Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Wembley train yard. The busiest train yard in the county and even in the pouring rain the trains still continue to bustle with the upcoming races. Last season a newcomer, a steam engine named Rusty, appeared and beat the undefeatable diesel engine. This season everyone is excited not only to see who will win this season but because Momma, the mother and boss of the yard, has someone new for everyone to meet. There hasn't been a single clue as to who the special train is or what kind they are but one thing's for sure. The passenger cars are the most excited as they've been busy setting up the sheds with decorations to welcome the newcomer. The entrance to the sheds are covered in streamers of all colors, star banners, balloons, and Dinah even baked a cake. On the other side of the train yard, however, a few of the engines are training harder than ever. They have no clue if this new train is going to be an engine, and if they are, they want to be prepared to win and not be out raced like the year prior. One thing is certain through all this chaos, Momma is not happy and it shows.

Inside the main train shed where Momma resides, she's currently tucking in a tiny colorful engine in one of the spare rooms she has. They look no more than 7-8 years old and they replicate that of those tiny train engines you see at a mall or amusement park. The tiny engine is buzzing with energy as they kick their legs under their blanket covered in glow in the dark stars. The small train hums a tune that has no melody or timing.
"Momma, will I really get to meet the rest of the yard tomorrow?" The child's voice is semi loud, having known what an inside voice is but not exactly understanding how loud one is. They have a wide toothy grin and wide eyes as they look up at the old steam engine. In turn, the much taller engine sighs tiredly as she slumps into her chair next to the child's bed. Internally she wonders how she got in this situation, taking care of yet another child in her old age.

"Yes sugar, now we need to sleep. If you don't sleep you'll be too tired to meet everyone. We don't want that now do we?" She gives the child a knowing look with a warm smile. Her attempts to calm the tiny engine are futile as her words seem to energize the child even more but she doesn't relent and instead tucks the child into their bed tightly as to keep them from moving. The child giggles mischievously as they attempt to wriggle their way out of their makeshift prison but their joy soon fades as they realize they've been trapped to the bed. The groan as they lay with their head turned away from Momma with a huff. Momma's expression softens when she notices the child let out a yawn and struggle to keep their eyes open. She gets up leans over to press a kiss to the child's forehead before turning off their lamp and leaving the room with a soft goodnight.

As she shuts the door behind her with an exhausted sigh she rolls over to her bed in another room of her shed. She takes a quick shower as to wash off all the grime of the day and changing into appropriate sleep wear. As she lays in her bed struggling to find sleep she thinks back on how she even encountered the tiny engine.

Momma was coming back from delivering supplies to a train yard down the way that's been struggling with Lumber and Porter coupled to her. She notices a colorful pile in the tall grass near the entrance of the woods and the edge of the track and is quick to brake. Her and the two freight cars connected to her shoot sparks from their wheels as they stop moving to brake and she holds her hand up to tell the two to stay put as she uncouples them and steps off the track to investigate the colorful mess. As she trudges through to terrain her wheels are defiantly not built for she notices the scraps are breathing and letting out tiny whines. She speeds up her pace and upon seeing that the pile is in fact a train and not scraps she yells at the freights to get in the yard while she checks this out. While the two are hesitant they nod and hurriedly roll into the train yard.

Momma rolls the colorful train over and lets out a gasp upon noticing that it's an engine, a young one at that. Her brows furrow as she quickly picks up the child and takes them into the rail yard, quick to avoid and ignore everyone as they arrive at her train shed. She hurries inside as to quickly asses and wrap their wounds. A frown graces her features as she notices all the dents and scrapes on the tiny engine, like they were thrown out. She watches as the child stirs in their sleep with an unsettled expression that no child should bear. She gently caresses the crown of the child's head to comfort them before running her hand through their hair softly as to not pull on any tangles or wake them. She coos softly as she shushes them, her voice is smooth as she tries to comfort the child and reassure them that their safe.

The old steam engine sighs as she feels herself drift off and sleep take hold of her. All she can wonder is how things got to this and why in the world Starlight chose her to do this. She fears for what might happen when her newest offspring meets the racers. She prays silently to Starlight that they don't want to race like the rest of them for that will only put them in harms way and her stomach churns at the idea of this tiny engine getting any more hurt than how she found them. She prays that they get along with everyone and that nothing goes wrong the following morning.

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Before the sun could even rise over the gates of Wembley train yard the tiny engine awoke with a start, excited to meet all of the others and make new friends. They quicky got ready into their shiny plastic gear and raced towards Momma’s room in order to get the day started. Upon entering the steam engines room they noticed she wasn’t there, they searched the room extensively only to hear her call from the other room.

"Momma! Momma!" the little engine called out, its whistle echoing through the empty corridors. The tiny engine rolled eagerly towards the sound, its wheels clicking softly and making a soft hum against the concrete. Momma chuckled, a deep, metallic sound that always made the little engine feel safe upon seeing the engines bright toothy grin. The tiny engine bounced on their wheels, barely able to contain their excitement. Despite her laugh there was a hint of sadness behind her eyes because she had worked so hard to keep this little engine safe for two months. She's kept them safe from the dangers of the races, from the engines, from it all and today is the day her newest child gets exposed to it all. A silent prayer to Starlight falls from her lips as she does a quick inspection on the colorful engine before her to make sure nothing is scratched or damaged before they go meet the others. The child is excited but can sense their mothers worry and decides to stay quiet and just hold her hand with a wide grin as a way to assure her they'll be fine. The two leave the train shed, Momma leading as the child doesn't know much about the train yard let alone where to go and how to maneuver it. The engines face lights up with excitement upon hearing the roar of different engines and cheers of voices of different kinds. They can easily pick out the sound of a steam engine over the chaos a few yards away since Momma is one but the others sound, unfamiliar yet not at the same time. As Momma and the small child reach the race track, all movement from both the engines and cars all come to a halt and they're all silent once they notice the tiny and colorful engine hand in hand with the old steamer. The child's eyes dart from person to person, eyeing them and inspecting them with both a child like excitement but also a hint of suspicion as they don't know who any of them are, what their intentions are, or even what they are. Seeming to notice this shift in their demeanor Momma is quick to speak. 

"Attention, I'd like to introduce you to the newest member of the train yard. This is my little engine. I expect you all to threat them with respect as they are fragile and so help me, if I find out anything happened to them you had better start praying to Starlight." Momma's voice was dead serious and under the smile she kept on display for the young one next to her, it was obvious that she was dead set on fulfilling her words. The coaches nodded with smiles plastered on their faces, Dinah's being the brightest, almost as if she would explode at any moment. The fuel trucks agreement was anywhere from a smile, a quick nod and even a yes ma'am from Hydra. Greaseball, however, had a less then pleased face. Her eyebrow was raised as she stared down the tiny engine, now racing up to the fuel trucks with an almost magnetic pull towards Slick specifically. Momma was quick to notice the diesel's expression as well and is quick to make a retort. "Do you have an issue Greaseball?" Her gaze on the engine was cold as she crossed her arms, completely prepared to follow through with her words. However, the engine's statement threw her off guard.

"That's an engine? Aren't we supposed to be big and... I don't know, strong? They're really tiny and colorful." Dinah was quick to snap her head towards her girlfriend from her spot, now kneeled next to the giggling child who has their arms wrapped in a hug around Slicks neck while enjoying the new found company and their new friends. Greaseball shrugged her shoulders and gave a look asking what she did wrong while the dining car continues to glare at her. Momma sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose with her brows furrowed in annoyance. "Yes, I don't know what kind they are but they are in fact an engine of some sort." Her answer caused Greaseball's eyes to widen as she stared in shock, her head shifting from Momma and the tiny engine. Her hand raised and pointing at the child. "And they're your kid?"

The steam engine is quick to look at her with a confused expression. "Yes. Just like the fuel trucks and Rusty are my children, I found them and now they're my children. I raised 'em and all." Seeming pleased with that answer Greaseball just nods, not wanting to argue with her and rolls up to the small group that now consists of all the coaches, currently trying to hold Dinah back from smothering the child, the fuel trucks and Rusty. Momma watches her with a keen eye, unsure on her thoughts of how Greaseball will interact with them. However, upon reaching the child Greaseball's expression almost immediately switched to a softer one. The diesel was much gentler when interacting with them seeming to have taken her words in, either that or she's actually developed a soft spot for the child. Seeing this surprised the old steam engine and everyone else, minus Dinah. They all watched with surprised and shocked expressions as the diesel engine lowered her voice slightly to be more gentle and not scare them. She smiled to try and not look as intimidating either. The tiny engine giggled as they pointed out how Slick and Greaseball looked similar due to both of them having a yellow/black color scheme and the two couldn't help but laugh in turn at their amazement.

The child turned their head towards the track as the heard the sound of wheels and an electric engine rushing past to see Electra running the track with Joule, their dynamite truck. Greaseball watched as the child's eyes light up, stars almost forming in their amazed state. "Looks fun huh?" The tiny engine was quick to snap their head towards her with a bright toothy grin, nodding their head furiously with excitement. Momma watched from the sides with a frown knowing all her hard work to keep them safe from the dangers of the races. She knows what's about to happen and she knows for a fact that it can't be avoided. She sighs, making a mental note to start making the tiny engine some gear for their first race since she can see that gleam in Greaseball's eyes and she just knows it mean trouble.

Chapter Text

The little engine was having the time of their life. It was their first time ever on the track, their first race. It didn’t take much to convince the engines into letting them race but Momma was a different story. They didn’t understand why she wouldn’t let them race but when she agreed they were more than ecstatic. They were immediately jumping up and down, flapping their hands as their excitement grew.

They couldn’t help but giggle as Momma put her old gear on them. It was quite large on them but it would work. Momma felt a little proud at how the child wore her gear. The bright red ‘M’ on their chest. They quickly rushed out of the shed in their new attire to show it off to their new found friends. Momma had them couple up to her as she led them to the race track. Upon arriving Momma was quick to call the engines into a meeting to figure out who will race with them. 

“Hey small fry!”

The tiny engine turned their head to the sound to be face to face with Greaseball. She was standing with her arms crossed. When she noticed the tiny engine’s attention on her she walked up to them and ruffled their hair a bit. 

“Looks like you’re racing with the best, kid.”

Greaseball quickly helps them couple up to her and does a quick spin to make sure the child is secure. They giggle as they spin and the diesel takes them to the starting line. The tiny engine couldn’t help but grip onto the diesel’s couplers tighter as Control announced the start of heat 1.  They smiled widely as they felt the sting of cold wind on their face, the way their heart raced as they sped up. Greaseball smirked as she took the lead, becoming unaware that the one coupled to them is a child, one who has never raced in fact, as she noticed the loose pipe on the track. She was quick to skate around it but the tiny engine behind her wasn’t completely coupled to her and Greaseball’s quick movement wasn’t processed quickly enough.

CRASH

The tiny engine looked up from where they laid, sprawled on the track from where they tripped over the pipe. Their hands and cheek were a little scraped and their nose was bleeding but they were fine. They gave the diesel a toothy grin, letting them know they’re okay. Greaseball smiles back, she goes to head back and get them but she pauses as she notices Electra coming in hot and not watching where they’re skating. She opened her mouth to warn them but they were too quick. The little engine let out a sharp yell as a snap was heard. 

Electra had run over their arm and tripped, in turn causing their race partner to trip and crash as well. 

There was only a quick moment of shock from all those around before Electra started sparking. He had broken something and it was causing his electricity to run exposed. Greaseball had rushed quickly towards the crash pile.  She knew what was going to happen when she saw those sparks. The scent of oil was strong and she knew that the moment the child’s oil reaches those sparks it would be game over for the small engine. 

The diesel’s world seemed to slow down as she failed to reach them. She had failed in her promise to Momma and Dinah. She couldn’t protect the child. She wasn’t strong enough.

She could feel the tears well in her eyes as she watched as a spark met with the child’s leaking oil and she began to feel the heat of the flames. She could only fall to her knees as she watched the tiny engine become engulfed by the flames. Electra had tried to avoid getting caught in the flames before they even started so he was quick to grab Greaseball and drag her away. His leg may have a broken panel but there was no way in hell he was going to let diesel mix with the already burning flames.

All the two could do was wait for the repair trucks and the marshals to arrive. That was until they saw a bright green speed past. There was screaming all around, from Momma, the freights, even the two. As soon as he walked into the flames an explosion was heard as the flames burst. They seemed to turn invisible and the little engine’s charred body as Hydra picked them up. You could see his gear, burning, reaching his skin.

Before the flames took over them, the tiny engine could only stare out at everyone watching with wide eyes. They hurt everywhere and they could hear the sparks somewhere near them. They had looked for someone specific. For Momma, they knew Momma would come help them. Momma always knew when to get them out of trouble, knew when to save them but they could only cry as they saw their mother screaming from the stands with tears running down her face. 

All they wanted was for their mother, to feel safe, to be held by her again. They never should’ve asked to race. They just made new friends, just found themselves a family with siblings and they were going to lose them.