Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

P.T Boomer woke with a start. It was five A.M and time to start the day; plowing up Muffle Mountain in search of The Lost Engine. He'd been looking for her for more than ten years, you'd think by now he'd give up, but he hadn't.

   No, not with all the evidence he had in his favor. He'd heard tell that she'd been spotted and he was sure Burnett Stone would have her hidden out again.

   Boomer had been hiding out in one of the many caves in Muffle Mountain for the last few weeks, making it into a sort of rough living quarters. But any sacrifice would be fully worth it, for he was out for one thing and one thing only; revenge. Revenge on Burnett for ruining his life more than thirty years ago, and on the engine who had further crashed his plans.

   Ah yes, revenge. He liked the sound of that.

Meanwhile, on The Island Of Sodor, more of the same was going on. The notorious Diesel 10 was planning to rid himself of the overly sprightly and extremely annoying Steamies. They'd humiliated him one time too many and now, they were gonna pay.

"Okay Pinchy, this is the plan; Twinkle Toes will be coming to fill in for Sir Topham Hatt during his vacation, meaning we'll have exactly six days, seventeen hours and twenty two minutes to give him what he deserves. Got that?"

   The claw obviously didn't answer, as it wasn't A living thing; it was simply a part of him. The delusional Diesel 10 didn't care though, he was all he had to talk to. "Splodge" otherwise known as Splatter and Dodge, had abandoned him and so he was now a one man show.

   He'd have to do some recruiting before he got ready to serve his revenge, that was for sure.

Back in Shining Time, however, there were a ton of lighter things going on as well.

   "Okay, Matt, this is the schedule." Shining Time Stationmaster Stacy Jones told her twenty two year old nephew. He knew, of course, he'd been visiting the station regularly since he was seven years old.

    "Yes, I know, Aunt Stacy. The Express comes through at 11:30, and the Rainbow Sun will be stopping at..." he paused, wanting her to tell him.

   "Going North at noon and South at two." she answered. "And Billy hired Mr. Burnett Stone to drive it."

   "Yes ma'am! Now go on, you're gonna be late!"

   "Okay, okay! I love you!"

   "I love you too, have fun!" he laughed to himself as his aunt hurried out of the station. "It's been a long time comin'..." he thought, and it had.

   Stacy and Billy Twofeathers had been falling in love for years. Matthew wasn't even sure how long even. They'd just recently started actually dating and it was quite a show and "finally" moment for most of the residents of Shining Time, especially Matt.

   Matthew checked his watch out of sheer habit. He always Checked the time when he was bored, it was just a thing. He went to the counter, and well, this place really was boring.

   The penny-pinching arcade owner Schemer hadn't moved any of the arcade out of the station, but he'd been gone on an extended vacation for eight months or probably more. He used to drive Matt crazy (still did) but at least he kept the place interesting. It was pretty, dull at the moment...

   He heaved a heavy sigh and sat down on the stool behind the counter. He was nearly asleep when he heard a voice.

   "Matthew? Matthew Jones? Is that you under all that hat?" she laughed softly.

   He pushed the slightly oversized navy blue Stationmaster's hat up to uncover his eyes and smiled. "If it isn't Tanya Cupper! How are you?"

   "I'm good, you?" she answered.

   "Can't hardly complain..."

   "Is Stacy around?"

   "No, she's, out..." he trailed off.

   "'Out' huh? It isn't like Stacy to go out on a Monday of all days. She used to even eat her lunch here. Is she well?" Tanya was concerned.

   "Oh yeah, she's fine, don't worry. But you'll never guess where she is..."

   Tanya thought a moment. "No, I don't guess I can."

   "She's on a date with Billy Twofeathers!"

   "She isn't! Ooh, I'm so happy for them!"

   "Yeah, so am I! So what are you doing in town?" Matt asked. He hadn't seen his childhood best friend in almost two years.

   "Oh, there's this little thing called an empty cafe on South Posie Street. And this..." she pulled a key out of her pocket. "Tanya Cupper is the new proud owner of The Shining Time Cafe!"

   Matt barely believed it. "Really? That's amazing! I'm so happy for you! That's a big accomplishment!"

   "Yeah, it is! Two years in the making actually! I took two years of cooking college in the city and well, here I am..."

   "It's very good to see you. Wow, has it really been two years?"

   "Hard to believe, but according to my calender, yeah, it has been." she took a look around the Station where she'd spent a summer and many, many happy weekends and afternoons. "Place ain't changed much."

   "No, it hasn't. Not much anyway." he agreed.

   "Is Schemer still around?"

   "He's been on vacation for goodness only knows how long. I guess he's alright..."

   "What else is new?" Tanya asked, sitting down on one of the benches not far from the counter.

   "Well..." Matt started.

   As the two old pals caught up, similar was going on elsewhere.

In Bigg City, A three hour train trip from Shining Time, seventeen year old Lily Peterson was playing with her almost five year old brother Nicholas when she heard a knock on the door of her apartment. She heard her mother open it and call "Lily! You've got a visitor!"

   Lily stood up. "Alright Nicky, stay right there, I'll be right back..." her brother started to whimper. "No, don't cry..."

   "I'll get him in a minute." her mother, standing in the doorway of their living room said. "Go on and don't worry."

   "Thanks." she whispered with a nod, as to not upset the crying child anymore than necessary.

   She walked into the entryway and almost fainted at what she saw. "Patch?" she said weakly, memories of the last time she'd seen the ginger haired boy flooding back into her mind.

   "Hi Lily..." he started, not quite sure where he was going with this.

   "What, what are you, doing here?" she could somewhat breathe again after the initial shock.

   "I needed to talk to you..." he answered matter-of-factly.

   Her sarcasm kicked in without her meaning it to. "Well, ya know, there's this crazy new invention; it's called a telephone. They just invented it about a hundred years ago. They made it so someone doesn't have to travel a hundred and twenty five and a half miles to talk to their, well, what am I even? Acquaintance I guess..."

   "Very funny, Lily. What I have to say can't be said on a telephone."

   "Come in. I guess I'm gonna hear it..." 

   He followed her into the apartment and on to the kitchen where they could talk normal and not awake her brother her mother had just got to sleep. He was transitioning from taking a nap or two a day to not and he was very, very fussy.

   "So, what is it?" she asked.

   "Do you miss me?" was all he said.

   "What kind of a question is that?"

   "One I want you to answer."

   "Yeah, a little. Do you miss me?"

   "A little all the time and a lot more some days than others."

   "So is that all you came to say? I've got a paper due..." she was lying, her homework had been done since late Friday night and this was Sunday, she simply wanted him to get the idea of how valuable her time was.

   "Sorry for holding you up. But yeah, there is one other thing; would you consider being my date for the Valentine Ball? It'll be at the community building in Shining Time. It's next Saturday."

   She started to plan in her head. "Maybe I could stay the weekend with Grandpa and hop the freight with Billy and Mutt on Sunday. I could be home before dark... " 

   "Just think about it, no pressure." Patch told her.

   "Patch, you do remember what happened last time, right? Are you sure we wanna go through this again?..." she remembered feeling her heart break when Patch had told her "Lily, I think we're both wasting our time. I three hour trip is insanity. Someday maybe, but neither of us can drive yet and well, you catch my drift. It's just way too far..."

   She was madly in love with him and willing to try and stop time or move Muffle Mountain to be near him, and he didn't want to put any effort in at all.

   "Lily, I'll admit it, I screwed up. I screwed up bad. But I miss you, I miss us."

   She couldn't find it in her heart to turn him down, though she tried. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but okay."

   "Okay?" he asked, genuinely surprised. "So you'll take me back?"

   "I'll go to the dance with you. After that, I can't make you any promises." she replied with half a smile.

   "You won't regret it... I promise!" he assured her.

   "I'm pretty sure I will, but maybe you'll surprise me..." she mumbled, too soft for him to hear...

Chapter Text

Back on Sodor, Diesel 10 was trying to talk Rusty and Mavis into joining his ranks.

   "So what'dya say? Help me destroy the Steamies?" he asked them.

   "Diesel, I don't hold any contest for Steamies! I think they're rather nice. Not all of them, of course. Duncan was rather unhappy when he first showed up, he didn't like me, but I think we've warmed up to each other." Rusty answered Diesel's request.

   "I'm with Rusty! There are good Steamies and bad Steamies, just like with Diesel engines." Mavis added.

   "But they're out of date and slow, they're holding up progress!" Diesel protested.

   "So are you! Come on, Rusty, we've got work to do!" Mavis backed away, leaving the orange narrow-gauge and the claw bearing Diesel alone.

   "Rusty, listen! We could get back at that Duncan!" Diesel 10 was grasping at straws in his recruiting. He'd already consulted Splodge, Paxton and Daisy the diesel railcar.

   "Sorry, I've got to get back to work. So long..." Rusty left to get his cars filled. Diesel 10 left the quarry absolutely fuming.

Back in Shining Time, Matt had closed down the station after the last train of the day. He expected his aunt to return before nighttime freight going to Bigg City, so he'd gone over to The Shining Time Cafe with Tanya.

   As Tanya unlocked and pushed the door open, the impact of it swinging back caused a cloud of dust to arise. Matt and Tanya sneezed at the same time, glanced at each other and laughed.

   "Sure is dusty!" he remarked.

   "Yeah, it is! Seems like the Sahara Desert up and exploded in here!" she answered.

   "Remember that one time we were cleaning and your grandpa said that?" Matt reminisced.

   "Yeah, I remember! We laughed and laughed!"

   "I'm glad to hear he's well. One day I'll go visit!"

   "He'd like that, I assure you!" Tanya's grandfather, Harry Cupper lived in a cottage in Chubby Corners.

   "Well, what do we do first?" he asked, changing the subject.

    "We ought to clean the place up a little bit! Man, it is dusty!" she answered.

The two got to work with sweeping the place out. They collected what seemed like three pounds of dirt and dust.

   "Much better!" Tanya said with a laugh.The place wasn't spotless, but it was no longer sneeze-inducingly dusty.

   "Yeah, it is!" Matt checked his watch. "I'd better go over and see if Aunt Stacy is back by now. It'd be a shame if the night train missed the signal."

   The train was a nonstop, but they'd have to show a clear signal before they could continue. The tracks went through a lot of woods and oftentimes there were issues.

   "Okay, see you tomorrow?" Tanya asked him.

   "Of course!" Matt answered before hugging her. "I'm really glad you're back!"

   "So am I!" she agreed.

When Matt returned to the station, he found his aunt there, wondering where he'd gone.

    "I was visiting with an old friend. Helping her out a little actually." he explained.

    "An old friend, huh? Who might that be?" Stacy asked him.

   "Tanya Cupper!"

   "Tanya Cupper? You mean she's in town? For how long?" 

   "Yes, she is!"

   "She's good, I suppose. And she's back permanently I guess because she bought the cafe!"

   "Oh really? Well, that's great!"

   "So how'd your date with Billy go?"

   "Lovely, thanks for asking!"

   "That's great! So have you heard from Cloggyville yet? Are the tracks clear that way?"

   "Oh yes, they just called. The storm made a mess on the rails and we should be showing a caution signal."

   "Say no more!" Matt said, grabbing the lever that raised the "caution" signal.

They were about to start a checker game when they heard the loudest scream ever heard by human ears.

   "What was that?" Matt asked his aunt, or really the universe because she didn't know either. They rushed outside to see a couple other people: one being the town gossip Midge Smoot.

   "It came from the cafe." she informed them.

   "The cafe, huh?" Matt questioned, then mentally realized. "Tanya." he thought, before running down the street and around the corner to the cafe; propelled by the thought that she was in danger and fully prepared to go for blood if the need presented itself.

   He shoved door open, the bell above it ringing a rich, cheery sound. "Tanya!" he called, he looked around and found what looked to be an open trap door in the corner. He went down the stairs in the case of that was where she was.

   "Tanya." he said, partway relieved and the other part worried when he found her. She was on the floor, seemingly recovering from a fainting spell.

   "Matthew? I'm glad you're here..." she told him, nearly breathless.

   "What happened? Are you okay?"

   "I guess. I came down here and there was an old man standing here. He was, he had a detonator. He looked at me, said something unsavory and just disappeared into a puff of glitter! It was so weird!"

   Matt almost didn't believe her. "Are you sure you saw what you saw? I mean, it was dark, wasn't it?"

   "You don't believe me, do you?" she asked seriously.

   "I didn't say I didn't believe you, I'm simply worried." he had knelt down beside her a few minutes ago and now he took her shaking hand in his own; the two shared a glance. "Come back over to the station. Aunt Stacy can't wait to see you!"

   "Okay."

They left the basement and locked and left the cafe. Stacy was on the sidewalk talking to Midge. When she saw Tanya, Midge, not knowing her, asked her name and what her case was.

   Tanya didn't tell her her name, but said "It was a rat, that's all." The Cuppers had pretty well left town before Midge moved in but Tanya knew enough to know that she couldn't keep her mouth shut.

When Stacy, Matt and Tanya got back to the station, Tanya explained it all to her. Stacy looked thoughtful. "Puff of gold glitter? It sounds like whoever you saw was using Gold Dust!"

   "Yes, Gold Dust! That makes perfect sense! But only Mr. Conductor has Gold Dust! Where would whoever Tanya saw get it?" Matt asked.

   "I don't know. Sounds like we have some investigating to do!"

P.T Boomer was back at work, fit to be tied at the fact Tanya had thrown a wrench into his arsonistic plans.

   "Blowing up that old cafe would've been the perfect warning for the citizens of Shining Time: tell me where the lost engine is or your house or store is next! But now..." he was fuming, yelling at the wind up on Muffle Mountain.

He didn't know it, but on the other side of the buffer not far from where he stood, A certain green Diesel engine was yelling some of the same things to a pile of rocks.

   "Stupid, smelly Steamies have brainwashed all the diesels! Imagine that! Good Steamies! They're out of date heaps of scrap!"

   The rocks obviously didn't answer, that'd be insane. Diesel 10 couldn't care less though, as he continued his yelling fit...

Back in Bigg City, Patch and Lily were still sitting in her kitchen in the midst of conversation. They hadn't seen each other in two months or spoke in seven and a half weeks so they had quite a bit to catch up on.

   Lily couldn't pretend she didn't miss him, even if he did hurt her. She could forgive if he could actually change like he said he was going to. "We'll make it work, I promise you that..." he told her seriously.

   "That promise better be good, Patrick." she partway joked. She meant it though.

   He knew she was serious; no one ever called him his full name (few even knew it), he was simply Patch unless they were serious.

   "You can bank on it." he assured her.

    "I hope so..." she said doubtfully.

On another part of The Island Of Sodor, Thomas and the other engines were watching a show put on by Mr. Bubbles The Clown at Mr. Percival's birthday party. They were all laughing away at his jokes and tricks when Mavis came hurrying up. "Hello Thomas, James. Sorry to come racing up like this but I felt I had to warn you!"

   "Warn us of what, Mavis?" Thomas asked.

   "Yeah, what is it, Mavis? We're missing the show..." James complained.

   "Sorry. Diesel 10 is back and plotting revenge." she told them. "Thought you might like to know in case there's trouble."

   "Are you sure of this, Mavis?" Thomas asked seriously. "I mean it simply isn't a rumor floating around?"

   "He tried to recruit Rusty and I to his crusade. Is that true enough?"

   "That's true enough for me..." James remarked, sounding scared.

   "Don't worry, James. Diesel wouldn't dare harm really splendid engines like us!" Gordon assured him. As vain as he was, it seemed to comfort James; even if it was simply because it played off his own vanity.

   "Yeah, I forgot..." James admitted sheepishly, acting embarrassed at how frightened he'd gotten.

   Thomas and Mavis rolled their eyes at him. James was a friend, but he could be a little, well, nuts at times.

    "One more thing: he's planning to attack next Saturday."

    "Next Saturday is the day Sir Topham Hatt leaves on holiday. Mr. Conductor will be here to help look after us." Percy told Mavis. "You don't think..."

   "He's planning something for Mr. Conductor? Yes, probably. Thank you for warning us, Mavis!" Thomas said.

   "You're welcome, Thomas. I wish you all good day and the best of luck in your battle against Diesel 10."

   "Thank you. I have a feeling we're gonna need all the luck we can get..." Edward remarked...

Chapter Text

A few days later, in Shining Time, Stacy woke up in the middle of the night. Something about Tanya's report about the old man in the cafe had jarred together and given her an idea. She looked at the clock, realising it was almost four. She went downstairs to her office to do some digging.

   She found an old picture: a newspaper clipping of a bride and groom at a wedding. In the background was a man on a motorcycle.

   His name was P.T Boomer. He used to be in the military, working with munitions and other heavy artillery. He was incredibly skilled with it too. Tanya had reported that he'd had a detonator.

   She stayed in the confines of her study researching in her old stuff for any other clipping or mention of Boomer for another forty five minutes. When she looked up she realized it was nearly five and she knew Billy would be awake. With that info, she picked up the phone receiver and dialed a number.

   Across town, A phone rang. Billy grabbed it off the hook. "Hello?" he asked.

   "Billy, it's Stacy. I've got a question for you." she told him, wasting no time for conversation.

   "Alright."

   "Has anyone heard about P.T Boomer in the last few years?"

   "Maybe, I don't know at the moment. Why do you ask?"

   She explained the whole ordeal with what happened to Tanya.

   "Sounds like Boomer." he told her.

   "He used to do that sort of stuff all the time."

   He did; the man should've been in an insane asylum or jail or something. He'd finally left town but now Stacy was afraid he was back.

   "Yeah, that's what I thought."

   "Ya know there's only one way to be for sure, right?"

   "Really? How?" Stacy asked.

   "Ask Midge! She knows everything!"

   "That's probably a good idea, except that she'll know I asked..."

   "Send an anonymous letter to her gossip column."

   "Billy, I've said it before and I'll say it again. You're a genius!"

   "That is my middle name..." he said with a laugh.

   "So I've heard. See you later, okay?"

   "Okay, see ya."

   "Thanks for the info too!"

   "You're welcome, bye!"

   "Bye!" she hung up the phone.

Later at the station, Tanya was still slightly shook up from her startle the night before. Stacy hadn't told Matt or Tanya her suspicions about Boomer, as to not scare either. In her mind, they were still children even though they weren't and she didn't think it necessary to frighten anyone if they didn't have to be.

   But little did she know the citizens of Shining Time had little to worry about, at the moment at least.

P.T Boomer had just tripped and fell into the buffer and landed up on The Island Of Sodor.

   He looked around, taking in the cheery scenery. "Yuck." he said in an indignant sort of way.

   And then there was trouble...

^​​​   Diesel 10 was seethingly angry, storming down the line. P.T Boomer was standing on the line and almost got ran over. He jumped off the tracks just in time. Diesel had already engaged the brakes and screeched to a stop.

   "What's the big idea, huh? Ya got a death wish or somethin'?" Diesel was more annoyed now.

   "That's exactly why I despise trains..." Boomer mumbled.

   "You despise trains, huh?" Diesel inquired.

   "Yeah, but mostly these annoying Steam engines. They're so loud and the man who ruined my life owned one and well, I hate them."

   "Me too! They're so irritating! Always trying to be 'really useful' and whatever. Diesels are 'really useful' too when we want to be! But they don't get that, especially not this really annoying guy called Mr. Conductor. An inferior class of person, the way I see it! Conductors in sharp blue suits. We Diesels never get to pull trains of passengers so we haven't got much use for Conductors, now have we?"

   "No, I suspect you don't."

   "We don't, yet they decide to meddle in our business like they own us. They even brainwashed the other Diesels into thinking they're okay. Do you know how hard it is to recruit an army when no one wants to be recruited?" Diesel asked.

   "Tell me about it..." Boomer answered. "Hey, we could even throw in together."

   "I wouldn't be completely opposed to that. What's your name, pal?" Diesel 10 asked.

   "P.T Boomer, yours?" he replied.

   "I'm known as Diesel 10. And this is Pinchy!" he was referring to the claw.

   Boomer gave him a strange look as if he thought he was crazy (and he was right on, because he was).

   "What?" Diesel 10 asked suspiciously.

   "Oh, nothing..." Boomer answered. "So we're a duo now, right?"

   "Correct! A duo! And all of Sodor shall fall at our feet!" they both laughed all evil-like.

The Steamies were at Sir Topham Hatt's office telling him what Mavis had told them.

   "Diesel 10's back and he wants revenge!" Percy said, scared to death.

   "Yeah, and he plans to attack the day you and Lady Hatt leave on holiday. He wants to attack Mr. Conductor too!" Toby reported.

   "Alright, alright, that's quite enough!" Sir Topham Hatt shouted as the engines began to talk over one another. "If Diesel 10 really is back, I'm sure you can handle him. I mean he hasn't recruited any help, has he? You and Mr. Conductor of course handled him magnificently last time. I'm sure you can again, do you all know why?"

   "No, why?" Thomas, James, Gordon, Percy, Edward, Toby and Henry asked together.

   "Because you're all really useful engines."

   "Thank you, sir!" they all replied, then they all left to finish their jobs.

Back in Shining Time, Stacy had just finished her anonymous letter to Midge's gossip column. It read simply "Dear Mrs. Midge "The Sleuth" Smoot.

   I must ask an important question. Using your detective abilities, I wish you could find out if a Mr. P.T Boomer has been seen or heard from since the last time he was in Shining Time. Enclosed is two dollars, your fee.

   Thank you, a concerned Shining Time citizen."

Two and a half days later, when Midge's newspaper article came out, Billy brought a copy in.

   "You were right." he told Stacy as he laid the paper down on the counter.

   She leaned over to read the article. It read: "Dear concerned Shining Time citizen.

   I took a day to research and yes, a P.T Boomer is allegedly living in a cave or something on the far side of Muffle Mountain. I do hope this solves your question. Thank you for your support to the column, Midge "The Sleuth" Smoot."

   "Tanya, will you come here a moment?" Stacy asked her. She'd been sitting over with Matthew playing checkers and discussing the cafe.

   "Yes ma'am?" she asked.

   Stacy pulled the old photo out. "Did whoever you saw look like this?"

   "Yeah, but older. Who is that?"

   "P.T Boomer. He's a crazy arsonist, well, he's not fully an arsonist. He likes to blow stuff up."

   "That explains the detonator..." she trailed off. "But why would he be in my basement?"

   "And how'd he get the Gold Dust?" Matt asked.

   "Well, if I knew, I'd tell you. That's something we'll have to figure out." 

Back in Sodor, Boomer was explaining the very thing to Diesel.

   "So explain this again: the magic Gold Dust comes from these gold shavings that come from the railway?" he asked.

   "Yes!" Boomer shook his head at the thick-headed green Diesel.

   "Cool! I bet you we could find plenty more if we started ripping up the rails!"

   "No, you don't understand obviously. The Gold Dust appears when The Lost Engine travels on the railway."

   "Lady?" Diesel finally said something helpful.

   "How do you know her name?" Boomer asked him. "I've been searching for twenty years and I didn't know her name."

  "She was here five Summers ago."

  "Oh really? Where is she now?"

   "I don't know. She left with a Burnett Stone."

   "I knew it. Well, he probably still has her hid out somewhere-probably Muffle Mountain back in Shining Time."

   "Where in the world is Shining Time?" Diesel 10 asked him.

   "Through that buffer I suppose."

   "Oh yeah, so that's where they lead!"

   "You mean you know about the buffers?" now Boomer was starting to think he was the stupid one.

   "Yeah, for a while. You didn't know?" Diesel 10 seemed surprised.

    "No, not until I tripped and fell into the connector and all of a sudden I was flying through this, this, well, I don't really know how to explain it..."

   "I heard from Splodge who heard from Rusty who heard from Duncan who heard from Thomas that it's like a jungle with shining silver railroad tracks running down the middle."

   "Exactly. There was a beauty to it, even if trains do drive me crazy..."

   Diesel asked why and Boomer related the whole tragic story about he and Burnett both loved Tasha Blackwell and fought for her all through High School. He told him about how Burnett inherited Lady from his grandfather and how she'd helped him to sway her decision and how he'd since loathed trains. Cancer had claimed Tasha's life almost seven years before so now neither of them had her.

   "Who's Splodge?" Boomer asked, intrigued by the highly unusual name.

   "They're really called Splatter and Dodge-two engines. I don't have time to say both names so "Splodge" works fine."

   The devious duo began to outline their plan for revenge.

   "First thing Saturday mornin', we should meet right here..."

Chapter Text

On Saturday, the day everything decided to come to a head, it seemed everyone was doing something.

   In Bigg City, Lily was freaking out, getting ready for that night.

  "Mom, I'm not going..." Lily called from her room where she was sitting in a chair wearing a red and black dress; the same she'd worn to Junior Prom the last Spring.

   Her mother Cameron from the other room. "Don't you want to go?"

   "Well yeah, but it's just gonna end like last time. He won't want to put any effort into this and I'm just gonna get hurt again..." she gazed glumly at her tearstained reflection in the mirror.

   "Well, you don't have to go, but if you don't, doesn't that mean you're giving up and not putting any effort in?" her mom asked.

   "Yeah, I guess so, but all he had to do was call me, and he wouldn't even do that. He said we lived too far away from each other. I'd take the train over there every other weekend if he'd come here the rest of the time. A round trip only costs twenty five bucks and he's got an aunt here he could stay with for free; like he used to before..."

   Lily's mother knew the girl was hurting, she remembered being that age and crying her eyes out over the boy she thought she was gonna marry; she knew exactly how she felt. "Honey, everything hurts right now, I know that. But why don't you give it a whirl? I mean when you're at rock bottom there's only one way to go, right?"

   "Yeah, I know... But what if the bottom falls out of rock bottom?"

   "At least you'll know. And you can grace some other lucky boy with your time."

   "Grace? More like waste..." Lily chuckled. "Okay Mom, I'll try one more time... And if he doesn't make any attempt this time, he's done for..."

   "There! Now you're starting to sound a little more like my daughter."

Back on Sodor, the Hatts had left and Mr. Conductor had just arrived through the buffers...

   And then there was trouble...

   No sooner than Mr. C could land he was ambushed and Conductor-napped by none other than Diesel 10 and P.T Boomer.

   "What is the meaning of this!?" he yelled when he woke up in the bottom of the Diesel Works which Diesel 10 and P.T Boomer had commandeered to use as a command center and meeting place.

   Boomer had clocked a pretty decent blow atop the top of Mr. C's head with a monkey wrench, so he'd been out for a minute.

   "I don't know who you are or what you want, but I aim to inform you of the great amount of confusion and delay you have caused."

On the other side of the island, back at the buffers, Thomas was desperately searching for Mr. Conductor.

   "Oh botherations, Mr. Conductor is very late. Very, very late indeed." he mumbled to himself.

   "He's caused confusion, Thomas." Annie teased.

   "And delay too!" Clarabel added.

   "Who else do we know that's done that!?" the pair said together, laughing as if they'd just said the funniest thing ever.

   Thomas rolled his eyes. "I wasn't THAT late..."

   "Maybe not, but you also got lost..."

   "Not as lost as Gordon did..."

   The three of them laughed now...

   "But where is Mr. Conductor? I am quite worried, it isn't like him to be so late..."

Back in Shining Time, Patch was out in the stable with his horse, whom was named Wildfire. He was a pretty speckled palomino and he was nearly as old as Patch. He was sixteen, the horse was eleven. His father had helped him break him when he was about two and even now, breaking his first horse when he was seven was something he was proud of.

   And more than that, he was proud of the beautiful, strong, powerful horse they'd created. He was a tall, fine gentleman's horse and Patch supposed that a gentleman's horse should only be ridden by a gentleman, which was something he didn't feel much like as of late.

   "Yes, I know I shouldn'tve suspected her to take me back, but she did, didn't she? So stop lookin' at me like that..." Wildfire had been glaring at him in such a way that made him feel guilty. "I am awful, I know it. I knew I'd miss her, but I was trying to be practical for once. I didn't want to hurt her and all I did was hurt her and I don't think she cares for me anymore. I don't know..."

   He was well aware of the fact that he was talking to a horse, and that he was crazy, but he didn't care. No one else would listen, so here he was.

   He checked the time and decided he'd better get inside and get ready if he was gonna catch the train to Bigg City and most importantly, the girl of his dreams...

At the station, Matt and Stacy were both hard at work managing the place.

   "Aunt Stacy, what would you say if I said I'm entertaining the thought of going to see Tanya on my lunch break and asking if she is going, and if she'd need someone to go to the dance with?" he asked as he corrected a stack of misprinted schedules.

   "I'd say you'd better go see her now, before you either talk yourself out of it or someone else asks her." Stacy replied. "Go ahead, I can manage here a few minutes."

   "Thank you. I'll be right back " Matt ran out.

   Stacy laughed to herself at the sight.

   Tanya was in the back room of the cafe when she heard the bell outside ring. She cautiously came out, gunshy from her last startle with P.T Boomer and his detonator. She was laughably wielding her feather duster as if it were a cutlass.

   Matt, standing outside the wooden framed, glass door laughed. Tanya sighed in obvious relief and went to unlock the door.

   "It isn't funny, Matt! You try being scared out of your wits by a crazy looking man holding a detonator. Every sound near makes me jump out of my skin!" she said, acting offended.

   "Sorry, but you did look funny holding that duster like a weapon!" he laughed again, making her take a playful (he hoped) swing at him.

   "What do you want anyway?" she asked.

   "I came to ask if you are going to the dance tonight, and if so, do you have a date?"

   "I don't know, and no, I don't. Are you going and do you have a date?"

   "Yes, I'm plannin' on going, but I don't have a date. If you wanna go, I know a guy who'd just love to go with you..."

   "Oh really? And who might he be?"

   He took a step closer to her, risking getting hit with the duster and said "me."

   "Matthew Jones! Really!? You want to go with me?" Tanya didn't know, nor care what she was saying at this point.

   "So you accept my invitation?" he asked.

   "Accept? I could kiss you right now!' she realized what she said and suddenly got shy. "I mean, I would if you wanted me to, and..."

   He took a second step closer, and took her hand, which had long turned loose of the feather duster. Their eyes locked momentarily.

   "I'd never think of complaining if you did. Actually, I'd never even mention it. You've heard of kiss and don't tell, right?"

   "Oh Matt, you're so cliché!" she joked.

   "I know, but you like it, I can tell."

   They were THIS CLOSE to kissing when CRASH.

   "What was that?" they said together.

   They went outside to see, to see Midge Smoot on a bicycle and two other cyclists crashed out front of the cafe.

   "How'd this happen?" Tanya asked. "Oh my goodness."

   "Midge saw you two so close in there, got distracted and ran me over!" the guy on the first bike said.

   "It ain't my fault! I am a reporter, after all!" Midge protested.

   Matt and Tanya tried to sort out the situation and when they were done, Matt said "I'll see you later, okay? I have to get back to the station. I'll pick you up about six, if that's alright." Matt said softly.

   "That sounds great, see you then!"

  "Okay bye." Matt left.

   Tanya, seeing everyone was okay and back on their way, (aside from Midge, who was trying to pry into details surrounding the romance; which Tanya promptly dismissed with a "good day, Miss Smoot"), she went back in the cafe, softly humming to herself.

   She went down in the basement and opened the broom closet, where she had carefully hung a delicately beautiful cream colored dress.

   "Yeah, that'll do nicely!" she said aloud. She laughed gleefully, just like a little lovestruck schoolgirl.

   She remembered when she was one, and how it had always been a single person she saw herself with and that person was Matt.

Chapter Text

Back at the Dieselworks, Mr. Conductor, tied up and being taunted by the Devious Duo, was about fed up with everything.

   "I guess you know why you're here, Mr. Conductor. You're here because you meddle in other peoples' business: I had it all wrapped up, tied with a pretty little bow and then you showed up and spoiled it all: whatcha got to say about that, huh?" Diesel 10 asked him.

   "Speaking honestly, it was a well deserved downfall! You have no call to keep me here. Also, can I ask a semi-personal question?" Mr. C replied.

   "What in the name of boiler sludge is Boomer doing here? I mean how'd ya even get here?"

   "That's for me to know, and you to find out, when I get ready tell to ya." Boomer answered.

In Bigg City, Patch had just got off the train, knowing it'd be back through in twenty minutes and hopefully he'd have Lily on his arm by then.

   He walked through the lonely, crowded streets of Bigg City to the familiar apartment building where Lily and her family lived.

   He pushed the call button, getting the front desk operator.

   "Yes?" she asked.

   "Peterson apartment, 231 please." he answered.

   "Just a minute..." he waited there by the intercom for nearly five minutes before she said "sorry, the Peterson family is out. Try again later."

   "Thanks anyway." he remarked before she hung up.

   He was about to give up and walk back to the station when a figure appeared at the top of the fire escape. She climbed down quickly, too quickly actually as she nearly fell. I tell a lie, she did fall, but Patch more or less caught her.

   "Careful, Miss Lily. You could've fell." he laughed after he grabbed her arm to keep her from losing her balance when she missed the bottom rung of the ladder.

   "I nearly did, but thanks for the warnin'." she laughed too.

   He took a look at her. "Well, you look great to have just nearly fell. I don't know if you've heard this today, but you're beautiful.'

   "Thank you. You don't look so bad yourself."

   "Is that a compliment?" he asked.

   "You decide..." she laughed.

   "We better be on the way to Shining Time or we'll be late!"

   "You're right, that wouldn't look good on my resumé at all!" Lily joked.

   "Which resumé is that, now?" he asked.

   "My romance resumé of course!"

   "I didn't know there was a such a thing!"

   "Well, there isn't, yet..." Lily added slyly. "Just wait, it will be."

   "So you mean to tell me I'm just job experience and not your ideal career?" he asked, suddenly semi-serious.

   "What?" she was confused at how a silly and thoughtless comment had became so deep. "No, I didn't mean that, I didn't mean anything of the like... I just don't possess the ability to shut up."

   "I like you anyway, even if you don't. So shall we, my lady?" he offered his arm.

   "Of course." she answered, linking her arm through his.

As they walked back to the station through the slightly darkening but still lively streets,  Lily was arguably the happiest seventeen year old girl alive.

   Well, she was.

   Before they could get to the station, they ran smack dab into Lily's best friend Lauren.

   Now I know what you're thinking, why is this bad? Well, hide and watch.

   "Hey Lily!" Lauren instantly told her. She gave patch a polite nod of acknowledgement, which he returned.

   "Hi!" Lily tried to play it off cool and get out of there as quick and painless as she could manage.

   "So who's the lucky gentleman?" Lauren asked her in a voice that was meant to be a lot quieter than it was.

   "This is..." Lily started, but she was nearly instantly cut off by Patch unwittingly walking right into a trap.

   "I'm Patch." he said. "It's good to meet you. And you are?"

   "Patch? Lily, this wouldn't be the same Patch that broke up with you a couple months back and you swore you'd never speak to again, would it?" Lauren was sweet and protective and could sometimes verge a little closer to the insane side of the spectrum.

   "Well, you know how it is. Life happens." Lily shrugged, trying to pull herself and Patch away from this potentially highly stressful and awkward situation. "I'll see you later."

   "Now listen, not, I don't know who or what you think you are but I hope you know that our Lily here spent all of Winter break holed up crying. I don't know if you know this but you're due for a visit from the old karma fairy and she won't be bringing sunshine and rainbows, I can promise you that. I hope you know how lucky you really are because Lily is talking to you again, because from where I stand, you've got about as much integrity as a jar of pond scum." Lauren was very into this, and Lily was quite worried that if she got any more into it, she'd turn a rather unattractive shade of red and that smoke would come out of her ears and the thought of smoke put Lily back into the mind of the train they were supposed to be catching.

   "I'll talk to you tomorrow, Lauren. We're kinda on a tight schedule at the moment." Lily told her friend.

   "Okay, but I'm watching you, boy. Don't forget it. Love you Lily." Lauren hugged Lily as they walked away.

   "Love you too." Lily answered as they evaded the whole mess.

   Lily knew it was gonna be a long, awkward trip to Shining Time...

"Looky here..." Tex, the guitar picking singing cowboy who lived inside the jukebox in Schemer's arcade said as he looked out the peephole.

   "What is it?" Tito swing, the piano man and band leader asked, soon looking over Tex's shoulder.

   "We've got a situation out there. Cast your eyes on Mr. Matthew, will you? The boy's show's all them symptoms."

   "Which ones?" Didi the drummer asked.

   "Oh, he's staring into space, smiling, doesn't know anyone else is around..." Tex explained.

   "Yeah? What does that mean?" his twin brother Rex asked.

   "It means he's in love, dummy!" Tex answered.

   "I know you all think I'm a dimwit..." Rex lamented.

   "No, but we used to." Grace, the bass player remarked.

   Rex looked a little happier. "Thanks Gracie."

   "Yeah, we used to think you were a dimwit, but we got wise." Tex started. "Now we know you're one..."

   "Why you..." Tito had to grab Rex to keep him from jumping at Tex's throat.

During the scuffle, Matt got up and walked over to the jukebox, dropped a nickel in and pushed a couple buttons.

   "Guys! Guys! Look, a nickel! We have to play him a song now!" Didi told Tex, Rex and Tito that had lost all dignity and become reduced to a dogpile on the floor.

   "Yeah, make haste before they think we've had some sort of glitch!" Grace added.

   "What'd he pick anyway?" Tito asked.

   "'So This Is Love', ya know the one from Cinderella?"

   "Yes. Come on, let's get after it." Rex dad, grabbing him and Tex's guitar.

   "Yeah." Grace agreed.

   They started to play the song and as Grace sang gleefully, Tito asked Tex and Rex something no one had thought yet.

   "Wonder who Matt's in love with?" he asked.

   "I hadn't thought about that..." Rex admitted.

   "Cool it, you two. We don't need anymore distractions around here."

   "Sorry." they apologized.

   "It's alright."

After the song they all watched as Matt talked to his aunt.

   "I thought I could go pick up Tanya about five or so. I'll have to make a stop off at the house..." he explained.

   "So you better get or you'll be late!" Stacy told him firmly, with a smirk.

   "Thanks, Aunt Stacy." he hugged her and hurried out.

   "What are we gonna do with him?" she asked herself.

   "Who knows?" Billy Twofeathers who had just came in the back workshop door and heard her remark said.

   "Better question: what are we gonna do with you?"

   "I don't know that either. I'm sure you'll figure something out, my dear." he gave her a peck on the cheek as he passed, much to her lovestruck annoyance.

   "Are you taking me to the dance tonight? Or have I misread this whole situation?"

   "I thought I was, am I not?" he asked.

   "If you will."

   "I would like nothing more, my dear."

   "I'll see you later, then. Oh, wait a minute. Billy, I thought you were out with the Bigg City Freight."

   "No, I asked Burnett Stone to take it again, so I could see you a little before the dance. Also Patch Connors hitched a ride with him to go pick up Lily. They're kinda on rough terms from what I know so maybe her grandfather being around can help a little somehow."

   "Maybe so."

Chapter Text

Matt had left out of the station, went straight home and changed clothes and went over to The Shining Time Apartment Complex where Tanya was living.

   He went to her door and knocked.

   She was at the dressing table doing her hair and makeup and whatever with a Dusty Springfield record on her antique turntable so she didn't hear his first knock. She heard the fifth one though, and it gave her such a startle that she dropped her gold hoop earrings.

   "Coming!" she sang out as she knelt down to retrieve it. She was softly singing the backing vocals to "Won't Be Long" that was playing on her record as she found it and went to answer the door.

   "Hi Tanya." Matt said as she pulled it open.

   "Hi..." she answered, trying to put her earring on but being far too distracted to make much headway.

   "You look, you're beautiful, but that isn't new. You're always beautiful."

   "Oh Matthew... You always were a sweet talker." she laughed as she grabbed her little purse off the hook and locked her door. She followed Matt out the door to his car.

   He opened the passenger side door for her before going over to the other side and getting in himself.

   "You really are, you're beautiful." he repeated as he drove.

   "Flattery flattery." she chuckled. "You'll make me fall in love if you're not careful."

   "Maybe that's what I'm trying to do... Ever thought about that?"

   "Maybe..."

Back in Sodor, Diesel 10 and P.T Boomer were making plans, far away from Mr. Conductor, but not far enough that he couldn't hear remnants of their conversation.

   "What are we going to do with the micro man?" Boomer asked.

   "Leave him to me, I'll figure something out. You go down to the big to-do about Mr. Conductor coming to Sodor and tell them just a little something to announce our existence." Diesel answered.

   "Okay, what?"

   "I don't know, but make a scene."

   "Okay, I like the way you think!"

   "Good, now get!"

   He did a mock salute and left the Dieselworks.

   "Now for twinkle toes..." Diesel mumbled. He backed up and used Pinchy to pick him up, like he'd done a few years back.

   "What gives?" he asked, clearly unamused.

   "You're gonna pay for what you did." Diesel announced.

   "Five years ago? Do you never get over anything?"

   "No, for your information, I don't. Either way, you deserve your comeuppance. You more than deserve it."

   "You deserve yours too if we're gonna go there."

   "Shut up!" Diesel yelled. "Or I drop you somewhere where no one will hear you scream!"

   Mr. C complied.

   "Good." Diesel sat him down again. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got Steamies to torture."

   Diesel left, leaving Mr. C to his thoughts. "Some Saturday afternoon this turned out to be..."

On the Rainbow Sun, where Lily, Patch and Burnett where in the cab, Lily was desperately trying to talk to Patch but he kept ignoring her.

   "Patch, will you please listen?" she said finally, her voice demanding. So demanding it made him jump.

   "Fine, start talking." he answered simply.

   "I'm sorry about Lauren. She's, protective, but she is my best and oldest friend."

   "That's fine, whatever. But I still don't know why you had to tell her everything bad I ever did. I mean, yeah, I messed up but then she made a scene. I know I was wrong but does the whole continent have to know?"

   That's just how she is. If you knew her, you'd know. She's a shout-it-from-the-roof-of-the-Empire-State-Building kinda girl."

   "Why'd you tell her I was awful then? I mean..."

   "I didn't tell her you were quite unquote awful, she heard the bad, yes, but she heard all the piles of good. She doesn't know, well, she didn't, that is, that we're back together. I'm sorry, I really am." she didn't know what else to say to him.

   "It's alright, I just, I don't even know at this point..."

   "Neither do I... Maybe we'd be better off to just not talk anymore..."

   "You mean, no contact? Like actually breaking up like permanently?"

   "Yeah..."

   "That's the absolute last thing I want. I want to be with you, no one else, ever."

   "Really?"

   "Yes, of course."

   "Then why'd you break up with me?" she asked seriously.

   "I thought that'd be better for both of us, long distance is hard, I know we both suffered through it..."

   "Patch, I'd move the Atlantic Ocean to be with you, but if long distance is hard, there's no pain in this world like being in love and feeling like you're only one sacrificing and actively working at it... Relationships don't work like that..."

   "I know that, and I promise you, I'm gonna do better."

   "Okay," Lily said, but she was thinking "enjoy tonight, because it's the end, this ship is going down ​imminently..."

   "If you two are done arguing, I'd like to say something..." Burnett Stone, Lily's grandfather who was driving the train said.

   "Go ahead..." Lily replied.

   "I was married for nearly forty years, and I want you both to know that you learn a thing or two in thirty eight and a half years."

   "Yes, Mr. Stone?" Patch asked.

   "All I'm saying is that you both have valid points. If you want to be together, be together, but you both need to decide that. No one has ever got anywhere by shutting down and not talking. That just builds more walls and pushes you further apart..."

  "You're exactly right, Grandpa." Lily told him. "Whatcha say, Patrick? Put everything behind us and start fresh?"

   He looked at her curiously. "You mean it?"

   "I always say what I mean, if you don't know that by now you really don't pick anything up..."

   "I know that, I just, I couldn't hardly believe it. If that's what you'd like I'd be more than happy with it..."

   "It's all I want, Patch..."​ she told him truthfully.

"What are we going to do!?!?" Percy yelled, absolutely freaking out after P.T. Boomer had just made a big scene about himself and Diesel having Mr. Conductor kidnapped and then disappeared into thin air using the gold dust no one still knew how he'd acquired.

   "I don't know..." Thomas admitted. "I suppose first we need to find Mr. Conductor and then decide how to get him out of this mess..."

   "Yes, but suppose where he is?" James asked them.

   "I don't know that either, yet..." Thomas added.

   "Probably somewhere we'd never look..." Edward suggested.

   "Or somewhere we'd be sure to look. Perhaps they want to lure us into some sort of death trap." Toby said, sounding reasonably calm despite the circumstances.

   "Maybe so. Well, we're never going to find out sitting here rusting. We need to get organized and get to work!" Gordon announced. *Plus, we've still got a railway to run."

   "I couldn't have said it better myself. Alright, those who have jobs, do them. Those who don't, go look for Mr. Conductor." Edward told them.

   "Alright!" everyone answered and split up to do whatever they were meant to be doing...

Chapter Text

In Shining Time, Burnett rolled the train into the station, laying heavy on the brake. He'd driven them so long that if he took the notion he could stop one on a dime. Lily and Patch thanked him for the lift and climbed off to see Billy and Stacy coming out of the station in a non-platonic, most definitely dating sort of way.

   "Stacy and Billy are dating?" Lily asked Patch in an excited whisper. "How come no one told me?"

   "They're only barely dating, maybe a week or so..." Patch whispered back.

   "Finally..." Lily remarked. "It's long overdue..."

   Stacy came over to them, but not before they could change their subject to other things.

   "Hi Lily!" Stacy said cheerfully. "It's good to see you!"

   "You too!" Lily answered. "How have you been?"

   "Well, thanks. You?"

   "Pretty good. So are you and Mr. Twofeathers bound for the dance tonight?"

   "Yes! Are you and Patch?"

   "Yes ma'am." Patch replied.

   "Well, I hope you both have fun!" Stacy told them and then they separated. Lily told Burnett, whom was talking to Billy, that they were going on over and they left, holding hands.

   "Just like old times." Patch remarked with a laugh.

   "Just like old times..." she repeated. "And I couldn't be happier..."

   "Me neither."

Back in Sodor, Boomer was driving, sitting up various mildly to moderately dangerous explosives around the island. He'd stolen a white Corvette off of a shopkeep and was scrolling through the stations on the radio dial.

   The first time he simply mashed the "seek" button and was greeted by a cheerful chorus of "He's A Really Useful Engine".

   The second, scrolling over a single frequency was a cheery instrumental tune.

   And then another turn got him "Thomas, he's the cheeky one. James, he's vain but lots of fun."

   "AHHH!" he yelled, absolutely sick of the nonsense.

   He was about to say forget it and turn it completely off when he decided to get one more turn and see where that got him. The next sound from the speakers was "rockin', rockin' on the railway" and he smiled; this he didn't hate.

   No, this was actually kinda nice. But it didn't last long. As soon as he pulled back up at the Dieselworks, Diesel 10 yelled "turn that junk off and get in here!"

   He did reluctantly and went inside. "What?" he asked.

   "Did you lay the traps?" Diesel questioned.

   "Yes, in fact I did. As soon as they're disturbed, bang."

   "Good, good. Alright, now what?"

   "What about letting me go?" Mr. Conductor asked. "I mean, that sounds like a good idea to me..."

   "Well, it would, but there again, you have no taste for drama... You told everyone that we are most definitely in business, right?"

   "Oh yes! You should've seen their faces! It was absolutely beautiful!"

   "Oh, I bet it was! Okay, phase two of our plan is going to be rolled out starting now!"

   "What is phase two?" Boomer asked.

   "I don't know yet..."

Thomas and a policeman were about a quarter mile away from the Dieselworks and decided on a whim to check it out. The policeman climbed up the fire escape to get a better look through the window. He saw everything and climbed down to tell Thomas.

   "Good idea, Thomas. They've got Mr. Conductor in there right now. We'd better get backup and then crash their party!"

   It made Thomas feel very useful indeed.

They went back to Tidmouth where the policeman phones for backup and Thomas explained their little adventure to the other engines.

   "Yes, the policeman said they had Mr. C inside tied up and Diesel 10 and the old man who blew up that flatcar of fireworks earlier were inside planning or something of the like." Thomas told them.

   "Well, I'm glad you found them and that the police will take them to jail where they can't hurt us." James answered with a shiver.

   "Yes, so am I!" Percy added.

   "And we're all glad Mr. C is okay!" Edward piped up.

   "Yes!" Henry, Gordon, James, Percy and every other engines in earshot said together.

   "Well, that sounds like a pretty accurate answer." Toby said as he rolled into the station. "May I ask, what are we yessing?"

   "Yes, Thomas and a policeman found Mr.  Conductor!" Henry told him.

   "Oh, that's great!" Toby replied.

   "Yes, it is!" Thomas said.

   "So where is he?"

   "He's being held by Diesel 10 and that old fellow that blew up that flatcar of fireworks earlier. The policeman is calling in backup and then they're going back to rescue him!"

   "Well, that sounds exciting! Are you going with them?"

   "I suspect I might, if I'm allowed."

   "Now you sound like Henrietta.  Well, I'd like to go myself but I've got a branch line to run. So long!" Toby left.

   The policeman came back from the phonebooth and announced that he had ten men on the way to the Dieselworks.

   "Thomas, I'll need a ride. Anyone who isn't doing anything else and wants to can follow along, just stay, back in case there's trouble..." he explained.

   "Yes sir!" Thomas said, pulling forward before he climbed aboard.

   All the other engines, save for Emily who has a load of Farmer Macall's tomatoes to deliver, assembled. Behind them and followed: first Gordon, then Edward, followed by Henry and lastly, the frightened and reluctant pair known as James and Percy.

   "Make haste, we don't want to miss the show!" Henry called back to them.

   "Oh, o-okay." James stuttered.

   They picked up the pace a bit, though still frightened.

   "Come on, Percy, we'll be fine!" Thomas yelled.

   "If you say so..."

   When they got to the Dieselworks, the policeman hopped down from Thomas' cab. Over the hill, there soon charged five police cruisers, two policemen or women in each. They parked, with no sirens as to not alert Diesel 10 or P.T Boomer of their presence.

   The first policeman held up a hand to signal them to start their sirens and all at once, all five went off.

   Their plan was to surprise them so they couldn't run for it. One of the policemen took out a megaphone and yelled "you're surrounded, come out with your hands up. There's no escape!"

   "Don't worry about us, we'll find a way!" Diesel 10 yelled back.

   "Come out, or we'll come in after you!"

   "Fine, we're comin' out, hold your fire!" Then Diesel looked at Boomer. "I'll hold them off, take the prisoner and run."

   "10-4." Boomer answered.

   Diesel didn't understand the code and yelled "what?"

   "It's a trucker code, it means okay, alright, affirmative, will do, whatever you prefer." Boomer told Diesel.

   "Oh, neat. Now, get."

   "Alright. Come on, Conductor."

   Mr. Conductor put up a bit of a fight but being tied up and all he was fruitless in the attempt.

   P.T Boomer basically drug him out the back door as Diesel 10 shoved open the front one. The policemen and women charged in.

   "You're under arrest, if you didn't already gather that." One of them told him.

   "What charge?" he asked.

   "Kidnapping Mr. Conductor." One of them told him.

   "Mr. Conductor, who's he?"

   "Don't play dumb, we know you did it."

   "It escapes me how, if I did kidnap him, he's nowhere around here."

   Two of the policemen looked around and one said "well, he's got a point..."

   "He was here! I saw him!" The first policeman that had originally came with Thomas protested.

   One policeman and one policewoman went outside the Dieselworks and saw P.T Boomer dragging Mr. Conductor away as he fought against him.

   "You're right, Sergeant. Right there he is!" One of them told the first policeman.

   The Sergeant nodded and ran out, along with the other policemen and women, except two that stayed with Diesel 10 so he couldn't escape, ran out.

   The Sergeant grabbed P.T Boomer and another one helped Mr. Conductor up and untied him. "You're under arrest, for kidnapping Mr. Conductor." The Sergeant yelled.

   The policeman and women hauled P.T Boomer away and Thomas and Percy towed and pushed Diesel 10 away. He was parked on an old siding and had a buffer put in front of him.

   He was left there to think about his ways for a week or two but was eventually let go, with the promise to straighten up and behave.

Which take us back to Shining Time.

   Patch and Lily were dancing and talking about what the other had been up to while they were no contact.

   "Did you, had there been anyone else?" she asked seriously. "Just out of curiosity."

   "No babe, there was never anyone else. There's never been anyone else. It's always been me and you, against the world." he replied.

   "And it always will be you and me against the world if I have anything to do with it..."

   "Amen to that!" They both laughed.

   "Would you say I was crazy if I said I think I love you?"

   "Not unless you'd say I was crazy if I said I think I love you too."

   "Well then, I guess I think I love you, Patch."

   "I guess I think I love you too, Lily."

   "Cupid sure must've been working overtime this Valentine's Day..." Tanya remarked to Matt as she looked at all the couples surrounding them.

   "Yeah, he must've just shot a whole bunch of those famous arrows up in the air and they just fell all over town. I mean with Aunt Stacy and Billy, and Lily and Patch and everything." he answered.

   "I surely like it, I love love!" she had a dreamy spark in her eye.

   "I know you do. Ya wanna know what I love?"

   "What?"

   "You." he told her, serious and unfazed.

   "Oh Matt, you're too sweet..." she whispered. "I love you too."

   He seemed surprised. "Really?"

   "Does this answer your question?" she asked with a laugh as she leaned to kiss him.

   He grinned. "Yeah, I guess it does..." he kissed her back.

   This was the first night they'd been official, but they'd flirted when they were younger and even equally practiced kissed and done so because they were best friends (with more beneath the surface) and wanted to get the whole daunting task of "first kisses" out of the way when they were fifteen.

   "Is kissing me as good as you remember?" she asked.

   "No, it's a hundred and fifty thousand times better..."

   "Well, they say you get better with age."

   "If anyone ever has, it's you..."

   "I hope you mean that."

   "Tanya,  I haven't meant anything more in my life, save for maybe the fact that I love you..."

   Across the room, Billy and Stacy had taken a breather and were talking about the same thing Matt and Tanya had been.

   "Well, Matt screamed when you asked me out that day, but he knew I was crazy about you. Him and Tanya..." Stacy gestured at the two young guns as they passed by. "That hit me like a truck."

   "Yeah, me too. I never knew they had any interest in each other until the other day. I didn't even know Tanya was coming to town until she got here." Billy answered.

   "Me neither. I don't know that they knew they had any interest in each other until recently either. Ya know they've always had a spark, but I don't know how much they were aware of it."

   "What, like that spark we've had for, how long has it been?"

   "I don't know offhand, it doesn't matter. But yeah, exactly like the spark we've always had. It beats me how it's taken us so long to get together."

   "It doesn't matter, does it? We're together now and we're never letting go, that's for sure."

   "No, never."

   "Good. Now dance with me, won'tcha?" he pulled her close and she laughed.

   And that, dearest readers, is how we leave them: safe, happy, loved and content. It took us some time to get here, but ain't that how it always is? It's not about the pain or the heartache of the climb, it's the view of the summit that's worth it.

The End.