwhile, not too far away from the construction site…

"I'm the most important!" boasted Max, trying to block Monty from getting ahead.

"No! I am!" snapped Monty, cutting ahead of his brother.

"I am!"

"I am!" The two dump trucks went back and forth like this along the road, unaware as to who was ahead of them.

"Look out!" shouted Patrick, honking his horn to get their attention. The dump trucks halted suddenly, and Patrick skidded away from the duo. He crashed through the bushes as his operator jumped clear. Patrick then landed into the concrete - which hadn't had the time to dry - causing it to splash all over the area… and onto a nearby Isobella!

"Flatten my fenders!" shouted Monty.

"Not my fault!" said Max.

"My beautiful concrete…!" moaned Patrick.

"Never mind your concrete!" snapped Isobella. "How am I supposed to get this off of me before it dries?!"

"I know what to do!" called a voice. Patrick looked back to see the young intern turn the water hose on and spray it onto Isobella.

"Oh, thank you," the yellow steam lorry smiled.

"That's alright," the intern replied. Just then, Jet the dog raced over with Miss Jenny.

"Good job sniffin' 'em out, Jet," she praised her dog. "Max! Monty!" she called. Up above, the two dump trucks cringed at the sound of their names being called.

Soon, Patrick had been pulled out of the concrete pit and was getting the wet concrete washed off of him as well.

"I'm very disappointed in you two!" Miss Jenny spoke sternly to Max and Monty. "You've caused a lot o' trouble!"

"We were only trying to show who was the most important," groaned Max; it was clear from their expressions that he and Monty were very apologetic.

"You're all part of a team," said Miss Jenny. "There's no such thing as 'most important'. Patrick…" she added, glancing over at the cement lorry. "Ye weren't boastin' about concrete, were ye?"

"Er… yes…" he said meekly. "I was tryin' ta get Patrick Percival ta notice me…"

"Well, I did now!" he said firmly. "And I'm most disappointed."

"We'll also have to postpone the project thanks to your boasting and reckless actions!" scolded Miss Jenny.

The vehicles all sighed with disappointment and resignation at Patrick as they began to leave.

When the Pack all went back to their yard, no one parked near Patrick.

"Can't say I blame 'em…" he muttered glumly to himself. "I was so reckless today, an' immature."

"Maybe not as reckless as Max and Monty," said a voice, "but you were immature to some extent."

Patrick glanced up in surprise. "Patrick Percival? What're ye doin' here?"

"I came to talk," said the intern. "I know I was disappointed, but… I also know what it's like to be arrogant and proud."

"Y… ye do?"

"Yep. As the youngest of five children alongside my twin sister Pansy - though she's younger than me by a few minutes - I was pretty reckless as a kid, and it drove my oldest brother Peter mad."

Patrick couldn't help but chuckle. "That mus' be interestin', having two brothers an' two sisters."

"It is," he agreed. "And it got kind of embarrassing when Annabelle was jumping on us too. You should have heard her when she found out we upset Sir Handel following the racing George incident."

"Ah, Annabelle always had our best interests at heart," said Patrick. "E'en as a kid."

"No wonder Paul and Annabelle had a crush on each other as kids," the intern laughed. "The point is, we both have a lot to learn, Patrick. And you don't need to brag so much to get my attention."

"Aye, I'm usually better than this," the cement lorry agreed. "I promise ta not do that again."

"I'm glad to hear that," smiled the intern.

Patrick was as good as his word. Though sometimes the cement lorry was a bit hotheaded, he never boasted about his superiority again. As for Patrick Percival, he was very happy with his internship, often relaying information back to his siblings as well as Annabelle, Bridget, Helen and Stephen… even if Bridget wasn't as interested. The two Patricks were now firm friends and knew they could lean on each other for emotional support.

THE END

Author's Comments

Episode 23 of Series 6-7 Redux, and it stars Pack member No. 23... I swear that this was completely unintentional! Anyway, Who's the Boss? (or On Site with Thomas, if we're going by the final title) is another pretty solid entry into the Pack spinoff, although it's a shame that this was Patrick's sole appearance in the franchise, as he was slated to appear in several more episodes before they were canned. I heard a while back that Irish actor/comedian Ardal O'Hanlon (Dougal from Father Ted) was slated to voice Patrick around 2013, but he declined the role, suggesting that he was going to return in CGI; I suspect that Patrick was going to return in Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure as it would have been in production around that time, given the Pack's presence in said special. Another unintentional aspect of this rewrite is that the railways of Sodor play no role whatsoever (mentions of past events don't count), with Isobella taking up Thomas' role in getting splashed with concrete. This story also marks the debut of Murphy the caterpillar crane (the same one from the story Washout) into the Pack as their ninth member. He was brought into the Pack as a second-hand vehicle and is a quiet, thoughtful sort. And yes, that is his name according to a 2022 email by former illustrator Clive Spong, who also named the green cargo lorry from Thomas and Bertie "Oliver". (I may get to that character one day, though he will likely be gender-flipped into Olivia.) Rachel and I seem to have this habit of developing extremely obscure characters from the Railway Series and making them into their own individual characters. We both read a tweet by The Brendam Engine asking at what point, when fleshing out an obscure character from the books, they eventually become an OC. It's an interesting question, but I'd say that it's a paradox without a simple answer.

Upcoming stories:

- Thomas the Jet Engine

- Cab Your Fear

- The Lorry of the Forest